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Topic Review
Alcoholic Liver Disease
Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a globally prevalent chronic liver disease caused by chronic or binge consumption of alcohol. Metabolites and byproducts generated during alcohol metabolism cause liver damage, leading to ALD via several mechanisms, such as impairing lipid metabolism, intensifying inflammatory reactions, and inducing fibrosis.
  • 2.7K
  • 24 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Probiotics in the Treatment of Rotavirus Gastrointestinal Infections
Enteric viruses, including the rotavirus, norovirus, and adenoviruses, are the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis. The rotavirus disease is especially prevalent among children, and studies over the past decade have revealed complex interactions between rotaviruses and the gut microbiota. One way to treat and prevent dysbiosis is the use of probiotics as an antiviral agent.
  • 2.5K
  • 20 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Developments in the Diagnosis of Postoperative Crohn’s Disease
Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic progressive inflammatory bowel disease leading to bowel damage and disability. The diagnosing recurrence in postoperative Crohn's disease is discussed. 
  • 2.4K
  • 06 Dec 2022
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Understanding the Gut-Heart Axis in Roemheld Syndrome: Mechanisms and Clinical Insights
This entry reviews the health condition known as Roemheld syndrome, or gastrocardiac syndrome in modern medicine. A pathology of gastrointestinal origin, the syndrome relies on a gut–brain–heart triad, interconnected by the vagus nerve. Pressure from the intestines pushes the stomach into the diaphragm and activates the vagus nerve, which affects the heart rate and gives the perception of cardiac issues. This distressing sensation, which usually comes after meals or with other digestive problems, causes anxiety or panic. Although events not arising from anatomic abnormalities are relatively harmless, hypersensitivity to these uncomfortable sensations may precipitate psychiatric problems (anxiety or depression) that cause repeated gastrocardiac events through sympathetic activation and the disruption of peristalsis. Treatment is usually symptomatic and may include diet, lifestyle changes, probiotics, or prescriptions that increase gut motility, but this specific set of reproducible symptoms may also be caused by hiatal hernia or side effects from medication/surgery and treated with respect to those mechanical causes. This review highlights details from the most current knowledge of the condition and offers suggestions for clinical management based on the literature.
  • 2.4K
  • 22 Nov 2024
Topic Review
Dyspepsia in Diabetic Patients
Diabetes mellitus is a widespread disease, and represents an important public health burden worldwide. Together with cardiovascular, renal and neurological complications, many patients with diabetes present with gastrointestinal symptoms, which configure the so-called diabetic enteropathy. 
  • 2.4K
  • 11 May 2021
Topic Review
Training Simulators for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
Gastrointestinal (GI) endoscopy is the gold standard in the detection and treatment of early and advanced GI cancers. However, conventional endoscopic techniques are technically demanding and require visual-spatial skills and significant hands-on experience. GI endoscopy simulators represent a valid solution to allow doctors to practice in a pre-clinical scenario.
  • 2.4K
  • 09 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Gut Microbiota in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a complex multifactorial chronic inflammatory disease, that includes Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC), having progressively increasing global incidence. Disturbed intestinal flora has been highlighted as an important feature of IBD and offers promising strategies for IBD remedies.
  • 2.4K
  • 13 Jul 2023
Topic Review
The Human Gut Microbiome in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complicated neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by decreased verbal and social interactions, limited interests and activities, and repetitive behaviors. Along with these significant conditions, ASD regularly co-occurs with other clinical symptoms, including gastrointestinal disturbances (up to 70%), motor deficits (79%), sleep problems (50–80%), and intellectual disability (45%). The high prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders among autism spectrum disorder (ASD) patients has prompted scientists to look into the gut microbiota as a putative trigger in ASD pathogenesis.
  • 2.2K
  • 02 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Melatonin and Liver Cancer
Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is an indoleamine with beneficial effects in a broad number of tumors, including the primary liver cancers hepatocarcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA). Among them, melatonin has shown to modulate different cancer-associated processes and enhance drug efficacy against HCC and CCA. Therefore, melatonin has a potential role in improving the current therapeutic landscape in these liver tumors.
  • 2.2K
  • 12 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Magnesium Oxide in Constipation
Magnesium oxide has been widely used as an osmotic laxative for a long time especially in East Asia. 
  • 2.2K
  • 04 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Environmental and Lifestyle Risk Factors in Gallbladder Carcinogenesis
Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is an aggressive neoplasm that in an early stage is generally asymptomatic and, in most cases, is diagnosed in advanced stages with a very low life expectancy because there is no curative treatment. Therefore, understanding the early carcinogenic mechanisms of this pathology is crucial to proposing preventive strategies for this cancer. The main risk factor is the presence of gallstones, which are associated with some environmental factors such as a sedentary lifestyle and a high-fat diet. Other risk factors such as autoimmune disorders and bacterial, parasitic and fungal infections have also been described. All these factors can generate a long-term inflammatory state characterized by the persistent activation of the immune system, the frequent release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and the constant production of reactive oxygen species that result in a chronic damage/repair cycle, subsequently inducing the loss of the normal architecture of the gallbladder mucosa that leads to the development of GBC.
