Gastrointestinal Health News and Research

Latest Gastrointestinal Health News and Research

Routine counseling on fertility preservation needed for young women with cancer

A new study has found that very few young women with cancer take steps to preserve their fertility while undergoing cancer therapy. Also, certain groups of young women are more likely to do so than others. Published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the study indicates that efforts are needed to provide counseling on fertility preservation in reproductive-aged women diagnosed with cancer.

26 Mar 2012

FDA Advisory Committee to review Repligen's SecreFlo NDA on May 31

Repligen Corporation today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee will meet on May 31, 2012 to discuss the Company's New Drug Application (NDA) for SecreFlo for the improved detection of pancreatic duct abnormalities in combination with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with pancreatitis.

26 Mar 2012

National Colon Cancer Awareness Month attempts to widen screening efforts

March is the National Colon Cancer Awareness Month and to mark it Ferrell Hospital and Harrisburg Medical Center have teamed up with the American Cancer Society to provide free take-home colon cancer tests to anyone who is interested.

25 Mar 2012

Hyperion acquires worldwide rights to Ucyclyd's Ravicti

Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that it has acquired worldwide rights to the investigational drug Ravicti from Ucyclyd Pharma, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Medicis Pharmaceutical Corporation.

23 Mar 2012

Extreme norovirus flexibility may allow for broad antibody recognition

Twenty million Americans get sick from norovirus each year according to data released last week by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Often called vomiting illness, it can spread rapidly on cruise ships, and in dormitories and hospitals. Recent data from the CDC shows deaths from gastrointestinal infections have more than doubled and have become a particular threat to the elderly.

22 Mar 2012

GUCY2C gene mutation leads to familial diarrhea syndrome

When the intestines are not able to properly process our diet, a variety of disorders can develop, with chronic diarrhea as a common symptom. Chronic diarrhea can also be inherited, most commonly through conditions with genetic components such as irritable bowel syndrome. Researchers in Norway, India, and at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology have identified one heritable DNA mutation that leads to chronic diarrhea and bowel inflammation.

22 Mar 2012

Pannexins may contribute to symptoms related to IBD

Researchers from the Hotchkiss Brain Institute (HBI) and the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases at the University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine have discovered a pathway that may contribute to the symptoms related to Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, collectively known as Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

22 Mar 2012

More colonoscopy procedures under anesthesia than expected: Study

According to researchers more patients underwent general anesthesia during gastroenterological procedures such as colonoscopy between 2003 and 2009.

21 Mar 2012

Study finds higher death rate in calorie-restricted models of IBD

In a surprising result, Michigan State University researchers looking at the effects of diet on bowel disease found that mice on a calorie-restricted diet were more likely to die after being infected with an inflammation-causing bacterial pathogen in the colon.

21 Mar 2012

Lexicon receives FDA Orphan Drug designation for telotristat etiprate to treat carcinoid syndrome

Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted its request for Orphan Drug designation for telotristat etiprate (LX1032) for the treatment of carcinoid syndrome.

21 Mar 2012

Hedgehog and mTOR pathway are active in esophageal cancer

Identification of a non-traditional pathway for spiriting a cancer-promoting protein into the cell nucleus points to a possible combination therapy for esophageal cancer and indicates a mechanism of resistance for new drugs that attack the Hedgehog pathway.

20 Mar 2012

Study identifies new hypervariable regions in human gut viruses

A growing body of evidence underscores the importance of human gut bacteria in modulating human health, metabolism, and disease. Yet bacteria are only part of the story. Viruses that infect those bacteria also shape who we are. Frederic D. Bushman, PhD, professor of Microbiology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, led a study published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that sequenced the DNA of viruses -- the virome -- present in the gut of healthy people.

20 Mar 2012

New information on efficacy of CLA in treating Crohn's disease

The Nutritional Immunology and Molecular Medicine Laboratory (NIMML) research team at Virginia Tech has discovered important new information on the efficacy of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) in treating Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). CLA is a naturally occurring acid found in meat and dairy products known for its anti-cancer and immune modulatory properties.

20 Mar 2012

Disruptions in immune system regulation may play a role in NEC

Despite advances in neonatal care, necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) - the most common gastrointestinal emergency in premature infants - continues to be a deadly disease. "We haven't made a lot of progress in identifying babies early who may be at risk for NEC, preventing it or treating it," said J-rn-Hendrik Weitkamp, M.D., a neonatologist and assistant professor of Pediatrics at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt.

20 Mar 2012

Salix closes $690 million senior notes offering

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. today announced the closing of its offering of $690 million aggregate principal amount of 1.5% convertible senior notes due 2019, which includes the exercise in full of the initial purchasers' overallotment option.

17 Mar 2012

SK Biopharmaceuticals initiates YKP10811 phase 2 trial in chronic constipation

SK Biopharmaceuticals, a South Korean pharmaceutical company, announced today that the first patient was dosed in a phase 2 clinical trial in the US for patients suffering with chronic constipation using their new chemical entity YKP10811.

17 Mar 2012

Deadly link between higher BMI and colorectal cancer

The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the Campaign to End Obesity (CEO) are joining forces to highlight the potentially deadly link between higher Body Mass Index (BMI) and colorectal cancer.

16 Mar 2012

USPTO issues patent to iSonea's ultrasound-based cough detector

Medical technology company iSonea Ltd. today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued U.S. Patent 2009/0216127 A1 covering its cough count technology in the field of acoustic monitoring of respiratory diseases.

15 Mar 2012

Scientists discover cells that chaperone food antigens in the intestine

With every meal, immune cells in the intestine stand like sentries at a citadel, turning away harmful bacteria but allowing vitamins and nutrients to pass. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified the cells that chaperone food antigens, or proteins, in the intestine so that the immune system doesn't mount an attack.

15 Mar 2012

Fecal transplantation effective treatment for recurrent C. difficile infection

Fecal transplantation through colonoscopy is an effective treatment for recurrent Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association.

15 Mar 2012