Background: Recently it is accentuated on the role of psychological symptoms in the course of chronic diseases and applying psychological interventions as complementary interventions. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of cognitive-behavioral stress management, optimism training and conevntional medical therapy on somatic symptoms, perceived stress, illness perception and quality of life in patients with ulcerative colitis.

Materials and Methods: In this study, thirty female patients were selected accidentally, and randomly assigned into three groups including cognitive-behavioral stress management(n=10), optimism training(n=10) and conventional medical therapy(n=10). All patients completed Perceived Stress Scale, Illness Perception questionnaire, WHO Quality of Life questionnaire, and Lichtiger Colitis Activity Index. Then, experimental groups participated in 9 sessions of  cognitive-behavioral stress management and optimism training group interventions. Thereafter, three groups answered to scales again. This course was repeated in a 6-mounth follow-up. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was used to analyze the data.

Results:  The findings indicated that the effects of two interventions were significant on patient´s illness perception, perceived stress and quality of life however, these interventions did not change somatic symptoms.

Conclusion: Totally, it can be said that psychological interventions such as stress management and optimism training can be effective on improving the psychological symptoms in patients with ulcerative colitis and their cure.

Abstract

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic disease that specifically affects the mucosa of the rectum and colon. The pathogenesis of UC is not well defined, but it is proposed that genetic and environmental factors result in an aberrant immune response to a subset of commensal enteric bacteria.The aim of this study was to investigate whether miR-34b/c rs4938723 T/C polymorphism is associated with UC risk.

Materials and Methods: Blood samples were collected from 50 patients diagnosed with UC and 100 healthy control subjects. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood. Genetic variation of miR34b/c was determined by tetra-primers ARMS-PCR (amplification refractory mutation system-polymerase chain reaction). All statistical analyses were conducted using the MedCalc version 12.1.

Results: There was a significant difference in genotype and allele distributions between cases and controls. It was observed that the CT heterozygotes had a 2.29-fold increase in risk of UC (OR=2.29, 95%CI=1.08-4.82, p=0.02).

Conclusion: It is suggested that the miR34b/c (rs4938723 T>C) polymorphism may be associated with the risk of UC. However, larger studies with more patients and controls are needed to confirm this result.