A primer on common supplements and dietary measures used by patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic disease of the intestines. The pathophysiology of IBD, namely Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, is a complex interplay between environmental, genetic, and immune factors. Physicians and patients often seek complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) as primary and supplementary treatment modalities.

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation: From to Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has evolved from a case report in the medical literature to the basis of major innovations in the treatment of infection (CDI) and, potentially, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In the clinical setting, FMT was noted to significantly lower the risk of recurrent CDI, likely by increasing microbial diversity and altering the metabolic environment in the intestinal tract of recipients. In parallel, advances in the ability to quantify and characterize microbial communities in fecal samples led to the association of IBD with a state of intestinal dysbiosis.

The Use and Efficacy of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation for Refractory Clostridium difficile in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Clostridium difficile (CD) is an anaerobic, spore-forming bacillus that is responsible for a spectrum of gastrointestinal illness ranging from asymptomatic carriage to toxic megacolon and death. The prevalence of CD infection is increasing in both hospitalized and community-based inflammatory bowel disease populations. Standard antibiotic therapy fails to cure or prevent recurrence in more than 50% of patients, thus increasing the need for alternative therapies.

A Longitudinal Study of Adenoma Detection Rate in Gastroenterology Fellowship Training.

Background: Current guidelines suggest that a gastroenterology fellow in training needs to perform 140 colonoscopies to achieve competency. Data are limited regarding adenoma detection rate (ADR) in fellowship.

Aims: To assess how fellow ADR correlates with number of colonoscopies performed.

Hyponatraemia and cirrhosis.

Hyponatraemia is a common complication of advanced cirrhosis related to an impairment in the renal capacity for eliminating solute-free water, causing a retention of water that is disproportionate to the retention of sodium, thus leading to a reduction in serum sodium concentration and hypo-osmolality. The main pathogenic factor responsible for hyponatraemia is a non-osmotic hypersecretion of arginine vasopressin (AVP) or antidiuretic hormone from the neurohypophysis, related to circulatory dysfunction. Hyponatraemia in cirrhosis is associated with increased morbidity and mortality.

The single nucleotide polymorphism A118G alters functional properties of the human mu opioid receptor.

The most common single nucleotide polymorphism in the coding region of the human mu opioid receptor gene is the A118G variant, an adenine to guanine transition at nucleotide position 118 of the coding sequence of the gene. This polymorphism codes for an asparagine to aspartic acid substitution at amino acid 40 in the amino-terminus, thereby removing a potential extracellular glycosylation site. Using in vitro cellular expression assays, this variant has been reported to change binding of the endogenous agonist beta-endorphin and signaling of the receptor following binding of beta-endorphin.