A Simple Prediction Model for Clostridioides difficile Infection: A Hospital-Based Administrative Database Study.

Background And Aim: Few prediction scores for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), a potentially life-threatening nosocomial diarrhea, combine high accuracy with simplicity. A simple prediction score for routine clinical practice is needed.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all inpatients aged ≥ 18 at a secondary care hospital in Japan.

Supplementation with NS8 alleviated behavioral, neural, endocrine, and microbiota abnormalities in an endogenous rat model of depression.

Introduction: Major depressive disorder is a condition involving microbiota-gut-brain axis dysfunction. Increasing research aims to improve depression through gut microbiota regulation, including interventions such as probiotics, prebiotics, and fecal microbiota transplants. However, most research focuses on exogenous depression induced by chronic stress or drugs, with less attention given to endogenous depression.

Development of a prediction score for Barrett's esophagus in Japanese health checkup settings.

Background: The incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma has recently increased in Asia, including Japan. A system to identify individuals at high risk for Barrett's esophagus (BE), a pre-cancerous condition of esophageal adenocarcinoma, among the general population is needed to perform endoscopic surveillance appropriately. We therefore developed risk prediction scores for BE at health checkups in Japan.

A Report of Ulcerative Colitis With Relapse on the Rectal Side of the Loop Sigmoid Colostomy and Not on the Oral Side.

A patient who received a loop sigmoid colostomy was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (pancolitis type) and treated with infliximab. Thereafter, he relapsed with intestinal inflammation only on the rectal side of the loop sigmoid colostomy and not on the oral side. Autologous fecal microbiota transplantation from the proximal intestine to the distal intestine was performed to treat the inflammation but was ineffective.

A Final Report on the Real Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Diagnosis of Gastrointestinal Cancer in Akita Prefecture, Japan in 2022.

The long-term impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the disruption of gastrointestinal cancer diagnoses remains unclear. This study investigated the actual impact on esophagogastric cancer (EGC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) diagnoses up to the third year of the pandemic in Akita Prefecture, Japan, using population-based registry data. We collected data on the annual number of EGC and CRC diagnoses using a database from the collaborative Akita Prefecture hospital-based registration.

Eradication Does Not Adversely Affect the Clinical Course of Gastric Cancer: A Multicenter Study on Screening Endoscopic Examination in Japan.

Background: Since gastric cancers (GCs) detected after () eradication present with different morphological characteristics from conventional -positive GCs, delayed detection of early-stage GCs may be observed. This study aimed to investigate the clinical impact of eradication on diagnosing GC during screening endoscopy.

Methods: Eleven health checkup institutions in Japan participated in the present study.

Iron overload in patients with Crohn's disease with short bowel syndrome who received long-term parenteral nutrition with trace elements.

Crohn's disease patients often need regular home parenteral nutrition (HPN) for intestinal failure due to multiple intestinal resections. Trace elements are necessary for long-term HPN but the requirement volume of iron is undetermined. We describe three patients with Crohn's disease with short bowel syndrome (SBS) who had iron overload as a result of long-term HPN including iron.

Disproportionate cancer worries in ultra-short-segment Barrett's esophagus in Japan.

Objectives: Although Barrett's esophagus (BE), especially ultra-short-segment BE (USSBE), is very frequently diagnosed in Japan, how subjects feel about receiving a diagnosis of BE is unclear. We therefore prospectively investigated cancer worry in subjects who received a BE diagnosis.

Methods: Self-administered questionnaires were sent to subjects who were diagnosed with BE at three health checkup institutes in Akita Prefecture, Japan.

Impact of Functional Status on Development of Clostridioides difficile Infection and Increase in Inhospital Mortality among Antibiotic Users.

Introduction: Functional status is one of the surrogates of advanced age, an established risk factor for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). We aimed to investigate the usefulness of functional status in the clinical management of CDI.

Methods: We enrolled all hospitalized adult patients receiving antibiotics from a retrospective hospital-based cohort in Japan between 2016 and 2020.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of endoscopy in the Tohoku region of Japan.

Objectives: The whole picture of the disturbance in endoscopy performance caused by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Japan remains to be clarified. Therefore, the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society-Tohoku conducted this questionnaire survey in Tohoku region of Japan.

Methods: A questionnaire on the number of diagnostic endoscopy procedures and resulting diagnosed cancers in 2019 and 2020 was sent to all guidance/guidance cooperation hospitals in the Japan Gastroenterological Endoscopy Society who worked in the Tohoku region.

[A case of severe inflammatory bowel disease triggered by vaccination with SARS-CoV-2 mRNA].

