A Synbiotic Combining Chitin-Glucan and NCFM Induces a Colonic Molecular Signature Soothing Intestinal Pain and Inflammation in an Animal Model of IBS.

Chitin-glucan (CG) is a new generation of prebiotic. NCFM (NCFM) is a probiotic with the ability to decrease abdominal pain. We evaluate the functional and molecular gastrointestinal responses to a synbiotic administration combining CG and NCFM in a rat model of long-lasting colon hypersensitivity.

Fate of ileorectal anastomosis for treating Crohn's disease in the era of biologics: Results from a French retrospective multicentre cohort study.

Aim: The rate of surgical recurrence following ileorectal anastomosis (IRA) in patients with Crohn's disease (CD) remains poorly understood. Most studies were conducted before the advent of biologics. Our aim was to assess the fate of IRA in patients with CD during the biologics era and identify risk factors for endoscopic, clinical, and surgical recurrence.

Taxonomic and phenotypic analysis of bifidobacteria isolated from IBD patients as potential probiotic strains.

Background: Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) are a major public health issue with unclear aetiology. Changes in the composition and functionality of the intestinal microbiota are associated with these pathologies, including the depletion of strict anaerobes such as Feacalibacterium prausnitzii. Less evidence is observed for depletion in other anaerobes, among which bifidobacteria.

Chitin-glucan improves important pathophysiological features of irritable bowel syndrome.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most frequent and debilitating conditions leading to gastroenterological referrals. However, recommended treatments remain limited, yielding only limited therapeutic gains. Chitin-glucan (CG) is a novel dietary prebiotic classically used in humans at a dosage of 1.

Changes Over Time in the Lémann Index and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Disability Index in a Prospective Cohort of Patients With Crohn's Disease.

Background: Crohn's disease (CD) is a progressive, destructive, and disabling disorder. Our study aimed to assess changes over time in the Lémann index (LI) and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Disability Index (IBD-DI) in a cohort of CD patients.

Methods: This was a single-center prospective cohort study of 130 consecutive CD patients with a follow-up of at least 4 years.

Changes in HLA-B27 Transgenic Rat Fecal Microbiota Following Tofacitinib Treatment and Ileocecal Resection Surgery: Implications for Crohn's Disease Management.

The therapeutic management of Crohn's disease (CD), a chronic relapsing-remitting inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), is highly challenging. Surgical resection is sometimes a necessary procedure even though it is often associated with postoperative recurrences (PORs). Tofacitinib, an orally active small molecule Janus kinase inhibitor, is an anti-inflammatory drug meant to limit PORs in CD.

Hospital Surgical Volume-Outcome Relationship of Postoperative Morbidity for Ileocolic Resection in Crohn's Disease: A French Nationwide Study of 4205 Patients.

Background And Aims: Despite the development of medical therapy, nearly 50% of patients with Crohn's disease [CD] undergo surgery during their lifetime. Several studies have suggested some risk factors for postoperative morbidity [POM] after ileocolic resection [ICR]. However, the impact of surgical hospital volume on POM in CD has not been extensively studied.

prevents postoperative recurrence of Crohn's disease modeled by ileocecal resection in HLA-B27 transgenic rats.

Background: Postoperative recurrence (POR) after ileocecal resection (ICR) affects most Crohn's disease patients within 3-5 years after surgery. Adherent-invasive (AIEC) typified by the LF82 strain are pathobionts that are frequently detected in POR of Crohn's disease and have a potential role in the early stages of the disease pathogenesis. CNCM I-3856 is a probiotic yeast reported to inhibit AIEC adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells and to favor their elimination from the gut.

Safety and Efficacy of an AIEC-targeted Bacteriophage Cocktail in a Mice Colitis Model.

Background And Aims: Adherent invasive Escherichia coli [AIEC] are recovered with a high frequency from the gut mucosa of Crohn's disease patients and are believed to contribute to the dysbiosis and pathogenesis of this inflammatory bowel disease. In this context, bacteriophage therapy has been proposed for specifically targeting AIEC in the human gut with no deleterious impact on the commensal microbiota.

Methods: The in vitro efficacy and specificity of a seven lytic phage cocktail [EcoActive™] was assessed against [i] 210 clinical AIEC strains, and [ii] 43 non-E.

I-3856 in irritable bowel syndrome with predominant constipation.

Background: Probiotics are a promising solution for managing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). () I-3856 has already demonstrated beneficial effects in IBS subjects, particularly in IBS with predominant constipation (IBS-C).

Aim: To confirm the efficacy of I-3856 in the management of gastrointestinal symptoms in IBS-C.

Gene/environment interaction in the susceptibility of Crohn's disease patients to aluminum.

Background & Aim: The key role of environmental factors in the pathogenesis of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (IBD) is recognized. Aluminum is suspected to be a risk factor for IBD. However, mechanisms linking aluminum exposure to disease development are unknown.

