Functional brain imaging (positron emission tomography – PET, functional magnetic resonance imaging – fMRI), allowing in vivo analysis of the brain-digestive tract interaction and the neurological mechanisms underlying visceral hypersensitivity, significantly advanced research and helped in...

There are studies demonstrating the relation between psychological factors and efficiency of treatment in the course of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). To investigate the relation between cognitive flexibility and flexibility in coping with stress and the quality of life, as well as the sense of satisfaction with life, in patients undergoing the biological treatment. The study group consisted of 33 adults who were diagnosed with Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). The Flexibility in Coping with Stress Questionnaire (FCSQ-14), the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI), the Quality of Life SF36v2 Questionnaire, the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and the socio-demographic questionnaire were used to gather the data. A total of 14 females and 19 males were included in this analysis. The results did not prove that the disease diagnosis (UC or CD) differed the level of psychological resources. However, older respondents achieved lower results in cognitive flexibility. A positive correlation was observed between both cognitive flexibility and flexibility in coping with stress and different dimensions of quality of life and satisfaction with life. There is a relationship between both cognitive flexibility and flexibility in coping with stress and health-related quality of life. These factors can be considered to be a kind of resource that helps to cope with challenges posed by a chronic illness, including IBD. Therefore, it is significant to increase their level by applying tailored therapeutic methods.

Introduction: The term "dyspepsia" comes from the Greek words "dys' and 'peptin", which maen "ill digestion" or indigestion, although this set of symptoms in the adult clinic has little to do with the digestion or absorption process, and refers more to ailments related to the upper section of the gastrointestinal tract. Aim: Assessment of the frequency of functional dyspepsia diagnosis, the characteristics of the group and an attempt to identify the accompanying symptoms, assessment of histological lesions and an attempt to answer question about the efficiency of anti-secretory and eradication therapy. Material and methods: The study involved patients reporting for gastrofiberscopic examination due to dyspeptic ailments. A total of 230 patients were examined, including 140 women and 90 men, above 18 years of age. They underwent endoscopic examination, and a selected group with functional dyspepsia (FD), analysed using the 'Gast' questionnaire, underwent eradication therapy or proton pump inhibitors. Statistical analysis involved x(2) and Fischer's test. Results: The study involved 230 individuals with dyspeptic disorders. The largest age group was 46-60 years. These patients reported due to their ailments mostly in autumn and winter. The differentiated group with FD included 53 patients (23% of the clinical population). 69.8% of the FD group was infected with Helicobacter pylori (with 81.2% of the whole population, respectively). Individuals with FD reported improvement more often after being administered drugs to decrease gastric secretion, more often declared post-elementary education and suffered from non-gastric ailments yet still described their state of health as good. No positive therapeutic effect of eradication was noticed during the 6-month observation. Conclusions: Due to the very high ratio of subjects with functional dyspepsia, also observed in the study sample, and the influence of civilization progress, we should expect increasing frequency of occurrence of this problem.

Background: Upadacitinib (UPA) is a new oral selective Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitor that has shown high efficacy in the treatment of ulcerative colitis (UC). We present data from a multicenter real-world study. Methods: To assess efficacy of UPA, Total Mayo Score (TMS), fecal calprotectin (FC), endoscopy, and intestinal ultrasonography (IUS) were performed. Results: The study population included 76 patients. An amount of 26.3% of the patients were biologics and small molecules-naive, while 73.7% were exposed. By Week 8, 93.4% of the patients had achieved a clinical response (94.7% naive vs. 92.9% exposed), 72.4% achieved endoscopic improvement (78.9% vs. 71.4%), and 57.9% had clinical remission (78.9% vs. 51.8%). Endoscopic remission was achieved in 31.6% of patients (35.0% vs. 30.4%) and biochemical remission in 82.1% (53.3% vs. 68.3%). All of the results were not significantly different apart from the steroid-free clinical remission—36.8% (68% vs. 26.8%, p = 0.002) after 8 weeks of follow-up. IUS was performed in 33 patients. Bowel wall thickness (BWT), inflammatory fat (iFAT), color Doppler signal (CDS), loss of bowel wall stratification (BWS), and Milano Ultrasound Criteria (MUC) had decreased significantly by Weeks 4 and 8 (p < 0.005 for all). Correlation between the IUS results and TMS, FC and endoscopic remission in Week 8 was confirmed (p < 0.001). UPA was well tolerated, and no new safety signals were registered in our group. Conclusions: In this study, UPA was confirmed to be safe and highly effective in inducing remission in UC patients in both the naive group and the biologically exposed patients. The correlation between the IUS results and TMS, FC, and endoscopic remission provides valuable information for clinicians.

(1) Background: To evaluate volume of subcortical structures such as hippocampus, globus pallidus, putamen, thalamus, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, caudate in patients with non-specific digestive diseases (functional dyspepsia—FD, irritable bowel syndrome—IBS) and non-specific inflammatory bowel diseases—IBD (colitis ulcerosa and Crohn’s disease) in comparison to healthy control group (CON). (2) Material: The analysis included data obtained from 57 patients (FD-18, IBS-20, IBD-19) and 19 persons in control group. Both groups underwent examination in a 3T scanner (Achieva TX Philips Healthcare). (3) Results: Significant differences between the IBD group and Control group in volume of left thalamus and IBD group vs Control group in volume of right thalamus. (4) Conclusions: The brain-gut axis hypothesis explains connection between biological behavior, emotions and cognitive functions in patients with gastrointestinal disease. We found that there is a difference between volume of thalamus in IBD patients in comparison to both IBS and control group and it occurred to be smaller. Excess inflammation can be linked with psychological disorders like depressive symptoms, sleep difficulties and/or fatigue. Therefore, there is a need for using treatment both for depressive symptoms and IBD to reduce the causes and effects of inflammation.

Introduction There are many studies on the influence of psychological factors in the appearance of symptoms and their treatment among gastroenterological patients. It is increasingly indicated that these factors are of great importance also for the quality of life of people struggling with a...