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Topic Review
Biography
Topic Review
Diabetes Mellitus and Gut Microbiota
The gut microbiota is a complex ecosystem consisting of bacteria, fungi, archaea, and viruses living in symbiosis with the human organism. This collection of bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes that colonize the digestive system has developed this fascinating symbiotic relationship with its host over thousands of years, characterized by a complex mutually beneficial interaction.
322
02 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Artificial Intelligence in Monitoring Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis remain debilitating disorders, characterized by progressive bowel damage and possible lethal complications. The growing number of applications for artificial intelligence in gastrointestinal endoscopy has already shown great potential, especially in the field of neoplastic and pre-neoplastic lesion detection and characterization, and is under evaluation in the field of inflammatory bowel disease management. The application of artificial intelligence in inflammatory bowel diseases can range from genomic dataset analysis and risk prediction model construction to the disease grading severity and assessment of the response to treatment using machine learning.
384
02 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Cytokines in Spondyloarthritis and Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Spondyloarthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases are chronic immune disorders of the joints and the gut that often coexist in the same patient, increasing the burden of each disorder, worsening patients’ quality of life, and influencing therapeutic strategies. Genetic predisposition, environmental triggers, microbiome features, immune cell trafficking, and soluble factors such as cytokines contribute to the pathogenesis of both articular and intestinal inflammation. Cytokines have a central role in immune disorders and seem to be involved at different levels in the pathogenesis of articular and intestinal IMID, leading to the activation and perpetuation of proinflammatory pathways with consequent tissue damage.
401
28 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Quorum Sensing in the Gut
An imbalance in gut microbiota, termed dysbiosis, has been shown to affect host health. Several factors, including dietary changes, have been reported to cause dysbiosis with its associated pathologies that include inflammatory bowel disease, cancer, obesity, depression, and autism. Quorum sensing (QS) is a complex network of cell–cell communication that is mediated by small diffusible molecules known as autoinducers (AIs). Using AIs, bacteria interact with one another and coordinate their gene expression based on their population density for the benefit of the whole community or one group over another. Bacteria that cannot synthesize their own AIs secretly “listen” to the signals produced by other bacteria, a phenomenon known as “eavesdropping”. AIs impact gut microbiota equilibrium by mediating intra- and interspecies interactions as well as interkingdom communication.
420
27 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Genetics in Familial Intrahepatic Cholestasis
The family of inherited intrahepatic cholestasis includes autosomal recessive cholestatic rare diseases of childhood involved in bile acids secretion or bile transport defects. Specific genetic pathways potentially cause many otherwise unexplained cholestasis or hepatobiliary tumours in a healthy liver. Next-generation sequencing and whole-exome sequencing have improved the diagnostic procedures of familial intrahepatic cholestasis (FIC), as well as the discovery of several genes responsible for FIC.
523
24 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is characterized by an association of cardiovascular and diabetes mellitus type 2 risk factors. Although the definition of MetS slightly differs depending on the society that described it, its central diagnostic criteria include impaired fasting glucose, low HDL-cholesterol, elevated triglycerides levels and high blood pressure. Insulin resistance (IR) is believed to be the main cause of MetS and is connected to the level of visceral or intra-abdominal adipose tissue, which could be assessed either by calculating body mass index or by measuring waist circumference. Studies revealed that IR may also be present in non-obese patients, and considered visceral adiposity to be the main effector of MetS’ pathology. Visceral adiposity is strongly linked with hepatic fatty infiltration also known as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), therefore, the level of fatty acids in the hepatic parenchyma is indirectly linked with MetS, being both a cause and a consequence of this syndrome.
325
23 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers worldwide and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death globally. Tumor cells recruit and remodel various types of stromal and inflammatory cells to form a tumor microenvironment (TME), which encompasses cellular and molecular entities, including cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs), tumor-associated neutrophils (TANs), immune cells, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), immune checkpoint molecules and cytokines that promote cancer cell growth, as well as their drug resistance. HCC usually arises in the context of cirrhosis, which is always associated with an enrichment of activated fibroblasts that are owed to chronic inflammation.
635
23 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Endoscopic Ultrasound for Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumours
Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors (GISTs) are subepithelial lesions (SELs) that commonly develop in the gastrointestinal tract. GISTs, unlike other SELs, can exhibit malignant behavior, so differential diagnosis is critical to the decision-making process. Endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is considered the most accurate imaging method for diagnosing and differentiating SELs in the gastrointestinal tract by assessing the lesions precisely and evaluating their malignant risk.
479
22 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Epigenetics and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Necrotizing Enterocolitis
Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a severe inflammatory necrosis of the distal small intestine/colon that primarily affects preterm or very low birth weight infants after the introduction of enteral feeds. Epigenetic alternation in the immature intestine, such as changes in DNA methylation and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) patterns, may contribute to increased risk of NEC.
417
22 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines in Patients with Cirrhosis
Liver cirrhosis is followed by a profound immune dysfunction characterized by alterations in innate (decreased complement activity, reduced chemotaxis, and phagocytosis) and adaptive immunity (decreased memory cells, CD4 helper cells, T cell exhaustion) which leads to an inadequate immune response against a wide range of pathogens. The pathogenesis of what is known as ‘cirrhosis-associated immune dysfunction’ resides mainly in impairment of the hepatic reticulo-endothelial system, defective protein production, blood cell dysfunction, and systemic inflammation that is related to hepatocyte destruction.
407
21 Feb 2023
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