ReviewThe American journal of gastroenterology2016
The Link between the Appendix and Ulcerative Colitis: Clinical Relevance and Potential Immunological Mechanisms.
Review in The American journal of gastroenterology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 106 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Histopathological Findings of Appendix Specimens in Quiescent Ulcerative Colitis: Correlations With Clinical Outcomes in the ACCURE Trial.United European gastroenterology journal · 2026Trial
- Appendicectomy plus standard medical therapy versus standard medical therapy alone for maintenance of remission in ulcerative colitis (ACCURE): a pragmatic, open-label, international, randomised trial.The lancet. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Relationship between the appendix and ulcerative colitis: A new discovery.World journal of gastrointestinal endoscopy · 2026Review
- Causality between appendiceal disease and cancers of the digestive system: A Mendelian randomization study.Medicine · 2026Article
- Evidence for genetic correlation between appendix and inflammatory bowel disease: A bidirectional Mendelian randomization study.PloS one · 2026Article
- Appendectomy and colorectal cancer: a mini review from the perspective of gut microbiota and mucosal immunity.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- Peri-appendiceal inflammation is associated with appendiceal orifice stenosis and appendiceal body thickening in ulcerative colitis: A case-control study.The Journal of international medical research · 2025Article
- Progressing or preserving, disease extent evolution in hospitalized patients with ulcerative colitis in China: a real-world study.Therapeutic advances in gastroenterology · 2025Article
- Protective effect of appendectomy against the onset of ulcerative colitis: A case-control study.World journal of gastrointestinal surgery · 2024Review
- Investigating the causal relationship between inflammatory bowel disease and simple appendicitis using Mendelian randomization.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The Clinical Relevance of an Inflamed Appendix in Crohn's Disease.Journal of Crohn's & colitis · 2024Article
- Is there a link between appendicitis and the risk of diverticular disease?: a large German cohort study.International journal of colorectal disease · 2024Article
- Association of diet and outdoor time with inflammatory bowel disease: a multicenter case-control study using propensity matching analysis in China.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- The appendix and ulcerative colitis - an unsolved connection.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2023Review
- Role of Hydrogen Sulfide in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Prior appendectomy and cerebral infarction as potential risk factors for recurrent ischemic colitis: A retrospective observational study.JGH open : an open access journal of gastroenterology and hepatology · 2023Article
- Evaluation of appendectomy as a potential risk factor for immune checkpoint inhibitor-associated enterocolitis.Immunotherapy · 2023Article
- Time Trends of Environmental and Socioeconomic Risk Factors in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease over 40 Years: A Population-Based Inception Cohort 1977-2020.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The human appendix has long been considered as a vestigial organ, an organ that has lost its function during evolution. In recent years, however, reports have emerged that link the appendix to numerous immunological functions in humans. Evidence has been presented for an important role of the appendix in maintaining intestinal health. This theory suggests that the appendix may be a reservoir or 'safe house' from which the commensal gut flora can rapidly be reestablished if it is eradicated from the colon. However, the appendix may also have a role in the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Several large epidemiological cohort studies have demonstrated the preventive effect of appendectomy on the development of ulcerative colitis, a finding that has been confirmed in murine colitis models. In addition, current studies are examining the possible therapeutic effect of an appendectomy to modulate disease course in patients with ulcerative colitis. This literature review assesses the current knowledge about the clinical and immunological aspects of the vermiform appendix in IBD and suggests that the idea of the appendix as a vestigial remnant should be discarded.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.