Efficacy and Mechanisms of Action of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in Ulcerative Colitis: Pitfalls and Promises From a First Meta-Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is the results of a chronic inflammatory process deriving from disequilibrium between self-microbiota composition and immune response. METHODS: New evidence, coming from Clostridium difficile infection, clearly showed that active and powerful modulation of microbiota composition by fecal microbiota composition (FMT) is safe, easy to perform, and efficacious, opening new frontiers in gastrointestinal and extra-intestinal diseases. FMT has been proposed also for IBD as well as other non-gastrointestinal conditions related to intestinal microbiota dysfunctions, with good preliminary data. RESULTS: In this setting, ulcerative colitis (UC) represents one of the most robust potential indications for FMT after C difficile colitis. CONCLUSIONS: In the present review, we focus on FMT and its application on ulcerative colitis, clarifying mechanisms of actions and efficacy data, trough completion of a meta-analysis on available randomized, controlled trial data in UC. Because microbiota is so crucially involved in this topic, a short review of microbial alterations in UC will also be performed.

Management of acute dyarrhea: current and future trends.

Acute diarrhea is a very common symptom, which may recognize different causes and is basically the expression of an altered homeostasis of the bowel, which overcame current classifications. When approaching patients with acute diarrhea, we should firstly check body temperature and vital parameters and secondly provide a general medical examination mainly focused on the abdomen, in order to exclude surgical causes of diarrhea, such as acute appendicitis, diverticulitis, intestinal occlusion and others. Another important aspect is the assessment of the level of hydration in order to provide the right amount of fluids. There is no current indication for the administration of loperamide in infectious diarrhea, but there is a strong rationale for new class of drugs, which may be defined as "mucous regenerators", such as gelatin tannate. Further studies are needed on this matter in order to test the effect of gelatin tannate in adult patients with acute diarrhea.

Pre- and posttherapy assessment of intestinal soluble mediators in IBD: where we stand and future perspectives.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory condition characterized by an abnormal immune response against food or bacterial antigens in genetically predisposed individuals. Several factors of innate and adaptive immune system take part in the inflammatory process, probably actively contributing in endoscopic and histological healing at molecular level. Although it is difficult to discriminate whether they are primary factors in determining these events or they are secondarily involved, it would be interesting to have a clear map of those factors in order to have a restricted number of potentially "good candidates" for mucosal healing. The present review will present a class of these factors and their modulation in course of therapy, starting from pathogenic studies involving several treatments associated with good clinical outcomes. This approach is meant to help in the difficult task of identifying "good candidates" for healing signatures, which could also be possible new therapeutic targets for clinical management of IBD patients.

Intestinal gas production and gastrointestinal symptoms: from pathogenesis to clinical implication.

Intestinal gases are the expression of metabolic activity of gut microbiota in the gut, particularly carbohydrates in the case of H2, CH4. Alterations in composition of gases and air handling, directly or upon challenge with food are relevant for GI and extra-GI diseases. Assessing gas composition in breath can be a very useful tool for clinic, but technical issues are crucial (breath sampling, storing and analyzing). Aim of the present review is to summarize the understanding of the importance of intestinal gases in gastro-intestinal physiology and patho-physiology. Practical considerations on how to collect samples and instruments available for the clinic have also been provided.

13C-octanoic acid breath test to study gastric emptying time.

Digestion is a complex process regulated by several factors. Among these, one of the most important is the time of gastric emptying. A delayed gastric emptying time can be caused by several factors and can generate considerable discomfort in humans. It ranges from mild to real debilitating disorders. Until now, different tests are suggested to study the gastric emptying time. The present review presents the mayor cause and the main symptoms linked to delayed gastric emptying and will focus on the (13)C-octanoid acid breath test, as a good candidate for studying solid gastric emptying time.

Pancreatic function assessment.

Several non invasive tests are available to assess pancreatic function, but no one is routinely used in clinical practice to diagnose chronic pancreatitis, due to their poor sensitivity in diagnosing mild pancreatic insufficiency. (13)C breath tests share the same limits of the other non invasive functional tests, but the mixed triglyceride breath test seems to be useful in finding the correct dosage of enzyme substitutive therapy to prevent malnutrition in patients with known pancreatic insufficiency.