Volume 14 Issue 8, August 2017

More people die from viral hepatitis than from HIV, yet the public health response is lacking. The ACHIEVE Coalition urges governments in Europe and elsewhere to improve hepatitis B and hepatitis C monitoring so that a reliable evidence base will be available to guide the drive towards disease elimination.

In April 2015, in partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Gilead Sciences, the country of Georgia launched the world's first national HCV elimination programme, aiming to reduce HCV prevalence by 90% by 2020. After 2 years of progress, how can the Georgia experience inform global approaches to eliminating HCV?

In a new report, adolescents with genotype 2 or 3 HCV infection who were given sofosbuvir and ribavirin showed a near 100% sustained virologic response. This study is the beginning of a new wave of treatments for paediatric HCV infection, forming part of a global strategy to eradicate viral hepatitis.

The stability of the neuronal circuits and cells of the enteric nervous system can no longer be taken for granted; new evidence suggests astounding rates of apoptosis and neurogenesis.

Extracellular vesicles have emerged as having key roles in liver disease. In this Review, Szabo and Momen-Heravi discuss the functions of extracellular vesicles in liver disease pathogenesis and progression, and explore their potential use as biomarkers, therapeutic targets and tools for therapy delivery.

Gastric cancer is a deadly malignancy and accumulating evidence suggests that epigenetic abnormalities promote carcinogenesis. Here, the authors summarize the gastric cancer epigenome, highlighting key advances from studies of DNA methylation and histone modifications, and how these findings might lead to therapeutic opportunities.

The clinical management of refractory eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE) is challenging, owing to the limited data available to guide decision-making. In this Review, Dellon discusses the clinical definition of refractory EoE, examines the causes and predictors of non-response, and highlights both current and emerging treatment modalities for non-responders.

With the continued interest in the role of the gut microbiota in health, attention has now turned to how to harness the microbiota for the benefit of the host. This Consensus Statement outlines the definition and scope of the term 'prebiotic' as determined by an expert panel convened by the International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics in December 2016.