Current Issue February 2012, Vol. 142, No. 2

Editor's Essential Reading

Clinical—Liver

Estimates of Early Death, Acute Liver Failure, and Long-term Mortality Among Live Liver Donors
Abimereki D. Muzaale, Nabil N. Dagher, Robert A. Montgomery, Sarah E. Taranto, Maureen A. Mcbride, Dorry L. Segev
The risk of early death among live liver donors in the United States is 1.7 per 1000 donors. Mortality of live liver donors does not differ from that of healthy, matched individuals over a mean of 7.6 years.

Issue Highlights

Clinical—Alimentary Tract

Tobacco Smoking Increases the Risk of High-Grade Dysplasia and Cancer Among Patients With Barrett's Esophagus
Smoking tobacco increases the risk of progression to cancer or high-grade dysplasia 2-fold among patients with BE, compared with patients with BE that have never smoked. Smoking cessation strategies should be considered for patients with BE.

Basic and Translational—Alimentary Tract

Deficiency of Claudin-18 Causes Paracellular H⁺ Leakage, Up-regulation of Interleukin-1ß, and Atrophic Gastritis in Mice
These findings provide evidence that claudin-18 normally forms a paracellular barrier against H⁺ in the stomach and that its deficiency causes paracellular H⁺ leak, a persistent up-regulation of proinflammatory cytokines, chronic recruitment of neutrophils, and the subsequent development of SPEM in atrophic gastritis.

Basic and Translational—Liver

Selective Activation of Nuclear Bile Acid Receptor FXR in the Intestine Protects Mice Against Cholestasis
Activation of FXR transcription in the intestine protects the liver from cholestasis in mice by inducing FGF15 expression and reducing the hepatic pool of BA; this approach might be developed to reverse cholestasis in patients.

Basic and Translational—Pancreas

The Phosphatase PHLPP1 Regulates Akt2, Promotes Pancreatic Cancer Cell Death, and Inhibits Tumor Formation
PHLPP1 has tumor suppressive activity and might represent a therapeutic or diagnostic tool for PDAC.

View Additional Issue Highlights

Unusual Thyroid Tumors in a Young Woman
30 January 2012
Kentaro Yamashita, Yoshiaki Arimura, Yasuhisa Shinomura
Question: A 24-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of thyroid nodules. Physical examination revealed a painless nodule in the right lobe of the thyroid but no abnormal findings in the ...
Abnormal Activation of Autophagy-Induced Crinophagy in Paneth Cells from Patients with Crohn's Disease Short title: Crinophagy in Crohn’s disease
30 January 2012
Elodie Thachil, Jean-Pierre Hugot, Brigitte Arbeille, Régine Paris, Alain Grodet, Michel Peuchmaur, Patrice Codogno, Frédérick Barreau, Eric Ogier-Denis, Dominique Berrebi, Jérôme Viala
Abstract: ATG16L1, IRGM, and NOD2 regulate autophagy, and variants in these genes have been associated with predisposition to Crohn's disease (CD). However, little is known about the role of autophagy...
Curbside Consultation in IBS
27 January 2012
Baha Moshiree
Designed as a reference guide for practitioners from primary care physicians to gastroenterologists, Curbside Consultation in IBS is designed for rapid reference and readability, addressing primary q...
Forgotten Ileus
27 January 2012
Vitale José, Edoardo Fesce, Giancarlo Schmidt
Question: A 26-year-old man was referred to our hospital for obstinate constipation unresponsive to chronic laxatives therapy. On admission he had no appetite, and experienced nausea, vomiting, and cr...
An Unusual Cause of Acute Pancreatitis in a 6-Year-Old Boy
27 January 2012
Shohei Honda, Hisayuki Miyagi, Tadao Okada
Question: A 6-year-old boy presented with periumbilical abdominal pain, nausea, and hematemesis. On physical examination, the abdomen was soft and mildly distended in the epigastric region, with local...
Hepatic Mass in a 73-Year-Old Man
27 January 2012
Jaclyn F. Hechtman, Mohammad Raoufi, M. Isabel Fiel
Question: A 73-year-old man with history of hypertension and dyslipidemia was incidentally found to have a large liver mass on magnetic resonance imaging. He did not have a personal or family history ...
A Bad Streak
27 January 2012
Seth Sweetser, Nataliya Razumilava, Patrick S. Kamath
Question: A 59-year-old Cambodian man, a resident of the United States for 25 years, presented with fatigue, early satiety, and intermittent abdominal discomfort. Physical examination revealed tender,...
Successful Training in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
27 January 2012
Herbert C. Wolfsen, Lesley A. houghton, Lois Hemminger
Successful Training in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, edited by Jonathan Cohen, is a hard-bound textbook with accompanying DVD of instructional video clips that is designed to provide a comprehensive exa...
Acing the Hepatology Questions on the GI Board Exam: The Ultimate Crunch-Time Resource
27 January 2012
Mohammad S. Siddiqui, Richard K. Sterling
Preparing for the GI board examination is a daunting and overwhelming task, both for new graduates making the tough transition from fellowship to faculty, as well as busy clinicians preparing for the ...
Pigmentation Sparing on Melanosis Coli
27 January 2012
Chien-Yuan Hung, Li-Rung Shyung, Ming-Jen Chen
Question: A 91-year man visited our outpatient clinic because of chronic constipation for decades and more recent tenesmus. For the chronic constipation, he had been taking sennosides laxatives for 40...

