Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common and potentially modifiable contributor to excess disability, morbidity, and poor quality of life. Clinical trials of medications for IBS have largely been in younger adults. Yet, a growing number of adults aged 65 and older are living with IBS. No data exist to guide clinicians in the safe and effective use of medications (e.g., anticholinergics, anti-spasmodics, and tricyclic antidepressants (TCA)) for IBS in the geriatric population. These medications-especially anticholinergics and TCAs-carry a high risk of adverse effects (ADE) in older adults because of age-associated decline in drug metabolism and the high prevalence of multiple chronic conditions. Five or more medications (polypharmacy) are frequently used to treat common psychiatric and medical comorbidities of IBS: anxiety, depression, insomnia, migraine headache, diarrhea, nausea, poor appetite, pruritus/skin atopy, and fibromyalgia. These neurological and psychiatric comorbidities reflect shared pathogenic mechanisms and bidirectional crosstalk of high inflammation, alteration of gut microbiota, and dysregulation of multiple gastrointestinal and central nervous system-active neurotransmitters (e.g., serotonin, neuropeptides). Currently, these IBS-associated conditions are treated with multiple medications-which increase the risk of adverse drug-drug interactions. One way to reduce the number of medications used for IBS-associated conditions is the use of one medication that treats many or all of these conditions-Mirtazapine. In this perspective article, we present evidence from basic science, case series, observational and epidemiological studies, clinical studies, and clinical trials supporting mirtazapine, a noradrenergic and specific serotonergic receptor antagonist-with 5-hydroxytryptamine-2 and 3 antagonism, as a potential pharmacotherapeutic intervention for the myriad symptoms and conditions associated with IBS. Specifically, we found evidence of mirtazapine's role in treating diarrhea, insomnia, migraine headache, nausea, and poor appetite. We propose a large randomized controlled trial to study mirtazapine as a potential one-stop treatment for multiple IBS symptoms, with the potential to reduce polypharmacy and ADEs, especially in the geriatric population.

Independent use of artificial intelligence with computer-aided detection (CADe) and Endocuff Vision (ECV) has demonstrated enhanced adenoma detection rates (ADRs).

Etrasimod is an oral, once-daily (QD), selective sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) receptor modulator for the treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC). It is known that non-serious treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) may not lead to UC drug discontinuation but can affect treatment tolerability.

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) characterised by endoscopic inflammation, progressive bowel damage and gastrointestinal lesions. Although treatment strategies for CD have traditionally focused on a stepwise pharmacological approach to achieve clinical remission or symptom resolution, these treatment goals correlate poorly with disease activity. Thus, achieving full clinical remission and full endoscopic healing alone may be insufficient, as patients may remain at risk of inflammatory complications. Individualised 'treat-to-target' (T2T) pharmacological and treatment approaches represent a promising strategy for improving endoscopic remission and symptom resolution among patients with CD. The Selecting Therapeutic Targets in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (STRIDE) and STRIDE-II guidelines, launched in 2013 and later renewed, identified individualised targets for a T2T therapeutic approach for patients with IBD. These guidelines facilitate the individualisation of target treatment goals through evidence-based, long-term (health-related quality of life, absence of disability, endoscopic healing) and intermediate/short-term (abdominal pain, stool frequency, normalisation of biomarker levels) treatment targets, allowing patients and clinicians to consider the risk-to-benefit balance of goals and selected therapeutic strategies. This article aims to summarise the STRIDE-II guidelines and provide intellectual guidance for healthcare professionals to apply the STRIDE-II principles to current clinical practice in the United Kingdom (UK). Management recommendations for primary and secondary first-line non-responders are provided, along with suggestions for utilising the endoscopic outcomes scoring system in UK clinical practice.

The usability of subcutaneous vedolizumab (s.c. VDZ) treatment in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD; ulcerative colitis (UC), Crohn's disease (CD)) has been proven via clinical trials while real-world data collection is ongoing.

