Gut Bacteria Post-COVID; UC Remission Prediction; UC Flares with Stress

Gut dysbiosis lingered on at an average of 14 months’ follow-up after COVID-19 among patients in Hong Kong. (Gut)

For ulcerative colitis, fecal calprotectin levels weren’t good at identifying disease activity but could point to likelihood of remission and long-term complications. (Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology)

Ulcerative colitis patients with high stress levels while in remission were more likely to develop clinical flares. (Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology)

Severe COVID-19 was more likely when infected veterans had gastrointestinal symptoms. (Gastro Hep Advances)

Atypical enteropathogenic E. coli infections led to a wide range of symptoms for kids and adults, but stool bacterial loads didn’t predict disease or severity. (Gastroenterology)

Oral 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP, or oxitriptan) didn’t improve fatigue in inflammatory bowel disease patients already in remission in a randomized trial. (Gastroenterology)

A high dose of skeletal muscle-derived cell therapy reduced frequency and burden of chronic fecal incontinence in a randomized phase II trial. (Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology)

A baby girl with biliary atresia is expected to have a liver transplant just 2 weeks after also having heart surgery. (Yahoo! News)

Serious infection risk was lower with vedolizumab (Entyvio) than than tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blockers for ulcerative colitis patients but lower with ustekinumab (Stelara) for Crohn’s disease patients than vedolizumab or TNF blockers. (Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology)

Endoscopic resection for early gastric cancer had overall 5-year survival of 89% in a Japanese cohort, leading researchers to recommend it as a standard treatment. (Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology)

For patients with obesity, increased hunger, abnormal satiety after eating, and hedonic eating were tied to stool changes and other gastrointestinal symptoms. (Gastro Hep Advances)

Occult hepatitis B infection — viral DNA present in the liver even if not in the blood — should be part of the global viral hepatitis elimination strategy, concluded a meta-analysis showing prevalence of 0.06-0.98% across countries and over 5% in high risk groups regardless of endemicity. (The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology)