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Top 5 stories you may have missed in October
Healio Gastroenterology and Liver Disease compiled a list of the top five stories posted in October.
Our readers were most interested in updates in inflammatory bowel disease, eosinophilic esophagitis and how gastroenterologists recommended handling the Zantac recall.
Common medications linked to changes in gut microbiome
A group of commonly used drug categories have a significant impact on the makeup of the gut microbiome, which could increase the risk for infection, obesity and other conditions, according to study results presented at UEG Week.
Arnau Vich Vila, of the department of gastroenterology and hepatology at University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands, and colleagues found that 18 common drug categories were associated with changes in the composition or function of the gut microbiome. Their research explored changes in the general population, as well as in patients with disorders like inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome. READ MORE.
Diet modification may improve QOL in IBD
Quality of life in patients with inflammatory bowel disease can be improved through dietary modification, according to a study published by the Oxford University Press on behalf of Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation.
“Despite data supporting clinical improvements using dietary therapy in IBD, we have fewer data evaluating the impact of dietary interventions on patient-recorded QOL,” Anita Chandrasekaran, MD, MPH, a clinical fellow at Yale School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. READ MORE.
Antibiotic confers durable clinical remission in Crohn’s
RHB-104, an oral antibiotic, appeared safe and effective for the treatment of Crohn’s disease, according to the manufacturer.
The phase 3 open label extension study, known as MAP US, includes data from up to 52 weeks of treatment with RHB-104 (RedHill Biopharma), an antibiotic combination therapy that targets avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), a suspected trigger for CD in susceptible patients. RedHill previously announced positive results out to 26 weeks in the study comprising 331 patients with moderate-to-severe CD who were randomly assigned to receive the drug or placebo. READ MORE.
Novel therapy improves disease features in EoE
Patients with eosinophilic esophagitis who received Dupixent experienced improvement in dysphagia, severity of histologic and endoscopic features, esophageal intraepithelial eosinophil count and esophageal distensibility, and started seeing improved symptoms and quality of life, according to study results.
Ikuo Hirano, MD, of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote there is a need to add more options for the treatment of EoE, which is currently treated with elimination diets, proton pump inhibitors and esophageal dilation. READ MORE.
Q&A: How three GIs are handling the Zantac recall
After halting the distribution of Zantac, Sandoz, the drug’s manufacturer, voluntarily recalled several formulations of the heartburn medication after noting confirmed contamination with N-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA), a possible human carcinogen, above established FDA levels.
To gauge how gastroenterologists have been approaching the evolving landscape with this medication, Healio Gastroenterology and Liver Disease reached out to several physicians about the initial distribution halt and subsequent voluntary recalls. READ MORE.