View More Articles in Press...

American Gastroenterological Association medical position statement: Guidelines for the evaluation and management of chronic diarrhea
June 1999 (Vol. 116 | No. 6 | Pages 1461-1463)
American Gastroenterological Association Medical Position Statement on the Management of Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease
October 2008 (Vol. 135 | No. 4 | Pages 1383-1391.e5)
Peter J. Kahrilas, Nicholas J. Shaheen, Michael F. Vaezi
AGA Institute Medical Position Statement on Acute Pancreatitis
May 2007 (Vol. 132 | No. 5 | Pages 2019-2021)
John Baillie
American Gastroenterological Association Medical Position Statement on the Management of Barrett's Esophagus
March 2011 (Vol. 140 | No. 3 | Pages 1084-1091)
American Gastroenterological Association
Screening and Surveillance for the Early Detection of Colorectal Cancer and Adenomatous Polyps, 2008: A Joint Guideline From the American Cancer Society, the US Multi-Society Task Force on Colorectal Cancer, and the American College of Radiology
May 2008 (Vol. 134 | No. 5 | Pages 1570-1595)
Bernard Levin, David A. Lieberman, Beth McFarland, Kimberly S. Andrews, Durado Brooks, John Bond, Chiranjeev Dash, Francis M. Giardiello, Seth Glick, David Johnson, C. Daniel Johnson, Theodore R. Levin, Perry J. Pickhardt, Douglas K. Rex, Robert A. Smith, Alan Thorson, Sidney J. Winawer, American Cancer Society Colorectal Cancer Advisory Group, US Multi-Society Task Force, American College of Radiology Colon Cancer Committee
American Gastroenterological Association medical position statement: Evaluation of liver chemistry tests, This document presents the official recommendations of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) on the Evaluation of Liver Chemistry Tests. It was approved by the Clinical Practice Committee on March 3, 2002 and by the AGA Governing Board on May 19, 2002.
October 2002 (Vol. 123 | No. 4 | Pages 1364-1366)
Pancreatitis, Pancreatic, and Thyroid Cancer With Glucagon-Like Peptide-1–Based Therapies
July 2011 (Vol. 141 | No. 1 | Pages 150-156)
Michael Elashoff, Aleksey V. Matveyenko, Belinda Gier, Robert Elashoff, Peter C. Butler
Risk Factors for Progression of Low-Grade Dysplasia in Patients With Barrett's Esophagus
October 2011 (Vol. 141 | No. 4 | Pages 1179-1186.e1)
Sachin Wani, Gary W. Falk, Jane Post, Lisa Yerian, Matthew Hall, Amy Wang, Neil Gupta, Srinivas Gaddam, Mandeep Singh, Vikas Singh, Keng–Yu Chuang, Vikram Boolchand, Hemanth Gavini, John Kuczynski, Priti Sud, Ajay Bansal, Amit Rastogi, Sharad C. Mathur, Patrick Young, Brooks Cash, John Goldblum, David A. Lieberman, Richard E. Sampliner, Prateek Sharma
American Gastroenterological Association Institute Medical Position Statement on Corticosteroids, Immunomodulators, and Infliximab in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
March 2006 (Vol. 130 | No. 3 | Pages 935-939)
Gary R. Lichtenstein, Maria T. Abreu, Russell Cohen, William Tremaine
- Full Text
- PDF (76 KB)
American Gastroenterological Association medical position statement: Guidelines on intestinal ischemia
May 2000 (Vol. 118 | No. 5 | Pages 951-953)

