Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, JAMA / 15.08.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Maureen Leonard, MD MMSc Clinical Director, Center for Celiac Research and Treatment Instructor in Pediatrics Associate Investigator, Nutrition Obesity Research Center Harvard Medical School Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition MassGeneral Hospital for Children   MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: In this systematic review, we discuss the clinical approach to celiac disease and nonceliac gluten sensitivity, highlighting how to distinguish between these two conditions and their management. These disorders cannot be distinguished based on symptoms. A single elevated serology test is not diagnostic for celiac disease, and patients with abnormal serologic testing must be referred to a gastroenterologist for further testing and remain on a gluten-containing diet until their diagnostic evaluation is completed. While the treatment for both conditions is a gluten-free diet, the possibility of long-term complications differs. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Microbiome / 28.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Eric I. Benchimol, MD, PhD, FRCPC Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology, University of Ottawa Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario Ottawa, ON Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: We found that living in a rural household (compared to urban households) was protective against developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). People living in a rural household were around 10% less likely to get IBD (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis). While our finding that IBD was more common in people living in urban households was similar to other studies from around the world, there were a number of new, interesting findings:
  1. Living in a rural household was most protective against pediatric-onset IBD. In fact, it was not protective in IBD with onset between ages 18-39, 40-64, or 65 and older at diagnosis.
  2. Living in a rural household in the first 5 years of life was highly protective against IBD later in life.
These findings indicate the importance of early life environmental exposures in the subsequent development of IBD. This effect has been seen in the inflammatory bowel disease literature when examining other environmental risk factors, particularly early-life antibiotic use and air pollution. These risk factors seem to have the strongest effect of increasing the risk of childhood-onset IBD, and not adult-onset disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, Autism, Gastrointestinal Disease, Nutrition / 14.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Bradley James Ferguson, PhD University of Missouri School of Medicine  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Many individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have gastrointestinal problems, such as constipation, irritable bowel syndrome and abdominal pain, but the cause of these GI issues is not currently known. Previous research from our laboratory showed a significant positive relationship between cortisol levels and GI problems, especially for constipation. However, it is possible that other factors such as diet may affect GI functioning, especially since many children have altered diets. This study examined 32 different nutrients in the children’s diets, as assessed by a food frequency questionnaire that assessed the participant’s diet over the past month, and how each nutrient was related to upper and lower GI tract symptom scores over the past month created from the Questionnaire on Pediatric Gastrointestinal Symptoms – Rome III. The results showed no significant relationships between any of the nutrients and GI symptoms, suggesting that diet was not associated with GI symptoms in this sample. (more…)
Author Interviews, BMJ, Gastrointestinal Disease / 09.07.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Ziyad Al-Aly MD FASN Assistant Professor of Medicine Co-director for Clinical Epidemiology Center Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine Saint Louis, Missouri Associate Chief of Staff for Research and Education Veterans Affairs Saint Louis Health Care System MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI) are commonly used, and they are associated with adverse events including kidney disease, dementia, fractures, cardiovascular disease, and pneumonia. We asked the question of whether this translates to increased risk of death. We conducted this large cohort study to specifically examine the association between PPI use and risk of death. The results consistently showed an association between use of PPI and increased mortality risk. Moreover, there was a graded relationship between duration of PPI use and risk of death in that longer duration of use was associated with incrementally higher risk of death. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Pediatrics, Weight Research / 10.06.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Raylene Reimer, PhD, RD Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology University of Calgary Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Cumming School of Medicine Full Scientist Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The human gut microbiota is a complex and dynamic population of microorganisms that benefit the human host through a variety of microbial activities (e.g. production of vitamins, immune regulation, utilization of dietary fiber). Despite these benefits however, it is now recognized that disruption of the microbiota (dysbiosis) can upset homeostasis and contribute to diseases such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. Manipulation of the gut microbiota to prevent or treat chronic disease is now an area of intense scientific and clinical interest. Dietary prebiotics, such as inulin and oligofructose, are used selectively by host microorganisms to confer a health benefit. Prebiotics have previously been shown to reduce body fat, improve appetite control and reduce blood glucose in adults with overweight or obesity. