Gastrointestinal Tract News and Research

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Cranberries' unique bioactive compounds improve heart health and temper inflammation

Cranberries are more than a holiday favorite, given their remarkable nutritional and health benefits. A new research review published in the international journal Advances in Nutrition provides reasons why these tiny berries can be front and center and not just a side dish. The review authors conclude that cranberries provide unique bioactive compounds that may help reduce the incidence of certain infections, improve heart health and temper inflammation.

19 Nov 2013

Research sheds light on how protein keeps people organized by promoting orderly skeletal growth

Most people think that their planners or their iPhones keep them organized, when proteins such as liver kinase b1 (Lkb1) actually have a lot more to do with it. New research from postdoctoral fellow Lick Lai in the lab of USC scientist Andy McMahon published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) sheds light on how this important protein keeps people organized on a basic level by promoting orderly skeletal growth and preventing skeletal tumors.

15 Nov 2013

GLP-1 hormone can predict metabolic efficacy of gastric bypass

The sensitivity of the GLP-1 hormone, which is secreted by the gastrointestinal tract, can predict the metabolic efficacy of a gastric bypass. The use of a GLP1 challenge could thus function as a novel predictive biomarker for personalized treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

8 Nov 2013

Diets and the famine reaction: an interview with Associate Professor Amanda Salis, University of Sydney

The statistic that you often hear is that 95% of diets fail, but in actual fact, emerging research is now showing that it’s around 70% of diets that fail. That means that around 30% of people who are losing weight are actually keeping it off. So we’re doing better now than we were doing in the past, but there’s still work to be done.

7 Nov 2013

Tea helps promote weight loss and improve bone health

Decades worth of research shows that tea-the second most consumed beverage in the world-may help prevent chronic illnesses, including heart disease, certain types of cancer and type 2 diabetes. New research shows tea has been found to help promote weight loss and maintain a healthy weight, improve bone health and activate areas of the brain that bolster attention, problem solving and mood.

7 Nov 2013

Study: Interactions between inflammation and changes in gut microbiota may result in colon tumors

Transferring the gut microbes from a mouse with colon tumors to germ-free mice makes those mice prone to getting tumors as well, according to the results of a study published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

6 Nov 2013

RI-MUHC researchers identify genetic changes that could pave way for early diagnosis of CRC

Diagnosing colorectal cancer is complex; it relies on significant invasive tests and subjective evaluations. This process may soon become much easier thanks to a medical breakthrough by scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.

31 Oct 2013

Researchers identify new drug for treating irritable bowel syndrome with constipation

An international team led by University of Adelaide researchers has identified the mechanism of pain relief of a new drug for treating Irritable Bowel Syndrome with Constipation (IBS-C), based on nonclinical studies, and quantified its effectiveness in pain relief in human trials.

30 Oct 2013

Kaiser Permanente researchers named co-recipients of Drug Therapy Research Literature Award

Three Kaiser Permanente Colorado researchers have been named co-recipients of the prestigious Drug Therapy Research Literature Award, an award presented annually by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Foundation.

24 Oct 2013

Researchers identify C. perfringens type B bacteria believed to trigger multiple sclerosis

A research team from Weill Cornell Medical College and The Rockefeller University has identified a bacterium it believes may trigger multiple sclerosis, a chronic, debilitating disorder that damages myelin forming cells in the brain and spinal cord.

18 Oct 2013

UTHealth researchers study how probiotic may help reduce gut inflammation in infants with colic

Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston have begun a study investigating whether a probiotic might be helpful in reducing gut inflammation in infants with colic.

17 Oct 2013

Change in gene expression occurs in patients with "pouchitis" after UC surgery

"Pouchitis" developing after surgery for ulcerative colitis (UC) is associated with changes in gene expression, which increase along with disease severity, reports a study in Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, official journal of the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA). The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

11 Oct 2013

MIT engineers develop nanoparticles that deliver cancer vaccines to lungs

Many viruses and bacteria infect humans through mucosal surfaces, such as those in the lungs, gastrointestinal tract and reproductive tract. To help fight these pathogens, scientists are working on vaccines that can establish a front line of defense at mucosal surfaces.

26 Sep 2013

RedHill Biopharma to initiate phase III trial of RHB 104 in Crohn's disease patients

UCF College of Medicine professor Dr. Saleh Naser soon will participate in a clinical trial to test whether a new antibiotic therapy acquired by RedHill Biopharma can be used to treat Crohn's disease patients.

18 Sep 2013

FDA grants orphan drug designation to Soligenix’s SGX94 for treatment of Acute Radiation Syndrome

Soligenix, Inc., a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing products to treat inflammatory diseases and biodefense countermeasures where there remains an unmet medical need, announced today that the Office of Orphan Products Development of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted orphan drug designation to the active ingredient SGX94 for the treatment of acute radiation syndrome (ARS).

16 Sep 2013

New antibody could prevent Candida infections in patients who receive central lines

A team of researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has developed an antibody that could prevent Candida infections that often afflict hospitalized patients who receive central lines.

12 Sep 2013

New advances toward making molecular prosthetics a reality

The vision for a new branch of medicine, inspired by the ancient field that began with peg legs and hand hooks, commanded the spotlight in a major address by its pioneer here today at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, the world’s largest scientific society.

11 Sep 2013

UCLA receives multimillion-dollar gift to provide patients with innovative home health program

A multimillion-dollar gift has allowed the UCLA Division of Digestive Diseases to provide patients with an innovative home health program; supported new, minimally invasive treatment procedures; and funded state-of-the-art gastroenterology research.

10 Sep 2013

Updated guidelines for management of acute pancreatitis

Updated guidelines on the management of acute pancreatitis, a condition that causes acute inflammation of the pancreas, appear in the September issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

5 Sep 2013

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) research: an interview with Dr. Griffin Rodgers, NIDDK director

Chronic granulomatous disease, or CGD, is a diverse group of inherited diseases in which certain cells of the immune system have difficulty forming reactive oxygen compounds, most importantly superoxide radicals. These are used by these white blood cells to kill certain bacteria.

3 Sep 2013