https://medicalxpress.com/gastroenterology-news/ en-us Latest medical news and research in Gastroenterology A recent study published in Cell Reports Medicine has identified distinct microbial signatures within the oral cavity and gut that serve as robust biomarkers for the early detection of gastric cancer (GC). https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-oral-gut-axis-salivary-biomarkers.html Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:40:07 EDT news695914662 Analysis of microbes in the gut can reveal whether a person faces an elevated risk of Parkinson's disease, before they have developed any symptoms, suggests a new study led by University College London (UCL) researchers. The scientists found that people with Parkinson's disease have a distinctive makeup of gut microbes, as do healthy individuals who are genetically at risk of Parkinson's disease, they report in the new Nature Medicine study. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-gut-microbiome-parkinson-disease.html Mon, 20 Apr 2026 11:00:07 EDT news695651341 In patients developing end-stage liver disease, the damage has become too severe for the liver's normally extraordinary regenerative capacity to repair or compensate for it. Once this "point of no return" has been reached, the only option is an organ transplant. However, getting a liver transplant is extremely difficult due to high demand and limited supply—about 9,000 to 10,000 people with liver disease are on the U.S. national transplant list at any given time, and roughly 20% of them become too sick to receive a transplant or die while waiting. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-liver-tissue-body-ease-donor.html Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:00:01 EDT news695634913 The gut microbiome influences numerous physiological processes. Researchers at the University of Vienna have now demonstrated for the first time that, in healthy adults, the diversity of gut bacteria and their capacity to produce certain metabolites are associated with the acute stress response—particularly stress reactivity. Higher microbial diversity was associated with stronger hormonal and subjectively perceived stress reactivity. The results suggest that the gut microbiome may play a role in regulating the acute stress response. The study was published in Neurobiology of Stress. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-gut-microbes-reveal-cortisol-spikes.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 19:20:01 EDT news695564745 A new review from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona provides one of the clearest roadmaps to date for understanding and treating liver cancer, one of the deadliest cancers worldwide. Published in Cell, the study, "Hallmarks of Liver Cancer: Therapeutic Implications", applies the widely used "Hallmarks of Cancer" framework to liver tumors, linking the biology of the disease to treatment strategies, including immunotherapy and precision medicine approaches, particularly in the approximately 45% of bile duct cancers that harbor targetable mutations. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-liver-cancer-roadmap-links-tumor.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 16:40:02 EDT news695572900 A new study published in Stem Cell Reports demonstrates how a human stem cell-derived model of the intestine can be used to identify potential therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), highlighting glycyrrhizin as a promising candidate for reducing intestinal inflammation and cell death. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-black-licorice-compound-slashes-gut.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 11:00:05 EDT news695548621 UCLA researchers have identified a rogue population of immune cells that quietly accumulates in aging tissues and in the livers of people with fatty liver disease. Clearing these cells, they found, dramatically reduced inflammation and reversed liver damage in mice—even while the animals remained on an unhealthy diet. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-hidden-army-zombie-immune-cells.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:00:14 EDT news695464057 Scientists have found the strongest evidence to date that a condition known as Barrett's esophagus is the starting point for all cases of esophageal adenocarcinoma—the most common type of esophageal cancer in the developed world—even when telltale signs of this pre-cancerous stage are no longer visible. The findings, published in Nature Medicine, could help improve screening for and early detection of esophageal cancer, the sixth-most deadly cancer, helping improve outcomes for the disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-precursor-commonest-esophageal-cancer-opportunities.html Thu, 16 Apr 2026 05:00:04 EDT news695493242 A research team led by the University of California, Irvine's Joe C. Wen School of Population & Public Health has uncovered a critical biological link explaining why individuals with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD, also known as fatty liver disease) face significantly worse outcomes from certain foodborne infections. The study published in Gut Microbes is the first to show how changes in the connection between the gut and liver can make foodborne infections more severe—an illness that is becoming a growing global health concern. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-gut-microbiome-key-driver-bacterial.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:40:07 EDT news695486702 As we age, our cells accumulate genetic changes—mutations—some of which open the door to cancer. Scientists call these mutations "oncogenic," meaning "tumor-producing." By our senior years, we each may harbor as many as 100 billion cells with at least one oncogenic mutation, researchers have estimated. But many people never develop cancer—and scientists have long worked to understand why only a tiny fraction of these mutated cells ever progress into tumors. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-benign-growth-pancreatic-cancer-flipped.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:10:09 EDT news695493061 If scientists could shrink themselves to microscopic size and take a journey through the human body—like the submarine crew in the 1966 science fiction classic "Fantastic Voyage"—one of their first stops would no doubt be the liver. The unique structure of our largest internal organ comprises small, hexagonal functional units called lobules, each carrying out more than 500 functions simultaneously. Studies from the 1970s and 1980s revealed that liver cells divide these many tasks among themselves according to their location within each subunit; however, the technology available at the time provided only a blurred picture of this division of labor. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-genetic-atlas-reveals-human-liver.html Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:00:06 EDT news695481601 Our industrialized, modern lifestyles may be increasing how much estrogen (the female sex hormone) gets recycled in our bodies, according to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. And it appears to be down to the increased abundance and diversity of specific bacteria in our gut. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-modern-lifestyles-affecting-bodies-recycle.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:40:01 EDT news695384340 Researchers at Toronto's Sinai Health have found that semaglutide—the active ingredient in popular weight loss drugs that mimic the gut hormone GLP-1—acts directly on a subset of liver cells to improve organ function and does so independently of weight loss. The finding challenges long-held assumptions about how GLP-1 medicines work in the liver and could reshape how physicians treat metabolic liver disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-glp-medicine-liver-health-independent.html Tue, 14 Apr 2026 11:00:03 EDT news695311381 The gut microbiome and epigenetics—molecular switches that turn genes on or off—are intertwined, and both contribute to neurodevelopment, finds a study published in Cell Press Blue. The researchers showed that epigenetic changes present at birth can impact how an infant's gut microbiome develops during their first year. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-epigenetic-birth-infant-microbiome-neurodevelopment.html Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:00:05 EDT news695040601 Health organizations are starting to raise concerns about the potential long-term impacts of artificial sweeteners, which taste sweet but—unlike sugar—contain no calories, suggesting they could interfere with energy metabolism and increase the eventual risk of diabetes or cardiovascular disease. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-negative-effects-artificial-sweeteners-generation.html Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:01 EDT news694973521 Fatty liver is an increasingly common disease that can progress toward more severe forms, involving inflammation, fibrosis, and, in some cases, cirrhosis and liver cancer. While it is known that a high-fat diet alters gene activity, it was not yet well understood how these changes affect cellular function. The findings are published in the journal Science Advances. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-fatty-liver-results-rna-proteins.html Thu, 09 Apr 2026 15:20:05 EDT news694965421 Research by Milena Bogunovic, MD, Ph.D., associate professor of pathology, sheds light on how inflammation in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, such as that associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), can lead to long-lasting consequences for patients who end up developing functional motility disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, the study revealed that intestinal inflammation changes how nerves are arranged in the intestine, which in turn affects how intestinal muscles contract. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-gut-inflammation-rewire-brain-triggering.html Wed, 08 Apr 2026 17:40:07 EDT news694876410 A research team led by scientists from the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in São Paulo, Brazil, has made significant progress in understanding the relationship between gut microbiota and intestinal cells. The study, published in the journal Gut Microbes, showed how microbiota and the compounds it produces, such as butyrate, influence the functioning of cells that line the large intestine. This intestinal layer is in close contact with bacteria and produces mucus that contributes to its barrier function, helping to prevent bacteria from entering the body. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-loss-microbiota-profile-cells-intestinal.html Wed, 08 Apr 2026 14:40:04 EDT news694877582 For people living with celiac disease, the fear of gluten exposure can extend beyond food—sometimes even into moments of intimacy. A new study published in Gastroenterology offers reassuring news: while gluten can be transferred through kissing, the amount transferred is typically very small and can be reduced to safe levels with a simple step. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-gluten-reassuring.html Wed, 08 Apr 2026 05:00:07 EDT news694795430 A large, long-term study led by Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University investigators suggests that some medications commonly prescribed to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)—including antidepressants—may be associated with a small but measurable increase in the risk of death. The findings, published in Communications Medicine, are based on nearly two decades' worth of electronic health records from more than 650,000 U.S. adults with IBS, making it the largest real-world study to examine the long-term safety of IBS treatments. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-common-ibs-treatments-linked-higher.html Wed, 08 Apr 2026 05:00:04 EDT news694795261 Liver cancer is one of the world's deadliest cancers, and most cases are linked to chronic viral hepatitis. Yet scientists have lacked an animal model that faithfully recapitulates how the disease unfolds in people, from initial infection with a virus to liver inflammation, scarring, and cancer. Now, researchers at The Rockefeller University have developed that model, as described in the Journal of Hepatology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-mouse-virus-driven-liver-cancer.html Mon, 06 Apr 2026 18:20:04 EDT news694706621 A new study from the University of Minnesota Medical School has demonstrated that fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) can rapidly reverse systemic inflammation and improve survival in patients with fulminant Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) infection—a life-threatening condition characterized by a sepsis-like state. The findings are published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-treatment-protocol-deadliest-cases-difficile.html Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:20:03 EDT news694711441 In a preclinical study from Mass General Brigham, researchers have found that even short-term exposure to high levels of dietary fat results in a quick and selective loss of critical gut immune cells called ILC3s, promoting intestinal permeability and inflammation. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-04-highfat-diets-linked-rapid-decline.html Mon, 06 Apr 2026 15:40:02 EDT news694708503