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Lancet, Vaccine Studies / 13.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Leslie Williams, BS, RN, MBA</strong> Director, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer <strong>Dr Robert P Anderson MBChB BMedSc PhD FRACP</strong> Chief Scientific Officer ImmusanT Cambridge, MALeslie Williams, BS, RN, MBA Director, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer and Dr Robert P Anderson MBChB BMedSc PhD FRACP Chief Scientific Officer ImmusanT, Cambridge, MA MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The 2 Phase 1 trials were randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center studies evaluating the safety, tolerability, and relevant bioactivity of Nexvax2 in HLA-DQ2.5+ patients with celiac disease. In one study, patients received three fixed doses of Nexvax2 or placebo once per week over a three-week period. In the other study, patients received 16 fixed doses of Nexvax2 or placebo twice per week over an eight-week period. Both studies evaluated a range of fixed, intradermal dose administrations in a series of ascending dose cohorts, which included a crossover, double-blind, placebo-controlled oral gluten challenge in the screening and post-treatment periods. The primary outcome measures were the number and percentage of adverse events in the treatment period. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease / 13.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Brooks D. Cash, MD Chief, Gastroenterology Division Professor of Medicine University of South Alabama Mobile, AL 36688 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic functional disorder characterized by multiple symptoms including, but not limited to, abdominal pain or discomfort, constipation, diarrhea, urgency of bowel movement (BM), a sensation of incomplete evacuation, pain at evacuation, abdominal bloating, and passage of gas or mucus. IBS can be classified into four primary subtypes: mixed IBS (IBS-M), diarrhea-predominant IBS (IBS-D), constipation-predominant IBS (IBS-C), and unsubtyped IBS (IBS-U). Among adult patients with IBS, a sizeable proportion suffers from IBS-M, with prevalence rates among IBS patients estimated to be between 44% to 66%. Because of the variability in symptoms associated with IBS-M and the lack of effective or approved therapies, clinicians often face challenges in managing this common IBS subtype. PO and its active ingredient, l-Menthol, are kappa opioid agonists, possess smooth muscle calcium channel antagonist and serotonergic (5HT3) antagonist properties, and exert anti-inflammatory, anti-infective, and carminative effect. A recent meta-analysis of medical therapies for IBS found that PO had the lowest number needed to treat among the various options evaluated. The previously published IBS Reduction Evaluation and Safety Trial (IBSREST) showed that PO-SST, a novel formulation of PO using solid-state microspheres to target delivery to the small intestine, was an effective IBS therapy at 24 hours, with improved efficacy at 4 weeks in a combined group of IBS-M and IBS-D patients. In view of the unmet need in IBS-M, we performed a post hoc analysis of the effects of PO-SST among only the IBS-M patients from the IBSREST trial. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Hepatitis - Liver Disease / 10.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Winston Dunn, MD Assistant Professor The University of Kansas Medical Center MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: It is widely believed that everyone with HCV can be cured with the medications now a day. But sadly, about 5% of the patients already have very bad damage done to the liver. We call this decompensated cirrhosis. Our medication is still very effective in curing the virus, but in decompensated cirrhosis, curing the virus is not always enough. Only about half to two-thirds of patients with decompensated cirrhosis clinically gets better, but the remaining struggles along or even gets worse after the cure. That is the problem. So, our research was to understand why that was. We used genetic factor to predict which patient would get better and which patient would not. We found that a gene previous found to be predictive of fatty liver and fibrosis is also predictive of recovery in this setting. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Immunotherapy, NEJM, UCSD / 04.05.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: William J. Sandborn, MD Professor of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Surgery Chief, Division of Gastroenterology Vice Chair for Clinical Operations, Department of Medicine Director, UCSD IBD Center University of California San Diego and UC San Diego Health System MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: There is still a substantial unmet need for new treatments for patients with ulcerative colitis. A previous Phase II study had suggested that tofacitinib might be effective for short term therapy of ulcerative colitis. The patients in that study for the most part had not failed anti-TNF therapy. Now we report the findings from 3 large Phase III trials, two short term trials and one long term trial, demonstrating that tofacitinib 10 mg twice daily is effective for short term therapy, and that both 5 mg and 10 mg twice daily is effective for long term therapy. We also demonstrated that tofacitinib is effective both in patients who have not failed anti-TNF therapy and patients who have failed anti-TNF therapy. The study demonstrated induction of clinical remission, clinical response and mucosal healing (flexible sigmoidoscopy improvement) over the short term, and maintenance of clinical remission, clinical response, and mucosal healing over the long term. