How do mammals keep two biologically crucial metabolites in balance during times when they are feeding, sleeping, and fasting? The answer may require rewriting some textbooks.
During the past decade, the gut has experienced a renaissance as investigations focus on the role of the microbiome on human health. While most studies have focused on bacteria, the dominant microbial inhabitants in the gut, scientists at University of Utah Health Sciences used mouse studies to show the role of yeast in aggravating the symptoms of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). Their work suggests that allopurinol, a generic drug already on the market, could offer some relief.
The UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center joined the National Cancer Institute and about 48 other sites to increase colorectal cancer screening rates. Colorectal cancer is one of the few cancer types, of the more than 100 known cancer types, for which screening has been proven to reduce the risk of death.
The scientists discovered the antiprotozoal drug pentamidine disrupts the cell surface of Gram-negative bacteria, even the most resistant. The anti-fungal medication was particularly potent when used with antibiotics against multidrug resistant bacteria.
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center are teaming up to take on the rising problem of antibiotic resistance.
A new study from researchers at the UAB shows that Parkinson’s disease, and medications to treat Parkinson’s, have distinct effects on the composition of the trillions of bacteria that make up the gut microbiome.
Most people know doctors recommend a colonoscopy at age 50 to screen for colorectal cancers. What they might not know is that earlier screening may be necessary if they have a family history of colorectal cancer or other diseases.
Researchers demonstrate, for the first time that inhaled resveratrol treatments slow aging-related degenerative changes in mouse lung. Lung aging, characterized by airspace enlargement and decreasing lung function, is a significant risk factor for chronic human lung diseases.
Taking popular heartburn medication for prolonged periods may lead to serious kidney damage, even in people who show no signs of kidney problems, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System. The drugs are sold under brand names such as Prevacid, Prilosec, Nexium and Protonix.
Melanoma patients’ response to a major form of immunotherapy is associated with the diversity and makeup of trillions of potential allies and enemies found in the digestive tract, researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center report at the ASCO-Society for Immunotherapy in Cancer meeting in Orlando.
Nathan Schmidt, Ph.D., has shown that microbes in the gut of mice can affect the severity of illness suffered from infection with Plasmodium, the parasite that causes malaria. He now begins research to determine which microbiota protect the host and to learn more about the mechanism behind that protection.
University of British Columbia microbiologists have found a yeast in the gut of new babies in Ecuador that appears to be a strong predictor that they will develop asthma in childhood. The new research furthers our understanding of the role microscopic organisms play in our overall health.
A new study led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) has found that lower levels of vitamin D in the blood increase the risk of clinical relapse in patients with Ulcerative Colitis (UC), an inflammatory bowel disease that causes long-lasting inflammation and ulcers in the colon. The study was published in the February issue of the journal Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
A unique study recently published in the authoritative Pediatric Nephrology medical journal shows that excess lipoproteins and fatty acids may be associated with the development of painful and often chronic kidney stones in children.
The ability of small intestine cells to absorb nutrients and act as a barrier to pathogens is “significantly decreased” after chronic exposure to nanoparticles of titanium dioxide, a common food additive found in everything from chewing gum to bread, according to research from Binghamton University
When it comes to what certain foods can do to or for you, it’s probably best to take motherly advice, familiar sayings and other bits of conventional wisdom with a grain of salt.
In a clinical trial, adults who consumed a diet rich in whole grains rather than refined grains had modest improvements in healthy gut microbiota and certain immune responses.
Doctors have long understood that antibiotics that protect infants from infection also can disrupt the normal growth of their gut bacteria. However, a new study reveals that the consequences of routine antibiotic use may be deeper and longer lasting than expected.
The study, published Feb. 8 in Science Translational Medicine, shows that short-term disruption of gut bacteria makes infant mice more likely to develop pneumonia. It also makes them more likely to die from it.
A study led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has uncovered key molecular pathways behind the disruption of the gut’s delicate balance of bacteria during episodes of inflammatory disease.
Dr. David Carr-Locke has been recruited as clinical director of the Center for Advanced Digestive Care (CADC) at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he will be reporting to the Executive Directors.
Northwestern University researchers studying the gut bacteria of Scott and Mark Kelly, NASA astronauts and identical twin brothers, as part of a unique human study have found that changes to certain gut “bugs” occur in space.
Neutron analysis at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory is helping researchers better understand a key enzyme found in a bacterium known to cause stomach cancer.
Understanding the details of this enzyme, and thus the Helicobacter pylori bacteria’s metabolism and biological pathways, could be central to developing drugs that act against H. pylori, but that do not attack the stomach’s useful bacteria.
A new clinical guideline from the American College of Gastroenterology offers the first recommendations in over 10 years on the evaluation of abnormal liver chemistries. For the first time in a liver test guideline, the authors define a normal healthy serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level for women and men (up to 25 IU/L for women, up to 33 IU/L for men) and recommend that levels above this should be assessed by physicians.
