Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0022104 (irritable bowel syndrome)
 8,033 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The gut microbiota is a complex ecosystem that has a symbiotic relationship with its host. An association between the gut microbiota and disease was first postulated in the early 20(th) century. However, until the 1990s, knowledge of the gut microbiota was limited because bacteriological culture was the only technique available to characterize its composition. Only a fraction (estimated at <30%) of the gut microbiota has been cultured to date. Since the 1990s, advances in culture-independent techniques have spearheaded our knowledge of the complexity of this ecosystem. These techniques have elucidated the microbial diversity of the gut microbiota and have shown that alterations in the gut microbiota composition and function are associated with certain disease states, such as IBD and obesity. These new techniques are fast, facilitate high throughput, identify organisms that are uncultured to date and enable enumeration of organisms present in the gut microbiota. This Review discusses the techniques that can used to characterize the gut microbiota, when they can be applied to human studies and their relative advantages and limitations.
 ...
PMID:Techniques used to characterize the gut microbiota: a guide for the clinician. 2245 Mar 7

First defined in the mid-1990s, prebiotics, which alter the composition and activity of gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota to improve health and well-being, have generated scientific and consumer interest and regulatory debate. The Life Sciences Research Organization, Inc. (LSRO) held a workshop, Prebiotics and the Health Benefits of Fiber: Future Research and Goals, in February 2011 to assess the current state of the science and the international regulatory environment for prebiotics, identify research gaps, and create a strategy for future research. A developing body of evidence supports a role for prebiotics in reducing the risk and severity of GI infection and inflammation, including diarrhea, inflammatory bowel disease, and ulcerative colitis as well as bowel function disorders, including irritable bowel syndrome. Prebiotics also increase the bioavailability and uptake of minerals and data suggest that they reduce the risk of obesity by promoting satiety and weight loss. Additional research is needed to define the relationship between the consumption of different prebiotics and improvement of human health. New information derived from the characterization of the composition and function of different prebiotics as well as the interactions among and between gut microbiota and the human host would improve our understanding of the effects of prebiotics on health and disease and could assist in surmounting regulatory issues related to prebiotic use.
 ...
PMID:Prebiotics and the health benefits of fiber: current regulatory status, future research, and goals. 2245 89

The normal intestinal microflora (microbiota) represents a complex, dynamic, and diverse collection of microorganisms, which usually inhabit the gastrointestinal tract. Normally, between this flora and the human host a mutually beneficial long-term symbiotic relationship is established, where the host contributes essential nutrients necessary for the survival of the microbiota and the latter fulfils multiple roles in host nutrition and development. Several achievements have recently converged to renew interest in studying the normal gut microbiota: the development of molecular methods of studying the microbial communities, the improved understanding of host-microbe interactions in health and disease, and the potential for therapeutic manipulation of the microbiota. We present recent data concerning the molecular technologies of studying the microbiota and new findings regarding the composition of the normal flora. We underline the beneficial activities of the gut flora on the human host. We emphasize the recent findings in the alterations of the microbiota in various medical conditions (celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, obesity, colorectal cancer, allergic disorders, and especially inflammatory bowel diseases). The results of these new studies suggest that changes of the microbiota could be linked to the etiopathogenesis of these diseases. These outstanding findings could be used for further diagnostic tools and/or therapy.
 ...
PMID:The gut microbiota in the metagenomics era: sometimes a friend, sometimes a foe. 2257 Sep 28

Recent advances in our ability to identify and characterize the human microbiota have transformed our appreciation of the function of the colon from an organ principally involved in the reabsorption of secretory fluids to a metabolic organ on a par with the liver. High-throughput technology has been applied to the identification of specific differences in microbial DNA, allowing the identification of trillions of microbes belonging to more than 1000 different species, with a metabolic mass of approximately 1.5 kg. The close proximity of these microbes with the mucosa and gut lymphoid tissue helps explain why a balanced microbiota is likely to preserve mucosal health, whereas an unbalanced composition, as seen in dysbiosis, may increase the prevalence of diseases not only of the mucosa but also within the body due to the strong interactions with the gut immune system, the largest immune organ of the body. Such abnormalities have been pinpointed as etiological factors in a wide range of diseases, including autoimmune disorders, allergy, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, obesity, and colon cancer. Recognition of the strong potential for food to manipulate microbiota composition has opened up new therapeutic strategies against these diseases based on dietary intervention.
 ...
PMID:The microbiota and its metabolites in colonic mucosal health and cancer risk. 2286 82

