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)

In addition to drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that treat, cure, or mitigate disease, medical foods are a tool to help manage chronic conditions and diseases. A medical food, according to the FDA, is a food that is developed to be eaten or administered enterally under the guidance of a physician and that is meant for the specific dietary management of a condition or disease for which distinctive nutritional requirements, based upon known scientific principles, are established by medical evaluation. A variety of medical foods exist to help manage a wide range of medical conditions, from Alzheimer disease to HIV-associated enteropathy. EnteraGam contains serum-derived bovine immunoglobulin/protein isolate, which has been studied extensively in diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and HIV-associated enteropathy. VSL#3 is a probiotic that is used in pouchitis for patients with ulcerative colitis as well as irritable bowel syndrome. Modulen IBD is a whole-protein, sole-nutrition formulation used to manage the active phase of Crohn's disease. Vivonex is an elemental diet that is used in a variety of diseases associated with severe gastrointestinal dysfunction. Medical foods are safe and must have proven efficacy in helping to manage a variety of gastrointestinal conditions and diseases. These therapies represent tools that can be used prior or in addition to traditional medical therapies. This article discusses the history and development of medical foods under the FDA and concentrates specifically on medical foods used to help manage diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
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PMID:The Emerging Therapeutic Role of Medical Foods for Gastrointestinal Disorders. 2845 Aug 17

The kynurenine pathway is important in cellular energy generation and limiting cellular ageing as it degrades about 90% of dietary tryptophan into the essential co-factor NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide). Prior to the production of NAD+, various intermediate compounds with neuroactivity (kynurenic acid, quinolinic acid) or antioxidant activity (3-hydroxykynurenine, picolinic acid) are synthesized. The kynurenine metabolites can participate in numerous neurodegenerative disorders (Alzheimer disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Huntington disease, and Parkinson disease) or other diseases such as AIDS, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, inflammation, and irritable bowel syndrome. Recently, the role of gut in affecting the emotional and cognitive centres of the brain has attracted a great deal of attention. In this review, we focus on the bidirectional communication between the gut and the brain, known as the gut-brain axis. The interaction of components of this axis, namely, the gut, its microbiota, and gut pathogens; tryptophan; the kynurenine pathway on tryptophan availability; the regulation of kynurenine metabolite concentration; and diversity and population of gut microbiota, has been considered.
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PMID:Microorganisms, Tryptophan Metabolism, and Kynurenine Pathway: A Complex Interconnected Loop Influencing Human Health Status. 3125 31

Mast cells are tissue-resident immune cells that are involved in inflammation and fibrosis but also serve beneficial roles, including tissue maintenance, angiogenesis, pathogen clearance, and immunoregulation. Their multifaceted response and the ability of their mediators to target multiple organs and tissues means that mast cells play important roles in numerous conditions, including asthma, atopic dermatitis, drug sensitivities, ischemic heart disease, Alzheimer disease, arthritis, irritable bowel syndrome, infections (parasites, bacteria and viruses), and cancer. As a result, mast cells have become an important target for drug discovery and diagnostic research. Recent work has focused on applying novel nanotechnologies to explore cell biology. In this brief review, we will highlight the use of nanomaterials to modify mast cell functions and will discuss the potential of these technologies as research tools for understanding mast cell biology.
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PMID:The Possible Uses and Challenges of Nanomaterials in Mast Cell Research. 3225 70