Two-year delay in ulcerative colitis diagnosis is associated with anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha use.

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an uncommon inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, its incidence has recently increased in South Korea. Moreover, UC diagnoses are frequently delayed, and the relationship between diagnostic delay and UC prognosis has not been extensively studied in South Korean patients.

Usefulness and feasibility of endoscopic submucosal dissection for colorectal tumor: a nationwide multicenter retrospective study in Korea.

Background: Detection rate of precursor lesion of colorectal cancer and early colon cancer have recently been rising because of increased screening endoscopy and increased incidence of colorectal cancer. Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) technique has been reported to be useful in the treatment of such superficial lesions in colon. However, nationwide multicenter study for usefulness and feasibility of colorectal ESD is still limited.

Polyethylene glycol plus ascorbic acid is as effective as sodium picosulfate with magnesium citrate for bowel preparation: A randomized trial.

Objective: This study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of two low-volume agents, polyethylene glycol (PEG)-3350 plus ascorbic acid (PEG + Asc) and sodium picosulfate with magnesium citrate (SPMC), for bowel preparation.

Methods: We performed a prospective, endoscopist-blinded, single-center, randomized controlled trial comparing PEG + Asc with SPMC to evaluate the bowel cleansing efficacy of the two regimens using the modified Ottawa bowel preparation scale (OBPS) and the Aronchick scale. Patients' taste and overall tolerance were assessed with a questionnaire.

Bacterial PAMPs and Allergens Trigger Increase in [Ca(2+)]i-induced Cytokine Expression in Human PDL Fibroblasts.

An oral environment is constantly exposed to environmental factors and microorganisms. The periodontal ligament (PDL) fibroblasts within this environment are subject to bacterial infection and allergic reaction. However, how these condition affect PDL fibroblasts has yet to be elucidated.

Ten-day sequential versus triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication: a prospective, open-label, randomized trial.

Background And Aim: Increased resistance of Helicobacter pylori to antibiotics has increased the need to develop new first-line treatments for H. pylori. We have prospectively evaluated 10-day sequential versus conventional triple therapy in peptic ulcer patients.

[Comparison of rifabutin- and levofloxacin-based third-line rescue therapies for Helicobacter pylori].

Background/aims: There is increasing need for third-line therapy of Helicobacter pylori due to increasing level of antibiotics resistance. The aim of this study was to compare rifabutin and levofloxacin rescue regimens in patients with first- and second-line Helicobacter pylori eradication failures.

Methods: Patients, in whom a first treatment with proton pump inhibitor-clarithromycin-amoxicillin and a second trial with proton pump inhibitor-bismuth-tetracycline-metronidazole had failed, received treatment with either rifabutin or levofloxacin, plus amoxicillin (1 g twice daily) and standard dose proton pump inhibitor.

A case of Cowden syndrome diagnosed from multiple gastric polyposis.

Cowden syndrome is a rare autosomal dominant disorder that is characterized by multiple hamartomas in a variety of tissues and this is associated with germline mutations in the phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN) gene, which is the tumor suppressor gene located on chromosome 10q23.3. It is characterized by multiple hamartomatous neoplasms of the skin, oral mucosa, gastrointestinal (GI) tract, bones, central nervous system, eyes, and genitourinary tract.

[The Usefulness of the Regular Arrangement of Collecting Venules Pattern for the Determination of Helicobacter pylori Infection].

Background/aims: In the Helicobacter pylori (H. Pylori)-negative normal stomach, collecting venules are visible over all the gastric body as numerous minute points evaluated with standard endoscopy. This finding was termed regular arrangement of collecting venules (RAC), and its absence suggests H.

Resistance of Helicobacter pylori strains to antibiotics in Korea with a focus on fluoroquinolone resistance.

Background And Aim: New regimens, including those with new fluoroquinolones, have been developed to overcome the antibiotic resistance of Helicobacter pylori. We aimed to assess the antibiotic resistance rates, as well as the molecular mechanisms of fluoroquinolone resistance, of the clinical isolates obtained in Korea.

Methods: The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin, clarithromycin, metronidazole and tetracycline were determined by the agar dilution method for 185 treatment-naïve Helicobacter pylori isolates.

Second-line Helicobacter pylori eradication: a randomized comparison of 1-week or 2-week bismuth-containing quadruple therapy.

Objectives: The increasing levels of bacterial antibiotic resistance have increased the need to evaluate the second-line treatments for Helicobacter pylori. Bismuth-based quadruple therapy is recommended as a second-line treatment, but the optimal duration of this treatment is still debatable. We prospectively analyzed the eradication rate of H.

