Prognostic Value of CRP/25 OH Vitamin D Ratio for Glucocorticoid Efficacy in Acute Severe Ulcerative Colitis Patients.

: Acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASUC) represents a life-threatening medical emergency. One-third of ASUC patients are steroid non-responders. Our study aimed to create a new ASUC algorithm to predict corticosteroid response in the early course of the disease.

Psychological Distress Is Associated With Inflammatory Bowel Disease Manifestation and Mucosal Inflammation.

Background: Stress is a potentially significant risk factor for the occurrence and progression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Methods: The study analyzed the level of stress, anxiety, and depression in patients with Crohn's disease (CD; n = 50) and ulcerative colitis (UC; n = 54) in comparison with non-IBD controls (n = 100), using Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaires. Additionally, a correlation between psychological scores and expression of IL17A, IL17F, and IL23A genes in the intestinal mucosa of IBD patients was assessed.

The Importance of Artificial Intelligence in Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Recently, there has been a growing interest in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine, especially in specialties where visualization methods are applied. AI is defined as a computer's ability to achieve human cognitive performance, which is accomplished through enabling computer "learning". This can be conducted in two ways, as machine learning and deep learning.

Successful pregnancies in a patient with Takayasu arteritis and antiphospholipid syndrome, maintained on infliximab corticosteroid-free regimen: case-based review.

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a large vessel vasculitis affecting predominantly females below the age of 40. Patients with TA seem to be at increased risk for adverse pregnancy outcomes, resulting in mother or child complications. Although few studies analyzed the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (APLA) in TA patients, an association between antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) and TA is rarely reported in the literature, mainly in the form of case reports.

Hematological Indices Are Useful in Predicting Complications of Liver Cirrhosis.

Background: Liver cirrhosis is the final stage of chronic liver disease. We aimed to evaluate non-invasive scores as predictors of complications and outcome in cirrhotic patients.

Methods: A total of 150 cirrhotic patients were included.

Large-Vessel Giant Cell Arteritis following COVID-19-What Can HLA Typing Reveal?

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is an immune-mediated vasculitis that affects large arteries. It has been hypothesized that viruses may trigger inflammation within the vessel walls. Genetic studies on human leukocyte antigens (HLAs) have previously reported HLA-DRB1*04 as a susceptible allele for GCA and HLA-DRB1*15 as a protective allele for GCA.

The Quality of Life After Liver Transplantation-The First Experience from Serbia.

: Liver transplantation (LT) is the most effective treatment for patients with end-stage liver disease, which dramatically effects patient's quality of life (QoL). The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of socio-demographic and clinical factors on different QoL domains of patients who underwent orthotopic LT. : A cross-sectional study included a total of 43 patients who underwent a LT from 2013 to 2018.

Genetic Aspects of Micronutrients Important for Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) are complex diseases whose etiology is associated with genetic and environmental risk factors, among which are diet and gut microbiota. To date, IBD is an incurable disease and the main goal of its treatment is to reduce symptoms, prevent complications, and improve nutritional status and the quality of life. Patients with IBD usually suffer from nutritional deficiency with imbalances of specific micronutrient levels that contribute to the further deterioration of the disease.

Intestinal Ultrasonography as a Tool for Monitoring Disease Activity in Patients with Ulcerative Colitis.

Background: Ultrasonography is a noninvasive, inexpensive, and widely available diagnostic tool. In the last two decades, the development of ultrasound techniques and equipment has significantly increased the usage of intestine ultrasound (US) in the assessment of the gastrointestinal tract in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Although current guidelines suggest routine utilization of US in patients with Crohn's disease, data regarding US usage in ulcerative colitis are still scarce.

Bacteremia in patients with liver cirrhosis in the era of increasing antimicrobial resistance: single-center epidemiology.

Introduction: Liver cirrhosis is commonly associated with bacterial infections, which contribute to unfavorable outcome. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of bacteremia and patterns of antibiotic resistance in patients with cirrhosis, factors associated with multidrug-resistant infection, and predictors of mortality.

Methodology: This retrospective single-center study included patients with cirrhosis treated between January 2016 and December 2018.

Enhanced Liver Fibrosis Score as a Biomarker for Vascular Damage Assessment in Patients with Takayasu Arteritis-A Pilot Study.

Takayasu Arteritis (TA) is characterized by granulomatous panarteritis, vessel wall fibrosis, and irreversible vascular impairment. The aim of this study is to explore the usefulness of the Enhanced Liver Fibrosis score (ELF), procollagen-III aminoterminal propeptide (PIIINP), tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1), and hyaluronic acid (HA) in assessing vascular damage in TA patients. ELF, PIIINP, TIMP-1, and HA were measured in 24 TA patients, and the results were correlated with the clinical damage indexes (VDI and TADS), an imaging damage score (CARDS), and disease activity scores (NIH and ITAS2010).

Anemia as a Problem: GP Approach.

