Fasting plasma ghrelin levels increase progressively after biliopancreatic diversion: one-year follow-up.

BACKGROUND: The role of ghrelin in weight control after surgery is not clear. We examined plasma ghrelin and leptin levels in patients with morbid obesity undergoing biliopancreatic diversion (BPD) of Scopinaro. METHODS: 30 adult patients (27 females, 3 males), undergoing elective BPD were recruited from the Hospital Surgery Service. Fasting blood samples for biochemical determinations were drawn before surgery and 1, 3 and 12 months after BPD. Human plasma ghrelin was measured by RIA. RESULTS: During the study period, weight, BMI and serum leptin levels decreased significantly at all sample points compared to preoperative values. Ghrelin plasma levels increased during the study, with statistical significance at 3 months and 1 year after surgery compared with preoperative levels. While leptin changes correlated with changes in BMI, no correlation was found between ghrelin and leptin or BMI changes. CONCLUSION: Plasma ghrelin levels could be decreased in obese patients as a compensatory mechanism to their nutritional state, but our results do not support the postulated beneficial role of ghrelin in the 1-year weight loss after BPD. They rather suggest that weight loss somehow stimulates ghrelin secretion, even in the absence of part of the stomach.

Are there predictive factors of severe liver fibrosis in morbidly obese patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis?

BACKGROUND: Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a clinicopathological entity characterized by the presence of steatosis and lobular and/or portal inflammation with or without fibrosis. Patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver and fibrosis on liver biopsy have increased liver-related deaths. METHODS: 181 wedge liver biopsies, taken at the time of bariatric surgery from patients with a mean body mass index (BMI) of 47, were studied. In all cases, the liver biopsy was performed without knowledge of the patient's clinical and biochemical data, which were then examined with univariate and multivariate analysis. RESULTS: Diagnosis of NASH was established in 105 patients (91%); 74 patients (70%) showed mild steatosis, 20 (19%) had moderate inflammation and fibrosis, and 11 (10%) had steatosis with severe fibrosis. None of the liver biopsies showed cirrhosis. Age was the only independent predictor of moderate and severe fibrosis (p = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Since only age was a predictor of moderate or severe fibrosis, and no clinical or biochemical abnormalities detected slowly progressive hepatic fibrosis, liver biopsy is the only means of detecting progression to more advanced liver disease in a NASH patient.

[Familial adenomatous polyposis: proctocolectomy with an ileal pouch versus rectal preservation]. / Poliposis adenomatosa familiar: proctocolectomía con reservorio ileal frente a preservación rectal.

UNLABELLED: We assess postoperative complications and functional results of surgery in familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP): Group I (n = 11): restorative proctocolectomy with ileoanal anastomosis (RPIA); Group II (n = 8): colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis (IRA): we also have evaluated the presence of malignancy in the rectum in the latter group. Group I: COMPLICATIONS: pelvic abscess (9.1%); intestinal obstruction (9.1%), both requiring reintervention. There was complete anal continence in 81.8%; only one patient needed catheter drainage of the reservoir (9.1%). There were two cases of pouchitis (16.7%). Group II: One patient suffered anastomotic leakage (12.5%) and another one a leakage of the loop ileostomy closure, with and secondary, abdominal abscess (12.5%). There was no incontinence. In spite of periodic endoscopic surveillance rectal adenocarcinoma appeared in 347 patients with complete follow-up (42.9%). Because of the risk of rectal malignancy with IRA and the good functional results of RPIA we consider the latter as the procedure of choice and also advisable the transformation of IAR into RPIA.

Gene expression of tumor necrosis factor alpha and TNF-receptors, p55 and p75, in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis patients.

The main objective of this study was to analyze the pathogenic role of the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) system in the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Fifty-two obese patients were studied. We investigated: (1) the expression of mRNA of TNF-alpha and their p55 and p75-receptors by quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in hepatic and adipose tissues; and (2) the relationship between TNF-alpha, p55, and p75 and the severity of NASH. Obese patients without NASH were the control group. A remarkable increase in the expression of mRNA of TNF-alpha was found in patients with NASH in hepatic tissue (0.65 +/- 0.54) and in peripheral fat (0.43 +/- 0.45); in the control samples, the mRNA expression was 0.28 +/- 0.32, P <.007, and 0.26 +/- 0.22, P <.018, respectively. Furthermore, we found a significant increase in the mRNA levels of p55 receptor (2.42 +/- 1.81 vs. 1.56 +/- 1.17; P <.05); however, the mRNA expression of the p75 receptor was similar in both patients. Those patients with NASH with significant fibrosis presented an increase in the expression of mRNA TNF-alpha in comparison with those with a slight or nonexistent fibrosis. An overexpression of TNF-alpha mRNA is found in the liver and in the adipose tissue of NASH patients. The levels of mRNA-p55 are increased in the liver tissue of NASH patients. This overexpression is more elevated in patients with more advanced NASH. These findings suggest that the TNF-alpha system may be involved in the pathogenesis of NASH.