GERD

Patients with gastroesophageal reflux sometimes develop dental erosion owing to chemical dissolution of enamel. Clive et al. used optical coherence tomography to assess tooth demineralization and enamel loss in 30 patients receiving either placebo or esomeprazole acid suppression. The researchers describe significantly diminished loss of enamel thickness and reduced tissue demineralization in patients randomly assigned esomeprazole versus those given placebo.

Hepatitis C

Investigators who studied the coffee-drinking habits of 766 patients with chronic hepatitis C report an inverse association between coffee consumption and liver disease progression. A dose-dependent trend was observed, in which participants who consumed three or more cups a day had significantly less disease progression than coffee nondrinkers.

Gastric cancer

Wu et al. analyzed data from 80,255 patients with peptic ulcer disease to investigate the relationship between Helicobacter pylori eradication and gastric cancer risk. Late H. pylori eradication was associated with an increased risk of developing gastric cancer, while both early eradication and frequent NSAID use were independent protective factors for gastric cancer.

Crohn's disease

The fully human monoclonal antibody, adalimumab, has achieved a sustained clinical benefit in two-thirds of patients with Crohn's disease who had previously failed to respond to infliximab therapy (n = 168, median follow-up 2 years). However, 60 patients eventually discontinued this therapy, mainly owing to a loss of response associated with low adalimumab trough serum concentrations and high titers of adalimumab-specific antibodies.