A clinical trial at Sanford Health is studying if an immunotherapy drug developed by Merck might be able to treat certain patients with advanced esophageal cancer. The Merck Keynote 181 trial is now open at Sanford.
Using immature stem cells to create a miniature model of the gut in the laboratory, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the University of Pittsburgh have determined how infection-causing enteroviruses enter the intestine.
A recent review of research suggests that changes to the microorganisms (microbiota) in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract may be a cause of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). The review article is published in the American Journal of Physiology—Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology.
People with Type 1 diabetes exhibit inflammation in the digestive tract and gut bacteria¬—a pattern that differs from individuals who do not have diabetes or those who have celiac disease, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have uncovered the mechanism by which the stress hormone FGF21 keeps digestive enzymes from damaging the pancreas.
Collaboration will investigate the efficacy of a system biology approach to identifying treatment options for patients with advanced gastrointestinal stromal tumors.
A new comprehensive review examines the potential health benefits of resistant starch, a form of starch that is not digested in the small intestine and is therefore considered a type of dietary fibre.
One in 68 American children lives with autism spectrum disorder, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many of these children also have significant gastrointestinal issues, but the cause of these symptoms is unknown. Now, researchers from the University of Missouri School of Medicine suggest that the gastrointestinal issues in these individuals with autism may be related to an increased reaction to stress. It’s a finding the researchers hope could lead to better treatment options for these patients.
Scientists report in Nature using pluripotent stem cells to generate human stomach tissues in a petri dish that produce acid and digestive enzymes. Publishing their findings online Jan. 4, researchers at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center grew tissues from the stomach’s corpus/fundus region. The study comes two years after the same team generated the stomach’s hormone-producing region (the antrum).
The discovery means investigators now can grow both parts of the human stomach to study disease.
A new study led by Cedars-Sinai investigators dramatically illustrates the complexity of cancer by identifying more than 2,000 genetic mutations in tissue samples of esophageal tumors. The findings reveal that even different areas of individual tumors have various genetic patterns.
PHOENIX – How do medical professionals determine whether or not a patient has experienced a post-operative complication? A team of Mayo Clinic physicians and researchers has published results of a three-year study examining mechanisms for measuring and reporting postoperative infection complications. The study analyzed patient admissions between 2012 and 2014 at the four teaching hospitals across Mayo Clinic’s campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. The results are published online in the Annals of Surgery.
Mayo Clinic researchers and a team of collaborating scientists from across the country have determined the comparative effectiveness of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), aspirin and several supplements in preventing the recurrence of advanced neoplasia (polyps that are the precursor of colorectal cancer) after polyp removal.
A study of unprecedented scale has led researchers to identify four previously unknown genetic risk locations for primary sclerosing cholangitis, a liver disease that lacks effective medical therapy. A Dec. 19 article in Nature Genetics highlights the undertaking, which is the largest genome-wide association study of primary sclerosing cholangitis to date and a step toward providing breakthrough treatments for the unmet needs of primary sclerosing cholangitis patients.
Using targeted immunotherapy, doctors have succeeded in curing a type of autoimmune enteritis caused by a recently discovered genetic mutation. This report comes from researchers at the Department of Biomedicine of the University of Basel and University Hospital Basel. Their results raise new possibilities for the management of diarrhea, which is often a side effect of melanoma treatment.
Mental disorders and physical diseases frequently go hand in hand. For the first time, psychologists at the University of Basel and Ruhr University Bochum have identified temporal patterns in young people: arthritis and diseases of the digestive system are more common after depression, while anxiety disorders tend to be followed by skin diseases.
EL PASO, Texas — Co-principal investigators Richard McCallum, M.D., and Irene Sarosiek, M.D., have received a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). The funds will support basic research and clinical trials on patients living with a digestive disorder named gastroparesis.
Inflammation is one of the main reasons why people with diabetes experience heart attacks, strokes, kidney problems and other, related complications. Now, in a surprise finding, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have discovered, in mice, that when certain immune cells can’t manufacture fat, the mice don’t develop diabetes and inflammation, even when consuming a high-fat diet.
Novel biomedical research uncovers tie between genetic variant and energy expenditure – a potential biological pathway to increase calorie burn and weight loss
Hundreds of researchers on the leading edge of exercise science will meet at the Integrative Biology of Exercise meeting in Phoenix (Nov. 2–4). Symposia topics will cover brain cell stress responses, metabolic diseases, mitochondrial signaling, sedentary behavior, exercise and pregnancy, cardiovascular disease, aging, stem cells and more.
Crohn’s disease can have devastating consequences and is notoriously hard to treat. Now, scientists have made a discovery that could explain why Crohn’s is so variable: the disease has at least two distinct subtypes, each with its own pattern of gene expression and mix of clinical features.
The American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) announces the winners of the 2016 SCOPY Awards (Service Award for Colorectal Cancer Outreach, Prevention and Year-Round Excellence) to recognize the achievements of ACG members in their community engagement, education and awareness efforts for colorectal cancer prevention.