Background: Anemia is a presentation of an underlying disease or deficiency. As stated by the WHO, anemia is defined as hemoglobin (Hb) levels <12.0 g/dL in women and <13.

Jaundice as a Diagnostic and Therapeutic Problem: A General Practitioner's Approach.

Background: Jaundice is a common clinical finding in clinical practice of hepatologists and general practitioners. It occurs when serum bilirubin levels exceed 3 mg/dL.

Summary: In this review, we summarize the pathophysiological mechanism of jaundice, clinical approach to the patient with jaundice, and laboratory and imaging techniques.

The Interrelationship Among Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, Colonic Diverticulosis and Metabolic Syndrome.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and colonic diverticulosis are widespread, obesity-related diseases. It has recently become clear that non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a systemic disease and may play a key role in metabolic syndrome; therefore, the term metabolic-dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease has been introduced in the literature. Excess visceral adipose tissue is an important predictor of complications in both non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and colonic diverticulosis.

Hepcidin Is a Reliable Marker of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Newly Diagnosed Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Results: There was a high statistically significant difference between IBD patients and controls in levels of hepcidin ( < 0.01). Namely, serum hepcidin levels were significantly higher in the control group.

Perineural invasion as a prognostic factor in patients with stage I-III rectal cancer - 5-year follow up.

Background: Rectal cancer (RC) is one of the most common diagnosed cancers, and one of the major causes of cancer-related death nowadays. Majority of the current guidelines rely on TNM classification regarding therapy regiments, however recent studies suggest that additional histopathological findings could affect the disease course.

Aim: To determine whether perineural invasion alone or in combination with lymphovascular invasion have an effect on 5-years overall survival (OS) of RC patients.

Correlation of Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO-2) with Endoscopic and Histological Features in Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease Patients.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in consecutive newly diagnosed patients with inflammatory bowel disease in a tertiary care referral center. The initial evaluation included patient-reported outcome for stool frequency subscore and rectal bleeding. Endoscopic activity was determined using the Mayo scoring system for ulcerative colitis and the Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn's disease.

Exploring inflammatory and apoptotic signatures in distinct Crohn's disease phenotypes: Way towards molecular stratification of patients and targeted therapy.

Background: Crohn's disease (CD) is chronic inflammatory bowel disease with different phenotypic characteristics influencing disease prognosis and therapeutic strategies. The aim of this pilot study was to analyze selected inflammatory and apoptotic markers in non-inflamed and inflamed samples of ileal mucosa of non-stricturing/non-penetrating (NS/NP) and stricturing (S) CD mucosal phenotypes in order to characterize their distinct profiles.

Methods: From twenty CD patients (9 NS/NP, 11 S) paired non-inflamed and inflamed ileal biopsies were collected and used for analysis of cytokine (TNF and IL6) and apoptotic (Bcl2, Bax, Fas and FasL) genes' expression levels by real-time PCR, while NFκB transcriptional potency was assessed by electromobility gel shift assay.

Quality of Life in Patients with Primary Biliary Cholangitis: A Single-Center Experience in Serbia.

Background: Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is a chronic cholestatic autoimmune disease, predominantly affecting middle-aged women, which may progress to end-stage liver disease. We aimed to assess the quality of life (QoL) in patients with PBC given that social, economic, and geographical factor also influence QoL.

Methods: This study included patients with diagnosed PBC according to the European Association for the Study of the Liver guidelines, who were treated for at least 6 months in order to allow adequate time for the initial burden of symptoms to subside.

Metabolic Syndrome in Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Association with Genetic Markers of Obesity and Inflammation.

This study analyzed poorly understood relationship of two overlapping conditions: metabolic syndrome (MeS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), both associated with inflammation in the visceral adipose tissue. Newly diagnosed 104 IBD patients, of which 50 Crohn's disease (CD) and 54 ulcerative colitis (UC), and 45 non-IBD controls were examined for MeS-related obesity and lipid markers. Th-17 immune genes , , and mRNAs were measured in intestinal mucosa by qRT-PCR.

Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Fatty Pancreas in Serbian Patients with Non Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease-A Cross Sectional Study.

: The aim of the study was to determine the association between presences of fatty pancreas (FP) with the features of metabolic syndrome (MeS) in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and to establish a new noninvasive scoring system for the prediction of FP in patients with NAFLD. 143 patients with NAFLD were classified according to FP severity grade into the two groups and evaluated for diagnostic criteria of MeS. All patients underwent sonographic examination with adiposity measurements and the liver biopsy.

Assessment of Duodenal Adenomas and Strategies for Curative Therapy.

Background: The increasing incidence of duodenal neoplasm has underlined different methods of resection depending on the clinical presentation, endoscopic features and histopathology. In this comprehensive review, we systematically describe the current knowledge concerning the diagnosis and management of duodenal adenomas (DAs) and discuss data considering all possible therapeutic approaches.

Summary: Among a variety of duodenal lesions, including neuroendocrine tumors and gastrointestinal stromal tumors, DAs present precancerous lesions of the duodenal papilla or non-ampullary region necessitating removal.