Gastrointestinal (GI) cancers cause obstruction of the GI tract including biliary tree. In advanced GI cancer, endoscopic stent insertion is the treatment of choice. However, the current stent allows only mechanical palliation of obstructed GI tract and has no anti-tumor effect. The primary role of a drug eluting stent (DES) in gastrointestinal malignancy is that it decreases the tumor re-growth and sustains the stent patency. This might not be as impressive as the effect of a vascular DES which decreases the incidence of restenosis and thus increases the survival rate of the patient. However, in terms of improving the quality of life of the patient, maintaining the stent patency is one of the most important task of GI doctors. With an advanced technology in stent production, Korea would be able to play an active role in the field of DES especially with more advanced anti-tumor effect. Moreover, advances in this type of drug delivery system will enable the development of local treatment of GI malignancy using endoscopy.
*Drug-Eluting Stents ; Gastrointestinal Diseases/*drug therapy ; Humans ; Polyurethanes/*chemistry

Currently, the gut-organ axis has become a hot research topic. As increasing attention has been paid to the role of gut microbiota in the health of organs, the complex and integrated dialogue mechanism between the gastrointestinal tract and the associated microbiota has been demonstrated in more and more studies. Skin as the largest organ in the human body serves as the primary barrier protecting the human body from damage. The proposal of the gut-skin axis has established a bidirectional link between the gut and the skin. The disturbance of gut microbiota can lead to the occurrence of skin diseases, the mechanism of which is complex and may involve multiple pathways in immunity, metabolism, and internal secretion. According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), the connection between the intestine and the skin can be established through the lung, and the interior disorders will definitely cause symptoms on the exterior. This paper reviews the research progress in the gut-skin axis and its correlation with TCM theory and provides ideas and a basis for cli-nical treatment and drug development of skin and intestinal diseases.
Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Skin Diseases/drug therapy* ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome

Inflammatory bowel disease(IBD) is a chronic and recurrent inflammatory disorder of the gut, including Crohn's disease(CD) and ulcerative colitis(UC). The occurrence and development of IBD involves multiple pathogenic factors, and the dybiosis of gut flora is recognized as an important pathogenic mechanism of IBD. Therefore, restoring and maintaining the balance of gut flora including bacteria and fungi has become an effective option for IBD treatment. Based on the theoretical basis of the interaction between gut flora and IBD, this paper followed the principle of clinical syndrome differentiation for IBD therapy by traditional Chinese medicine(TCM), and summarized several Chinese medicinal formulae commonly used in IBD patients with large intestine damp-heat syndrome, intermingled heat and cold syndrome, spleen deficiency and dampness accumulation syndrome, spleen and kidney yang deficiency syndrome, liver stagnation and spleen deficiency syndrome, and severe heat poisoning syndrome. The therapeutic and regulatory effects of Shaoyao Decoction, Qingchang Suppository, Wumei Pills, Banxia Xiexin Decoction, Shenling Baizhu Powder, Lizhong Decoction, Sishen Pills, Tongxie Yaofang, Baitouweng Decoction, Gegen Qinlian Decoction, and Houttuyniae Herba prescriptions on gut flora of IBD patients were emphasized as well as the mechanisms. This study found that Chinese medicinal formulae increased the abundance of Bacteroidetes, Bifidobacteria, Lactobacillus, and other beneficial bacteria producing short-chain fatty acids, and reduced the abundance of Enterobacteriaceae and other harmful bacteria to restore the balance of gut flora, thus treating IBD. Confronting the recalcitrance and high recurrence of IBD, Chinese medicinal formulae provide new opportunities for IBD treatment through intervening dysbiosis of gut flora.
Humans ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases/drug therapy* ; Dysbiosis/drug therapy* ; Colitis, Ulcerative/drug therapy* ; Bacteria/genetics* ; Homeostasis ; China

With the development of global economy and society,the number of patients who suffer from functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID) and mental illness is growing. In recent years, a substantial amount of high-quality research evidence shows that these two kinds of diseases often coexist, and they are mutually causal, and their common pathophysiology is the abnormal interaction of "bacteria-gut-brain axis". In clinical practice, there are some problems, such as insufficient recognition and attention of both doctors and patients to its clinical manifestations, lack of understanding of pathophysiological mechanism, and lack of overall and integrated views of intervention methods, which may be the main factors of poor curative effect at present. Therefore, according to the global research progress and the author's clinical experience, we put forward a new viewpoint of "gastrointestinal psychiatry", it concluded that clinical intervention strategies needed to include dietary and lifestyle changes as well as multidisciplinary interventions such as probiotics, prebiotic, fecal microbiota transplantation and cognitive psychology. On the basis of gastrointestinal psychiatry, this paper systematically elaborated the diagnosis and treatment of this kind of diseases.
Gastrointestinal Diseases/drug therapy* ; Humans ; Mental Disorders/therapy* ; Prebiotics ; Probiotics ; Psychiatry

