Digestive Diseases and Sciences

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), widely prescribed to patients with upper gastrointestinal symptoms, alter intragastric pH, and may affect upper gastrointestinal transit and motility parameters in addition to affecting the ability to determine Wireless Motility Capsule (WMC) gastric emptying time. To assess PPI effect on motility parameters of the upper gastrointestinal tract and to determine if PPIs confound ability of WMC to measure gastric emptying time. Twenty healthy subjects were treated with esomeprazole 40 mg bid for 1 week. Another 50 healthy subjects underwent evaluation in absence of PPIs. All subjects underwent WMC test after meal ingestion. After a rapid, sustained luminal pH rise ≥ 0.5 pH units, marking potential gastric emptying time of WMC, an abdominal X-ray (KUB) was taken for gastric emptying time confirmation. Mean pH, pressure and transit time were compared between PPI-treated and untreated groups. There was no difference in gastric emptying time, small bowel transit time (SBTT), or pressure profiles between the groups. The pH in all cases rose ≥ 0.5 pH units. Distal small bowel pH was significantly lower in subjects on PPIs. Gastric emptying time was identified in all subjects treated with PPIs. Pressure and slope criteria were developed to confirm the time of emptying. PPI therapy does not have a significant impact on upper gastrointestinal transit and motility but it does decrease distal small bowel pH. The medication reduced the magnitude of pH change at gastric emptying time but using additional criteria based on slope and contraction frequency, WMC was able to measure gastric emptying time in all patients treated with PPIs.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly morbid and prevalent cancer globally. While high quality evidence for mortality benefit of HCC surveillance is lacking, early detection of HCC is likely beneficial as prognosis is highly correlated with tumor stage. High risk populations, including patients with cirrhosis and subgroups with Hepatitis B, should undergo surveillance with ultrasound ± alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) at 6-month intervals. In addition, emerging data suggest that patients with Hepatitis C cirrhosis who achieve sustained virologic response should continue surveillance. Further research is needed to determine the value of surveillance in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in the absence of cirrhosis or with advanced fibrosis of other etiologies. Newer biomarkers and models such as Lens culinaris agglutinin-reactive fraction of AFP, des-γ-carboxy prothrombin, and the GALAD score are increasingly utilized in the diagnosis and prognostication of HCC. The role of these biomarkers in surveillance is still under investigation but may potentially offer a more practical alternative to traditional image-based surveillance. Despite recommendations from multiple professional society guidelines, many at-risk patients do not receive HCC surveillance due to barriers at the patient, clinician, and health care system levels. Strategies such as implementing patient navigation services, educating clinicians about surveillance guidelines, and creating automated outreach systems, may improve surveillance rates and ultimately reduce morbidity and mortality from HCC.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of 144-week tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) therapy in treatment-naïve chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients in Korean. In total, 579 treatment-naïve CHB patients at 11 medical centers were enrolled retrospective and prospective from September 2015 to January 2016 by design (NCT02533544). We evaluated the complete virologic response (CVR) rate and the renal safety of TDF. The overall CVR rate was 69.4%, 87.0%, and 89.7% at weeks 48, 96, and 144, respectively. In the HBeAg-positive CHB patients, the CVR rate at weeks 48, 96, and 144 was 61.4%, 83.1%, and 89.6%, respectively. The rates of HBeAg loss and seroconversion at weeks 48, 96, and 144 were 16.6%, 23.5%, 34.1%, and 7.6%, 8.9%, 13.3%, respectively. In HBeAg-negative CHB patients, the CVR rate at weeks 48, 96, and 144 was 82.5%, 93.2%, and 90.0%, respectively. The rate of alanine aminotransferase normalization was 36.9%, 45.4%, and 46.8% at weeks 48, 96, and 144, respectively. Of the CHB patients, 0.9% showed an elevated creatinine (> 0.5 mg/dL from baseline). Age (≥ 60 years) was significantly associated with a decline in renal function at week 144 (P < 0.0001). Comorbidities (diabetes or hypertension) showed the tendency to reduce renal function (P = 0.0624). Hepatocellular carcinoma developed in 10 (1.7%) patients and was related to cirrhosis. TDF therapy induced sustained viral suppression and had a favorable safety profile over a 3-year period. However, close monitoring of renal function should be mandatory in treating CHB patients receiving TDF, particularly older patients.

1. In ten cases the relationship between the excretion of uropepsin and the clearance of endogenous creatinine was studied. In eight cases a direct relationship between the values was found, indicating that uropepsin is excreted in the urine by glomerular filtration. 2. In six cases it was possible to prove that the regression lines did not deviate significantly from zero. In two cases it was not possible to carry out this evaluation owing to the small slope of regression lines, indicating that participation of the renal tubule is not involved. 3. The concentration of uropepsin in the glomerular filtrate was calculated from the relation between the rate of excretion (units per minute) and the glomerular filtration. The average value of the concentration of uropepsin in the glomerular filtrate is 0.52 units per cc.

There are limited data on noninvasive methods to identify hepatic steatosis in coexisting hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. To evaluate the diagnostic performance of noninvasive serum-based scores to detect steatosis using two distinct chronic HBV cohorts with liver histology evaluation. Chronic HBV cohorts with untreated HBV mono-infection (N = 302) and with treated HBV–HIV (N = 92) were included. Liver histology was scored centrally. Four serum-based scores were calculated: hepatic steatosis index (HSI), nonalcoholic fatty liver disease Liver Fat Score (NAFLD-LFS), visceral adiposity index (VAI), and triglyceride glucose (TyG) index. Optimal cutoffs (highest sensitivity + specificity) to detect ≥ 5% HS, stratified by cohort, were evaluated. HBV–HIV (vs. HBV mono-infected) patients were older (median 50 vs. 43 years), and a higher proportion were male (92% vs. 60%), were black (51% vs. 8%), had the metabolic syndrome (41% vs. 25%), and suppressed HBV DNA (< 1000 IU/mL; 82% vs. 9%). Applying optimal cutoffs, the area under the receiver operator curve for detecting ≥ 5% steatosis in HBV-only and HBV–HIV, respectively, was 0.69 and 0.61 for HSI, 0.70 and 0.76 for NAFLD-LFS, 0.68 and 0.64 for TyG, and 0.68 and 0.69 for VAI. The accuracy of optimal cutoffs ranged from 61% (NAFLD-LFS) to 67% (TyG) among HBV-only and 56% (HSI) to 76% (NAFLD-LFS) among HBV–HIV. Negative predictive values were higher than positive predictive values for all scores in both groups. The relative utility of scores to identify steatosis in chronic HBV differs by co-infection/anti-HBV medication status. However, even with population-specific cutoffs, several common serum-based scores have only moderate utility. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01924455.

In a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial, the effects of 50-, 100-, and 200- Μg doses of misoprostol on meal-stimulated gastric acid secretion were compared with placebo in 16 healthy male subjects. Compared with placebo, the 100- and 200- Μg doses produced significant reductions in acid output for 2 and 3 hr, respectively, following the test meal (P=0.05). Misoprostol did not influence either the fasting or postprandial serum gastrin levels as compared with placebo. No adverse experiences were reported by any of the subjects. One subject experienced a transient rise in SGPT as compared with baseline, which may have been due to ethanol intake. This study provides a scientific rationale on which to base additional trials of misoprostol in patients with disease related to gastric acid production.