The Rising Costs of Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease and More in the February Issue of AJG

A modeling study projecting the economic and social burden of alcohol-associated liver disease by 2040 is featured in the February 2024 issue of AJG, just one month after the new ACG Clinical Guideline on Alcohol-Associated Liver Disease

Studies on Higher Infliximab Concentrations in IBD, Opioid-Related Constipation and More in the November Issue of AJG

The November issue of AJG highlights new clinical science and reviews including additional colonoscopy quality measures, higher infliximab concentrations in IBD patients with higher visceral adipose tissue (VAT), an automated tissue systems pathology test for Barrett’s esophagus, and opioid-related constipation.

Digital Therapeutics and Innovations in GI Highlighted in the August Issue of AJG

The August issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology includes several articles on digital therapeutics and innovations in GI, encouraging adoption of emerging GI technologies to advance GI care.

May Issue of AJG Features Colonoscopy Quality and Bowel Prep, CME on Social Media

The May issue of AJG features new clinical science and reviews, including bowel prep recommendations for physicians, longer withdrawal times for screening colonoscopy, the use of social media for continuing medical education, and tofacitinib de-escalation and re-escalation for ulcerative colitis.

The use of artificial sweeteners have been investigated for their potential negative consequences in a number of chronic conditions.

Dr. Abigail Basson, PhD, RD, LD, is a registered dietitian and NIH-funded Instructor in the Department of Nutrition with a secondary appointment with the Division of Gastroenterology, School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. Abigail’s research goal is to…

April Issue of AJG Discusses Colorectal Cancer Risk Factors, H. pylori Infection, and Crohn’s Therapies

The April issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology highlights new clinical science, including an examination of changes in lifestyle habits and risk of colorectal cancer

Genetic variation that protected against Black Death still helps against respiratory diseases today, but increases autoimmune disease risks

The same genetics that helped some of our ancestors fight the plague is still likely to be at work in our bodies today, potentially providing some of the population with extra protection against respiratory diseases such as COVID-19. However, there is a trade-off, where this same variation is also linked to increased autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.

Can Butyrate Help Hispanic Children With Ulcerative Colitis?

New study is the first of its kind to focus on Hispanic children, who often have more severe disease. A novel clinical trial at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles is investigating whether butyrate—a short-chain fatty acid typically produced by gut bacteria—can be a potential therapy for children with ulcerative colitis.

Transcutaneous Electrical Acustimulation for IBS-C, Infliximab Retreatment for Crohn’s Disease Featured in September Issue of AJG

The September issue of AJG highlights new clinical science, including a potential therapy to improve IBS-C symptoms, reintroduction of infliximab for Crohn’s disease, and population-based data to examine incidence and mortality of certain GI and hepatology diseases.

Smartphone App to Assess Stool Form, Rural-Urban Disparities in Cirrhosis Mortality, Lung Infection Risk in Severe Alcoholic Hepatitis in July Issue of AJG

The July issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology highlights new clinical science including using a smartphone app to assess stool form, rural-urban disparities in cirrhosis mortality, and lung infection risk in severe alcohol-related hepatitis. This issue also includes articles on pediatric IBD, therapy options for Crohn’s disease, a novel endoscopic suturing device, proton pump inhibitors, and more.

COVID-19 Vaccine Gets Strong Response in Some With Weak Immunity

Researchers at Cedars-Sinai found that patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)─whose treatment can weaken the immune system─produced a strong antibody response to COVID-19 vaccination. The study findings have been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

New Clinical Advances in Gastroenterology Presented at the American College of Gastroenterology’s 86th Annual Scientific Meeting

Featured science includes increased incidence of pancreatic cancer among young women, quality of life improvements in IBD, colorectal cancer risk from weight loss surgery and medications, and more

Gene Mutation Weakens Virus-Fighting Protein in the Gut Causing Rare Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers, in collaboration with national and international researchers, have identified a genetic mutation in a small number of children with a rare type of inflammatory bowel disease. The discovery of the mutation, which weakens the activity of a protein linked to how the immune system fights viruses in the gut, may help researchers pinpoint the cause of more common bowel diseases, investigators say.

Fungi That Live in the Gut Influence Health and Disease

Bacteria’s role in gut health has received a lot of attention in recent years. But new research publishing in Nature shows that fungi—another microorganism that lives within us—may be equally important in health and disease. Fungi thrive in the healthy gut, but when interactions with the immune system are off-balance, they cause intestinal damage that may contribute to gastrointestinal disease. Additional investigation demonstrate that vaccines could be developed as therapeutics to improve gut health.

Cleveland Clinic Researchers Discover Microbial Infection That Impairs Healing in Crohn’s Disease

A Cleveland Clinic-led team of researchers has discovered an infection that prevents healing in Crohn’s disease. According to study results published in Science, a type of yeast commonly found in cheese and processed meat is elevated in areas of unhealed wounds in Crohn’s disease patients, a discovery that may point to much-needed new treatment or prevention approaches for the common inflammatory bowel disease. The work was led by Thaddeus Stappenbeck, M.D., PhD., chair of Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute’s Department of Inflammation and Immunity.

Multi-Population Risk Scores Could Improve Risk Prediction for Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Study Finds

New study illustrates how studying diverse populations can help predict patient outcomes and reduce health disparities

Genetic Risk for Fatal Blood Clots Identified in IBD Patients

Blood clots are the biggest cause of death in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) ─ ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease. In a retrospective study recently published in the journal Gastroenterology, Cedars-Sinai investigators found that a combination of rare and common genetic variants in some IBD patients significantly increased their risk of developing clot-causing thromboembolic diseases.

CHOP Genomic Study Reveals Role for Hypothalamus in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Using sophisticated 3D genomic mapping and integrating with public data resulting from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) have found significant genetic correlations between inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and stress and depression. The researchers went on to implicate new genes involved in IBD risk that are enriched in both derived hypothalamic neurons, from a part of the brain that has a vital role in controlling stress and depression, and organoids derived from colon cells, a region more commonly studied in the context of IBD.

Delta Opioid Receptor Identified as Promising Therapeutic Target for Inflammatory Pain Relief

Delta opioid receptors have a built-in mechanism for pain relief and can be precisely targeted with drug-delivering nanoparticles—making them a promising target for treating chronic inflammatory pain with fewer side effects, according to a new study from an international team of researchers. The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), was conducted using cells from humans and mice with inflammatory bowel disease, which can cause chronic pain.

Case Western Reserve University researchers discover critical link to controlling inflammation in Crohn’s disease

Investigators at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine discovered that blocking interleukin-1α (IL1α), a protein that controls inflammation in the gut, markedly decreases the severity of intestinal inflammation in a mouse model of Crohn’s disease (CD).