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Karolinski Institute, Parkinson's / 29.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Karin Wirdefeldt, MD, PhD Associate professor Karolinska Institutet Stockholm, Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: It has been hypothesized that Parkinson's disease may start in the gut and spread to the brain via the vagal nerve. We found that people who had a truncal vagotomy (ie, the nerve trunk fully resected) at least 5 years earlier were less likely to develop Parkinson's disease compared to people without vagotomy or people who had a selective vagotomy (ie, only branches of the nerve resected). (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Hepatitis - Liver Disease, Transplantation / 24.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jasmohan S. Bajaj, M.D. Virginia Commonwealth University Associate Professor Department of Internal Medicine Division of Gastroenterology MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Hepatic encephalopathy is a devastating complication of cirrhosis, which often recurs despite standard of care therapy with lactulose and rifaximin. This has a basis in an altered gut milieu therefore we need to change that in a more meaningful way to help patients. This was an FDA-monitored Phase I safety study of Fecal microbiome transfer (FMT) using a rationally-derived donor compared to standard of care. We found that FMT was safe and was associated with lower all-cause and hepatic encephalopathy-related hospitalizations over 5 months compared to standard of care. (more…)
Author Interviews, Exercise - Fitness, Gastrointestinal Disease, Microbiome / 10.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Orla O’Sullivan Computational Biologist, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Moorepark, Co. Cork, Ireland  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Previously we had demonstrated that professional rugby players had significantly increased microbial diversity compared to both low and high BMI controls. This microbial diversity correlated with creatine kinase levels in the blood (which we had used as a proxy for exercise) and protein intake. In this present study we went a step further and demonstrated that these same athletes had distinct functional potential in their gut microbes compared to controls and furthermore both the host derived ( urine) and bacterial derived ( faecal water) metabolites were also distinct in the athlete group. In particular we found that the athlete’s microbiome is primed for tissue repair and to harness energy from the diet, reflecting the significant energy demands and high cell-turnover evident in elite sport. Thus, the state of physical fitness is not limited to the host alone; it appears to also include conditioning of the microbiota. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Pediatrics, PLoS, Vitamin D / 10.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Benjamin Udoka Nwosu, MD, FAAP Associate Professor of Pediatrics Division of Endocrinology University of Massachusetts Medical School Worcester, Massachusetts MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Vitamin D deficiency has been reported in various gastrointestinal disorders but the vitamin D status of children and adolescents with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has not been previously characterized. Secondly, the vitamin D status in IBS has not been compared to those of other malabsorption syndromes such as irritable bowel syndrome, lactose intolerance, and celiac disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, JAMA / 04.04.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Ann Kurth, Task Force member Dean of the Yale School of Nursing Adjunct professor New York University College of Nursing and the College of Global Public Health. MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Celiac disease, an immune disorder where people should not eat food with gluten, is fairly prevalent. When people with celiac disease eat foods containing gluten, which is found in wheat, rye and barley, their body responds by inflaming or destroying villi—the tiny, fingerlike projections on the inner lining of the small intestine–which prevents the body from absorbing the necessary nutrients from food. (more…)
Author Interviews, C. difficile, Gastrointestinal Disease, JAMA, Mayo Clinic / 29.03.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sahil Khanna, M.B.B.S. MS Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most common cause of hospital-acquired diarrhea and has recently shown increasing incidence especially in the community. Novel risk factors for CDI development include the use of gastric acid suppression medication, presence of systemic comorbid conditions, C difficile carriage in water and food sources, amongst others. Gastric acid suppression medications such as proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) and histamine-2 receptor blockers (H2Bs) are commonly prescribed and consumed over the counter for gastroesophageal reflux disease, peptic ulcer disease, or functional dyspepsia, but they are also sometimes prescribed for unnecessary indications, which leads to overuse of these medications. Recurrent CDI after a primary infection is a major problem, with the risk being as high as 50% to 60% after 3 or more Clostridium difficile infections. Data on the association between acid suppression and recurrent CDI are conflicting and therefore we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to study the association between the use of gastric acid suppression medications and the risk of recurrent CDI. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Microbiome / 28.03.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Pauline Scanlan Royal Society-Science Foundation Ireland University Research Fellow/APC Faculty, APC Microbiome Institute, Biosciences, University College Cork, Éire MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The human gut is host to an incredible diversity of microbes collectively known as the gut microbiome. Each of us has a unique collection of bacterial strains that form part of the gut microbiome. This uniqueness is of potentially crucial importance with respect to host health as we know that differences in bacterial strain diversity within species could have a range of positive or negative consequences for the human host. For example, some strains of a given bacteria are harmless whilst another strain of the same bacterial species could kill you. A classic example of such a difference in strain functionality is exemplified by the gut bacterium Escherichia coli – one strain called E. coli Nissle 1917 is used as a probiotic and another, E. coli O157:H7, has been responsible for a number of deadly food-borne pathogen outbreaks. Therefore a better understanding of what drives bacterial strain diversity is not just fundamental to our understanding of the ecology and evolution of microbes but is also highly relevant for improvements in human health and disease prevention. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Inflammation, Microbiome, Nature / 19.03.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Justin E. Wilson, Ph.D On behalf of the authors Research Assistant Professor - Laboratory of Jenny Ting Department of Genetics Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, NC 27599 MedicalResearch.com: Could you provide me with some background on this project? Why did you decide to do this research project? What prior work led up to this latest paper? Response: Previous work from our lab and others discovered two major points about NLRP12: a) NLRP12 suppresses inflammation in response to bacterial components b) NLRP12 provides protection against the inflammatory bowel disease colitis and colitis-associated colon cancer (i.e., Nlrp12-defcient mice have greater colon inflammation and inflammation-driven colon cancer). Therefore, we wanted to know if Nlrp12 was regulating inflammation in the colon by responding to the trillions of intestinal microbes collective referred to as the microbiome. Mounting evidence also indicates that the immune system both responds to and influences the composition of the intestinal microbiome during intestinal health and disease, and we hypothesized that NLRP12 could be one of the important immune components during this process. Moreover, we were also interested in this topic because targeting the microbiome to treat inflammatory disorders and other diseases is an attractive method that has many advantages over immune suppression. (more…)
Author Interviews, C. difficile, Gastrointestinal Disease, Microbiome, Transplantation / 14.03.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. H. L. DuPont MD Director, Center for Infectious Diseases, UTHealth School of Public Health Mary W. Kelsey Chair in the Medical Sciences, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Professor, Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences UTHealth School of Public Health Houston, TX 77030 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Many diseases and disorders are associated with “dysbiosis,” where the intestinal microbiota diversity is reduced. This contributes to disease and to the acquisition of antibiotic resistance. Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is successful in conditions with pure dysbiosis (e.g. C diff infection) and a single dose of FMT is curative in most cases. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Surgical Research / 11.03.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Ronnie Fass, MD Professor, School of Medicine Case Western Reserve University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The endoscopic radiofrequency procedure (Stretta) has been used for more than a decade to treat patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Over time, there were several Meta-analyses with variable designs of the Stretta procedure providing conflicting results. Thus, the purpose of the current systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the efficacy of the Stretta procedure using all currently available controlled and cohort studies. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Infections, Microbiome, Rheumatology, Science / 11.02.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Randy Longman, M.D. / Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine Jill Roberts Center and Institute for Research in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Weill Cornell Medicine Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Joan and Sanford I. Weill Department of Medicine Department of Microbiology and Immunology New York, NY 10021  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Inflammatory bowel disease is not limited to intestinal inflammation.  Up to 1/3 of patients with active disease suffer from extra-intestinal manifestations. The most common extra-intestinal manifestations in IBD is joint inflammation or spondyloarthritis.  Peripheral joint spondyloarthritis  carries a prevalence of 20% in Crohn’s Disease and 10% in Ulcerative Colitis, predominantly affecting joints of the lower limbs.  It has long been suggested that gut bacteria can drive this systemic joint inflammation, but microbial targets have not been characterized. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Microbiome / 01.02.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Fernando Azpiroz, MD, PhD Chief of the Department of Digestive Diseases University Hospital Vall d’Hebron Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This open-label, single-arm study, included 26 healthy volunteers who did not have gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms or a history of GI disorders, and were not required to change their diets during treatment. Twenty participants were included in the main evaluation and six were included as control subjects. Participants in the main study were given HOST-G904 (2.8 g/day) for three weeks, during which time they followed their usual diet. In the evaluation periods (three-day periods immediately before, at the beginning and at the end of the administration), the participants followed a standardized low-fiber diet with one portion of high-fiber foods, at which time the investigators measured the following: (1) number of daytime gas evacuations for two days; (2) volume of gas evacuated; and (3) microbiome composition (as measured by fecal Illumina MiSeq sequencing). (more…)
Author Interviews, Autism, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Gastrointestinal Disease, Microbiome / 26.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Maria Rosaria Fiorentino, PhD Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School Molecular Biologist at Mucosal Immunology and Biology Research Center Massachusetts General Hospital East Charlestown, MA 02129-4404 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) refers to complex neurodevelopmental disorders arising from the interaction of genes and environmental factors. There are no defined mechanisms explaining how environmental triggers can lead to these conditions. One hypothesis based on the gut-brain axis connection suggests that inappropriate antigens trafficking through an impaired intestinal barrier, followed by passage of these antigens through a permissive blood-brain barrier (BBB), can be part of the chain of events leading to the disease. Many Autism Spectrum Disorders children experience co-morbid medical conditions, including gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunctions whose underlying nature is poorly understood. Several clinical observations describe increased intestinal permeability in ASD with often conflicting findings. Permeability to neuroactive food antigens derived from the partial digestion of wheat (gliadorphins) and cow’s milk (casomorphins) has been reported in ASD. However, while evidence of a permeable gut barrier in ASD is increasingly reported, no information is available concerning a similar breach for the BBB. The BBB is a critical line of defense in the Central Nervous System, limiting the access of circulating solutes, macromolecules, and cells that could negatively impact neuronal activity. Dysfunctions of the BBB have been associated with numerous inflammatory neurologic disorders, such as stroke, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Surgical Research / 24.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Mark Noar Director of The Heartburn and Reflux Study Center Towson, MD  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The background for this study was developed out of a need to know whether the Stretta procedure was effective in both the short and long-term in all forms of reflux. This included standard refluxing patients who had never had surgery but also in the subpopulation of patients who had recurring reflux after having had reflux corrective surgery. The question to be answered was whether the Stretta procedure would be less effective, more effective, or just as effective in the patient who had had prior surgery compared to patients who did not have surgery. The main findings were that independent of whether a patient had had surgery for the correction of reflux or just had standard reflux without prior surgery, the Stretta procedure was equally effective in all patient subgroups both in the short-term and the long-term. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Pediatrics / 17.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Acupuncture Wikipedia imageDr Kajsa Landgren Faculty of Medicine, Department of Health Sciences Lund University, Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Infantile colic is common, affecting 10-20% of newborns. These infants have intense crying and fussing, more than 3 hours/day more than 3 days/week. There is no medical treatment, causing desperate parents to seek complementary medicine. The evidence for acupuncture is sparse. In this trial including 147 infants with colic, we tested two types of acupuncture. Both types of acupuncture were minimal, i.e needles were inserted for only a few seconds without further stimulation. Group A received only one single needle for 2-5 seconds. Group B received up to five needle insertions for maximum 30 seconds. A third group, C, received no acupuncture. All families came to four extra visits to their Child Health Center where they met a nurse who gave advice and support. During these visits the infants were separated from their parents for five minutes, being alone with an acupuncturist who gave acupuncture to the infants in group A and B, but not to infants in group C. Parents and the nurse were blinded to which group the infant was randomized to. (more…)
