A tunable human intestinal organoid system achieves controlled balance between self-renewal and differentiation.

A balance between stem cell self-renewal and differentiation is required to maintain concurrent proliferation and cellular diversification in organoids; however, this has proven difficult in homogeneous cultures devoid of in vivo spatial niche gradients for adult stem cell-derived organoids. In this study, we leverage a combination of small molecule pathway modulators to enhance the stemness of organoid stem cells, thereby amplifying their differentiation potential and subsequently increasing cellular diversity within human intestinal organoids without the need for artificial spatial or temporal signaling gradients. Moreover, we demonstrate that this balance between self-renewal and differentiation can be effectively and reversibly shifted from secretory cell differentiation to the enterocyte lineage with enhanced proliferation using BET inhibitors, or unidirectional differentiation towards specific intestinal cell types by manipulating in vivo niche signals such as Wnt, Notch, and BMP.

Roles of ursodeoxycholic acid in the bile biochemistry and metabolomics in patients with choledocholithiasis: a prospective study.

Introduction: Recurrence after the endoscopic treatment of common bile duct stones (CBDS) is related to bile metabolism and bile compositions. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) has been proved effective in reducing the recurrence of CBDS. However, the detailed effects of UDCA on bile metabolism are still not extensively explored.

Gut Microbial Profile in Asymptomatic Gallstones.

There are few studies on the changes of gut microbiota in patients with gallstones, especially in patients with asymptomatic gallstones, and there are some deficiencies in these studies, for instance, the effects of metabolic factors on gut microbiota are not considered. Here, we selected 30 asymptomatic gallstone patients from the survey population, and 30 controls according to the age and BMI index matching principle. The 16SrDNA technology was used to detect and compare the structural differences in the gut microbiota between the two groups.