Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association
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Clin. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. · Oct 2013
Randomized Controlled TrialCannabis induces a clinical response in patients with Crohn's disease: a prospective placebo-controlled study.
The marijuana plant Cannabis sativa has been reported to produce beneficial effects for patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, but this has not been investigated in controlled trials. We performed a prospective trial to determine whether cannabis can induce remission in patients with Crohn's disease. ⋯ Although the primary end point of the study (induction of remission) was not achieved, a short course (8 weeks) of THC-rich cannabis produced significant clinical, steroid-free benefits to 10 of 11 patients with active Crohn's disease, compared with placebo, without side effects. Further studies, with larger patient groups and a nonsmoking mode of intake, are warranted. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01040910.
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Clin. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. · Oct 2013
An automated model using electronic medical record data identifies patients with cirrhosis at high risk for readmission.
Patients with cirrhosis have 1-month rates of readmission as high as 35%. Early identification of high-risk patients could permit interventions to reduce readmission. The aim of our study was to construct an automated 30-day readmission risk model for cirrhotic patients using electronic medical record (EMR) data available early during hospitalization. ⋯ Clinical and social factors available early during admission and extractable from an EMR predicted 30-day readmission in cirrhotic patients with moderate accuracy. Decision support tools that use EMR-automated data are useful for risk stratification of patients with cirrhosis early during hospitalization.
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Clin. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. · Oct 2013
A quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay for rapid detection of 9 pathogens directly from stools of travelers with diarrhea.
Every year, 80 million tourists traveling to tropical and subtropical areas contract traveler's diarrhea (TD). Forty percent to 80% of cases are caused by bacteria, yet clinical diagnostic tests are available to identify only a few of the strains that cause TD. We aimed to develop a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay to identify all major pathogens in stool samples. ⋯ We developed a low-cost, high-throughput qPCR assay for use in routine diagnostic analysis and research. It detects the pathogenic bacteria most commonly associated with TD in stool samples with 100% sensitivity and specificity, compared with reference methods. The assay requires 4 hours, whereas current detection methods require 1 to 7 days. At least 1 TD pathogen was identified in stool samples from 76% of returning travelers, whereas conventional methods found a pathogen in only 17%. The most commonly detected bacteria were EPEC, EAEC, and ETEC.
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Clin. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. · Oct 2013
Gliadin does not induce mucosal inflammation or basophil activation in patients with nonceliac gluten sensitivity.
Nonceliac gluten-sensitive (NCGS) patients report intestinal and extra-intestinal symptoms shortly after ingesting gluten; these symptoms disappear on gluten-free diets, although these patients have no serologic markers of celiac disease or intestinal damage. In fact, there is no evidence for mucosal or serologic modifications in those individuals. We investigated immunologic responses of duodenal mucosa samples and peripheral blood basophils, isolated from NCGS patients, after exposure to gliadin. ⋯ Unlike the duodenal mucosa from patients with celiac disease, upon incubation with gliadin, mucosa from patients with NCGS does not express markers of inflammation, and their basophils are not activated by gliadin. The in vitro gliadin challenge therefore should not be used to diagnose NCGS.