T. Tran, A. Ferrari, S. Hoeck, M. Peeters, G. Van Hal
{"title":"Colorectal Cancer Screening: Have We Addressed Concerns and Needs of the Target Population?","authors":"T. Tran, A. Ferrari, S. Hoeck, M. Peeters, G. Van Hal","doi":"10.3390/gidisord3040018","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3040018","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the recognized benefits of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, uptake is still suboptimal in many countries. In addressing this issue, one important element that has not received sufficient attention is population preference. Our review provides a comprehensive summary of the up-to-date evidence relative to this topic. Four OVID databases were searched: Ovid MEDLINE® ALL, Biological Abstracts, CAB Abstracts, and Global Health. Among the 742 articles generated, 154 full texts were selected for a more thorough evaluation based on predefined inclusion criteria. Finally, 83 studies were included in our review. The general population preferred either colonoscopy as the most accurate test, or fecal occult blood test (FOBT) as the least invasive for CRC screening. The emerging blood test (SEPT9) and capsule colonoscopy (nanopill), with the potential to overcome the pitfalls of the available techniques, were also favored. Gender, age, race, screening experience, education and beliefs, the perceived risk of CRC, insurance, and health status influence one’s test preference. To improve uptake, CRC screening programs should consider offering test alternatives and tailoring the content and delivery of screening information to the public’s preferences. Other logistical measures in terms of the types of bowel preparation, gender of endoscopist, stool collection device, and reward for participants can also be useful.","PeriodicalId":73131,"journal":{"name":"Gastrointestinal disorders (Basel, Switzerland)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-10-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45852452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Microbiome–Gut Dissociation: Investigating the Origins of Obesity","authors":"David Smith, S. Jheeta","doi":"10.3390/gidisord3040017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3040017","url":null,"abstract":"The reduction of excessive weight remains a major public health challenge, with control currently limited to a calorie reduction strategy. Currently, attempts are being made at revisiting the fibre hypothesis based on the African studies of Denis Burkitt, that the lack of dietary fibre in the modern diet was responsible for the occurrence of obesity and many of the other non-communicable diseases of what he called “Western civilization”. However, the dilemma is that Burkitt himself stressed that other peoples of his day, such as the Maasai, remained healthy without consuming such high fibre diets. Equally, the present obesity epidemic is accompanied by diseases of a malfunctioning immune system and of poor mental health that do not seem to be adequately explained simply by a deficiency of dietary fibre. Though unknown in Burkitt’s day, an increasing degradation of a mutualistic intestinal microbiome would offer a better fit to the observed epidemiology, especially if the microbiome is not effectively passed on from mother to child at birth. Taking the broader view, in this article we posit a view of the microbiome as a cofactor of mammalian evolution, in which a maternal microbial inheritance complements the parental genetic inheritance of the animal, both engaging epigenetic processes. As this would require the microbiome to be fully integrated with the animal as it develops into an adult, so we have a meaningful evolutionary role for the microbiome–gut–brain axis. By a failure to correctly establish a microbiome–gut interface, the inhibition of maternal microbial inheritance sets the scene for the future development of non-communicable disease: compromised immune system function on the one hand and dysfunctional gut–brain communication on the other. The basic principle is that the fully functioning, diverse, microbiome achieves interkingdom communication by the generation of messenger chemicals, semiochemicals. It is envisaged that the in situ detection of these as yet ill-defined chemical entities by means of an ingestible sensor would indicate the severity of disease and provide a guide as to its amelioration.","PeriodicalId":73131,"journal":{"name":"Gastrointestinal disorders (Basel, Switzerland)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45490618","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Hunter J. Friesen, Meenal Singh, Vivekanand Singh, J. Schurman, C. Friesen
{"title":"A Survey of Methodologies for Assessing Mast Cell Density and Activation in Patients with Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders","authors":"Hunter J. Friesen, Meenal Singh, Vivekanand Singh, J. Schurman, C. Friesen","doi":"10.3390/gidisord3040016","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3040016","url":null,"abstract":"The aim was to assess methods utilized in assessing mast cell involvement in functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs), specifically to describe variability in methods utilized to assess both mast cell density and activation and determine if a consensus exists. After a literature search identified 70 manuscripts assessing mast cell density, data were extracted including FAPD diagnosis, site of biopsy, selection of microscopic fields analyzed, selection of mucosal region analyzed, method of mast cell identification, method to assess mast cell density, and if performed, method to