Most Read lists are compiled every quarter.

On the Cover

New Issue Alert

See our companion journal, Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology also published by Elsevier.

Notices

El-Serag Named Incoming Editor-in-Chief of CGH
AGA Journal Covers Get New Look!
Starting in July, the covers of Gastroenterology and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology will have a new–and fresh–design.
Penn Neuroendocrine Tumor CME Symposium
University of Pennsylvania
Friday, September 9, 2011
More details
AGA Journal Articles Now Delivered to Your Mobile Device!
2011 DDW Abstracts now available online.
New! Gastroenterology Special Issue on Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Read this year's special 13th issue titled "Inflammatory Bowel Disease: An Update on Fundamental Biology and Clinical Management". Experts explore recent insights into the genetic and biological pathogenesis of the disease and future therapeutic approaches for treatment.
Gastroenterology Introduces Submission/Page Fees
Submit Your Video Abstracts. Review instructions to authors.
Gastroenterology has been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New York Times Well Blog, Reuters, and on NPR!
Read recent press releases and see our press embargo policy.

More Periodicals

Gastroenterology is published by Elsevier for the AGA Institute.

Access this journal onSciVerse ScienceDirect

Press Highlights

UCSF, Citing Financial Concerns, Questions its Ties to the UC System

Discontinuing Immunosuppression in Children Who Received Liver Transplants from Parents

A New NIH Center for Translational Research

Image of the Week

Bleeding polyps? Subepithelial protruding lesions with central depression and marked vessels without acute bleeding in the cecum and colon ascendens.

1 video:

Dr. David Ahlquist discusses his manuscript "Next-Generation Stool DNA Test Accurately Detects Colorectal Cancer and Large Adenomas."

Video--flashvideo1gastro--http://www.youtube.com/v/3uBA1j754V0

Reviews in Basic and Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Dysregulation of Wnt/ß-Catenin Signaling in Gastrointestinal Cancers

Aberrant Wnt/ß-catenin signaling is widely implicated in numerous malignancies, including cancers of the gastrointestinal tract. Dysregulation of signaling is traditionally attributed to mutations in Axin, adenomatous polyposis coli, and ß-catenin that lead to constitutive hyperactivation of the pathway.

Comment From the Editor

How Good Is Your Dentist? How Good Is Your Endoscopist? The Quality Imperative

Recently, I polled my GI friends to determine how they selected their dentist, and whether their dentist practiced “high-quality” dentistry. Most had received recommendations from friends, and selected a dentist based on convenience of location. I asked if they were happy with their dentist, and if the dentist was “above average,” “average,” or “below average” in terms of dental skills and expertise.

Editorial

Outcomes Among Living Liver Donors

Management of donor risk is the most important consideration in the decision to perform a living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). Counseling potential donors on operative morbidity and mortality requires a comprehensive understanding of the available data on outcomes.