Juozas Kupcinskas

Lithuanian University of Health Sciences | LSMU · Department of Gastroenterology & Institute for Digestive Research

Background & Aims Antibiotic resistance is one of the main factors that determines the efficacy of treatments to eradicate Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori ) infection. Our aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of first-line and rescue treatments against H. pylori in Europe according to antibiotics resistance. Methods Prospective, multicenter, inte...

The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori remains high in the older population. Specific age-related peculiarities may impact the outcomes of H. pylori treatment. The aim of the study was to evaluate the diagnostics and effectiveness of H. pylori eradication between the younger and older European populations. “European Registry on H. pylori Management...

Background and Aims Microscopic colitis [MC] is currently regarded as an inflammatory bowel disease that manifests as two subtypes: collagenous colitis [CC] and lymphocytic colitis [LC]. Whether these represent a clinical continuum or distinct entities is, however, an open question. Genetic investigations may contribute important insight into their...

The segmentation of patients into homogeneous groups could help to improve eradication therapy effectiveness. Our aim was to determine the most important treatment strategies used in Europe, to evaluate first-line treatment effectiveness according to year and country. Data collection: All first-line empirical treatments registered at AEGREDCap in t...

Coding sequence variants comprise a small fraction of the germline genetic variability of the human genome. However, they often cause deleterious change in protein function and are therefore associated with pathogenic phenotypes. To identify novel pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) risk loci, we carried out a complete scan of all common missen...

Introduction: Diet is one of the most important factors contributing to the multistep process of carcinogenesis. The clinical relevance of exogenous food-derived xeno-microRNAs (miRNAs) in human diseases is poorly understood. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the potential clinical relevance of the xeno-miRNA miR-168 in the gastric mucosa along...

Background The genomes of present-day non-Africans are composed of 1–3% of Neandertal-derived DNA as a consequence of admixture events between Neandertals and anatomically modern humans about 50–60 thousand years ago. Neandertal-introgressed single nucleotide polymorphisms (aSNPs) have been associated with modern human disease-related traits, which...

Background and aims: Hepatic encephalopathy (HE) remains one of the most debilitating complications of liver cirrhosis. Changes in gut microbiome composition have been linked to liver diseases and its complications including HE. Recent randomized controlled trials showed fecal microbiota transplantation to be safe and effective in HE treatment, ho...

Background and aims: Several methods are available to diagnose Helicobacter pylori infection. Our objective was to evaluate the tests used for both the initial diagnosis and the confirmation of eradication after treatment in Europe. Methods: The European Registry on the management of Helicobacter pylori infection is an international, multicentre...

Tyrimo tikslas. Išanalizuoti mikroskopinio kolito (MK) priežastis, diagnostiką, susipažinti su naujausiomis gydymo rekomendacijomis ir jų efektyvumu. Tyrimo metodai. Sisteminė literatūros apžvalga. Atrinkti moksliniai straipsniai, kuriuose aprašomas MK. Apžvalga atlikta naudojantis elektroninėmis duomenų bazėmis PubMed ir UpToDate. Straipsniai atri...

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is clinically heterogenous according to location (cardia/non-cardia) and histopathology (diffuse/intestinal). We aimed to characterize the genetic risk architecture of GC according to its subtypes. Another aim was to examine whether cardia GC and oesophageal adenocarcinoma (OAC) and its precursor lesion Barrett's oe...

Introduction Only a small number of risk factors for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) has been established. Several studies identified a role of epigenetics and of deregulation of DNA methylation. DNA methylation is variable across a lifetime and in different tissues; nevertheless, its levels can be regulated by genetic variants like methyla...

Pancreatic cancer has an incidence that almost matches its mortality. Only a small number of risk factors and 33 susceptibility loci have been identified. so Moreover, the relative rarity of pancreatic cancer poses significant hurdles for research aimed at increasing our knowledge of the genetic mechanisms contributing to the disease. Additionally,...

Background and aims We aimed to identify mucin-microbiome signatures shaping the tumor microenvironment in gastric adenocarcinomas and clinical outcomes. Methods We performed high-throughput profiling of the mucin phenotypes present in 108 gastric adenocarcinomas and 20 functional dyspepsia cases using validated mucin-based RT-qPCRs with subsequen...

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection has been considered as the main causal factor in gastric carcinogenesis, but other bacterial species may also play an important role in pathophysiology of gastric cancer. The aim of the study was to explore the link between gastric cancer prognosis and the mucosal microbial community in tumorous and adjacen...

Background: Early-onset pancreatic cancer (EOPC) represents 5-10% of all pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) cases, and the etiology of this form is poorly understood. It is not clear if established PDAC risk factors have the same relevance for younger patients. This study aims to identify genetic and non-genetic risk factors specific to EOPC....

Background: Helicobacter pylori and the stomach microbiome play a crucial role in gastric carcinogenesis, and detailed characterization of the microbiome is necessary for a better understanding of the pathophysiology of the disease. There are two common modalities for microbiome analysis: DNA (16S rRNA gene) and RNA (16S rRNA transcript) sequencin...