assess mast cell activation. There appears to be some consensus favoring inmmunohistochemical stains over histochemical stains for identifying mast cells. Otherwise, considerable variability exists in methodology for assessing mast cell density and activation. Regardless of method, approximately 80% of studies found increased mast cell density and/or activation in comparison to controls with no method being superior. A wide variety of methods have been employed to assess mast cell density and activation with no well-established consensus and inadequate data to recommend specific approaches. The current methodology providing physiologic information needs to be translated to a standard methodology providing clinical information with the development of criteria establishing abnormal density and/or activation, and more importantly, predicting treatment response.","PeriodicalId":73131,"journal":{"name":"Gastrointestinal disorders (Basel, Switzerland)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46016788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Crohn’s Disease: The infectious Disease Incorporated’s Perspective","authors":"G. Monif","doi":"10.3390/gidisord3030015","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3030015","url":null,"abstract":"Infectious Diseases Incorporated (IDI) is an infectious disease think-tank, established in 1973. Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic, recurrent disease of the gastrointestinal tract that has reached epidemic proportions within industrialized nations. CD is said to be without cure. Since 2003, therapeutic interventions have focused on disruption of the pro-inflammatory Th1 response against an unknown antigen. In 2015, the Hruska Postulate was introduced and, in so doing, explained how, in the absence of acquired immunity, newborn infection by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis could cause fixation of the immune system’s Th1 response against the organism. The Hruska Postulate was utilized to answer all the documented epidemiological facts embedded in the natural history of Crohn’s disease and, in particular, why breastfeeding confers protection against the future development of Crohn’s disease. It is Infectious Diseases Incorporated’s (IDI) stated opinion that Crohn’s disease is both preventable and curable if treated appropriately in its early stages.","PeriodicalId":73131,"journal":{"name":"Gastrointestinal disorders (Basel, Switzerland)","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41621757","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Sustained Crohn’s Disease Remission with an Exclusive Elemental and Exclusion Diet: A Case Report","authors":"Farhad Mehrtash","doi":"10.3390/gidisord3030014","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3030014","url":null,"abstract":"The incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases, such as Crohn’s disease (CD), is increasing worldwide. Despite several new therapeutics to treat CD, many patients fail to respond to their medications and inevitably face surgical resection. While genetics plays a role in CD, environmental factors are potential triggers. Recent research from the past few years suggest that pro-inflammatory foods are associated with an increased risk of CD. Some studies have shown the benefit of including exclusion diets, such as the specific carbohydrate diet (SCD) and exclusive elemental diets, to induce CD remission, but published data is limited. This case study explores how an exclusive elemental and exclusion diet helped induce clinical and biochemical remission and radiologic healing in a young adult male who had failed to achieve remission using standard medical treatment. C-reactive protein (CRP), fecal calprotectin, and magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) served as objective markers of inflammation in this study.","PeriodicalId":73131,"journal":{"name":"Gastrointestinal disorders (Basel, Switzerland)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46288816","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Correction: Farrukh, A.; Mayberry, J. Apparent Disparities in Hospital Admission and Biologic Use in the Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease between 2014–2018 in Some Black and Ethnic Minority (BEM) Populations in England. Gastrointest. Disord. 2020, 2, 144–151","authors":"A. Farrukh, J. Mayberry","doi":"10.3390/gidisord3030013","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3030013","url":null,"abstract":"The authors wish to make the following correction to this paper [...]","PeriodicalId":73131,"journal":{"name":"Gastrointestinal disorders (Basel, Switzerland)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46371488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Emma Finlayson-Trick, Bronwyn Barker, Selina Manji, S. Harper, C. Yansouni, D. Goldfarb
{"title":"Climate Change and Enteric Infections in the Canadian Arctic: Do We Know What’s on the Horizon?","authors":"Emma Finlayson-Trick, Bronwyn Barker, Selina Manji, S. Harper, C. Yansouni, D. Goldfarb","doi":"10.3390/gidisord3030012","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3030012","url":null,"abstract":"The Canadian Arctic has a long history with diarrheal disease, including outbreaks of campylobacteriosis, giardiasis, and salmonellosis. Due to climate change, the Canadian Arctic is experiencing rapid environmental transformation, which not only threatens the livelihood of local Indigenous Peoples, but also supports the spread, frequency, and intensity of enteric pathogen outbreaks. Advances in diagnostic testing and detection have brought to attention the current burden of disease due to Cryptosporidium, Campylobacter, and Helicobacter pylori. As climate change is known to influence pathogen transmission (e.g., food and water), Arctic communities need support in developing prevention and surveillance strategies that are culturally appropriate. This review aims to provide an overview of how climate change is currently and is expected to impact enteric pathogens in the Canadian Arctic.","PeriodicalId":73131,"journal":{"name":"Gastrointestinal disorders (Basel, Switzerland)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49267487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
