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Topic Review
Esophageal and Gastric Tumors
Gastric and esophageal tumors are diverse neoplasms that involve mucosal and submucosal tissue layers and include squamous cell carcinomas, adenocarcinomas, spindle cell neoplasms, neuroendocrine tumors, marginal B cell lymphomas, along with less common tumors. The worldwide burden of esophageal and gastric malignancies is significant, with esophageal and gastric cancer representing the ninth and fifth most common cancers, respectively. The approach to diagnosis and staging of these lesions is multimodal and includes a combination of gastrointestinal endoscopy, endoscopic ultrasound, and cross-sectional imaging. Likewise, therapy is multidisciplinary and combines therapeutic endoscopy, surgery, radiotherapy, and systemic chemotherapeutic tools. Future directions for diagnosis of esophageal and gastric malignancies are evolving rapidly and will involve advances in endoscopic and endosonographic techniques including tethered capsules, optical coherence tomography, along with targeted cytologic and serological analyses. 
  • 1.6K
  • 23 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Focal Nodular Hyperplasia-like Regenerative Nodules
Budd–Chiari syndrome (BCS) is a rare clinical entity characterized by hepatic venous outflow obstruction, resulting in liver congestion and subsequent chronic parenchymal damage. This condition often leads to the development of focal liver lesions, including benign focal nodular hyperplasia-like regenerative nodules, hepatocellular carcinoma, and perfusion-related pseudo-lesions. Computed tomography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance are the commonly employed imaging modalities for the follow-up of BCS patients and for the detection and characterization of new-onset lesions. The accurate differentiation between benign and malignant nodules is crucial for optimal patient management and treatment planning. 
  • 1.6K
  • 19 Jul 2023
Topic Review
Diet-Derived Phytochemicals Modulate the Gut Microbiome
Diet-derived phytochemicals modulate microbiome that is found to offer significant protective effects against colorectal cancer (CRC). The person’s lifestyle and the eating pattern have significant impacts on the CRC in a positive and/or negative way. Phytochemicals are a concoction of various bioactive compounds directing various cell signaling pathways that altered gut microbiota composition. This may support to destroy malignant cells with minor risks of emerging drug resistance. The effectiveness of CRC can be reduced by the use of various dietary phytochemicals or modulating microbiome that reduces or inverses the progression of a tumor, which could be promising and efficient in reducing the burden of CRC. Phytochemicals with modulation of gut microbiome continue to be auspicious investigations in CRC through noticeable anti-tumorigenic effects, which provides new openings for cancer inhibition and treatment.
  • 1.6K
  • 29 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Molecular Pathology and Biomarkers of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has an extremely poor prognosis due to the lack of methods or biomarkers for early diagnosis and its resistance to conventional treatment modalities, targeted therapies, and immunotherapies. PDACs are a heterogenous group of malignant epithelial neoplasms with various histomorphological patterns and complex, heterogenous genetic/molecular landscapes. The newly proposed molecular classifications of PDAC based on extensive genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic and epigenetic data have provided significant insights into the molecular heterogeneity and aggressive biology of this deadly disease. Studies characterizing the tumor microenvironment (TME) have shed light on the dynamic interplays between the tumor cells and the immunosuppressive TME of PDAC, which is essential to disease progression, as well as its resistance to chemotherapy, newly developed targeted therapy and immunotherapy. There is a critical need for the development of predictive markers that can be clinically utilized to select effective personalized therapies for PDAC patients.
  • 1.6K
  • 02 Dec 2022
Topic Review
New insights in Liver Regeneration
The physiological importance of the liver is demonstrated by its unique and essential ability to regenerate following extensive injuries affecting its function. By regenerating, the liver reacts to hepatic damage and thus enables homeostasis to be restored. The actors involved in the regenerative process are numerous and many of them are also pivotal players in both the immune and non-immune inflammatory process, that is observed in the early stages of hepatic regeneration. Balance of Th17/Treg is important in liver inflammatory process outcomes. 
  • 1.6K
  • 08 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Morphological Variations of the Liver
Radiologists and oncogynecologists should be familiar with different liver shape variations to avoid diagnostic errors and unwanted intraoperative surgical complications. Surgeons should be aware of variations in liver shape as in such cases, the vasculature or gallbladder may have a variant anatomical location.
