Aim: The present paper aims to systematize data concerning the prevalence and risk of dental erosion (DE) in adult patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) compared to controls. Materials and methods: Core electronic databases, i.e., MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Google Scholar, and the Russian Science Citation Index (RSCI), were searched for studies assessing the prevalence and risk of DE in adult GERD patients with publication dates ranging from 1 January 1985 to 20 January 2022. Publications with detailed descriptive statistics (the total sample size of patients with GERD, the total sample size of controls (if available), the number of patients with DE in the sample of GERD patients, the number of patients with DE in the controls (if available)) were selected for the final analysis. Results: The final analysis included 28 studies involving 4379 people (2309 GERD patients and 2070 control subjects). The pooled prevalence of DE was 51.524% (95 CI: 39.742–63.221) in GERD patients and 21.351% (95 CI: 9.234–36.807) in controls. An association was found between the presence of DE and GERD using the random-effects model (OR 5.000, 95% CI: 2.995–8.345; I² = 79.78%) compared with controls. When analyzing studies that only used validated instrumental methods for diagnosing GERD, alongside validated DE criteria (studies that did not specify the methodologies used were excluded), a significant association between the presence of DE and GERD was revealed (OR 5.586, 95% CI: 2.311–13.503; I² = 85.14%). Conclusion: The meta-analysis demonstrated that DE is quite often associated with GERD and is observed in about half of patients with this extremely common disease of the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Background/Objectives: Sarcopenia is a condition marked by a continuous decline in skeletal muscle strength and volume, often leading to significant health complications. According to several articles, sarcopenia is highly prevalent in chronic pancreatitis (CP) due to exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. The aim of this meta-analysis was to determine the pooled prevalence and risk of sarcopenia among CP patients. Methods: The search process adhered to the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and was registered in PROSPERO under the identification number CRD42025637059. The search was conducted in the following databases: MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, Google Scholar, and the Russian Science Citation Index (RSCI). It covered studies published between 1 January 1985 and 20 December 2024. Only studies published in English or Russian with detailed comprehensive statistics and adult CP were included. Studies with specific patient populations affecting data objectivity were excluded. Sensitivity analyses were conducted (first, only studies with more than 50 CP patients were considered. Second, the analysis was restricted to full articles, excluding abstracts from conferences). Results: In total, 16 studies with 1556 participants (1398 CP patients and 158 controls) met the criteria. The pooled prevalence of sarcopenia was 39.117% (95% CI: 28.891–49.852) in CP patients and 7.745% (95% CI: 2.154–42.622) in the control group. An association was found between sarcopenia and CP using the fixed-effects model when compared to the control group (RR = 2.194, 95% CI: 1.502–3.203). Conclusions: Sarcopenia is underdiagnosed in CP patients despite its significant clinical impact. Management strategies, including pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy, nutritional support, and resistance training show potential in the treatment of this state. Further research is needed to establish standardized diagnostic criteria and unified treatment approaches. Early detection and comprehensive care are essential to improving outcomes in CP patients with sarcopenia.

Aim. To systematize data on the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in the adult population of Russia. Materials and methods. The search for studies was conducted in the electronic databases MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, and RSCI (Russian Science Citation Index) from January 2000 to December 2022. The review included relevant publications in peer-reviewed periodicals in English or Russian, publications with data from cross-sectional epidemiological studies assessing the prevalence of GERD in the Russian population, studies on adult patients with GERD, and publications with detailed descriptive statistics that allow using the data in the meta-analysis. Results. The final analysis included 6 studies involving 34,192 subjects. The overall prevalence of GERD (prevalence of heartburn ± regurgitation once a week or more frequently) in the analyzed studies was 25.605% (95% confidence interval [CI] 17.913–34.147). The analysis used a random effect model, as there was significant heterogeneity between the results in both groups (I2=99.63%; p0.0001). The overall mean age of GERD patients in the study population was 48.14 (95% CI 32.25–4.03) years. The prevalence of GERD in the male population was 23.653% (95% CI 13.351–35.832) and 25.457% (95% CI 17.094–34.849) in females. Conclusion. This meta-analysis demonstrated that GERD is a common esophageal disease in the Russian population, affecting approximately one in four country residents.

