by Richard A. Manfready  , Jack Husney  , Swan Thung  and Ilan S. Weisberg

Received: 04 March 2020;  Published: 25 September 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.hg.2003051

Patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy for inflammatory bowel disease may be susceptible to non-cirrhotic portal hypertension, now referred to as porto-sinusoidal vascular disease. Here we describe a patient treated with long-term azathioprine for Crohn’s disease who developed porto-sinusoidal vascular disease with obliterative portal venopathy without nodular regenerative hyperplasia on histology. Specific signs of portal hypertension were present, including porto-systemic collaterals on [...]

by Monika Pliszka  and Leszek Szablewski

Received: 06 March 2020;  Published: 07 August 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.hg.2003050

The human gut is a house to approximately 1,000 different species of bacteria. The bacterial composition of gut microbiota is influenced by several factors, including age, sex, mode of delivery, geographical location, ethnicity, diet, drugs, and administration of prebiotics and/or probiotics. Similarly, human health depends on the composition of gut microbiome, with gut bacteria playing a crucial role in human physiology. For instance, gut microbiota synthesizes vitamins and amino acids, and aff [...]

by Brett W. Sadowski  and Coleman I. Smith

Received: 14 May 2020;  Published: 20 July 2020;  doi: 10.21926/obm.hg.2003049

The combination of broad screening initiatives and development of effective antiviral therapies have led to a revolution in the treatment of hepatitis C virus and has reduced the proportion of patients with the virus who develop a need for liver transplantation in favor of other etiologies, such as alcohol-related liver disease and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. However, the opioid epidemic and rise in injection drug use in the United States has simultaneously led to otherwise healthy hepatitis [...]