Gastrointestinal Disorders

4 pages, 222 KiB

Open AccessOpinion

Crohn’s Disease: The infectious Disease Incorporated’s Perspective

by Gilles R.G. Monif

Gastrointest. Disord. 2021, 3(3), 138-141; https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3030015 - 25 Aug 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2769

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. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Crohn's Disease: Symptoms, Causes, Management and Treatment)

10 pages, 1040 KiB

Open AccessCase Report

Sustained Crohn’s Disease Remission with an Exclusive Elemental and Exclusion Diet: A Case Report

by Farhad Mehrtash

Gastrointest. Disord. 2021, 3(3), 129-137; https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3030014 - 12 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4336

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. Full article

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2 pages, 190 KiB

Open AccessCorrection

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

by Affifa Farrukh and John Mayberry

Gastrointest. Disord. 2021, 3(3), 127-128; https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3030013 - 10 Aug 2021

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Abstract

The authors wish to make the following correction to this paper [...] Full article

14 pages, 615 KiB

Open AccessReview

Climate Change and Enteric Infections in the Canadian Arctic: Do We Know What’s on the Horizon?

by Emma Finlayson-Trick, Bronwyn Barker, Selina Manji, Sherilee L. Harper, Cedric P. Yansouni and David M. Goldfarb

Gastrointest. Disord. 2021, 3(3), 113-126; https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3030012 - 10 Aug 2021

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4227

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. Full article

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13 pages, 1283 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cardiomyocyte-Specific Circulating Cell-Free Methylated DNA in Esophageal Cancer Patients Treated with Chemoradiation

by Sarah Martinez Roth, Eveline E. Vietsch, Megan E. Barefoot, Marcel O. Schmidt, Matthew D. Park, Archana Ramesh, Michael R. Lindberg, Giuseppe Giaccone, Anna T. Riegel, Ana Barac, Keith Unger and Anton Wellstein

Gastrointest. Disord. 2021, 3(3), 100-112; https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3030011 - 30 Jul 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3055

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. Full article

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4 pages, 210 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Aspects of the Pathogenesis and Management of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

by Andrew S. Day

Gastrointest. Disord. 2021, 3(3), 96-99; https://doi.org/10.3390/gidisord3030010 - 28 Jul 2021

Viewed by 2234

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 [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aspects of the Pathogenesis and Management of the Inflammatory Bowel Diseases)

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Gastrointest. Disord., Volume 3, Issue 3 (September 2021) – 6 articles

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