The Crohn's Disease (CD) Activity Index (CDAI), Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Questionnaire (IBDQ), and IBD-Fatigue (IBD-F) scale are useful patient-reported outcome (PRO) tools for assessing the treatment benefits of vedolizumab (VDZ) beyond clinical trial endpoints in patients with CD.

Esophageal-gastric variceal bleeding (EGVB) is a serious complication in patients with liver cirrhosis, characterized by high mortality and rebleeding rates. The effect of sequential endoscopic therapy on patient mortality and rebleeding rates remains unclear.

Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is the gold standard method for diagnosing upper gastrointestinal (GI) pathology. Swedish guidelines recommend patients over 50 years with new-onset dyspeptic symptoms undergo direct gastroscopy to rule out malignancy. However, the incidence of dysplasia or cancer in patients aged 61-70 years remains unclear.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) presents unique challenges in elderly patients due to comorbidities and treatment-related risks.

Three liters of polyethylene glycol administered in a split dose is a commonly recommended regimen for bowel preparation before colonoscopy.

Endoscopic radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is used for the treatment of unresectable malignant biliary obstruction (MBO). The postoperative adverse events associated with RFA treatment have gained importance.

Current eradication regimens are not ideal for infected patients who have difficulty choosing antibiotics due to penicillin allergy or antibiotic resistance.

The rapid emergence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Asia in the last two decades is anticipated to pose significant challenges to the healthcare systems of developing countries including India. Several epidemiological factors in the Asia Pacific region have been explored as risk factors for the development of IBD. In this narrative review, we discuss the evolution of adult-onset and paediatric IBD in South Asia and India, in relation to the current global epidemiology, over the last decade. The focus lies on the changing epidemiological landscape of IBD in Asia which signals a paradigm shift in the disease trajectory of a chronic, relapsing, complex disease. We enumerate the disease burden of IBD in India and Asia, analyse the risk factors for its recent rise in incidence and briefly discuss the unique entity of very early-onset IBD. We also list the locoregional challenges in diagnosis and management along with suggestions to overcome them. We highlight the lacunae in data which warrants further research. The anticipated infrastructural challenges and disease evolution are likely to be similar in most newly industrialized countries across South Asia. A combined effort led by IBD experts in the region to understand the true disease burden is important. A strong collaborative network on research and formulation of preventive strategies relevant to the region will help reduce the burden in the future.

The efficacy of ustekinumab (UST) and infliximab (IFX) in Crohn's disease (CD) patients with intestinal stenosis remains uncertain.

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) is a growing public health concern worldwide. Liver biopsy is the gold standard for diagnosing and staging MASLD, but it is invasive and carries associated risks. In recent years, there has been significant progress in developing noninvasive techniques for evaluation. This review article discusses briefly current available noninvasive assessments and the various liver biopsy techniques available for MASLD, including invasive techniques such as transjugular and transcutaneous needle biopsy, intraoperative/laparoscopic biopsy, and the evolving role of endoscopic ultrasound-guided biopsy. In addition to discussing the various biopsy techniques, we review the current state of knowledge on the histopathologic evaluation of MASLD, including the various scoring systems used to grade and stage the disease. We also explore current and alternative modalities for histopathologic evaluation, such as whole slide imaging and the utility of immunohistochemistry. Overall, this review article provides a comprehensive overview of the progress in liver biopsy techniques for MASLD and compares invasive and noninvasive modalities. However, beyond clinical trials, the practical application of liver biopsy may be limited, as ongoing advancements in noninvasive fibrosis assessments are expected to more effectively identify candidates for MASLD treatment in real-world settings.

Cirrhotic liver nodules can progress to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) through a multi-step carcinogenesis model, with dysplastic nodules being particularly high risk. Currently, monitoring the progression of non-HCC cirrhotic nodules is primarily through dynamic observation, but there is a lack of sensitive, efficient, and convenient methods. Dynamic monitoring and risk evaluation of malignant transformation are essential for timely treatment and improved patient survival rates. Routine liver biopsies are impractical for monitoring, and imaging techniques like ultrasound, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging are not suitable for all patients or for accurately assessing subcentimeter nodules. Identifying serum biomarkers with high sensitivity, specificity, and stability, and developing a multi-index evaluation model, may provide a more convenient and efficient approach to monitoring pathological changes in cirrhotic nodules.

