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Gastroenterology news

Gut-derived bacterial molecule may drive severe liver disease

Researchers at the University of Oslo and Oslo University Hospital, together with international collaborators, have discovered that a small molecule made exclusively by gut bacteria can actively drive disease in the bile ...

C. difficile colonization in infants reshapes gut development, challenging a long-held assumption

Since its discovery, the highly contagious bacterium Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile or C. diff) has been reported not to cause symptoms in infants, leading to the assumption that colonization was not a serious health ...

Are petting zoos safe?

A 3-year-old girl has died from a rare illness after visiting a petting zoo in Victoria. She developed brain damage and kidney failure after spending weeks in intensive care.

Mini-tumors reveal new drug combinations for liver cancer

Liver cancer is difficult to treat because tumors vary greatly from patient to patient. Researchers at the University of Basel have captured this diversity by creating a collection of mini-tumors, which they use to systematically ...

Supplement plus chemotherapy boosts pancreatic cancer survival

When added to standard chemotherapy, a clinical version of the dietary supplement L-glutamine improved survival in an early-phase trial of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer. The study, led by Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences ...

Gut bacterium and its metabolite found to delay aging

A new study published in Nature Aging on Aug. 25 reports that a single gut bacterium—Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum (BP)—together with a small molecule it produces, 5-aminovaleric acid betaine (5-AVAB), can alleviate multiple ...

New cellular clues to complications of scleroderma

A study published in JCI Insight and led by Northwestern Medicine scientists has uncovered new clues about why people with systemic sclerosis, also known as scleroderma, frequently develop debilitating esophageal complications.

New approach opens rare immune cells to genetic risk research

Much of how genetic risk leads to disease has remained hidden. In many cases, genetic variants linked to disease do not act on nearby genes along the chromosome. Instead, they influence genes located far away along the DNA ...

A new target in the gut for reducing Alzheimer's risk

A compound produced by bacteria in many people's digestive tracts increases the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and speeds cognitive decline in dementia patients, making it a potential target for a treatment that could ...

Patients with IBD face elevated risk of psychiatric disorders

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) face a significantly higher risk of psychiatric disorders starting two to three years before diagnosis and lasting up to a decade afterward, according to a nationwide study published ...