[Non-surgical therapy for ulcerative colitis]

Ulcerative colitis involving primarily the mucosa of the colon and rectum is a diffuse and nonspecific inflammatory disease. Immunocompetent cells infiltrating in the inflammed mucosa are mainly lymphocytes, macrophages and neutrophils. These activated cells produce proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF alpha and inflammatory activators such as PAF, leukotriene, prostaglandins, free radicals and proteases, resulting in acute on chronic states. Non-surgical therapy for ulcerative colitis includes basic medical therapy with sulfasulphapyridine, 5-ASA, corticosteroids and immune suppressive drugs as well as new therapies, which are leukocytapheresis, granulocytapheresis, anticytokine therapy with antiTNF alpha monoclonal antibody, IL-1ra and IL-10, intravenous treatment of massive immunoglobulins and transdermal nicotine therapy.