Objectives Health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important, but understudied construct in pediatric IBD. Family-level predictors of HRQOL have been understudied as are the mechanisms through which disease activity impacts HRQOL. The current study examines the relationship between a family-level factor (parenting stress) and HRQOL in youth with Crohn's disease. Parenting stress is examined as a mechanism through with disease activity impacts HRQOL. Methods 99 adolescents with Crohn's disease and their parents were recruited across three sites. Adolescents completed the IMPACT-III (IBD-specific HRQOL). Parents completed the Pediatric Inventory for Parents, a measure of medically-related parenting stress that assesses: 1) stress due to the occurrence of medical stressors and 2) stress due to the perceived difficulty of stressors. Disease activity was obtained from medical records. Results Parenting stress due to the occurrence of medical stressors partially mediated the disease severity-HRQOL relationship, reducing the relationship between these variables from 49.67% to 31.58% (B = -.56, p <.0001). Boot strapping analysis confirmed that the indirect effect of disease severity on HQROL via parenting stress significantly differed from zero. Parenting stress due to the perceived difficulty of medical stressors partially mediated the disease severity-HRQOL relationship, reducing the relationship from 49.67% to 30.29% (B = -.55, p < .0001). The indirect effect was confirmed via bootstrapping procedures. Conclusions As disease severity increased, parenting stress also increased, and adolescent HRQOL decreased. Parenting stress should be considered and assessed for along with medical factors as part of a comprehensive approach to improving HRQOL in adolescents with Crohn's disease.

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This study compared the cholesterolemic response of two strains of mice with genetically determined differences in cholesterol absorption. When fed a basal low-cholesterol diet, 129/Sv mice absorbed cholesterol twice as efficiently as did C57BL/6 mice (44% vs. 20%). Total lipid absorption, in contrast, averaged 80–82% in both strains. The higher level of cholesterol absorption in the 129/Sv animals was reflected in an adaptive reduction in hepatic and intestinal sterol synthesis. When fed lipid-enriched diets, the 129/Sv mice became significantly more hypercholesterolemic and had twofold higher hepatic cholesterol concentrations than did the C57BL/6 animals even though the conversion of cholesterol to bile acids was stimulated equally in both strains. The difference in cholesterol absorption between these mouse strains was not the result of physicochemical factors relating to the size and composition of the intestinal bile acid pool but more likely reflects an inherited difference in one or more of the biochemical steps that facilitate the translocation of sterol across the epithelial cell.

Neurostimulation is one manifestation of neuromodulation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This manuscript reviews the history of neurostimulation of the GI tract with emphasis on current methods of stimulation. Upper GI disorders can be modulated with both temporary (placed endoscopically or surgically) or permanent (placed surgically) gastric electrical stimulation (GES) devices. The current gastrointestinal (GI) neurostimulation of stomach (GES) devices have been used in both children and adults and some patients have been followed in excess of 15 years with good long-term results. Similar GES devices have also been used for a variety of lower GI disorders, including constipation and fecal incontinence, for a number of years. Based on these recent developments, the future uses of neurostimulation in the GI tract are discussed with an emphasis on new applications and innovations.