Volume 16 Issue 4, April 2019

A new study provides evidence that colonization of germ-free mice with faecal bacteria from healthy infants can protect against signs of cow’s milk allergy in mice. The results from this and other studies raise the intriguing question of whether the gut microbiota can be manipulated for food allergy prevention and therapy.

Two recent papers show that probiotics colonize the gut in permissive volunteers only and delay the reconstitution of the microbiome after antibiotics treatment. In the absence of any clinical readouts, it is still difficult to extrapolate these observations in terms of short-term or long-term health consequences for patients.

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.

This Review summarizes current knowledge concerning the molecular subtyping of pancreatic cancer and explores future strategies using molecular taxonomy to guide therapeutic development and therapy with the overall goal of improving outcomes for this disease.

Liver microcirculatory dysfunction is one of the key mechanisms that promotes the progression of chronic liver disease. In this Review, the authors explore the role of liver microcirculatory dysfunction in cirrhotic portal hypertension, the preclinical models used to study liver circulation and potential therapeutics.

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.

Fatigue is an important problem for patients with IBD, but little is known about its pathophysiology. In this Review, the authors explore the epidemiology, putative mechanisms and optimal management of this symptom.