Digestive Disease Week, May 3-6

Digestive Disease Week, the annual meeting sponsored by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, American Gastroenterological Association, American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, and Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract, was held from May 3 to 6 in San Diego, drawing more than 13,000 participants from around the world, including researchers and academics in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy, and gastrointestinal surgery.

In one study, Anne Lee, Ph.D., of Columbia University in New York City, and colleagues found that individuals with celiac disease can kiss their partners who have eaten gluten with minimal risk for gluten exposure.

The authors recruited 10 couples, each with one partner who had celiac disease. In one part of the study, the nonceliac partner ate 10 saltine crackers and then the couple kissed for 10 seconds. In another part of the study, the nonceliac partner ate 10 saltine crackers and then the partners either waited five minutes before the kiss or drank 4 ounces of water before kissing. The researchers found minimal gluten transfer from kissing, but drinking 4 ounces of water further reduced the amount of gluten transfer.

“For clinical practice we can now counsel patients with science behind our recommendations,” Lee said.

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In another study, Mohamed Tausif Siddiqui, M.D., of the Cleveland Clinic, and colleagues found that gastric cancers are increasingly being diagnosed at earlier stages.

In a retrospective analysis, the authors used data from the National Cancer Institute SEER-22 database and found that endoscopic technological advances and wider uptake of upper endoscopy have translated into earlier, localized detection of gastric cancer and fewer advanced‑stage diagnoses. Specifically, the researchers found that the overall incidence of gastric cancer fell from 8.44 to 7.53/100,000 persons (2000 to 2021), the localized‑stage incidence climbed 53 percent (1.94 to 2.97/100,000), the regional‑stage incidence dropped 38 percent (2.40 to 1.49/100,000), and the distant‑stage incidence fell from 2.55 to 2.35/100,000 (2004 to 2021), which represents a 7.8 percent decline.

“This provides U.S. data to justify risk‑stratified screening (e.g., in those with family history, certain ethnicities, chronic Helicobacter pylori) and to advocate for resource allocation toward advanced endoscopic training and equipment,” Siddiqui said.

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Diego Anazco Villarreal, M.D., of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues found that obesity is heterogeneous and the gut microbiome reflects underlying behavioral and physiological subtypes.