S. Roth, E. Vietsch, Megan E. Barefoot, Marcel O. Schmidt, Matthew D. Park, Archana Ramesh, Michael R. Lindberg, G. Giaccone, A. Riegel, A. Barac, K. Unger, A. Wellstein
{"title":"Cardiomyocyte-specific circulating cell-free methylated DNA in esophageal cancer patients treated with chemoradiation","authors":"S. Roth, E. Vietsch, Megan E. Barefoot, Marcel O. Schmidt, Matthew D. Park, Archana Ramesh, Michael R. Lindberg, G. Giaccone, A. Riegel, A. Barac, K. Unger, A. Wellstein","doi":"10.3390/gidisord3030011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3030011","url":null,"abstract":"Thoracic high dose radiation therapy (RT) for cancer has been associated with early and late cardiac toxicity. To assess altered rates of cardiomyocyte cell death due to RT we monitored changes in cardiomyocyte-specific, cell-free methylated DNA (cfDNA) shed into the circulation. Eleven patients with distal esophageal cancer treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation to 50.4 Gy (RT) and concurrent carboplatin and paclitaxel were enrolled. Subjects underwent fasting blood draws prior to the initiation and after completion of RT as well as 4–6 months following RT. An island of six unmethylated CpGs in the FAM101A locus was used to identify cardiomyocyte-specific cfDNA in serum. After bisulfite treatment this specific cfDNA was quantified by amplicon sequencing at a depth of >35,000 reads/molecule. Cardiomyocyte-specific cfDNA was detectable before RT in the majority of patient samples and showed some distinct changes during the course of treatment and recovery. We propose that patient-specific cardiac damages in response to the treatment are indicated by these changes although co-morbidities may obscure treatment-specific events.","PeriodicalId":73131,"journal":{"name":"Gastrointestinal disorders (Basel, Switzerland)","volume":"94 1","pages":"100 - 112"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79629191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Aspects of the Pathogenesis and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases","authors":"A. Day","doi":"10.3390/gidisord3030010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3030010","url":null,"abstract":"Over the last two decades, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has been diagnosed more often in many countries around the world, including in parts of the world where IBD was previously uncommon [...]","PeriodicalId":73131,"journal":{"name":"Gastrointestinal disorders (Basel, Switzerland)","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3390/gidisord3030010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45712137","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
F. Ingravalle, G. Casella, A. Ingravalle, C. Monti, Federica De Salvatore, D. Stillitano, V. Villanacci
{"title":"Surveillance of Colorectal Cancer (CRC) in Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Patients","authors":"F. Ingravalle, G. Casella, A. Ingravalle, C. Monti, Federica De Salvatore, D. Stillitano, V. Villanacci","doi":"10.3390/GIDISORD3020009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3390/GIDISORD3020009","url":null,"abstract":"Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the commonest inherited genetic disorder in Caucasians due to a mutation in the gene CFTR (Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator), and it should be considered as an Inherited Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Syndrome. In the United States, physicians of CF Foundation established the “Developing Innovative Gastroenterology Speciality Training Program” to increase the research on CF in gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary diseases. The risk to develop a CRC is 5–10 times higher in CF patients than in the general population and even greater in CF patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy due to organ transplantation (30-fold increased risk relative to the general population). Colonoscopy should be considered the best screening for CRC in CF patients. The screening colonoscopy should be started at the age of 40 in CF patients and, if negative, a new colonoscopy should be performed every 5 years and every 3 years if adenomas are detected. For transplanted CF patients, the screening colonoscopy could be started at the age of 35, in transplanted patients at the age of 30 and, if before, at the age of 30. CF transplanted patients, between the age of 35 and 55, must repeat colonoscopy every 3 years. Our review draws attention towards the clinically relevant development of CRC in CF patients, and it may pave the way for further screenings and studies.","PeriodicalId":73131,"journal":{"name":"Gastrointestinal disorders (Basel, Switzerland)","volume":"3 1","pages":"84-95"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2021-05-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.3390/GIDISORD3020009","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44964710","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}