Markers of Intestinal Damage and their Relation to Cytokine Levels in Cardiac Surgery Patients.

OBJECTIVES: In patients undergoing cardiac surgery, both extracorporeal circulation (ECC) and intraoperative mesenterial hypoperfusion may account for increased cytokine levels and lead to postoperative gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. METHODS: We investigated levels of the intestinal damage markers intestinal fatty acid binding protein (I-FABP in plasma [n = 72] and urine [n = 37]), citrulline (in plasma [n = 35]), and claudin-3 (in urine [n = 37]) in patients undergoing aortic or mitral valve surgery with or without coronary artery bypass grafting. Furthermore, the relationship between these markers and the surgery-induced cytokine response was explored by measuring serial plasma levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8, and IL-10 (n = 35). Finally, the relationship between markers of intestinal damage and GI-symptoms (abdominal pain, ileus, vomiting, diarrhea, time to first defecation) was assessed. RESULTS: Plasma and urinary I-FABP levels, and urinary claudin-3 levels peaked at the end of surgery, while citrulline levels were not influenced by surgery. ECC duration correlated with plasma I-FABP levels (r = 0.31, P = 0.007). Plasma levels of all measured cytokines increased during surgery, with peak levels observed either at the end of surgery or on the first postoperative day. While ECC duration correlated with IL-6 and IL-8 release (r = 0.43, P = 0.01 and r = 0.36, P = 0.04 respectively), there was no direct relationship between I-FABP and claudin-3 levels and cytokine concentrations. No patients developed significant GI or non-GI complications, and I-FABP and claudin-3 release appeared not to be related to postoperative GI symptoms, although the incidence of these symptoms may have limited a reliable assessment. CONCLUSIONS: Longer duration of ECC is associated with a more pronounced release of intestinal injury markers and inflammatory cytokines, but intestinal injury markers are not directly related to the observed increase in cytokine levels or GI-symptoms. These findings indicate that ECC duration contributes to the cytokine response observed in cardiac surgery patients and that intestinal injury itself is not a causative factor for this response.

[Cryptococcal meningitis]. / Cryptokokkenmeningitis.

Immunocompromised patients are at increased risk of disseminated cryptococcal infection, often presenting as a primary respiratory infection with yeast cells originating from bird excreta. Because Cryptococcus neoformans has a tropism for cerebrospinal fluid, most patients suffer from meningitis or meningoencephalitis. Symptoms of cryptococcal meningitis are non-specific: headache, fever, nausea, or altered mental state and behaviour. Case descriptions of a renal transplant recipient and an HIV patient illustrate the non-specific presentation of cryptococcal meningitis. Lumbar puncture seemed to be critical in establishing the diagnosis. Cerebrospinal fluid, blood and other tissues were tested for C. neoformans by microscopy, culture and antigen tests. The patients were successfully treated with amphotericin B or liposomal amphotericin B intravenously and flucytosine intravenously or orally, followed by long-term fluconazole. The mortality rate for cryptococcal meningitis is 41% among renal transplant recipients and 20% in HIV patients.