The mammalian intestinal tract contains a complex and diverse society of both pathogenic and non-pathogenic bacteria. While it is estimated that there are more than 400 bacterial species inhabiting the human intestinal tract, many of these are uncultivated micro-organisms that have complex interactions with other microflora and their host. Recent advances in molecular biology and genetics will ...

Epstein-Barr is a member of the herpesvirus family that infects more than 90% of the world‘s population. Although primary infection typically occurs within the first few years of life or in adolescence and is generally asymptomatic or results in infectious mononucleosis respectively, in some cases the virus is implicated with the development of a large spectrum of gastrointestinal malignant and...

Drug delivery across the skin is used for several millennia to ease gastrointestinal (GI) ailments in Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM). TPM topical remedies are generally being applied on the stomach, lower abdomen, lower back and liver to alleviate GI illnesses such as dyspepsia, gastritis, GI ulcers, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal worms and infections. The aim of the present study i...

Capsule endoscopy (CE), which was invented to visualize the entire small intestine in a noninvasive manner was first described in 2000 (Iddan, 2000), was approved for adult patients in 2001 by Food and Drug Administration (FDA). More than 600,000 PillCam SB capsules, which is the first model for CE in the world, have been used worldwide since 2001 (Nakamura, 2009). In pediatric patients, Seidma...

The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is an endogenous signalling pathway involved in the control of several gastrointestinal (GI) functions at both peripheral and central levels. In recent years, it has become apparent that the ECS is pivotal in the regulation of GI motility, secretion and sensitivity, but endocannabinoids (ECs) are also involved in the regulation of intestinal inflammation and muc...

Health benefits attributed to probiotics have been described for decades. They include the treatment and the prevention of gastrointestinal diseases, vaginal and urinary infections and allergies. Saccharomyces boulardii, a species of yeast widely distributed, has been described as a biotherapeutic agent since several clinical trials displayed its beneficial effects in the prevention and the tre...

Helicobacter pylori has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of digestive tract disorders, such as chronic active gastritis, peptic ulceration, gastric cancer, and mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma. Disease outcome is dependent on many factors, including bacterial genotype, host physiology and genetics, and environmental factors such as diet. Researchers continue to explore ...

With recent technical advances, increasing use of sonography in the initial evaluation of patients with abdominal disease may allow the detection of unexpected tumor within the abdominal cavity. Easiness of sonographic detection of bowel pathology, purposely or unexpectedly, warrants the inclusion of bowel loops during ultrasound examination when a patient complains of symptoms indicating disea...