The Digestive Disease Week^® (DDW) 2020 ePosters and ePapers site is now open. With this platform, you can immerse yourself in this year’s new and exciting medical, clinical and scientific digestive disease research. The site is available at no charge to access at your convenience. 

All full-text abstracts have been released on the site. If an additional presentation was uploaded by the presenter, it will be released following the original embargo schedule (9:30 a.m. CDT on day of originally scheduled presentation), starting today and ending May 5.

Featured Abstracts

Abstract Sa1711: Abnormal sleep duration is associated with constipation in a national study 

Adeyinka Adejumo, MD, MS, PGY3 internal medicine resident, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and North Shore Medical Center, Salem, MA

Kyle Staller, MD, MPH, director, GI Motility Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston  

This study looked at the association between abnormal sleep duration and bowel function among a group of nearly 15,000 adults (≥ 20 years of age) who completed both sleep and bowel health questionnaires in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2005 to 2010. Accounting for information on known and assumed factors associated with bowel function and sleep, including demographics, comorbid diseases, lifestyle factors, use of constipation-inducing medications and dietary intake, researchers found that constipation was lowest among individuals with normal (7-8 hours) vs. short (< 7 hours) and long (> 8 hours) sleep duration. Shortened sleep was associated with 38% increased odds of constipation, while long sleep duration had 61% increased odds of constipation. 

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Abstract 132: Gut dysbiosis induced by circadian rhythm disruption promotes visceral hypersensitivity: Mediation by degradation of colonic mucus barrier and LPS endotoxemia 

Chung Owyang, MD, chief, division of gastroenterology and hepatology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 

This study in mice set out to understand how circadian rhythms cause changes in the gut that result in higher rates of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) among shift workers. Researchers exposed mice to eight-hour time shifts every three days for eight weeks and studied changes in the ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) sequencing in fecal samples. Researchers noted changes to the bacteria in the fecal samples that were associated with a 60% decrease in the thickness of the colonic mucus layer, bringing bacteria closer to protective epithelial tissues, and a 20-fold increase in bacterial attachment to the epithelium. The study also noted three- to four-times increase in pain behavior in the time-shifted mice compared to controls. Mice that received fecal transplantation from human transpacific travelers exhibited similar pain behavior. The study concludes that disruption to the circadian rhythm changes the gut microbiota, leading to degradation of colonic mucus barrier and disruption of intestinal balance that may explain the increased incidence of IBS in shift workers. 

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