Endoscopy is important for the diagnosis and treatment of acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding (AUGIB), especially acute variceal bleeding (AVB), in liver cirrhosis. However, the optimal timing of endoscopy remains controversial, primarily because the currently available evidence is of poor quality, and the definition of early endoscopy is also very heterogeneous among studies. Herein, a multicenter randomized controlled trial (RCT) is performed to explore the impact of the timing of endoscopy on the outcomes of cirrhotic patients with AVB.

Current therapeutic strategies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have reached a plateau in the rates of response and/or remission achieved with a single therapeutic agent. Consequently, the advanced combination therapy (ACT) strategy has emerged as a novel treatment concept for IBD. ACT involves the use of two different targeted therapies, whether biologic or small molecules, with the primary goal of overcoming the therapeutic plateau. Real-world evidence is accumulating among patients undergoing ACT, especially those dealing with concurrent IBD and extraintestinal manifestations or grappling with medically refractory IBD. The recently conducted VEGA study, a randomized clinical trial, has provided crucial insights by demonstrating that the short-term combination of dual biological agents can lead to superior disease control compared to single agents in patients diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (UC). This suggests that ACT holds promise as a therapeutic option to enhance disease control effectively. However, there is still limited evidence of ACT in UC patients who have proven refractory to biologic therapy and patients with Crohn's disease. This review aims to discuss whether ACT represents the optimal approach for overcoming the therapeutic ceiling in IBD.

Many women of childbearing age with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) require advanced therapies. While biologics are largely low risk during pregnancy, the novel small molecules tofacitinib, filgotinib, upadacitinib and ozanimod (TFUO) have shown concerning teratogenic effects, and decreased fertility in animal studies. Therefore, their use in women of childbearing age needs careful consideration.

Combining antegrade stenting (AGS) and hepaticogastrostomy (HGS) is an increasingly used endoscopic ultrasound-guided intervention when stenting by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography is impossible.

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and psoriasis are chronic inflammatory conditions belonging to the heterogeneous group of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). A significant bidirectional link between these two entities has been observed, conditioning an increased risk of IBD in patients with psoriasis and vice-versa. Biological therapies used for IBD may lead to the occurrence of psoriasis as a "paradoxical reaction." The objective of this study is to analyze the current evidence on the association between psoriasis and IBD, particularly finding case reports of the appearance or aggravation of psoriasis under therapy with interleukin-12/23 (IL-12/23) and IL-23 inhibitors. We conducted comprehensive research to identify studies examining the association between psoriasis and IBD and to find case presentations that reported the appearance or aggravation of psoriasis under biologic therapy with IL-12/23 and IL-23 inhibitors up to March 2024. Clinical trials for IL-12/23 and IL-23 inhibitors in IBD were analyzed to find cases of paradoxical psoriasis as registered adverse events. The sources of evidence are PubMed and ClinicalTrials.gov. For each included case report, data on patient characteristics concerning their age, sex, and comorbidities were selected. Moreover, information regarding the indication for biologic therapy, time to onset of paradoxical psoriasis after starting treatment, clinical presentation, and management of the paradoxical psoriasis was extracted. We found 10 reported cases of ustekinumab-induced new-onset or worsening psoriasis and one reported case of paradoxical psoriasis induced by risankizumab in the literature. Four cases of paradoxical psoriasis have been also registered in clinical trials involving ustekinumab treatment in IBD. Psoriasis can constitute a rare paradoxical adverse event of ustekinumab treatment, but further studies are needed to better clarify the cytokine imbalance that leads to this phenomenon induced by inhibition of IL-12/23 and IL-23. Still, few real-world data exist to draw any conclusions, but risankizumab may positively treat psoriasis induced by ustekinumab.