Background The prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is increasing worldwide, affecting millions of individuals. The highest incidence and prevalence are found in Northern Europe and Northern America. There is a lack of new epidemiological studies in the Eastern European region. The objective of this study was to assess changes in the prev...

Background Common infections are becoming almost untreatable, all because of the emergence and spread of drug-resistant pathogens. The highest risk is carried by rapidly spreading multi and pan-resistant bacteria that cause infections untreatable with existing antibiotics. Nowadays the biggest concern is Klebsiella bacteria which reportedly has res...

Background The Epi-IBD cohort is a prospective European population-based cohort of 1,390 patients diagnosed in 2010 and 2011 with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) according to Copenhagen criteria in centres from Eastern and Western European countries. The study aims at describing differences in incidence, treatment strategies, disease course and pr...

Background It is well known that skin lesions may be frequent extraintestinal manifestations of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). During literature analysis we found out that there is an obvious lack of epidemiological data regarding this issue. Therefore, the aim of our study was to establish the prevalence of skin lesions among consecutive IBD p...

Background In steroid refractory acute severe ulcerative colitis (ASUC), cyclosporine or infliximab are potential rescue treatments to avoid colectomy. Our objective is to assess the short-term and long-term efficacy and safety of cyclosporine versus infliximab as rescue agents. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of 121 patients admitte...

Background Ulcerative Colitis (UC) is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory disease of the lower gastrointestinal tract. The frequency of UC is increasing worldwide, however, existing methods for both diagnostics and treatment of this disease are not efficient enough. It is known that besides comprised immune response, environmental and genetic factors...

Background The Epi-IBD cohort is a prospective European population-based cohort of 1,390 patients diagnosed in 2010 and 2011 with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) according to Copenhagen criteria in centres from Eastern and Western European countries. The study aims at describing differences in incidence, treatment strategies, disease course and pr...

Portal hypertension (PH) in liver cirrhosis leads to increased gut permeability and the translocation of bacteria across the gut-liver axis. Microbial DNA has recently been detected in different blood compartments; however, this phenomenon has not been thoroughly analyzed in PH. This study aimed to explore circulating bacterial DNA signatures, infl...

Microbiota research has received an increasing attention for its role in disease development and fungi are considered as one of the key players in the microbial niche. Various sequencing approaches have been applied to uncover the role of fungal community in health and disease; however, little is known on the performance of various primers and comp...

Objective To evaluate the use, effectiveness and safety of Helicobacter pylori empirical rescue therapy in third and subsequent treatment lines in Europe. Design International, prospective, non-interventional registry of the clinical practice of European gastroenterologists. Data were collected and quality reviewed until October 2021 at Asociación...

Genes carrying high-penetrance germline mutations may also be associated with cancer susceptibility through common low-penetrance genetic variants. To increase the knowledge on genetic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) aetiology, the common genetic variability of PDAC familial genes was analysed in this study. We conducted a multi-phase study...

The incidence of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is different among males and females. This disparity cannot be fully explained by the difference in terms of exposure to known risk factors; therefore, the lower incidence in women could be attributed to sex-specific hormones. A two-phase association study was conducted in 12,387 female subje...

Background and Aims Colonic epithelial barrier loss and dysfunction are one of the early events in ulcerative colitis (UC) and microRNAs (miRNAs) participate in its regulation. However, cell type-specific profile of miRNAs during inflammation in UC is still unknown. Thus, we aimed to perform miRNA profiling on colon tissue and epithelial cell level...

The colonic mucosa has a complex interaction and is likely the most effective barrier against the numerically more superior microbial community within the gut microbiota. Therefore, it is probably not surprising that colorectal cancer (CRC), one of the largest challenges in gastroenterology and oncology, may be triggered and modulated by gut-microb...

Genome-wide association studies (GWASs) have identified hundreds of loci associated with Crohn’s disease (CD). However, as with all complex diseases, robust identification of the genes dysregulated by noncoding variants typically driving GWAS discoveries has been challenging. Here, to complement GWASs and better define actionable biological targets...

Introduction Prediction of response to treatment in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may assist in the selection of personalized management. Objective This exploratory analysis of the palliative arm of the SORAMIC trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01126645) evaluated the prognostic potential of basal and dynamic changes in systemic...

There is accumulating evidence about sleep-wake rhythm disturbances as potential modifiable risk factors of both incident and recurrent stroke and less favorable outcomes after stroke. To our best knowledge this is the first study designed to investigate clock genes expression profiles in ischemic stroke patients and their relations to other biolog...

Colonic diverticular disease (DD) is one of the most frequently diagnosed disorders of the gastrointestinal tract for which the pathogenesis is controversially disputed to date. The interplay of multiple factors, including both intrinsic and extrinsic, is believed to be involved. Data from two recent twin studies have suggested that heritability ha...