  • 1.6K
  • 16 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Machine Learning in Gastroenterology/Endoscopy
Over time, machine learning (ML), a component of artificial intelligence (AI), has been implemented in a variety of medical specialties, such as radiology, pathology, gastroenterology, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, ophthalmology, and orthopedics, with the goal of improving the quality of healthcare and medical diagnosis. In clinical gastroenterology practice, due to technological developments, estimates show that AI could have the ability to create a predictive model; for instance, it could develop an ML model that can stratify the risk in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding, establish the existence of a specific gastrointestinal disease, define the best treatment, and offer prognosis and prediction of the therapeutic response. In this context, by applying ML or deep learning (DL) (AI using neural networks), clinical management in gastroenterology can begin to focus on more personalized treatment centered on the patient and based on making the best individual decisions, instead of relying mostly on guidelines developed for a specific condition. Moreover, the goal of implementing these AI-based algorithms is to increase the possibility of diagnosing a gastrointestinal disease at early stage or the ability to predict the development of a particular condition in advance. Because both AI and gastroenterology encompass many subdomains, the interaction between them might take on various forms. In recent years, we have witnessed a large explosion of research in attempts to improve various fields of gastroenterology, such as endoscopy, hepatology, inflammatory bowel diseases, and many others, with the aid of ML. We also note that, because of the requirement to diagnose more patients with gastrointestinal cancers at an early stage of the disease, which is associated with curative treatment and better prognosis, many studies were developed to address improvement of the detection of these tumors with the aid of AI. The term ML, introduced for the first time in 1959 by Arthur Samuel from the IBM company, refers to an IT domain whereby a computer system can acquire the ability to “learn” by using data without specific programming and can therefore develop a predictive mathematical algorithm based on input data, using recognition of “features”. The ML “model” is subsequently able to adapt to new situations in which it becomes able to predict and make decisions.
  • 1.6K
  • 02 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Cholesterol-to-Coprostanol Conversion
Cholesterol (examples of synonyms 3β-hydroxy-5-cholestene or 5-cholesten-3β-ol) in the intestine may be either absorbed or undergo microbial conversion to different metabolites, of which non-absorbable coprostanol (examples of synonyms 5β-cholestanol or 5β-cholestan-3β-ol) is the end and predominant product found in feces. Note that multiple synonyms can be employed for a same steroid molecule, which does not help the reader to find his way. Cholesterol is a 27-carbon molecule with a structure formed by a polycyclic ring skeleton with a trans A/B ring junction, a β-hydroxyl group in the equatorial position at C3 (i.e., in plane of the molecule), a double bond at C5 (Δ5double bond), two methyl groups at C10 and C13, and a side chain at C17 (A).
  • 1.5K
  • 26 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Transarterial Chemoembolization for Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignancy. It is principally associated with liver cirrhosis and chronic liver disease. The major risk factors for the development of HCC include viral infections (HBV, HCV), alcoholic liver disease (ALD,) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The optimal treatment choice is dictated by multiple variables such as tumor burden, liver function, and patient’s health status. Surgical resection, transplantation, ablation, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), and systemic therapy are potentially useful treatment strategies. TACE is considered the first-line treatment for patients with intermediate stage HCC. 
  • 1.5K
  • 24 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Iron Deficiency in Celiac Disease
Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is the most recognized type of anemia in patients with celiac disease (CD) and may be present in over half of patients at the time of diagnosis. Folate and vitamin B12 malabsorption, nutritional deficiencies, inflammation, blood loss, development of refractory CD, and concomitant Heliobacter pylori infection are other causes of anemia in such patients. The decision to replenish iron stores and the route of administration (oral or intravenous) are controversial due, in part, to questions surrounding the optimal formulation and route of administration.
  • 1.5K
  • 09 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Role of Akkermansia in IBD and Cancer
Akkermansia muciniphila (A. muciniphila) represents approximately 1–3% of the total gut microbiota in healthy people; it is a non-motile, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, oval-shaped bacterium belonging to the Verrucomicrobia phylum, and it is the first and only member of the phylum Verrucomicrobia found in the human gut. Its key features are the ability to produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs, energy source for colonocytes and anti-inflammatory molecules), to promote mucin turnover and thickening thereby reinforcing the intestinal barrier and to interact with host receptors with its exposed active molecules thus influencing inflammation and metabolism. A. muciniphila can be used as a biomarker of a healthy host metabolic profile and that its depletion represents a signature of intestinal dysbiosis across different gastrointestinal and extraintestinal diseases as inflammatory bowel disease and some cancer types. The molecular mechanism beneath the action of this bacteria in the abovementioned diseases and how A. Muciniphila can modulate the response to both conventional and targeted cancer therapy are explored. 
  • 1.5K
  • 14 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Alcohol Consumption and Pancreatitis
Pancreatitis is a common inflammatory disorder of the pancreas, associated with high mortality and healthcare burdens worldwide. It mainly consists of two forms: acute pancreatitis (AP) and chronic pancreatitis (CP). Alcohol exposure is a known etiological factor for both AP and CP.
  • 1.5K
  • 19 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Human Gastrointestinal Microbiota
The human gastrointestinal microbiota (GIM) is a complex and diverse ecosystem that consists of community of fungi, viruses, protists and majorly bacteria. The association of several human illnesses, such as inflammatory bowel disease, allergy, metabolic syndrome and cancers,have been linked directly or indirectly to compromise in the integrity of the GIM, for which some medical interventions have been proposed or attempted. This review highlights and gives update on various technologies, including microfluidics, high-through-put sequencing, metabolomics, metatranscriptomics and culture in GIM research and their applications in gastrointestinal microbiota therapy, with a view to raise interest in the evaluation, validation and eventual use of these technologies in diagnosis and the incorporation of therapies in routine clinical practice.
