Inflammation in the digestive system, a common local tissue reaction, usually originates from physical or chemical trauma, infection, or an abnormal immune response. Conversely, while digestive inflammation can enhance the reaction of the immune system, abnormal immune-inflammation interaction can lead to many diseases in the digestive system.

The challenge is that repeated inflammation and abnormal immune responses in the digestive system over time can evolve into cancer or tumours. Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) - natural products and non-pharmacological therapies - might restore the balance between inflammation and immune response; however, we lack both strong evidence from clinical research and clear mechanisms from basic research.

This Special Issue aims to offer a translational science spectrum platform to discuss the laboratory findings, clinical insights, practice implications, and population health improvement of CAM in the immune-Inflammation interaction in the digestive system. In this way, we hope to bridge across the continuum of knowledge deployment, convert basic science discoveries to human application and clinical practice, disseminate the best practice into relevant communities, and ultimately modify the behaviour of whole populations to improve global wellness. Both original research articles and review articles are welcomed.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Chronic atrophic autoimmune gastritis
• Virus hepatitis, including HBV and HCV
• Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), and autoimmune hepatitis (AIH)
• Autoimmune pancreatitis
• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), including ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD
• Basic research, including in vivo and in vitro studies, pre-clinical research, epidemiological studies, and basic health services research
• Translation to humans, including case studies, proof-of-concept studies, and phase I and II clinical trials
• Translation to patients, including observational studies, phase III clinical trials, evidence synthesis, and clinical guideline development
• Translation to practice, including phase IV clinical trials, health services research, and clinical outcomes research
• Translation to population health, including population-level prevention and outcome studies, mass screening outcome studies, health policy studies, and social determinants of health