Estrogen is an important sex steroid hormone which serves an important role in the regulation of a number of biological functions, including regulating bone density, brain function, cholesterol mobilization, electrolyte balance, skin physiology, the cardiovascular system, the central nervous system and female reproductive organs. Estrogen exhibits various functions through binding to its specific receptors, estrogen receptor α, estrogen receptor β and G protein-coupled estrogen receptor 1. In recent years, researchers have demonstrated that estrogen and its receptors serve an important role in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and contribute to the progression of a number of GI diseases, including gastroesophageal reflux, esophageal cancer, peptic ulcers, gastric cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome and colon cancer. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of estrogen and its receptors in GI disease, and highlight potential avenues for the prevention and treatment of GI diseases.

Transient receptor potential vanilloid subtype 1 (TRPV1), a member of the transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) channel family, is a nonselective cation channel that is widely expressed in sensory nerve fibers and nonneuronal cells, including certain vascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells. The activation of TRPV1 may be involved in the regulation of various physiological functions, such as the release of inflammatory mediators in the body, gastrointestinal motility function, and temperature regulation. In recent years, a large number of studies have revealed that TRPV1 plays an important role in the physiological and pathological conditions of the digestive system, cardiovascular system, and respiratory system, but there is no systematic report on TRPV1. The objective of this review is to explain the function and effects of TRPV1 on specific diseases, such as irritable bowel syndrome, hypertension, and asthma, and to further investigate the intrinsic relationship between the expression and function of TRPV1 in those diseases to find new therapeutic targets for the cure of related diseases.

The gut-brain axis is a bidirectional information interaction system between the central nervous system (CNS) and the gastrointestinal tract, in which gut microbiota plays a key role. The gut microbiota forms a complex network with the enteric nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, and the neuroendocrine and neuroimmunity of the CNS, which is called the microbiota-gut-brain axis. Due to the close anatomical and functional interaction of the gut-liver axis, the microbiota-gut-liver-brain axis has attracted increased attention in recent years. The microbiota-gut-liver-brain axis mediates the occurrence and development of many diseases, and it offers a direction for the research of disease treatment. In this review, we mainly discuss the role of the gut microbiota in the irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, functional dyspepsia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, alcoholic liver disease, cirrhosis and hepatic encephalopathy via the gut-liver-brain axis, and the focus is to clarify the potential mechanisms and treatment of digestive diseases based on the further understanding of the microbiota-gut- liver-brain axis.

These observations imply that the down-regulation of miR-200f in human BC is associated with an invasive phenotype, and miR-200b may be useful to estimate the likelihood of the presence of pathologically positive lymph nodes.

Objectives: The pharmacokinetics (PK) of teicoplanin differs in children compared with adults. Our aim was to determine the PK of teicoplanin in an Asian pediatric population and to optimize dosage regimens.Methods: This was a retrospective PK study and all the data were collected from hospitalized children. We developed a population PK model using sparse data, and Monte Carlo simulation was used to assess the ability of standard teicoplanin regimen and other different dosage regimens. The optimal dosing regimens were defined as achieving the target trough concentration (Cmin) of 10 mg/L and pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD, [AUC24/MIC]) of 125 for moderate infection. For severe infection, the optimal dosing regimens were defined as achieving the target 15 mg/L and AUC24/MIC of 345.Results: 159 children were included and 1.5 samples/children on average were provided. Estimated clearance of teicoplanin was 0.694 L/h (0.784/L/h/70 kg) and volume of distribution was 1.39 L. Teicoplanin standard loading dose was adequate for moderate infection, while 13 mg/kg was needed for severer infection. With standard maintenance doses, both patients with moderate and severe infection failed to achieve the target Cmin. 12 and 16 mg/kg/day were required to achieve a Cmin ≥ 10 and 15 mg/L, respectively. However, standard maintenance dose was adequate to achieve AUC24/MIC ≥ 125 for moderate infection, and 12 mg/kg/day was needed to achieve AUC24/MIC ≥ 345 for severe infection. Lower weight and serum creatinine were associated with higher dose.Conclusion: Optimal doses based on the target Cmin were higher than that based on the PK/PD target. To achieve the Cmin and PK/PD targets simultaneously, a standard loading dose was adequate for moderate infection based on simulation, while dosing higher than standard doses were required in other situation. Further clinical studies with rich sampling from children is required to confirm our findings.