  • 2.2K
  • 18 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Large Intestine and Its Microbiota
The large intestine (intestinum crassum) is the last part of the digestive tract ensuring the resorption of water, amino acids, bile acids, salts, vitamins and removes unabsorbed residues such as feces. This organ is 1.3–1.4 m long and 5–8 cm wide.
  • 2.0K
  • 07 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Pathophysiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) encompasses a group of heterogeneous diseases that entail chronic, relapsing gastrointestinal tract inflammation of inexactly known etiology and pathogenesis. IBD is clinically classified as Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) based on symptoms, disease location, and histopathological characteristics.
  • 2.0K
  • 28 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a global pandemic that affects one-quarter of the world’s population. NAFLD includes a spectrum of progressive liver disease from steatosis to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), fibrosis, and cirrhosis and can be complicated by hepatocellular carcinoma. It is strongly associated with metabolic syndromes, obesity, and type 2 diabetes, and it has been shown that metabolic dysregulation is central to its pathogenesis. It has been suggested that metabolic- (dysfunction) associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a more appropriate term to describe the disease than NAFLD, which puts increased emphasis on the important role of metabolic dysfunction in its pathogenesis. There is strong evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction plays a significant role in the development and progression of NAFLD. Impaired mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation and, a reduction in mitochondrial quality, have been suggested to play a major role in NAFLD development and progression. 
  • 2.0K
  • 11 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Drug-Induced Liver Injury
Idiosyncratic drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is a type of hepatic injury caused by an uncommon drug adverse reaction that can develop to conditions spanning from asymptomatic liver laboratory abnormalities to acute liver failure (ALF) and death. 
  • 1.9K
  • 21 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Oral Semaglutide
The gastrointestinal tract secretes gut hormones in response to food consumption, and some of these stimulate insulin secretion. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an incretin peptide hormone released from the lower digestive tract that stimulates insulin secretion, suppresses glucagon secretion, and decreases hunger. GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) mimics the action of endogenous GLP-1, consequently reversing hyperglycemia and causing weight reduction, demonstrating its efficacy as an antidiabetic and antiobesity agent. Previously restricted to injection only, the invention of the absorption enhancer sodium N-(8-[2-hydroxybenzoyl]amino) caprylate resulted in the development of oral semaglutide, the first ingestible GLP-1RA. Oral semaglutide demonstrated its efficacy in glycemic management and body weight loss with a low risk of hypoglycemia as a monotherapy and in combination with other hypoglycemic medications in its clinical trial programs named Peptide Innovation for Early Diabetes Treatment. Consistent with other injectable GLP-1RAs, gastrointestinal side effects were often reported. Additionally, cardiovascular safety was established by demonstrating that oral semaglutide was not inferior to placebo in terms of cardiovascular outcomes. Thus, oral semaglutide represents a novel treatment option that is particularly well-suited for patients with type 2 diabetes and/or obesity.
  • 1.9K
  • 13 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Wilson’s Disease
Wilson disease (WD) is a rare disorder caused by mutations in ATP7B, which leads to a defective biliary excretion of copper. Subsequent gradual accumulation of copper in different organs produces an extremely variable clinical picture, which comprises hepatic, neurological psychiatric, ophthalmological, and other disturbances. WD has specific treatment, so that early diagnosis is crucial in order to avoid the progression of the disease and its devastating consequences. The clinical diagnosis of WD is based on the Leipzig scale, which considers clinical, histological, biochemical and genetic data. However, even patients with an initial WD diagnosis based on a high Leipzig score result to suffer from other condition that mimics the WD’s phenotype (Wilson-like).
  • 1.9K
  • 22 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Helicobacter pylori Diagnosis
Helicobacter pylori infection still remains one of the most prevalent infections worldwide, especially in low-resource countries, and the major risk factor for peptic ulcer and gastric cancer. The "test-and-treat" strategy is recommended by several guidelines and consensus. The choice of testing method is based on patient age, presence of alarm signs and/or symptoms, use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, as well as local availability, test reliability and cost.  Culture is the gold standard to detect H. pylori and, possibly, to perform susceptibility testing, however, it requires upper endoscopy and dedicate labs. Recent advances in molecular biology provide new strategies in detecting the infection and antimicrobial resistance without invasive tests. 
  • 1.9K
  • 31 May 2021
Topic Review
Risk Factors of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract. It is characterized by relapses and remissions, thus requiring lifelong treatment. 
  • 1.9K
  • 21 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Endoscopic Ultrasound-Guided Hepaticogastrostomy
Endoscopic ultrasound-guided hepaticogastrostomy (EUS-HGS) is widely performed worldwide for various benign and malignant biliary diseases in cases of difficult or unsuccessful endoscopic transpapillary cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Furthermore, its applicability as primary drainage has also been reported. Although recent advances in EUS systems and equipment have made EUS-HGS easier and safer, the risk of serious adverse events such as bile leak and stent migration still exists. Physicians and assistants need not only sufficient skills and experience in ERCP-related procedures and basic EUS-related procedures such as fine needle aspiration and pancreatic fluid collection drainage, but also knowledge and techniques specific to EUS-HGS.
  • 1.8K
  • 08 Apr 2022
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