Mitigating endoplasmic reticulum stress with revaprazan ameliorates stress-related mucosal disease.

Background And Aim: The term "stress-related mucosal disease" (SRMD) represents conditions ranging from superficial mucosal damage to focal deep mucosal damage in the stomach, of which pathogenesis is deduced to be violent mucosal ischemia or excess oxidative stress, but not fully clarified yet. Under the hypothesis that mucosal cell apoptosis subsequent to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress might play a crucial role, we evaluated the efficacy and mechanism that novel acid pump antagonist (APA), revaprazan, alleviated water immersion restraint stress (WIRS) induced SRMD in rats.

Methods: In order to define whether WIRS-induced SRMD is associated with ER stress, we checked the alteration in the expression of ER stress markers including GRP78, CHOP, XBP-1, BiP as well as apoptosis in WIRS-induced SRMD.

Nutrigenomic approach to tackle the unpleasant journey to Helicobacter pylori-associated gastric carcinogenesis.

While dietary habits or nutritional intake continue to rank as significant factors influencing the incidence of cancer, there have been considerable scientific uncertainties about who will benefit, but who about will not benefit from nutrition. This might be due to inadequate knowledge about an individual's genetic background, the cumulative effect of nutrients on genetic expression profiles, ambiguous clinical differences between beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries and the lack of information about active protein induction. During the past 200 years of nutrition research, we have experienced revolutionary advances in both chemistry and genomics.

Extended indication of endoscopic resection for mucosal early gastric cancer: analysis of a single center experience.

Background: Endoscopic resection (ER) has become an important therapeutic option for early gastric cancer (EGC). Some investigators have suggested that this indication should be extended. We aimed to compare the extended indication of ER for intramucosal EGC based on data from a large, single-center study.

Halimeter ppb Levels as the Predictor of Erosive Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.

Background/aims: In a previous issue published in Gut and Liver, we found that erosive changes in the esophagogastroduodenal mucosa were strongly correlated with increased levels of volatile sulfur-containing compounds (VSC), suggesting that halitosis could be a symptom reflecting the erosive status of the upper gut mucosa. Together with other studies showing a possible association between halitosis and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), under the premise that halitosis could be one of extraesophageal manifestations of erosive GERD (ERD), we investigated the significance of Halimeter ppb levels on ERD compared to non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease (NERD).

Methods: Subjects were assigned to the NERD group if there was no evidence of esophageal erosive changes on endoscopy, despite reflux symptoms, and to the ERD group if they had GERD A, B, C, or D (according to the Los Angeles classification).

Prevention of colitis-associated carcinogenesis with infliximab.

The emergence of infliximab was an epochal event in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Because colitis-associated cancers arose in the setting of chronic inflammation, during which "inflammation-dysplasia-carcinoma sequence" prevails and anti-inflammatory agents can prevent carcinogenesis, we hypothesized whether infliximab can prevent colitic cancer in animal models for which C57BL/6 mice were exposed to 15 cycles of dextran sulfate sodium (DSS), with each cycle consisting of 0.7% DSS for 1 week followed by sterilized water for 10 days.

Progression from chronic atrophic gastritis to gastric cancer; tangle, toggle, tackle with Korea red ginseng.

Key molecular players that link inflammation to carcinogenesis are prostaglandins, cytokines, nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), chemokines, angiogenic growth factors, and free radicals, all of which lead to increased mutations and altered functions of important enzymes and proteins, for example, activation of oncogenic products and/or inhibition of tumor suppressor proteins, in inflamed tissues, thus contributing to multi-stage carcinogenesis process. Interpreted reversely, the identification of the molecular mechanisms by which chronic inflammation increases cancer risk or optimal intervention of targeted drugs or agents during the inflammation-associated carcinogenic process could be a necessary basis for developing new strategy of cancer prevention at many sites. In this review, we discuss the possibilities for cancer prevention by controlling inflammation process in Helicobacter pylori (H.

Anti-inflammatory actions of probiotics through activating suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) expression and signaling in Helicobacter pylori infection: a novel mechanism.

Background And Aims: In spite of the International Agency for Research on Cancer's definition that Helicobacter pylori is the definite carcinogen of gastric cancer, the simple eradication of the bug is not enough to prevent resultant gastric cancer, and increasing microbial resistance further limits the eradication application. Therefore, probiotics, non-pathogenic microbial feed that can affect the host in a beneficial manner, could be an alternate way to enhance anti-inflammation against H. pylori.