Objective: This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to evaluate the temporal changes in Helicobacter pylori antibiotic resistance in Russia based on studies published over the past 15 years. Materials and Methods: We conducted a comprehensive literature search in MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, the Russian Science Citation Index, and Google Scholar, following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Our meta-analysis was pre-registered in PROSPERO (CRD 420251025636). The inclusion criteria included original research, published in English or Russian in 2011–2024, involving antibiotic susceptibility testing in treatment-naive Russian adults using validated diagnostic methods. Two independent researchers selected studies and extracted data using standardized procedures, with methodological quality assessed via the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale. Pooled resistance rates were calculated using fixed/random-effects models in MedCalc 23.1.5 and Python 3.9.21, with meta-regression investigating temporal trends and subgroup analyses examining regional and methodological variations. Results: We identified 16 studies comprising 1206 H. pylori isolates. The pooled analysis of studies (2011–2025) revealed an overall clarithromycin resistance rate of 15.236%, with a significant temporal increase from 11.903% pre-2015 to 21.024% in 2020–2024 (p = 0.0049). Metronidazole showed consistently high pooled resistance (33.309%), while amoxicillin (1.828%), levofloxacin (19.014%), tetracycline (1.328%), and rifampicin (5.803%) maintained low resistance rates, and dual clarithromycin–metronidazole resistance was observed in 2.793% of isolates. Regional disparities were notable in the two largest cities of Russia, with 18.763% clarithromycin resistance in Moscow versus 28.540% in Saint-Petersburg. Conclusions: Russia surpasses the Maastricht VI Consensus resistance threshold for clarithromycin (15%), necessitating revision of empirical treatment strategies. The significant increase in clarithromycin resistance, potentially exacerbated by antibiotic use during the COVID-19 pandemic, underscores the urgent need for resistance-guided therapies and ongoing national surveillance programs to optimize H. pylori management.

The COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has significantly impacted global healthcare, underscoring the importance of exploring the virus’s effects on infected individuals beyond treatments and vaccines. Notably, recent findings suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can infect the gut, thereby altering the gut microbiota. This study aimed to analyze the gut microbiota composition differences between COVID-19 patients experiencing mild and severe symptoms. We conducted 16S rRNA metagenomic sequencing on fecal samples from 49 mild and 43 severe COVID-19 cases upon hospital admission. Our analysis identified a differential abundance of specific bacterial species associated with the severity of the disease. Severely affected patients showed an association with Enterococcus faecium, Akkermansia muciniphila, and others, while milder cases were linked to Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Alistipes putredinis, Blautia faecis, and additional species. Furthermore, a network analysis using SPIEC-EASI indicated keystone taxa and highlighted structural differences in bacterial connectivity, with a notable disruption in the severe group. Our study highlights the diverse impacts of SARS-CoV-2 on the gut microbiome among both mild and severe COVID-19 patients, showcasing a spectrum of microbial responses to the virus. Importantly, these findings align, to some extent, with observations from other studies on COVID-19 gut microbiomes, despite variations in methodologies. The findings from this study, based on retrospective data, establish a foundation for future prospective research to confirm the role of the gut microbiome as a predictive biomarker for the severity of COVID-19.

Background/Objectives: Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is frequently observed in patients treated with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), yet the role of treatment duration in modulating SIBO risk remains unclear. This meta-analysis aims to evaluate the temporal association between PPI use duration and SIBO risk. Methods: Following the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, a systematic search was conducted across MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, the Russian Science Citation Index, and Google Scholar from 1985 to June 2025 and was previously registered in PROSPERO under the registration number CRD420251031719. Eligible studies included observational designs or clinical trials assessing SIBO in adult PPI users. Results: Twenty-nine studies (n = 3682 PPI patients; n = 2907 controls) were included. The pooled SIBO prevalence among PPI-treated patients was 36.839% (95% CI: 29.703–44.277), significantly higher than that among controls (19.887%; 95% CI: 12.027–29.399). PPI use was associated with increased SIBO risk (OR = 2.143; 95% CI: 1.446–3.175), with high heterogeneity (I² = 77.61%). A duration-dependent trend was observed: our meta-regression analysis demonstrated a significant positive association between PPI treatment duration and SIBO prevalence with the regression coefficient 4.265% (95% CI: 1.827–6.384; p = 0.0024), indicating that each additional month of PPI therapy was associated with a 4.265 percentage increase in SIBO risk. Conclusions: PPI use significantly increases the risk of SIBO, with longer treatment durations associated with higher odds.