Background: Human gut microbiome composition is influenced by genetics, diet and environmental factors. We investigated the microbial composition in several gastrointestinal (GI) compartments to evaluate the impact of genetics, delivery mode, diet, household sharing and aging on microbial similarity in monozygotic and dizygotic twins. Methods: F...

Background Klebsiella quasipneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen causing antibiotic-resistant infections of the gastrointestinal tract in many clinical cases. Orally delivered bioactive Klebsiella-specific antimicrobial proteins, klebicins, could be a promising method to eradicate Klebsiella species infecting the gut. Methods Mouse infection mod...

Introduction: High expression of HOTAIR promotes tumor growth and carries a dismal prognosis for the patient. We investigated the prognostic value of HOTAIR expression in gastric cancer (GC) and systematically delineate the expression in relation to Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and preneoplastic changes. Methods: HOTAIR expression w...

Regulatory changes occurring early in colorectal cancer development remain poorly investigated. Since the majority of cases develop from polyps in the adenoma-carcinoma transition, a search of early molecular features, such as aberrations in miRNA expression occurring prior to cancer development, would enable identification of potentially causal, r...

Background: Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most frequently diagnosed tumor globally. In most cases, GC develops in a stepwise manner from chronic gastritis or atrophic gastritis (AG) to cancer. One of the major issues in clinical settings of GC is diagnosis at advanced disease stages resulting in poor prognosis. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non...

Purpose To explore the potential correlation between baseline interleukin (IL) values and overall survival or objective response in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving sorafenib. Methods A subset of patients with HCC undergoing sorafenib monotherapy within a prospective multicenter phase II trial (SORAMIC, sorafenib treatment al...

Background & Aims Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a rare and heterogeneous biliary cancer, whose incidence and related mortality is increasing. This study investigates the clinical course of CCA and subtypes (intrahepatic [iCCA], perihilar [pCCA], and distal [dCCA]) in a pan-European cohort. Methods The ENSCCA Registry is a multicenter observational s...

Background The pathogenesis of microscopic colitis (MC) is still poorly understood and there are no non-invasive diagnostic markers to aid in disease diagnosis. Fatty acid binding protein 2 (FABP2) is expressed in enterocytes and colonocytes (although to a lesser extent) and is released after intestinal injury. Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is an anti-inf...

Background Hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are one of the leading worldwide health care issues. The most prevalent HAI are the Klebsiella species. K. quasipneumoniae strains tend to colonize the gastrointestinal tract (GI) and show high rates of resistance against antibiotics. Orally delivered recombinant bacteriocins, like klebicins, could be e...

Background Many studies have shown a high effectiveness of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in treatment of recurrent or refractory Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). Nevertheless, data on long term outcomes and complications after FMT are still lacking. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy, the peri- procedural safety profile and the lon...

Background and Aims Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic relapsing disorder of the gastrointestinal tract, which generally manifests as Crohn’s disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC). These subtypes are heterogeneous in terms of disease location and histological features, while sharing common clinical presentation, genetic associations an...

BACKGROUND & AIMS After a first Helicobacter pylori eradication attempt, approximately 20% of patients will remain infected. The aim of current study was to assess the effectiveness and safety of second-line empirical treatment in Europe. METHODS This international, multicenter, prospective non-interventional Registry aimed to evaluate the decisio...

Background Klebsiella quasipneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen causing antibiotic-resistant infections of the gastrointestinal tract in many clinical cases. Orally delivered bioactive Klebsiella-specific antimicrobial proteins, klebicins, could be a promising method to eradicate Klebsiella species infecting the gut. Methods Mouse infection mod...

Background: Klebsiella quasipneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen causing antibiotic-resistant infections of the gastrointestinal tract in many clinical cases. Orally delivered bioactive Klebsiella-specific antimicrobial proteins, klebicins, could be a promising method to eradicate Klebsiella species infecting the gut. Methods: Mouse infection mo...

Background and aims: Many studies have shown a high effectiveness of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) in treatment of recurrent or refractory Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI). Nevertheless, data on long term outcomes and complications after FMT are still lacking. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy, the peri- procedural safety profile...

Introduction: Gastric cancer (GC) diagnosis in late stages and high mortality rates are the main issues that require new noninvasive molecular tools. We aimed to assess somatic mutational profiles in GC tissue and plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA), evaluate their concordance rate, and analyze the role of multilayer molecular profiling to predict diseas...

Background: The mitochondrial metabolism has been associated with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) risk. Recent evidence also suggests the involvement of the genetic variability of the mitochondrial function in several traits involved in PDAC aetiology. However, a systematic investigation of the genetic variability of mitochondrial genome (...

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract is home to a complex and dynamic community of microorganisms, comprising bacteria, archaea, viruses, yeast and fungi. It is widely accepted that human health is shaped by these microbes and their collective microbial genome. This so-called “second genome” plays an important role in normal functioning of the host, con...