***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: Abstract A four-month , double-blind , crossover study of 22 patients with familial Mediterranean fever was undertaken to study the effect of colchicine in decreasing acute attacks of that disease . T Background —Colchicine is effective and safe for the treatment and prevention of recurrent pericarditis and might ultimately serve as the initial mode of treatment , especially in idiopathic cases . The aim of this work was to verify the safety and efficacy of colchicine as an adjunct to conventional therapy for the treatment of the first episode of acute pericarditis . Methods and Results —A prospect i ve , r and omized , open-label design was used . A total of 120 patients ( mean age 56.9±18.8 years , 54 males ) with a first episode of acute pericarditis ( idiopathic , viral , postpericardiotomy syndromes , and connective tissue diseases ) were r and omly assigned to conventional treatment with aspirin ( group I ) or conventional treatment plus colchicine 1.0 to 2.0 mg for the first day and then 0.5 to 1.0 mg/d for 3 months ( group II ) . Corticosteroid therapy was restricted to patients with aspirin contraindications or intolerance . The primary end point was recurrence rate . During the 2873 patient-month follow-up , colchicine significantly reduced the recurrence rate ( recurrence rates at 18 months were , respectively , 10.7 % versus 32.3 % ; P=0.004 ; number needed to treat=5 ) and symptom persistence at 72 hours ( respectively , 11.7 % versus 36.7 % ; P=0.003 ) . After multivariate analysis , corticosteroid use ( OR 4.30 , 95 % CI 1.21 to 15.25 ; P=0.024 ) was an independent risk factor for recurrences . Colchicine was discontinued in 5 cases ( 8.3 % ) because of diarrhea . No serious adverse effects were observed . Conclusions —Colchicine plus conventional therapy led to a clinical ly important and statistically significant benefit over conventional treatment , decreasing the recurrence rate in patients with a first episode of acute pericarditis  . Corticosteroid therapy given in the index attack can favor the occurrence of recurrences Background — Inflammation and pericarditis may be contributing factors for postoperative atrial fibrillation ( POAF ) , and both are potentially affected by antiinflammatory drugs and colchicine , which has been shown to be safe and efficacious for the prevention of pericarditis and the postpericardiotomy syndrome ( PPS ) . The aim of the Colchicine for the Prevention of the Post-Pericardiotomy Syndrome ( COPPS ) POAF sub study was to test the efficacy and safety of colchicine for the prevention of POAF after cardiac surgery . Methods and Results — The COPPS POAF sub study included 336 patients ( mean age , 65.7±12.3 years ; 69 % male ) of the COPPS trial , a multicenter , double-blind , r and omized trial . Sub study patients were in sinus rhythm before starting the intervention  ( placebo/colchicine 1.0 mg twice daily starting on postoperative day 3 followed by a maintenance dose of 0.5 mg twice daily for 1 month in patients ≥70 kg , halved doses for patients < 70 kg or intolerant to the highest dose ) . The sub study primary end point was the incidence of POAF on intervention at 1 month . Despite well-balanced baseline characteristics , patients on colchicine had a reduced incidence of POAF ( 12.0 % versus 22.0 % , respectively ; P=0.021 ; relative risk reduction , 45 % ; number needed to treat , 11 ) with a shorter in-hospital stay ( 9.4±3.7 versus 10.3±4.3 days ; P=0.040 ) and rehabilitation stay ( 12.1±6.1 versus 13.9±6.5 days ; P=0.009 ) . Side effects were similar in the study groups . Conclusion — Colchicine seems safe and efficacious in the reduction of POAF with the potentiality of halving the complication and reducing the hospital stay . Clinical Trial Registration — URL : http://www . clinical trials.gov . Unique identifier : NCT00128427 The preliminary results of a prospect i ve double-blind controlled trial of colchicine in 100 patients with hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis are reported . The patients , 94 males and 6 females , aged 32 - 80 , were assigned to receive either 1 mg of colchicine or an identical placebo orally on a daily basis . The duration of the follow up ranged from 15 to 51 months ( median 26 months ) . Seventy percent had histological proof of cirrhosis . On entry , 80 patients were in Child-Pugh class A , 19 were in class B , and one was in class C. Compared to the placebo group , there was no improvement in the colchicine group after a 24-month follow up in any of the biochemistry data , for example , serum albumin , alkaline phosphatase , alanine and aspartate aminotransferase , bilirubin , and prothrombin time . The difference in the cumulative survival rates at 51 months did not reach statistical significance ( p = 0.8 ) in either group . There was no histological improvement in 30 patients who were willing to undergo repeated liver biopsies . No trend toward improvement of the hepatic pressure gradient was observed in these patients . The serum levels of aminopropeptide of type III procollagen increased significantly in patients in both groups after 24 months of therapy ( 1.07 + /- 0.06 vs. 1.36 + /- 0.06 U/ml in the colchicine group , 0.93 + /- 0.09 vs. 1.25 + /- 0.07 U/ml in the placebo group ; p < 0.05 ) . In addition , neither the clinical deterioration of cirrhosis nor death was prevented in patients receiving colchicine therapy . This report indicates that colchicine has no effect in the treatment of HBV-related postnecrotic cirrhosis Colchicine ( 1 mg/day ) , or an identical placebo , was given to 64 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis in a double-blind controlled trial . Due to a novel , pair-matched trial design , the two groups were exceptionally well matched at entry . In comparison with placebo , colchicine produced a beneficial effect on serum albumin and bilirubin levels at 3 months in patients who had abnormal liver function ( bilirubin greater than 20 mumol/l ) at entry : ( albumin , P = 0.047 ; bilirubin , P = 0.022 ) . In patients with normal liver function at entry ( bilirubin less than 20 mumol/l ) , beneficial effects were noted on total globulin levels at 3 months ( P = 0.013 ) and on immunoglobulin G levels at 3 and 6 months ( P = 0.044 and 0.001 , respectively ) . At 18 months , survival estimate in the colchicine and placebo groups were 84 % and 69 % , respectively . The difference did not reach significance . Colchicine produced an early improvement in liver function and immunoglobulin levels . Few serious side effects were encountered , and colchicine clearly merits long-term study in the treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis A double-blind , r and omized , crossover chronic study was done to determine the efficacy of colchicine in 10 atopic patients with asthma . A constant dose of sustained-release theophylline and albuterol by inhalation , as needed , was administered . Compared to placebo , colchicine , 0.5 mg twice daily , significantly reduced the mean ( + /- SEM ) daily clinical score from 2.18 + /- 0.34 to 1.64 + /- 0.32 ( p less than 0.05 ) , and the daily number of inhalations of albuterol  from 5.89 + /- 1.48 to 4.01 + /- 1.26 ( p less than 0.02 ) . Colchicine significantly ( p less than 0.05 ) increased the concanavalin A-induced suppressor cell function from 16.2 + /- 4.6 % to 39.0 + /- 10.7 % , which was similar to healthy volunteers ( 41.1 + /- 3.5 % ) . Furthermore , colchicine significantly ( p less than 0.05 ) decreased serum IgE from 248 + /- 63 to 188 + /- 46 IU/ml . Colchicine had no significant effect on pulmonary function tests , the early phase reaction of antigen-induced bronchial inhalation challenge , and immediate skin test responses . Thus , colchicine has immunomodulatory effects that may perhaps have a mild benefit in the treatment of asthma OBJECTIVES Osteoarthritis ( OA ) is the most common articular disease . Common OA treatments are either not effective or associated with side effects . Calcium-containing crystals are quite common in primary OA and they worsen or may cause OA through induction of inflammation by neutrophils . Colchicine inhibits urate-crystal and calcium-pyrophosphate ( CPP ) crystal induced inflammation and elastase , a matrix-metalloproteinase ( MMP ) that play a pivotal role in degenerative joint processes . Hence , it was hypothesized that it may have symptom-modifying effects on OA . METHODS Sixty-one postmenopausal patients with primary knee OA were enrolled . None of them had joint involvement atypical for OA or evidence s of chondrocalcinosis in radiographic studies suggesting the presence of calcium-pyrophosphatedeposition-disease ( CPPD ) . Participants were allocated to two groups receiving 0.5 mg colchicines BID or placebo . Both groups received common OA treatments . Acetaminophen less than 2gr/day was used as rescue-analgesic . The efficacy end points were : patients ' global assessment and physician 's global assessment , recorded on a VAS ( visual analogue scale ) . Statistical analysis was performed 3 months later . RESULTS Thirty-one patients were assigned to the colchicine  group . Fifty-eight patients were present for the last survey . Only 1 patient in colchicine group encountered adverse effect  of colchicine without significant difference between the two groups . Acetaminophen consumption was significantly less in the colchicine ( 879.3±369.7 ) compared to placebo group ( 1620.7±393.1 , p=0.000 ) . Improvement rate at the end of 3 months was significantly higher in the colchicine group for both patients ' global assessment and physician 's global assessment measures compared to placebo group , ( 11.14±4.06 vs. 3.14±2.18 , p=0.000 ) and ( 9.83±3.799 vs. 3.72±3.35 , p=0.000 ) , respectively . CONCLUSIONS The efficacy and safety of colchicine for pain reduction in OA was affirmed by our double-blind r and omised controlled trial BACKGROUND Ursodeoxycholic acid has been shown to be a useful agent in the clinical management of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis and autoimmune chronic active hepatitis . Its efficacy is presumed to be based upon its ability to act as a detergent and to incite a choleresis . Recent additional data suggest it also reduces HLA antigen expression on liver and biliary epithelial cells and impairs T cell reactivity . METHODS A r and omized controlled study of 59 patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis was performed over a 24 months period with 3 groups being studied . Group I consisted of 20 patients who were given ursodeoxycholic acid 300 mg orally twice a day ; group II consisted of 19 patients who were given colchicine 0.6 mg orally BID ; and group III was an untreated medical control group . All three groups were seen at regular 3-month intervals and had quarterly , annual and terminal studies performed to assess their disease status . RESULTS No difference between groups was evident after two full years of therapy when parameters of liver injury , liver function , liver size and hepatic copper content were compared between groups . Similarly , no difference in ERCP findings was evident between groups either at entry or after two years of therapy . CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that ursodeoxycholic acid is no better than colchicine or simple medical follow-up . Thus , neither ursodeoxycholic acid or colchicine can be considered to be effective therapies for primary sclerosing cholangitis Colchicine demonstrates an array of anti-inflammatory properties of potential relevance to asthma . However , the efficacy of colchicine as an alternative to inhaled corticosteroid therapy for asthma is unknown . Five centers participated in a controlled trial testing the hypothesis that in patients with moderate asthma needing inhaled corticosteroids for control , colchicine provides therapeutic benefit as measured by maintenance of control when inhaled steroids are discontinued . Subjects were stabilized on triamcinolane acetonide ( 800 microg daily ) and then enrolled in a 2-wk run-in during which all subjects took both colchicine ( 0.6 mg/twice a day ) 
    Output:
    
There is much uncertainty surrounding the benefits and harms of colchicine treatment .
Colchicine may have substantial benefits in reducing myocardial infa rct ion in selected high-risk population s but uncertainty about the size of the effect on survival and other cardiovascular outcomes is high , especially in the general population from which most of the studies in our review were drawn .
Colchicine is associated with gastrointestinal side effects based on low- quality evidence .