A nationwide, multi-center, retrospective study of symptomatic small bowel stricture in patients with Crohn's disease.

Background: Small bowel stricture is one of the most common complications in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). Endoscopic balloon dilatation (EBD) is a minimally invasive treatment intended to avoid surgery; however, whether EBD prevents subsequent surgery remains unclear. We aimed to reveal the factors contributing to surgery in patients with small bowel stricture and the factors associated with subsequent surgery after initial EBD.

Chemoprevention of colorectal cancer: Past, present, and future.

Chemoprevention began to be considered as a potential strategy for lowering the incidence of cancer and cancer-related deaths in the 1970s. For clinical chemoprevention trials against cancer, including colorectal cancer (CRC), well-established biomarkers are necessary for use as reliable endpoints. Difficulty in establishing validated biomarkers has delayed the start of CRC chemoprevention development.

A Patient with KL-6 Elevation with Anti-TNFα Who Could Receive Long-Term Use without Interstitial Pneumonia after Class Switch of Anti-TNFα.

A 40-year-old man with refractory ulcerative colitis (UC) was treated with tumor necrosis factor α inhibitor (anti-TNFα), infliximab. One month later, the chest computed tomography and laboratory test showed noninfectious interstitial lung disease (ILD) and elevation of serum Krebs von den Lungen-6 (KL-6). Fortunately, ILD disappeared after the discontinuation with anti-TNFα.

AMPK: Therapeutic Target for Diabetes and Cancer Prevention.

Background: AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a protein kinase that maintains homeostasis in cells and organs. As a master regulator of metabolism, AMPK coordinates many metabolic reactions. AMPK is a key factor in diabetes and metabolic syndrome associated with dysregulation of the metabolic status.

Metformin for chemoprevention of metachronous colorectal adenoma or polyps in post-polypectomy patients without diabetes: a multicentre double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised phase 3 trial.

Background: The prevalence of, and mortality from, colorectal cancer is increasing worldwide, and new strategies for prevention are needed to reduce the burden of this disease. The oral diabetes medicine metformin might have chemopreventive effects against cancer, including colorectal cancer. However, no clinical trial data exist for the use of metformin for colorectal cancer chemoprevention.

Clinical value of capsule endoscopy for detecting small bowel lesions in patients with intestinal Behçet's disease.

Background And Aim: To evaluate the clinical value of capsule endoscopy (CE) in patients with intestinal Behçet's disease (BD).

Methods: The present study was a case-control pilot study conducted in intestinal BD patients and healthy volunteers. A total of 19 patients with intestinal BD (intestinal BD group) and 19 healthy volunteers (control group) matched for age and sex were enrolled.

Visual distraction alone for the improvement of colonoscopy-related pain and satisfaction.

Aim: To evaluate the effect of a relaxing visual distraction alone on patient pain, anxiety, and satisfaction during colonoscopy.

Methods: This study was designed as an endoscopist-blinded randomized controlled trial with 60 consecutively enrolled patients who underwent elective colonoscopy at Yokohama City University Hospital, Japan. Patients were randomly assigned to two groups: group 1 watched a silent movie using a head-mounted display, while group 2 only wore the display.

Lubiprostone decreases the small bowel transit time by capsule endoscopy: an exploratory, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled 3-way crossover study.

The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of lubiprostone for bowel preparation and as a propulsive agent in small bowel endoscopy. Six healthy male volunteers participated in this randomized, 3-way crossover study. The subjects received a 24 μg tablet of lubiprostone 60 minutes prior to the capsule ingestion for capsule endoscopy (CE) and a placebo tablet 30 minutes before the capsule ingestion (L-P regimen), a placebo tablet 60 minutes prior to CE and a 24 μg tablet of lubiprostone 30 minutes prior to CE (P-L regimen), or a placebo tablet 60 minutes prior to r CE and a placebo tablet again 30 minutes prior to CE (P-P regimen).

Small bowel injury in low-dose aspirin users.

The use of low-dose aspirin (LDA) is well known to be associated with an increased risk of serious upper gastrointestinal complications, such as peptic ulceration and bleeding. Until recently, attention was mainly focused on aspirin-induced damage of the stomach and duodenum. However, recently, there has been growing interest among gastroenterologists on the adverse effects of aspirin on the small bowel, especially as new endoscopic techniques, such as capsule endoscopy (CE) and balloon-assisted endoscopy, have become available for the evaluation of small bowel lesions.

Is it worthwhile to perform capsule endoscopy for asymptomatic patients with positive immunochemical faecal occult blood test?

Background: The immunochemical faecal occult blood test (IFOBT) is widely performed for colorectal cancer screening, but the usefulness of IFOBT in the detection of disorders of the small intestine is unknown. The objective of this study was to investigate what proportion of IFOBT-positive subjects with negative colonoscopy and oesophagogastroduodenoscopy has pathologies of the small intestine detected by capsule endoscopy (CE).

Methods: Between October 2008 and June 2010, asymptomatic IFOBT-positive patients with negative total colonoscopy and oesophagogastroduodenoscopy underwent CE.