Although much has been published about curcumin, which is obtained from turmeric, comparatively little is known about turmeric itself. Turmeric, a golden spice obtained from the rhizome of the plant Curcuma longa, has been used to give color and taste to food preparations since ancient times. Traditionally, this spice has been used in Ayurveda and folk medicine for the treatment of such ailments as gynecological problems, gastric problems, hepatic disorders, infectious diseases, and blood disorders. Modern science has provided the scientific basis for the use of turmeric against such disorders. Various chemical constituents have been isolated from this spice, including polyphenols, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, triterpenoids, sterols, and alkaloids. Curcumin, which constitutes 2-5% of turmeric, is perhaps the most-studied component. Although some of the activities of turmeric can be mimicked by curcumin, other activities are curcumin-independent. Cell-based studies have demonstrated the potential of turmeric as an antimicrobial, insecticidal, larvicidal, antimutagenic, radioprotector, and anticancer agent. Numerous animal studies have shown the potential of this spice against proinflammatory diseases, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, depression, diabetes, obesity, and atherosclerosis. At the molecular level, this spice has been shown to modulate numerous cell-signaling pathways. In clinical trials, turmeric has shown efficacy against numerous human ailments including lupus nephritis, cancer, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, acne, and fibrosis. Thus, a spice originally common in the kitchen is now exhibiting activities in the clinic. In this review, we discuss the chemical constituents of turmeric, its biological activities, its molecular targets, and its potential in the clinic.
...
PMID:Multitargeting by turmeric, the golden spice: From kitchen to clinic. 2288 2

The gastrointestinal (GI) microbiota is the collection of microbes which reside in the GI tract and represents the largest source of non-self antigens in the human body. The GI tract functions as a major immunological organ as it must maintain tolerance to commensal and dietary antigens while remaining responsive to pathogenic stimuli. If this balance is disrupted, inappropriate inflammatory processes can result, leading to host cell damage and/or autoimmunity. Evidence suggests that the composition of the intestinal microbiota can influence susceptibility to chronic disease of the intestinal tract including ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, celiac disease and irritable bowel syndrome, as well as more systemic diseases such as obesity, type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. Interestingly, a considerable shift in diet has coincided with increased incidence of many of these inflammatory diseases. It was originally believed that the composition of the intestinal microbiota was relatively stable from early childhood; however, recent evidence suggests that diet can cause dysbiosis, an alteration in the composition of the microbiota, which could lead to aberrant immune responses. The role of the microbiota and the potential for diet-induced dysbiosis in inflammatory conditions of the GI tract and systemic diseases will be discussed.
 ...
PMID:Diet-induced dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota and the effects on immunity and disease. 2301 34

Mammals and their intestinal microbiota peacefully coexist in a mutualistic relationship. Commensal bacteria play an active role in shaping and modulating physiological processes in the host, which include, but are not restricted to, the immune system and the intestinal barrier. Both play a crucial role in containing intestinal bacteria and other potentially noxious luminal antigens within the lumen and mucosal compartment. Although mutualism defines the relationship between the host and the intestinal microbiota, disruptions in this equilibrium may promote disease. Thus, alterations in gut microbiota (dysbiosis) have been linked to the recent increased expression of obesity, allergy, autoimmunity, functional and inflammatory disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In this article, we review the evidence supporting a role of gut microbiota in regulating intestinal barrier function. We discuss the hypothesis that microbial factors can modulate the barrier in ways that can prevent or promote gastrointestinal disease. A better understanding of the role of the intestinal microbiota in maintaining a functional intestinal barrier may help develop targeted strategies to prevent and treat disease.
 ...
PMID:Modulation of intestinal barrier by intestinal microbiota: pathological and therapeutic implications. 2308 10

