Small intestine

Involvement of CD40–CD40 ligand in uncomplicated and refractory celiac disease Di Sabatino, A. et al. Am J. Gastroenterol. doi:10.1038/ajg.2010.450

Disruption of the CD40–CD40 ligand (CD40L) pathway could be an alternative therapy for patients with refractory celiac disease. Levels of CD40, CD40L, CD11C and CD123 were assessed in duodenal biopsy samples from 14 patients with uncomplicated celiac disease, 5 patients with refractory celiac disease and 12 controls. Expression of CD40 and CD40L was higher in patients with uncomplicated and refractory celiac disease than controls.

Cancer

Doxorubicin plus sorafenib vs doxorubicin alone in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma Abou-Alfa, G. K. et al. JAMA 304, 2154–2160 (2010)

In a phase II study, patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma and Child–Pugh A disease who received combination therapy with doxorubicin and sorafenib had a greater median time to progression, overall survival and progression-free survival than patients who received doxorubicin monotherapy. Toxicity profiles for the combination therapy were similar to those of the monotherapy. However, combination therapy is not yet recommended for routine clinical use.

IBD

Distinct and overlapping genetic loci in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis: correlations with pathogenesis Waterman, M. et al. Inflamm. Bowel Dis. doi:10.1002/ibd.21579

Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis seem to have common genetic associations that are related to adaptive immunity. Overall, 21 of 34 single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with Crohn's disease had similar allele frequencies in patients with ulcerative colitis. Differences in allele frequencies were related to pathways of foreign antigen processing.

Hepatitis

Treatment of chronic hepatitis C patients with NS3/4A protease inhibitor danoprevir (ITMN-191/RG7227) leads to robust reductions in viral RNA: a phase 1b multiple ascending dose study Forestier, N. et al. J. Hepatol. doi:10.1016/j.jhep.2010.11.001

Danoprevir is a safe and well-tolerated treatment for chronic infection with HCV genotype 1, according to the results of a phase Ib trial. Following treatment for 14 days adverse effects were generally mild and transient. Treatment with danoprevir resulted in sustained reductions in the levels of HCV RNA in the two cohorts that received the highest doses (200 mg every 8 h and 200 mg every 12 h).