Does Roux-en-Y gastrectomy for gastric cancer influence glucose homeostasis in lean patients?

BACKGROUND: Cancer gastrectomy seems to benefit type 2 diabetes; however, results are conflicting. In a prospective protocol, including retrospective information, the aim was assessment of changes in glucose profile in patients with both normal and deranged preoperative glucose homeostasis. METHODS: Patients (N = 164) with curative subtotal or total Roux-en-Y gastrectomy for gastric cancer (n = 92), or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass for morbid obesity (RYGB, n = 72) were preoperatively classified into diabetes (including prediabetes) and control group. Postoperative diabetes outcome was stratified as responsive or refractory, and results in controls were correspondingly defined as stable or new-onset diabetes (NOD), according to fasting blood glucose and HbA1c. Dietary intake and biochemical profile was documented. Statistical methods included analysis of variance, multivariate logistic regression, and propensity score matching according to postoperative weight loss. RESULTS: Age of cancer cases was 67.9 ± 11.5 years, 56.5 % males, initial body mass index (BMI) 24.7 ± 3.7, current BMI 22.6 ± 3.8 kg/m(2), and follow-up 102.1 ± 51.0 months, whereas in bariatric individuals age was 51.4 ± 10.1 years, 15.3 % males, initial BMI 56.7 ± 12.2, current BMI 34.8 ± 8.1 kg/m(2), and follow-up 104.1 ± 29.7 months. Refractory disease corresponded to 62.5 % (cancer) versus 23.5 % (bariatric) (P = 0.019), whereas NOD represented 69.2 versus 23.8 % respectively (P = 0.016). Weight loss (ΔBMI) was associated with diabetes response in cancer patients but not with NOD. No difference between subtotal and total gastrectomy was detected. Divergent outcomes (refractory vs. responsive) were confirmed in BMI-similar, propensity-matched cancer gastrectomy patients with preoperative diabetes, consistent with weight-dependent and -independent benefits. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes response was confirmed, however with more refractory cases than in bariatric controls, whereas high proportions of NOD occurred. Such dichotomous pattern seems unusual albeit consistent with previous studies.

Refractory and new-onset diabetes more than 5 years after gastric bypass for morbid obesity.

BACKGROUND: Few studies about long-term glucose homeostasis in bariatric patients are available. In a prospective protocol that included retrospective information, outcome of patients with both impaired and normal fasting blood glucose (FBG) was monitored to assess frequencies and correlates. METHODS: Patients submitted to Roux-en-Y gastric bypass were classified as group I, elevated FBG, and group II, normal controls. Those in group I with improvement in FBG were defined as responsive and the others as refractory. Group II participants progressing to new-onset diabetes (NOD) or prediabetes represented NOD cases; the remaining were listed as stable controls. FBG was the main endpoint, but HbA1c results were considered, along with diet composition and general biochemical profile. RESULTS: Among 97 selected patients, 51 belonged to group I (52.4 ± 10.5 years, 29.6 % males, initial body mass index (BMI) 58.4 ± 13.4, current BMI 35.1 ± 8.4 kg/m(2)) and 46 to group II (48.2 ± 10.5 years, 19.6 % males, initial BMI 55.5 ± 8.8, current BMI 33.9 ± 6.9 kg/m(2)). Follow-up was 7-9 years, and 31.4 % (16/51) of group I were classified as refractory, whereas 15.2 % (7/46) of the controls converted to NOD. Multivariate analysis pointed out higher current BMI, older age, consumption of antidiabetic drugs, and male gender as features of refractory cases, whereas NOD participants were not significantly different from non-progressing controls. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first investigation, to the best of our knowledge, to underscore the correlates of refractory and NOD within the bariatric context. Further studies are recommended as such information could be valuable for patient selection, prognostic scoring, and outcome monitoring.

Systemic inflammation and cardiovascular risk factors: are morbidly obese subjects different?

BACKGROUND: Systemic inflammation is a hallmark of obesity as well as of other chronic diseases, usually indicating increased cardiovascular risk; however, studies with arterial documentation in morbid obesity are extremely scarce. Aiming to analyze correlation between inflammatory markers, pulse-wave velocity (PWV), and intima-media thickness (IMT), a prospective study was designed. METHODS: Morbidly obese patients [n = 29, age 46.3 +/- 5.2 years, 82.8% females (24/29), BMI 44.9 +/- 5.2 kg/m(2)] with C-reactive protein/CRP > 5 mg/l but free from trauma, infection, inflammation, or cancer were enrolled in this study. All were clinically stable candidates for elective bariatric operation. Variables included comorbidities, metabolic profile, inflammatory and coagulatory markers, and arterial morpho-functional indices. RESULTS: Patients suffered from arterial hypertension (72.4%), metabolic syndrome (58.6%), and other comorbidities, but PWV and IMT were less aberrant than expected. Univariate correlation confirmed worse prognosis for those with metabolic syndrome and other accepted clinical risk factors. Multivariate confirmation was achieved for triglycerides (PWV) and D-dimer (IMT), but not for CRP, serum amyloid A, or neutrophil count, which were reversed in certain circumstances. CONCLUSIONS: (1) Metabolic syndrome, hyperglycemia, hypertriglyceridemia and D-dimer were positively correlated with arterial measurements, whereas inflammatory and coagulatory markers often exhibited paradoxical association; (2) stratification confirmed that at certain levels of systemic inflammation or body mass index, acute phase proteins and other markers became unreliable or shifted signals; (3) when controlled for blood pressure, PWV was only moderately elevated, and IMT remained normal; (4) taken together, these findings are consistent with a unique interaction between adiposity, inflammation, and cardiovascular risk in seriously obese subjects.

Biochemical correlates of bariatric-responsive diabetes.

OBJECTIVE: In a prospective observational cohort study, the biochemical profile of bariatrically managed diabetes was documented, aiming to assess its association with clinical outcome. METHODS: The population (n = 82; age, 50.7 +/- 10.3 years; 92.7% women; followed up for 93 +/- 34 months) was stratified as responsive diabetes (Group I) (36.6%, 30 of 82) and controls without diabetes (Group II) (57.3%, 47 of 82). A few refractory subjects were identified in this cohort (Group III [refractory diabetes], 6.3%, five of 82). Nonbariatric overweight and obese diabetes subjects with similar follow-up (n = 21) were documented as well. Main outcome measures were diabetes regression, body mass índex (BMI), glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), serum lipids, and white blood cell count (WBC) count. RESULTS: Preoperative BMI was somewhat discrepant among operated groups but leveled off from 2 years on. Baseline WBC count, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, blood glucose, and HbA1c were higher in responsive subjects, but a downward shift occurred, without differences regarding controls, in the subsequent period. Conservatively managed diabetes displayed favorable changes of some lipid fractions, but not glucose, HbA1c, total cholesterol, or WBC count. CONCLUSIONS: Diabetes regression rate was 94.3% at 5 years and 84.7% at around 8 years. In responsive patients, both BMI and biochemical indices normalized in the first 2 years and followed a stable path thereafter. Nonoperative treatment was unable to reduce HbA1c, glucose, or WBC count, and HbA1c was a clear prognostic marker of persistent disease in surgical cases. Further studies emphasizing the metabolic and inflammatory signature of obesity-related diabetes are worthwhile.