Human biology can only be fully assessed by combining an analysis of both the host and its surrounding environment. As a part of the environment, the human gastrointestinal tract hosts more than 100 trillion bacteria making up the gut microbiota. The human host provides a nutrient-rich environment while the microbiota provides indispensable functions that humans cannot exert themselves. Shifts in the bacterial makeup of the human gut microbiota have been associated with disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), irritable bowel syndrome and obesity. However, since most bacteria inhabiting our gut are not cultivable to date, until recently little was known about their individual functions. Metagenomics, i.e. the analysis of the collective genomes present in a defined ecosystem, gives insight into these specific functions. The first extensive catalogue of the intestinal metagenome outnumbers the size of the human genome by a factor of 150. Recently, 3 distinct 'types' of gut composition within the human population have been highlighted. These so-called 'enterotypes' are characterized by the dominant genera (Bacteroides, Prevotella and Ruminococcus) and their co-occurring phylogenetic groups. In accordance with the previously described impact of nutritional behavior (diet, probiotics and prebiotics) on specific bacterial populations, an association has been observed between long-term dietary habits and enterotypes. This recent discovery, i.e. that belonging to one or the other enterotype might be modulated by the diet opens up new perspectives in the fields of IBD, nutrition and therapeutic strategies.
 ...
PMID:Does our food (environment) change our gut microbiome ('in-vironment'): a potential role for inflammatory bowel disease? 2329 90

In the present paper, the authors make a bibliometrics study on clinical indications of acupuncture therapy based on the published foreign articles about acupuncture clinical trials collected from PubMed database and Excerpta Medica database (EMbase). In 1996, 64 acupuncture indications were declared by WHO in Milan conference. But in recent 15 years, clinical trials have been conducted extensively in the foreign countries. Till now, 77 new indications for acupuncture therapy have been found in the foreign journals. The authors recommended that 29 indications (knee osteoarthritis, critique age problems, muscular fasciae ache, anxiety, etc.) should be added to the first class, 4 indications (irritable bowel syndrome, malposition, backache, simple obesity) should be upgraded from the second class to the first class, and the other 3 indications (childbirth pain, male and female barren) should be upgraded from the third class to the first class due to their application frequency in clinical trials. Increase of clinical indications reflects extensive application of acupuncture therapy and may help providing a better service for people's health.
 ...
PMID:[Bibliometrics study on indications of acupuncture therapy based on foreign acupuncture clinical trials]. 2334 87

Metagenomics which combines the power of genomics, bioinformatics, and systems biology, provide new access to the microbial world. Metagenomics permit the genetic analysis of complex microbial populations without requiring prior cultivation. Through the conceptual innovations in metagenomics and the improvements in DNA high-throughput sequencing and bioinformatics analysis technology, gastrointestinal microbiology has entered the metagenomics era and become a hot topic worldwide. Human microbiome research is underway, however, most studies in this area have focused on the composition and function of the intestinal microbiota and the relationship between intestinal microbiota and metabolic diseases (obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, etc.) and intestinal disorders [inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), etc.]. Few investigations on microbiota have been conducted within the upper gastrointestinal tract (esophagus, stomach and duodenum). The upper gastrointestinal microbiota is essential for several gastrointestinal illnesses, including esophagitis, Barrett's esophagus, and esophageal carcinoma, gastritis and gastric cancer, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, IBS and celiac disease. However, the constitution and diversity of the microbiota in different sections of the upper gastrointestinal tract under health and various disease states, as well as the function of microbiota in the pathogenesis of various digestive diseases are still undefined. The current article provides an overview of the recent findings regarding the relationship between upper gastrointestinal microbiota and gastrointestinal diseases; and discusses the study limitations and future directions of upper gastrointestinal microbiota research.
 ...
PMID:Upper gastrointestinal microbiota and digestive diseases. 2353 78


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>