Safety, pharmacokinetic, and pharmacodynamic study of sibofimloc, a novel FimH blocker in patients with active Crohn's disease.

Background And Aim: Expression of FimH adhesin by invasive Escherichia coli in the gastrointestinal tract of patients with Crohn's disease (CD) facilitates binding to epithelial glycoproteins and release of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Sibofimloc is a first-in-class FimH blocker that showed little systemic absorption in healthy volunteers. The current study evaluated systemic absorption, safety, and effect on inflammatory biomarkers of sibofimloc in patients with CD.

GED-0507 attenuates lung fibrosis by counteracting myofibroblast transdifferentiation in vivo and in vitro.

The development of more effective, better tolerated drug treatments for progressive pulmonary fibrosis (of which idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is the most common and severe form) is a research priority. The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) is a key regulator of inflammation and fibrosis and therefore represents a potential therapeutic target. However, the use of synthetic PPAR-γ agonists may be limited by their potentially severe adverse effects.

A Pilot Clinical Study on Post-Operative Recurrence Provides Biological Clues for a Role of Yeasts and Fluconazole in Crohn's Disease.

Background And Aims: This study prompted by growing evidence of the relationship between the yeast and Crohn's disease (CD) was intended to assess the effect of a 6-month course of the antifungal fluconazole (FCZ) on post-operative recurrence of CD.

Methods: Mycological samples (mouth swabs and stools) and serum samples were collected from 28 CD patients randomized to receive either FCZ ( = 14) or placebo ( = 14) before surgical resection. Serological analysis focused on levels of calprotectin, anti-glycan antibodies, and antibody markers of pathogenic transition.

Post-surgical recurrence of Crohn's disease: Situational analysis and future prospects.

Surgery retains a major role in the treatment of Crohn's disease, and the prevention of post-operative recurrence is an essential issue. In fact, despite the increasing use of biotherapies, almost all of the patients who undergo surgery will present with a recurrence, initially endoscopic and then clinical, eventually leading to a second intervention in 15 to 20% of cases. Certain risk factors for recurrence such as smoking, repeated and/or extensive resections, anoperineal involvement, myenteric plexitis, epithelioid granulomas, penetrating disease behaviour and lack of post-operative prophylactic treatment have been well established.

Adaptive Prior Selection for Repertoire-Based Online Adaptation in Robotics.

Repertoire-based learning is a data-efficient adaptation approach based on a two-step process in which (1) a large and diverse set of policies is learned in simulation, and (2) a planning or learning algorithm chooses the most appropriate policies according to the current situation (e.g., a damaged robot, a new object, etc.

Bowel damage and disability in Crohn's disease: a prospective study in a tertiary referral centre of the Lémann Index and Inflammatory Bowel Disease Disability Index.

Background: The notion of Crohn's disease (CD) as a chronic, progressive and disabling condition has led to the development of new indexes: the Lémann Index measuring cumulative bowel damage and the Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Disability Index, assessing functional disability.

Aims: To measure the Lémann Index and the IBD Disability Index in a large prospective cohort of CD patients and to assess the correlation between these two indexes.

Methods: We performed a prospective study in a tertiary referral centre including all consecutive CD outpatients.

Safety of P28GST, a Protein Derived from a Schistosome Helminth Parasite, in Patients with Crohn's Disease: A Pilot Study (ACROHNEM).

Despite the development of novel therapies, inflammatory bowel diseases remain an innovative treatment challenge. Helminth therapy is a new promising approach, and a key issue is the identification of helminth-derived anti-inflammatory mediators. P28 glutathione-S-transferase (P28GST), a protein derived from schistosomes, a trematode parasitic helminth, was shown to reduce intestinal inflammation in experimental colitis by down-regulating the Th1/Th17 response.

Radiological Response Is Associated with Better Outcomes and Should Be Considered a Therapeutic Target in Crohn's Disease.

Background: The aim of the study was to identify factors associated with a radiological response and to assess the impact of radiological improvement in long-term outcomes in small bowel (SB) Crohn's disease (CD) patients.

Methods: We performed a retrospective study from June 2011 to June 2017 in the tertiary center, Claude Huriez Hospital in Lille, France. All SB CD patients, who underwent two magnetic resonance enterographies (MRE) 3-12 months apart, with at least 1-year follow-up after the second MRE, were included.

Ustekinumab Serum Trough Levels May Identify Suboptimal Responders to Ustekinumab in Crohn's Disease.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between serum ustekinumab (UST) trough levels and response to induction and maintenance UST treatment in refractory Crohn's Disease (CD) patients.

Methods: We performed a prospective study including CD patients who received UST from September 2015 to January 2017. Patients received 90 mg of UST subcutaneously at weeks 0, 4, and 12, then every 8 weeks.