Volume 12 Issue 5, May 2015

This commentary outlines our expanding understanding of resident bacterial compartmentalization along the longitudinal and vertical intestinal axes and suggests optimal approaches to sampling the microbiota. Although readily available and noninvasive, faecal microbiota are not fully representative of mucosally associated bacterial communities, which might uniquely interact with epithelial and immune cells.

In patients with a BMI >50, the debate continues on which surgery is best to achieve weight loss and improve health. In a new study, duodenal switch is superior to gastric bypass for weight loss, but patients suffered more adverse effects.

The cells responsible for particular gene signatures in large-scale microarray studies of colorectal cancer have now been revealed. In doing so, the gene signature associated with poor prognosis is shown to be predominantly of stromal origin.

This Review highlightsthe progress that is being made in understanding the pathophysiology, prevalence and potential complications of both oropharyngeal dysphagia and oesophageal dysphagia, particularly in association with impaired physiology. The authors discuss the advances that are paving the way for a transdisciplinary field of deglutology.

A novel family of innate lymphocytes called innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) have been found to accumulate in mucosal tissue and produce cytokines relevant to IBD. This Review describes the subsets of ILCs, how they are involved in IBD pathogenesis and ways in which they reveal new therapeutic targets for IBD treatment.

Interferon-free therapies have widely increased the treatment options for patients with chronic hepatitis C, especially individuals who were deemed 'difficult-to-treat', including those with advanced cirrhosis, end stage renal failure or undergoing liver transplantation. In this Review, Peter Ferenci discusses the best therapeutic options for these 'difficult-to-treat' patients in light of new and on-going trials in this field.

Congenital diarrhoeal disorders (CDDs) represent an evolving web of rare chronic enteropathies, with a typical onset early in life. The number of well-characterized disorders attributed to CDDs has gradually increased over the past few years and this Review highlights new CDD entities and advances understanding of functionally related genes that are opening new diagnostic and therapeutic perspectives.

As understanding of the gut microbiota advances, the focus has shifted to ways to modulate the microbiota to improve health. One such strategy is the use of prebiotics. Here, Bindels and colleagues challenge the current definition of prebiotics, proposing revisions to the concept in an effort to strengthen the relevance of prebiotics as valuable therapeutic approaches.