OT: Measles Linked To Inflammatory Bowel Disease

July 17, 2000

Early Measles Infection Linked To Inflammatory Bowel Disease

WESTPORT June 21, 2000 (Reuters Health) - Early measles infection may

increase the risk of developing Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis,

according to researchers from the Mayo Clinic. The report is the latest

in a series of reports over the last few years, previously reported by

Reuters Health, which have either bolstered or questioned the link

between measles infection and inflammatory bowel disease.

Dr. Darrell S. Pardi and colleagues from the Rochester, Minnesota-based

institution, describe their study in the June issue of The American

Journal of Gastroenterology. They suggest that the idea that the measles

virus can cause inflammatory bowel disease is " biologically plausible " ,

given that the virus can infect and persist in endothelial cells in the

gastrointestinal tract and cause an immune response with giant cell

formation.

In the study, they identified individuals who had been diagnosed with

measles before the age of 5 years from 1950 to 1966 through the Mayo

Clinic and the Rochester Epidemiology Project. Of this initial group of

1,164 eligible cases, 662 completed a questionnaire to determine if the

patient had subsequently developed Crohn's disease or ulcerative

colitis, or symptoms of undiagnosed disease.

Overall, the researchers found six cases of Crohn's disease and six

cases of ulcerative colitis that could be confirmed by the patients'

physicians. Based on the incidence of cases in Olmsted County,

Minnesota, they would have expected significantly fewer cases: 1.9 for

Crohn's disease and 2.0 for ulcerative colitis.

Seventy-five percent of the cases had measles before the age of 2 years,

the authors note, but this did not reach statistical significance.

Noting that others have found no difference in the rate of measles

infection in those diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease, Dr. Pardi

and colleagues suggest that " infection before the development of full

immunological competence may lead to viral persistence. " They also

suggest that other factors, such as infection with mumps virus, may

contribute to the development of inflammatory bowel disease.

The investigators also emphasized that their study did not consider the

effect of measles vaccination, and " unless more compelling data become

available to implicate measles vaccine as a risk factor for inflammatory

bowel disease, we fully support the current recommendation for universal

vaccination against measles. "

Am J Gastroenterol 2000;95:1480-1485.

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