A 64-year-old woman received a third dose of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA vaccine. On the next day, she developed fever, diarrhea, and abdominal pain and had bloody stools. Total colonoscopy revealed deep ulceration on the whole colon.

DR3 Regulates Intestinal Epithelial Homeostasis and Regeneration After Intestinal Barrier Injury.

Background & Aims: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily member tumor necrosis factor-like protein 1A (TL1A) has been associated with the susceptibility and severity of inflammatory bowel diseases. However, the function of the tumor necrosis factor-like protein 1A and its receptor death receptor 3 (DR3) in the development of intestinal inflammation is incompletely understood. We investigated the role of DR3 expressed by intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) during intestinal homeostasis, tissue injury, and regeneration.

Vonoprazan poses no additional risk of developing Clostridioides difficile infection compared to proton pump inhibitors.

Background And Aim: The use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) has been repeatedly reported as a trigger of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), a leading cause of nosocomial diarrhea. However, only a few studies have reported on the association between vonoprazan, a novel potassium-competitive acid blocker providing potent acid suppression, and CDI, with no studies having been conducted in a clinical setting. We therefore evaluated the association between various classes of acid suppressants and CDI with special attention paid to differences in the magnitudes of association between PPIs and vonoprazan.

A Follow-up Report on the Diagnosis of Gastrointestinal Cancer during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Akita Prefecture, Japan in 2021.

We recently reported the decrease in the number of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer diagnoses in 2020 due to disturbance of the healthcare system by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, using a hospital-based cancer registration system in Akita prefecture, Japan. In this study, we extended the research by showing the latest data (2021) on the number of cancers and examinations. Information on the occurrence and stage of esophageal, gastric, and colorectal cancers was collected from the same database.

Nature and Clinical Outcomes of Acute Hemorrhagic Rectal Ulcer.

Acute hemorrhagic rectal ulcer (AHRU) is a relatively rare disease that can lead to massive hematochezia. Although AHRU is a potentially life-threatening disease, its characteristics and clinical course are not fully understood. In this study, the clinical features were compared between AHRU and lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB) from other causes (non-AHRU).

BATF3 Protects Against Metabolic Syndrome and Maintains Intestinal Epithelial Homeostasis.

The intestinal immune system and microbiota are emerging as important contributors to the development of metabolic syndrome, but the role of intestinal dendritic cells (DCs) in this context is incompletely understood. BATF3 is a transcription factor essential in the development of mucosal conventional DCs type 1 (cDC1). We show that mice developed metabolic syndrome and have altered localization of tight junction proteins in intestinal epithelial cells leading to increased intestinal permeability.

Diverse contributions of the visceral fat area to the etiology of two distinct subtypes of esophago-gastric junctional adenocarcinoma.

Background: There are two distinct etiologies of esophago-gastric junctional adenocarcinomas (EGJACs): one associated with extensive gastric mucosal atrophy (GA), resembling non-cardiac gastric cancers; and the other related to gastro-esophageal reflux disease, resembling esophageal adenocarcinoma. In this study, we investigated the associations between the visceral fat area (VFA) and EGJACs separately in the two subtypes of EGJACs, depending on the extent of background GA.

Methods: Sixty-four consecutive patients with EGJACs (Siewert type 2) were enrolled from a population-based database in Akita Prefecture, Japan, between 2014 and 2019.

Leucine-Rich Alpha-2 Glycoprotein in Monitoring Disease Activity and Intestinal Stenosis in Inflammatory Bowel Disease.

Leucine-rich alpha-2 glycoprotein (LRG) is a novel biomarker for monitoring disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of this study was to evaluate its utility in monitoring disease activity. In this retrospective study based on case records between August 2020 and July 2021 at our two centers, we examined the correlation between serum levels of LRG and C-reactive protein (CRP) with disease activity in IBD patients.

The risk of antibiotics and enterocolitis for the development of inflammatory bowel disease: a Japanese administrative database analysis.

Previous studies have shown that antibiotic use and enterocolitis increase the risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in western countries. However, these risk factors have not yet been identified in Asian populations. This study aimed to investigate the risk of IBD development associated with antibiotic use and enterocolitis in Japan.

Usefulness of the CHAMPS score for risk stratification in lower gastrointestinal bleeding.

We have recently developed a simple prediction score, the CHAMPS score, to predict in-hospital mortality in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. In this study, the primary outcome of this study was the usefulness of the CHAMPS score for predicting in-hospital mortality with lower gastrointestinal bleeding (LGIB). Consecutive adult patients who were hospitalized with LGIB at two tertiary academic medical centers from 2015 to 2020 were retrospectively enrolled.