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Biomedicines
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Feature Reviews in Gastrointestinal Diseases
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Feature Reviews in Gastrointestinal Diseases

A special issue of Biomedicines (ISSN 2227-9059). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular and Translational Medicine".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 3577

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Fu-Chen Huang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Anatomic Pathology, Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung 833, Taiwan
Interests: probiotics; prebiotics; postbiotics; gut microbiota
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, entitled Feature Reviews in Gastrointestinal Diseases, encompasses advanced research focused on gastrointestinal disorders, presenting insights into both established and emerging pathogenesis, diagnostics, and treatments. In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in personalized medicine and advanced diagnostic tools in gastroenterology. Precision medicine shows promise in improving patient outcomes, particularly for conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer. Additionally, artificial intelligence is revolutionizing diagnostics, enabling faster and more accurate disease identification, predictive modeling, and patient monitoring, which are critical for early intervention.

Common topics include eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases (EGIDs), IBD, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), gastrointestinal cancers, and drug-resistant infections, such as Helicobacter pylori, Salmonella, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. Given the complex etiology of these disorders—including genetic, microbial, immune, and environmental factors—this Special Issue particularly welcomes the submission of personalized medicine approaches tailored to individual genetic and microbiome profiles, offering insights into the next generation of patient-specific treatments. Moreover, this Special Issue aims to addresses the pressing issue of antibiotic resistance and the development of susceptibility-guided treatment strategies to combat this challenge or alternative nutritional therapy to decrease the use of antibiotics.

Significant topics also include the use of precision medicine and artificial intelligence (AI), which have become vital in early disease detection, progression monitoring, and predicting patient responses to various treatments.

With this Special Issue, we aim for gastroenterologists and researchers to gain access to the latest findings, enabling them to provide innovative and effective patient-centered care.

Dr. Fu-Chen Huang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomedicines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • precision medicine
  • artificial intelligence
  • eosinophilic gastrointestinal diseases
  • inflammatory bowel disease
  • irritable bowel syndrome
  • gastroesophageal reflux disease
  • gastrointestinal cancers
  • drug-resistant infections

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2637 KiB  
Article
An Analysis of the Effectiveness and Safety of Upadacitinib in the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Multicenter Real-World Study
by Hongzhen Wu, Tingting Xie, Qiao Yu, Tao Su, Min Zhang, Luying Wu, Xiaoling Wang, Xiang Peng, Min Zhi and Jiayin Yao
Biomedicines 2025, 13(1), 190; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13010190 - 14 Jan 2025
Viewed by 1708
Abstract
Background and Aims: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) requires effective treatment options. Upadacitinib, a Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitor, has shown effectiveness in trials for Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). This study evaluates its real-world effectiveness and safety. Methods: We conducted a [...] Read more.
Background and Aims: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) requires effective treatment options. Upadacitinib, a Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitor, has shown effectiveness in trials for Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). This study evaluates its real-world effectiveness and safety. Methods: We conducted a multicenter retrospective cohort study in tertiary care centers, involving patients treated with upadacitinib from January 2023 to September 2024. The study included adult patients aged 18 years or older, diagnosed with UC or CD, who received at least 8 weeks of upadacitinib therapy. Treatment outcomes were evaluated using established clinical, endoscopic, imaging, histological, and laboratory parameters. Results: A total of 236 IBD patients received upadacitinib treatment. In 80 UC patients at 8 weeks, 64.0% achieved steroid-free remission, 57.6% clinical remission, and 81.8% response. Endoscopic remission was 35.8% (p = 0.039), with 63.3% response and 35.8% mucosal healing. Histological remission reached 29.2% (p = 0.009). For 156 CD patients at 12 weeks, 76.8% achieved steroid-free remission (p < 0.001), 77.8% clinical remission (p < 0.001), and 81.0% response. Mean CDAI decreased from 214.9 to 117.5 (p < 0.001). Endoscopic remission was 19.4%, with 48.9% response and 4.9% mucosal healing. Radiological remission was 9.1% with 85.7% response. Intestinal ultrasound showed 5.7% remission and 56.7% response. Conclusions: Upadacitinib demonstrates significant real-world effectiveness and safety in IBD, particularly in biologic-resistant cases, as evidenced by high rates of steroid-free remission and clinical response. These outcomes are likely due to its targeted JAK1 inhibition, which effectively reduces inflammation and promotes mucosal healing. Future research should focus on long-term safety, comparative effectiveness with other biologics, and its application in diverse patient populations. These findings support the integration of upadacitinib into IBD management strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Reviews in Gastrointestinal Diseases)
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Review

