Gastrointestinal Health News and Research

Latest Gastrointestinal Health News and Research

DDW2010 Investor Event to provide update on TARGET 1 and TARGET 2 Phase 3 trials

Salix Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. today announced that the Company will host a DDW2010 Investor Event on Monday, May 3 2010 from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Central Time (10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. ET).

22 Apr 2010

Abbott's first-quarter worldwide pharmaceutical sales increases by 12.9%

Abbott today announced financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

21 Apr 2010

Study helps understand molecular mechanism underlying taurine's protection against hepatic fibrosis

Hepatic fibrosis (HF) occurs in most types of chronic liver diseases and approximately 25%-40% of HF cases may ultimately progress to hepatic cirrhosis. Hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) contribute significantly to the occurrence of HF and the activation of HSC is the key issue in the pathogenesis of HF. Taurine is a kind of important anti-injury substance in the body.

21 Apr 2010

Researchers demonstrate role of HSP-90 in portal hypertension

Neural vasoregulation represents a rapid and potent mode of altering vascular tone but has not been investigated thoroughly during portal hypertension. Heat shock protein-90 is well-known to act as a molecular chaperone optimizing endothelial and neural NO-synthase enzyme activity and thus, NO production.

21 Apr 2010

Diagnosis of gastric adenomyoma remains a challenging issue

Gastric adenomyoma (AM) is a rare, benign tumor, characteristically composed of glands and cysts, lined by columnar, flattened epithelia and a prominent smooth muscle stroma. Patients with gastric AM may be asymptomatic, or present as nonspecific gastrointestinal symptoms.

21 Apr 2010

New research indicates patients may develop anemia after gastric bypass surgery

Morbid obesity is one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in Western countries. Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) has become a common procedure for achieving short- and long-term weight loss. It has gained great popularity among surgeons and patients in recent years. Long

21 Apr 2010

Patients dismissed from hospital with noncardiac chest pain continue to experience cardiac events: Study

The growing number of Americans with cardiovascular disease has caused a heightened sensitivity in the evaluation of chest pain. In a study published in the April issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings researchers reported that patients dismissed from the hospital with noncardiac chest pain continue to experience cardiac events, which may highlight a need for more aggressive cardiovascular risk factor management in this population.

21 Apr 2010

MUC1 expression indicates progression of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease

Millions of people are afflicted with inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, and 30 percent of new cases occur in childhood. Mucin 1, an epithelial mucin that has been shown to elicit both an immune response and to have altered glycosylation in disease, may be a noninvasive indicator of the progression of these illnesses.

20 Apr 2010

Temporary occlusion of portal vein may help avoid I/R-related complications in liver surgery

Liver surgery has become a safe procedure in the past years and is mainly done because of malignant tumors. A common strategy to reduce blood loss during surgery is to temporarily shut down the blood supply to the liver [pringle maneuver], which, however may be associated with severe hepatocellular injury and consequent enhanced morbidity.

20 Apr 2010

National health care reform package promises to reduce number of uninsured Americans

The national health care reform package signed by President Obama recently promises to significantly reduce the number of uninsured Americans. According to the Congressional Budget Office, 31 million Americans who are currently uninsured will gain health care coverage under the federal legislation.

20 Apr 2010

Researchers evaluate probiotics' curative effects for treating ulcerative colitis

Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic recurrent disease, which mainly consists of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, and whose causes are as yet unclear. Many clinical and research studies have indicated that intestinal flora dysbacteriosis contributes to the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis. Probiotics are non-pathogenic beneficial flora, which have important effects on maintaining the balance of intestinal flora.

20 Apr 2010

Severe and necrotizing AP characterized by depletion of circulating lymphocytes

Mortality of patients with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) approaches 30%-40%. An imbalance between the early systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), and the later compensatory counter-inflammatory response, and development of multiple organ failure (MOF) are considered to be the primary causes of morbidity and mortality in SAP. Excessive leukocyte activation (including neutrophils and monocyte-macrophage lineage) with cytokinemia play a critical role in the pathogenesis of pancreatitis and even more so, of the subsequent inflammatory response.

20 Apr 2010

S1P5 may serve as future strategy in biotherapy for esophageal cancer: Study

Esophageal cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. Its mortality is very high due to relatively late diagnosis and inefficient treatment. The ability to reverse the outcome of esophageal cancer is limited due to a poor understanding of its biology. Progression of esophageal cancer may be associated with sphingosine 1-phosphate and its receptors S1P1-5, which play an important role in other cancers.

20 Apr 2010

Low-dose aspirin associated with increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding

Low-dose aspirin (LDA) is one of the main agents used for the prevention of thromboembolic vascular events, and has the advantages of both low cost and a prolonged duration of antiplatelet action; however, it is associated with a doubling of the risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, even at doses as low as 75 mg daily. The gender differences in the clinical manifestations of LDA-associated gastroduodenal mucosal injury have not been well studied.

20 Apr 2010

First case of treating cystic fibrosis and Crohn's disease with infliximab

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is the most common life-threatening autosomal recessive disease in Caucasian children; it has an incidence of 1 case in every 2500 children born alive. CF involves an anomalous function of the exocrine glands, caused by a mutation of a gene (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, CFTR) located on chromosome 7, which codes for a protein involved in ion transport through the cell membrane.

20 Apr 2010

Prognosis for IPMN depends on presence of extra-pancreatic cancer: Research

Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the pancreas shows a wide spectrum of histological presentations, ranging from adenoma with mild atypia to adenocarcinoma. In general, branch duct IPMN develops slowly and has a comparatively good prognosis. However, in several studies, it became evident that IPMN is a disease that very frequently coexists with cancer.

20 Apr 2010

IGF-IR plays role in proliferation and motility of pancreatic cancer cell lines: Research

Insulin-like growth factor-I is upregulated in human pancreatic cancer tissues but is not expressed in surrounding non-cancerous tissues. Serum level of IGF-I is elevated in pancreatic cancer patients. Histological analysis has shown that IGF-I receptor is positive in the membrane of pancreatic cancer tissues.

20 Apr 2010

Homeopathy – Is it a safer and effective alternative?

Studies have shown that nearly 45% Britons rely on Homeopathy, a branch of medicine that has been doubted by many and loved by an equal number.

20 Apr 2010

Encorium Group reports 21.4% decrease in fourth-quarter net revenue

Encorium Group, Inc., a full service multinational clinical research organization conducting studies in over 30 countries for many of the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009.

20 Apr 2010