Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
In this Review, the authors explore potential applications of big data in IBD research, including predictive models of disease course and response to therapy, characterization of disease heterogeneity, drug safety and development, precision medicine and cost-effectiveness of care.
A new study of a fibroblast growth factor 19 analogue in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) provides provocative results. The data challenge alkaline phosphatase levels as the appropriate surrogate end point in PSC trials and highlight alternatives, urging efforts to identify better clinical end points for this disease.
Over the past decade, many studies have revealed the importance of the gut microbiome in disease development and treatment, including in cancer. Because both host genetics and the gut microbiome can influence host phenotype and treatment outcome, there is an urgent need to develop precision medicine and personalize dietary supplementation based on an individual’s microbiome.
Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Here, Bajaj discusses clinical studies on the gut microbiota in individuals with ALD and explores the specific alterations in the gut–liver–brain axis that might alter patient outcomes.
HBV and HCV infections continue to be major global health problems, causing over 1 million deaths annually. Key studies this year investigated the innate and adaptive immune responses in different clinical scenarios in HBV infection, whereas others evaluated the merits of transplanting HCV-infected organs into uninfected recipients.