Digestive Disease Week is the largest international gathering of physicians and scientists in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.

Cedars-Sinai is a nationally recognized leader in gastroenterology and gastrointestinal surgery. Digestive and liver disease experts attending the conference are available to discuss a wide variety of research, including these presentations.

Late-Breaking Trial Shows Progress in Difficult Ulcerative Colitis

Maria T. Abreu, MD, executive director of the F. Widjaja Inflammatory Bowel Disease Institute, will present late-breaking results from a clinical trial evaluating two targeted biologic therapies for ulcerative colitis used together. The study focused on patients whose disease had not responded to multiple advanced treatments and found that the combination led to higher rates of clinical remission and healing of the intestinal lining compared with either drug alone.

“We studied patients whose disease has already proven difficult to treat and found that using two therapies together led to stronger outcomes than either alone, without increasing side effects,” Abreu said.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Ali Rezaie, MD, medical director of the GI Motility Program, will present research that found palatable elemental diet nutrition replacement reduced abdominal pain and related symptoms in people with irritable bowel syndrome after two weeks.

Zoe Krut, MHDS, a clinical research coordinator with the Center for Outcomes Research and Education at Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University, will present research from a multicenter randomized trial showing that virtual reality-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy improved symptoms of IBS and was well accepted by patients. Study leader Christopher Almario, MD, MSHPM, assistant professor of Medicine and Health Systems Research, will also be on hand to discuss the research.

Interventional Gastroenterology

Barham K. Abu Dayyeh, MD, MPH, director of Interventional Gastroenterology, will share results of a study in which a less invasive laparoscopic procedure for hiatal hernia-associated GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) was used. It achieved results similar to standard surgery, with fewer complications. The abstract has been selected for the “Best of DDW” session held at the end of the meeting, highlighting 6 of the top studies presented.

Abu Dayyeh will also share results of another study in which a novel endoscopic therapy used pulsed electric fields to treat the lining of the small intestine. Results reveal improvements in blood sugar control and weight management for nearly one year in adults with Type 2 diabetes.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Talin Haritunians, PhD, a research associate professor of Medicine, will present results of a study that found patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have distinct genetic variants linked to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, independent of traditional risk factors.

Allistair Clark, MA, a clinical research data specialist at Cedars-Sinai Health Sciences University, will share results of an investigation that found an AI-powered virtual reality therapy reduced pain and anxiety in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)

Ruchi Mathur, MD, an endocrinologist, and Gabriela Leite, PhD, a research scientist, will present research linking changes in the small bowel microbiome to Type 2 diabetes. These include strong associations with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and higher glucose levels. Mathur and Leite are with the Medically Associated Science and Technology (MAST) Program.

Diagnostics: Breath Testing

Mark Pimentel, MD, gastroenterologist, and project scientist Maria Jesus Villanueva-Millan, PhD, of the MAST program, are available to discuss their research t directly comparing breath and small-intestine gases in the same patients, showing that hydrogen sulfide levels reflect those in the small intestine and are linked to specific microbes and diarrhea severity.

Liver Disease

Hyunseok Kim, MD, MPH, PhD, hepatologist and assistant professor, Medicine, will present results of research examining biomarkers that may help predict cirrhosis and liver disease progression in people with alcohol-associated liver disease.

Ju Dong Yang, MD, medical director of the Liver Cancer Program, and clinical research data specialist Osama Khattab, MD, are available to discuss their research showing that transarterial radioembolization (TARE) achieved survival outcomes comparable to ablation in early-stage liver cancer, suggesting it may offer an alternative treatment option for patients.

Media Contact

To schedule an interview with a Cedars-Sinai expert during the conference, please contact Laura Coverson Laura.Coverson@cshs.org or 310-562-1112.

The results of the representative study are published in the journal Gastroenterology.

“This new study is among the largest population-based evaluations of IBS epidemiology. The results reveal that the condition is more prevalent than previously thought and varies by race and ethnicity,” said the study’s corresponding author, Brennan Spiegel, MD, MSHS, director of Health Services Research and the Dorothy and George Gourrich Chair in Digital Health Ethics at Cedars-Sinai.

In May and June of 2020, investigators conducted online surveys of adults age 18 and older. A large cross section of people living in the U.S. were asked to complete the Rome IV IBS questionnaire and the National Institutes of Health Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) survey to assess the presence and severity of their gastrointestinal symptoms.

“We wanted to update our understanding of how common IBS is in the U.S. and to get a sense of the associated burden of the illness. Because diagnosis is symptom-based, we used the Rome IV validated IBS questionnaire to survey respondents about their abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits. We also used the PROMIS survey to see what other symptoms they were experiencing,” said gastroenterologist and co-first author of the study Christopher Almario, MD, MSHPM, who is also an assistant professor of Medicine at Cedars-Sinai.

In addition to the significant size of the study cohort, investigators point out there have been few large-scale studies looking at racial and ethnic differences in IBS.

“Our findings showed that non-Hispanic Black people, Hispanics and non-Hispanic Asian people all were less likely to have IBS when compared to non-Hispanic white people,” said Almario.

“But some of the non-white participants who did have IBS experienced more severe symptoms. For example, Hispanics and non-Hispanic Black people with a form of IBS where diarrhea is common had more severe belly pain than their non-Hispanic white counterparts,” said Almario.

Since the prevalence of IBS appears to be on the rise, Almario suggests physicians may be seeing more patients with associated symptoms in their clinics.

“In addition to abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits, patients with IBS may experience bloating, excess gas and heartburn. It is important for healthcare providers to take a thorough patient history in order to identify and manage these treatable symptoms,” said Almario.

According to the study authors, the COVID-19 pandemic may have played a role in the increased prevalence of IBS, and they are performing additional data analysis to examine the potential connection.

“It is possible that both direct infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 and the psychological stress associated with living through a pandemic contributed to the rise in IBS prevalence through a number of mechanisms worthy of further investigation,” said Spiegel.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2023.08.010

Funding: Support for this study was provided by Ironwood Pharmaceuticals in the form of an institutional research grant to Cedars-Sinai.

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Read more on the Cedars-Sinai Blog: When to See a Doctor for Constipation