Author Interviews, Dermatology, Gastrointestinal Disease / 15.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alexander Egeberg, MD PhD Gentofte Hospital Department of Dermatology and Allergy Denmark MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been associated with increased prevalence of HS, but data has been limited to small studies and even less is known about the concurrence and risk of new-onset IBD in patients with pre-existing HS. In our study, we found a higher prevalence of Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in patients with HS. Notably, there was a more than two-fold increased risk of new-onset Crohn’s disease and a 63% increased risk of new-onset ulcerative colitis in patients with Hidradenitis suppurativa compared with the general population. (more…)
Author Interviews, Autism, Gastrointestinal Disease, Psychological Science / 05.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: David Q. Beversdor MD Center for Translational Neuroscience University Hospital University of Missouri Health System Columbia, MO 65212 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Altered stress reactivity, alterations in cytokines and a high incidence of gastrointestinal disturbances have all been observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We wished to examine the interactions between these factors. What we found was that patients with greater stress reactivity, as indicated by cortisol response in the testing environment, had greater symptomatology involving the lower gastrointestinal tract, which was predominated by constipation. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Hepatitis - Liver Disease / 05.01.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Paul Y. Kwo, MD, FACG Stanford University School of Medicine MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: This guideline, which was jointly authored by Drs. Kwo, Cohen, and Lim provides a framework for physicians to approach the very common problem encountered of a patient whose liver chemistries are abnormal. This is particularly relevant as there remain large pools of individuals who have yet to be diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B and C, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, advanced liver disease as well as less common conditions, all of whom will require evaluation. In particular, the rise in the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease worldwide will be addressed in part by identifying and evaluating these individuals prior to the development of advanced fibrosis. The guideline takes clinicians through a step-wise approach to the evaluation of elevated aminotransferase (ALT and AST), alkaline phosphatase, and bilirubin levels including appropriate historical questions, important physical examination findings, laboratory , radiological evaluation and finally liver biopsy if required. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, HIV, Inflammation / 15.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Jamal Tazi Director, Institute for Molecular Genetics CNRS and University of Montpellier and Executive Committee Member ABIVAX MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Its long been established that people with HIV, even those treated successfully with antiretroviral treatment, exhibit significantly higher levels of chronic inflammation than HIV-negative people. The causes of this inflammation are many – ongoing viral replication, often in the so-called viral reservoirs, leaky gut syndrome, concomitant viral infections (eg CMV, hepatitis etc). (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Mental Health Research, Nature, Probiotics / 02.12.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Elizabeth Bryda, PhD Professor, Director, Rat Resource and Research Center Veterinary Pathobiology University of Missouri Columbia, Missouri MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: A number of groups have demonstrated the ability of probiotics to benefit digestive health and there is a growing body of evidence to suggest an association between mental health and “gut health”. We were interested to see if probiotic bacteria could decrease anxiety- or stress-related behavior in a controlled setting using zebrafish as our model organism of choice for these studies. We were able to show that Lactobacillus plantarum decreased overall anxiety-related behavior and protected against stress-induced dysbiosis (microbial imbalance). The fact that administration of probiotic bacteria also protected other resident gut bacteria from the dramatic changes seen in “stressed” fish not receiving the probiotic was unexpected and suggested that these bacteria may be working at the level of the GI tract and the central nervous system. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gastrointestinal Disease, Genetic Research / 23.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Mauro D’Amato Ikerbasque Research Professor Head, Unit of Gastrointestinal Genetics, Department of Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases BioDonostia Health Research Institute San Sebastian, Spain MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a very common condition, whose underlying pathophysiology is poorly understood. People with IBS often complain certain foods trigger their symptoms and, at least in some patients, incomplete breakdown of carbohydrates may result in malabsorption with diarrhoea, bloating and abdominal pain. At the extreme of the spectrum of such clinical manifestations, this is what happens in a hereditary form of sucrose intolerance, the congenital sucrase-isomaltase deficiency (CSID) due to mutations in the Si gene that lead to defective enzymatic disaccharidase activity in the gut. Because IBS shows genetic predisposition, we tested the hypothesis that mutations and DNA variants affecting SI enzyme function may confer increased risk of IBS. We studied almost 2000 individuals from several clinics from Europe and USA, and found out that rare SI mutations and other more common defective DNA variants are indeed more frequent in patients than healthy controls. (more…)