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19 pages, 1289 KiB  
Review
Molecular Alterations in Gastric Intestinal Metaplasia Shed Light on Alteration of Methionine Metabolism: Insight into New Diagnostic and Treatment Approaches
by Nigatu Tadesse Gebrehiwot, Ying Liu, Juan Li and Hong-Min Liu
Biomedicines 2025, 13(4), 964; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines13040964 - 15 Apr 2025
Viewed by 580
Abstract
Gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM) is a precancerous lesion and the key risk factor in the development of gastric cancer (GC), but early detection and treatment remain challenging. The traditional endoscopic diagnosis of metaplastic lesions is complicated by an increased rate of inappropriateness and [...] Read more.
Gastric intestinal metaplasia (GIM) is a precancerous lesion and the key risk factor in the development of gastric cancer (GC), but early detection and treatment remain challenging. The traditional endoscopic diagnosis of metaplastic lesions is complicated by an increased rate of inappropriateness and false negativity. Although early interventions with H. pylori eradication, as well as endoscopic therapy results, were promising, there is still a significant unmet need to control GIM progression and recurrences. Molecular alterations, such as an increased DNA methylation index, have been identified as a crucial factor in the downregulation of tumor suppressor genes, such as the caudal-type homeobox (CDX2) gene, which regulates epithelial cell proliferation and GIM progression and is associated with treatment failure. CDX2 is downregulated by promoter hypermethylation in the colonic-type epithelium, in which the methylation was correlated with reduced intake of dietary folate sources. Tumor cells alter to dietary methionine sources in the biosynthesis of S-Adenosylmethionine, a universal methyl donor for transmethylation, under the conditions of limited folate and B12 availability. The gut microbiota also exhibited a shift in microbial composition, which could influence the host’s dietary methionine metabolism. Meanwhile, activated oncogenic signaling via the PI3K/Akt/mTORC1/c-MYC pathway could promotes rewiring dietary methionine and cellular proliferation. Tumor methionine dependence is a metabolic phenotype that could be helpful in predictive screening of tumorigenesis and as a target for preventive therapy to enhance precision oncology. This review aimed to discuss the molecular alterations in GIM to shed light on the alteration of methionine metabolism, with insight into new diagnostic and treatment approaches and future research directions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Reviews in Gastrointestinal Diseases)
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18 pages, 328 KiB  
Review
Therapeutic Potential of Nutritional Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Ligands in Gut-Related Inflammation and Diseases
by Fu-Chen Huang
Biomedicines 2024, 12(12), 2912; https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines12122912 - 20 Dec 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 861
Abstract
A solid scientific foundation is required to build the concept of personalized nutrition developed to promote health and a vision of disease prevention. Growing evidence indicates that nutrition can modulate the immune system through metabolites, which are either generated via microbiota metabolism or [...] Read more.
A solid scientific foundation is required to build the concept of personalized nutrition developed to promote health and a vision of disease prevention. Growing evidence indicates that nutrition can modulate the immune system through metabolites, which are either generated via microbiota metabolism or host digestion. The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) plays a crucial role in regulating immune responses, particularly in the gut, and has emerged as a key modulator of gut-mediated inflammation and related diseases. AhR is a ligand-activated transcription factor that responds to environmental, dietary, and microbial-derived signals, influencing immune balance and maintaining intestinal homeostasis. Nutritional AhR ligands play a significant role in modulating intestinal immunity and the function of mucosal immune cells, thereby exerting clinical effects on colitis and innate immunity. Additionally, they have the capacity to orchestrate autophagy, phagocytic cell function, and intestinal epithelial tight junctions. Therapeutic strategies aimed at enhancing AhR activity, restoring gut integrity, and optimizing immune responses hold promise as avenues for future research and potential treatments for critically ill patients. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Feature Reviews in Gastrointestinal Diseases)
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