  • 1.5K
  • 27 Aug 2020
Topic Review
Fecal Markers of Inflammation
Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are chronic inflammatory disorders of the gastrointestinal tract whose etiology is unknown. Pathogenesis of IBD is attributed to the complex interaction of genetic susceptibility, environmental factors (such as smoking, diet, and infections), and the gut microbiota. This results in an uncontrolled immune response leading to mucosal damage. IBDs are characterized by a relapsing and remitting course and require lifelong treatment. Therapy aims to induce remission, maintain remission, and avoid disease progression. Fecal markers are a heterogeneous group of biological substances formed by the inflamed intestinal mucosa or pass through it and enter the intestinal lumen and feces, where they can be measured. The advantage of fecal markers of inflammation over blood markers is that they provide information about the inflammatory process’s location, particularly the location along the gastrointestinal tract. Still, they also are not specific to IBD.
  • 1.5K
  • 05 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Diabetic Gastroparesis
Diabetic gastroparesis (DGP) is a debilitating gastrointestinal disorder characterized by delayed gastric emptying in individuals with diabetes mellitus, particularly type 1 and long-standing type 2 diabetes. This condition, although not widely known, significantly impacts the quality of life of affected individuals. The symptoms of DGP, including early satiety, excessive fullness after meals, loss of appetite, bloating, abdominal pain, and vomiting, stem from the slowed or stalled movement of food from the stomach to the small intestine.
  • 1.5K
  • 28 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Curcumin in Ulcerative Colitis
Ulcerative colitis (UC) is one of the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). It is a chronic autoimmune inflammation of unclear etiology affecting the colon and rectum, characterized by unpredictable exacerbation and remission phases. Conventional treatment options for UC include mesalamine, glucocorticoids, immunosuppressants, and biologics. The management of UC is challenging, and other therapeutic options are constantly being sought. More attention is being paid to curcumin, a main active polyphenol found in the turmeric root, which has numerous beneficial effects in the human body, including anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, and antioxidative properties targeting several cellular pathways and making an impact on intestinal microbiota.
  • 1.5K
  • 13 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Pathogenesis and Oxidative Stress
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a challenging disease caused by multiple factors, which may partly explain why it still remains an orphan of adequate therapies. It highlights the interaction between oxidative stress (OS) and disturbed lipid metabolism. Several reactive oxygen species generators, including those produced in the gastrointestinal tract, contribute to the lipotoxic hepatic (and extrahepatic) damage by fatty acids and a great variety of their biologically active metabolites in a “multiple parallel-hit model”. This leads to inflammation and fibrogenesis and contributes to NAFLD progression. The alterations of the oxidant/antioxidant balance affect also metabolism-related organelles, leading to lipid peroxidation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and endoplasmic reticulum stress. This OS-induced damage is at least partially counteracted by the physiological antioxidant response. Therefore, modulation of this defense system emerges as an interesting target to prevent NAFLD development and progression. For instance, probiotics, prebiotics, diet, and fecal microbiota transplantation represent new therapeutic approaches targeting the gut microbiota dysbiosis. The OS and its counter-regulation are under the influence of individual genetic and epigenetic factors as well.
  • 1.5K
  • 14 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Animal Models and Helicobacter pylori Infection
Helicobacter pylori colonize the gastric mucosa of at least half of the world’s population. Persistent infection is associated with the development of gastritis, peptic ulcer disease, and an increased risk of gastric cancer and gastric-mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. 
  • 1.5K
  • 14 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Cross-Sectional Imaging Instead of Colonoscopy
Recently, cross-sectional imaging techniques have been increasingly shown as reliable tools for assessing Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) activity. While computed tomography (CT) is hampered by radiation risks, routine implementation of magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) for close monitoring is limited by its costs, low availability and long examination time. Novel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based techniques, such as diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), can overcome some of these weaknesses and have been shown as valuable options for IBD monitoring. Bowel ultrasound (BUS) is a noninvasive, highly available, cheap, and well accepted procedure that has been demonstrated to be as accurate as CS and MRE for assessing and monitoring disease activity in IBD. Furthermore, as BUS can be quickly performed at the point-of-care, it allows for real-time clinical decision making.
  • 1.5K
  • 25 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Antimicrobial Resistance in Escherichia coli
Public healthcare systems all over the world are faced with a great challenge in this respect. Obviously, there are many bacteria that can cause infections in humans and animals alike, but somehow it seems that the greatest threat nowadays comes from the Enterobacteriaceae members, especially Escherichia coli.
  • 1.5K
  • 08 Feb 2021
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