Gastroenterology is a branch of medicine that deals with ailments focussed on the organs of the digestive system including the stomach, liver, colon, and the rectum.

This article presents the latest research findings in the field of Gastroenterology, as reported in renowned medical journals such as “The New England Journal of Medicine” and “The American Journal of Gastroenterology.”

As reported by the “The New England Journal of Medicine,” a clinical study was performed on patients suffering from primary biliary cholangitis. Obeticholic acid has been beneficial for these patients, however those who experienced side effects with ursodiol could not be administered a 10-ml dose of obeticholic acid. The clinical study was conducted in a placebo-controlled trial for 12 months. The research study concluded that Obeticholic acid administered with ursodial resulted in decrease on bilirubin levels, that differed significantly from changes from placebo.

According to a report in “The American Journal of Gastroenterology,” although the benefits of Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are well known, there have been reported concerns of the infection risk and other malignant complications. The latest studies have concluded that although TNF inhibitors may have increased the risk factor of diseases including tuberculosis and varicella, there is little proof to conclude that anti-TNF agents have specifically raised the risk of any serious infection.

A research study (as reported by “The American Journal of Gastroenterology”) was conducted to determine the performance of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) according to the targets set by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). The study was conducted across different health care settings and study designs. The conclusion was that ERCP procedures is of good standard in areas including the bile duct cannulation, pancreatic duct cannulation, precut utilization, biliary stent placement, and common bile duct stone extraction.

According to a report in “The New England Journal of Medicine,” primary biliary cholangitis, which was previously named as primary biliary cirrhosis, is a cholestatic auto-immune liver disease that marks its progress with the gradual lymphocytic destruction of the smallest intralobular bile ducts. Without any effective therapy, this ailment progresses towards cirrhosis and total liver failure. Ursodiol is a hydrophilic bile acid, which was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1988 for the dissolution of gallstones and is effective in the treatment of biliary cholangitis.