Background/aim: We previously found crypts in symmetric fission (CSF) and in asymmetric fission (CAF) in colectomy-specimens with ulcerative colitis. We now analyzed CSF and CAF (CSAF) in biopsies from 80 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) without dysplasia or carcinoma.
Patients and methods: One unselected double-biopsy from affected endoscopic areas was investigated in the 80 cases.
Results: A total of 353 crypts in fission were found. The median number of CAF/biopsy was 3.7 and for CSF/biopsy, 0.7 (p<0.00001).
Conclusion: CSAF often occur in unselected biopsies from patients with IBD. Whereas the increased frequency of CSF might mirror a compensatory mechanism of crypt production in areas occupied by inflammation, CAF reflects a pathological aberration of cryptogenesis, probably generated by somatic mutations. The biological significance of CAF in IBD without dysplasia or carcinoma, deserves to be further investigated.
Keywords: Colon biopsies; asymmetric fission; crypts; inflammatory bowel disease.
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