Brain Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Cardiovascular Diseases ; drug therapy ; Eye Diseases ; drug therapy ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Lung Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Photochemotherapy ; Precancerous Conditions ; drug therapy ; Skin Diseases ; drug therapy ; Skin Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Tooth Diseases ; drug therapy ; Urologic Neoplasms ; drug therapy

Colonic Diseases, Functional ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Dyspepsia ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Research Design ; standards

This article reviews the recent advances in gastrointestinal function research, especially the gastrointestinal dysfunction/failure in critical care medicine.
Critical Care ; methods ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; complications ; drug therapy ; pathology ; physiopathology ; Humans

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to identify the level of oxaliplatin-induced peripheral neuropathy (OIPN), symptoms, distress, and quality of life (QoL) in gastrointestinal (GI) cancer patients and to identify the factors influencing QoL.METHODS: A total of 123 patients were recruited for this cross-sectional study. Surveys used were the Therapy-Induced Neuropathy Assessment Scale (TNAS) for OIPN, the MD Anderson Symptom Inventory (MDASI-GI) for general symptoms associated with gastrointestinal cancer and its treatment, a distress thermometer, and the Euro Quality of Life Questionnaire 5-Dimensional Classification (EQ-5D) for QoL.RESULTS: The patients were classified into three groups based on their treatment completion time (current, completed less than one year ago, completed more than one year ago). The scores of MDASI-GI and distress were significantly lower in patients who had completed chemotherapy compared to those who were undergoing treatment (p=.04 and .02 respectively). However, TNAS score was significantly higher in patients who completed chemotherapy less than one year ago than the other two groups (p=.001). In multivariate regression models, the OIPN and distress or general symptoms were identified as factors associated with QoL.CONCLUSION: In this study, we identified the symptoms that are factors related to the QoL in patients with GI cancer. In particular, the symptoms of OIPN are reported at significantly increased levels for patients who have finished chemotherapy less than one year ago, so efforts to prevent and manage the symptoms of OIPN are needed in this timeframe. To improve QoL of patients with GI cancer, continuous attention and care are required not only during the treatment of cancer but also after the completion of treatment.
Classification ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Drug Therapy ; Gastrointestinal Neoplasms ; Humans ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; Quality of Life ; Thermometers

Development of pseudomembranes in the gastrointestinal tract during acute inflammatory or vascular disease has been confined to the small and/or large bowel, with rare occurrences in the esophagus. Primary gut involvement by Aspergillus is a rare and often fatal complication of intensive antileukemic therapy. To our knowledge, there has been only two case reports of pseudomembranous gastritis. We experienced a case of isolated pseudomembranous gastritis due to Aspergillus after chemotherapy for relapsed acute myelogenous leukemia. The diagnosis was made by gastrofiberscopic findings and histologically.
Aspergillosis ; Aspergillus* ; Diagnosis ; Drug Therapy ; Esophagus ; Gastritis* ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute* ; Vascular Diseases

OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical effect of unblocking the interior and purgation method on improving decreased gastrointestinal motility of post-operative esophageal cancer patients, and to study its mechanisms.

METHODS60 patients with post-operative esophageal cancer were randomly assigned to two groups, the treatment group and the control group, 30 in each group. Routine therapies were given to the two groups. Chinese drugs with unblocking the interior and purgation action was infused by enteral nutrition tube to patients in the treatment group, while normal saline was infused to those in the control group. The first flatus time, the first defecation time, the bowel tones recovery time after operation, and the total amount of the gastric juice draining between the first day and the third day after operation of all patients were recorded. Plasma motilin (MTL) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) contents were detected before operation and the fourth day after operation.

RESULTSThe first flatus time, the first defecation time, the bowel tones recovery time after operation, and the total amount of the gastric juice draining were less in the treatment group than in the control group, showing statistical difference (P<0.05, P<0.01). The post-operative MTL contents were higher and VIP contents lower in the treatment group than in the control group, showing statistical difference (P<0.05, P<0.01). There was no significant difference in plasmal MTL and VIP contents of the treatment group between before and after treatment (P>0.05). But there was significant difference in plasmal MTL and VIP contents of the control group between before and after treatment (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONUnblocking the interior and purgation method could significantly promote the gastrointestinal motility recovery of post-operative esophageal cancer patients, showing good clinical effect.

Adult ; Aged ; Esophageal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Diseases ; drug therapy ; physiopathology ; prevention & control ; Gastrointestinal Motility ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Phytotherapy ; Postoperative Complications ; drug therapy ; prevention & control