Gastrointestinal Tract News and Research

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Genetic test to predict IBD severity in children

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic relapsing inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract with abdominal pain and diarrhea being the most common symptoms. It can be challenging to diagnose as gastrointestinal complaints mimicking IBD are common.

26 Jul 2017

Large-scale genetic study of E. coli illustrates complexity of drug resistant 'superbugs'

The first large-scale genetic study of Escherichia coli (E. coli) cultured from patients with bloodstream infections in England showed that drug resistant 'superbugs' are not always out-competing other strains.

18 Jul 2017

Bacterium S. gallolyticus appears to actively promote development of colorectal cancer

Colorectal cancer is fairly treatable when caught early with regular screenings, but it is still the second-leading cause of cancer-related deaths in American men and the third-leading cause in women.

17 Jul 2017

Longtime use of heartburn drugs linked to increased risk of death

Popular heartburn drugs called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have been linked to a variety of health problems, including serious kidney damage, bone fractures and dementia.

4 Jul 2017

Study reveals radiation therapy advantage for patients with right-sided colorectal tumors

For patients with colorectal cancer that has metastasized to the liver, having a primary tumor on the left side, as opposed to the right side of the colon, is known to be a significant advantage in terms of treatment response.

3 Jul 2017

New cranberry derivative could help patients dependent on tube feeding

Synesis, a University of Wisconsin-Madison spinoff developing a patented formula for liquid nutrition, is advancing a plant-based additive designed to reduce or eliminate severe side effects of tube feeding.

28 Jun 2017

Study finds link between upper GI infections and protein implicated in Parkinson’s disease

Acute and chronic infections in a person's upper gastrointestinal tract appear to be linked to Parkinson's disease, say scientists at Georgetown University Medical Center and their collaborators at the National Institutes of Health and other institutions.

28 Jun 2017

Human colon organoids fill gap in effectively modeling common GI diseases

Scientists used human pluripotent stem cells to generate human embryonic colons in a laboratory that function much like natural human tissues when transplanted into mice, according to research published June 22 in Cell Stem Cell.

22 Jun 2017

Infections during infancy linked to greater risk for celiac disease

Infections during infancy are associated with increased risk for gluten intolerance (celiac disease) later on. Apparently the risk is particularly high in the case of repeated gastrointestinal infections in the first year of life.

20 Jun 2017

UAB researchers demonstrate persistence of donor microbes in recipients after fecal transplant

University of Alabama at Birmingham researchers have made the first direct demonstration that fecal donor microbes remained in recipients for months or years after a transplant to treat the diarrhea and colitis caused by recurrent Clostridium difficile infections -- a serious and stubborn cause of diarrhea after an antibiotic treatment for some other illness.

14 Jun 2017

New discovery could help explain unparalleled spread of Ebola virus

The world may be closer to knowing why Ebola spreads so easily thanks to a team of researchers from Tulane University and other leading institutions who discovered a new biological activity in a small protein from the deadly virus.

7 Jun 2017

Findings point to potential new treatment for people with newly diagnosed EGFR-positive NSCLC

Findings from a phase III clinical trial point to a potential new treatment for patients newly diagnosed with advanced, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

5 Jun 2017

Study: Child's gut bacteria appears to be influenced by ethnicity and breastfeeding

The bacteria in a child's gut appears to be influenced as early as its first year by ethnicity and breastfeeding, according to a new study from McMaster University.

1 Jun 2017

MGH scientists show how Shigella survives journey from mouth to the colon

Surviving the treacherous journey through the human body from the mouth to the colon takes a special kind of bacterial pathogen.

31 May 2017

Seattle Children’s opens first clinical trial to study IBD and GVHD in pediatric patients

In an effort to find new strategies to personalize treatment for pediatric patients, Seattle Children's has opened the first clinical trial applying next-generation T-cell receptor sequencing and single-cell gene expression analysis to better understand how the immune system drives both inflammatory bowel disease in pediatric autoimmunity patients and graft-versus host disease in pediatric bone marrow transplant patients.

From 10x Genomics, Inc. 23 May 2017

NIBIB-funded scientists develop rapid and accurate tool for detecting early pancreatic cancer

Researchers funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) have developed a new tool for detecting early pancreatic cancer.

17 May 2017

Composition, function of intestinal bacteria could predict response to biologic drugs in IBD patients

Analysis of a patient's gut microbiome - the microbial population of the gastrointestinal tract - may be able to predict the likelihood of successful treatment for inflammatory bowel disease with biologic drugs that target immune system activity.

16 May 2017

Study findings may help shed light on cause of systemic sclerosis

Americans and Norwegians with systemic sclerosis had higher levels of bacteria that can cause inflammation and lower levels of bacteria that are believed to protect against inflammation compared with healthy people, according to a new study by researchers from UCLA and Oslo University.

12 May 2017

Study shows how probiotic improves integrity of the GI epithelial cell wall in HIV patients

A newly released study published in the Journal of Immunity, Inflammation and Disease and conducted by the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, found a multi-strain, high concentration, probiotic formulation that helped reconstitute the physical and immunological integrity of the gastrointestinal lining in HIV-1-positive patients on antiretroviral therapy.

3 May 2017

Experts highlight need for further research on differences between milk proteins

New knowledge on milk composition and quality is of essential importance to consumers as well as the industry. There are therefore considerable research efforts in milk worldwide.

28 Apr 2017