Characteristics of amino acid profiles and incretin hormones in patients with gallstone disease: a pilot study.

INTRODUCTION: Gallstone disease is associated with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and increased risk of incident ischemic heart disease. It is known that the profile of branched­chain amino acids (BCAAs) is altered in cardiac diseases as well as metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. The role of BCAAs in gallstone disease is still not known. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentration of essential amino acids and incretin hormones in patients with cholecystolithiasis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study included 31 patients with cholecystolithiasis and 25 gallstone­free controls. The levels of free exogenous and endogenous amino acids, bile acids, glucagon­like peptide 1, glucose­dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, ghrelin, C-peptide, and insulin were measured in the fasting state and 1 hour after consumption of a 300­kcal mixed meal. RESULTS: The mean fasting and postprandial levels of valine, isoleucine, leucine, and lysine were higher in the study group than in controls (all P.

Needleless Transcutaneous Neuromodulation Accelerates Postoperative Recovery Mediated via Autonomic and Immuno-Cytokine Mechanisms in Patients With Cholecystolithiasis.

BACKGROUND: Postsurgical gastrointestinal disturbance is clinically characterized by the delayed passage of flatus and stool, delayed resumption of oral feeding, dyspepsia symptoms, and postsurgical pain. This study was designed 1) to evaluate the effects of needleless transcutaneous neuromodulation (TN) on postoperative recovery; 2) to investigate mechanisms of the TN involving autonomic functions in postoperative patients after removal of the gallbladder. METHODS: Sixty patients scheduled for laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) were randomized to TN (n = 30) and sham-TN (n = 30). TN was performed via acupoints ST36 and PC6 for 30 min twice daily from 24 hours before surgery to 72 hours after surgery. Sham-TN was performed using the same parameters at nonacupoints. RESULTS: 1) Compared to sham-TN, TN shortened time to first flatulence (38.9 ± 4.0 vs. 24.9 ± 2.4 hour, p = 0.004) and time to defecation (63.1 ± 4.5 vs. 42.5 ± 3.1 hour, p < 0.001). 2) Compared to sham-TN, TN increased the percentage of normal pace-making activity (66.2 ± 2.2 vs. 73.8 ± 2.3%, p = 0.018). 3) TN enhanced vagal activity. Compared to that 24 hours before surgery, surgery decreased vagal activity (HF) (0.41 ± 0.02 vs. 0.34 ± 0.02, p = 0.043) 3 hours after the operation. Compared to sham-TN, TN increased HF (0.45 ± 0.02 vs. 0.52 ± 0.02, p = 0.045) 72 hours after the operation. Further, HF was negatively correlated with time to defecation and serum norepinephrine. 4) Surgery increased serum IL-6 (1.1 ± 0.1 before surgery vs. 2.9 ± 0.7 pg/mL, p = 0.041) 72 hours after the operation, which was reduced to baseline by TN (0.9 ± 0.1). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the proposed needleless TN accelerates postoperative recovery after LC, possibly mediated via the autonomic and immune-cytokine mechanisms. Needleless and self-administrable TN may be an easy-to-implement and low-cost complementary therapy for postoperative recovery.

Preoperative hypoalbuminemia is an independent risk factor for conversion from laparoscopic to open cholecystectomy in patients with cholecystolithiasis.

INTRODUCTION: Laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) is regarded as the first choice for patients with cholecystolithiasis, but some patients require conversion to open cholecystectomy (OC) because of inflammation-related incidents. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the risk factors for conversion to OC in patients undergoing elective LC for cholecystolithiasis. METHODS: This study included 461 patients who underwent elective LC for cholecystolithiasis were between April 2000 and September 2010. Receiver-operator curve (ROC) analysis was used to define the ideal cut-off values of clinicolaboratory characteristics, and the area under the ROC for conversion was also measured. Univariate and multivariate analyses using preoperative clinicolaboratory characteristics were performed to investigate the most significant risk factors for conversion to OC in patients with cholecystolithiasis. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis using nine parameters selected by univariate analyses demonstrated that γ-glutamyltransferase (<20/>20 IU/L) (odds ratio, 8.777; 95% confidence interval, 1.132-68.06; P = 0.038), albumin (<3.8/>3.8 g/dL) (odds ratio, 0.329; 95% confidence interval, 0.127-0.850; P = 0.022), and platelet count (<27/>27 × 104 /mm3 ) (odds ratio, 2.573; 95% confidence interval, 1.048-6.319; P = 0.039) were associated with conversion. Among these three parameters, ROC curve analysis disclosed that albumin (0.705) had the largest area under the ROC (γ-glutamyltransferase, 0.622, platelet count, 0.536) for conversion. CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative hypoalbuminemia is the most important risk factor for conversion to OC in patients undergoing elective LC for cholecystolithiasis.

Study of an elevated carbohydrate antigen 19-9 concentration in a large health check-up cohort in China.

BACKGROUND: Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) is frequently tested in cancer patients. However, elevated CA19-9 can be found in many benign diseases. We investigated the relationship between elevated CA19-9 and diseases, and presented suggestions for its utility in a health check-up cohort. METHODS: From June 2008 to December 2008, we enrolled consecutive health check-up individuals with elevated CA19-9 (>37 U/mL). They were divided into three groups: group A (malignant diseases), group B (decreasing concentrations), and group C (increasing concentrations) according to the following criteria: (i) CA19-9 was rechecked monthly in the first 3 months; (ii) follow-up was completed if malignancy was found or if CA19-9 concentration dropped to normal; (iii) if CA19-9 kept increasing, it was monitored every 3 months; (4) total duration was 1 year. RESULTS: Among 33,867 individuals, 572 (1.7%) individuals showed elevated CA19-9 concentration. A total of 509 (90.0%) individuals finished at 1-year follow-up. In total, nine (1.8%) individuals were diagnosed with malignancies. For 336 (66.0%) individuals CA19-9 concentrations dropped to normal, whereas for 164 (32.2%) individuals it kept rising. Interestingly, we did not find any differences in concentration levels between group A and group C. The main associated benign diseases included fatty liver (25.3%), cholecystolithiasis (13.9%), and chronic hepatitis B (13.9%). CONCLUSIONS: Dynamic monitoring of CA19-9 is recommended in asymptomatic populations with elevated CA19-9 concentrations.

Fatty acid composition of plasma, erythrocytes and adipose: their correlations and effects of age and sex.

The composition of fatty acids in abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue and the correlation of fatty acid values of plasma and erythrocytes had not been reported in Japan. The aim of the present study was to investigate the fatty acid composition and correlation of plasma and erythrocyte phospholipids (PL) and adipose triacylglycerols (TG) in 75 adult patients admitted for non-malignant diseases. We also examined the relationship of n-3 and n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) with patients' characteristics. The total n-3 PUFA were 11.2, 11.8 and 1.9%, and the ratios of n-6/n-3 were 2.41, 1.87 and 8.20 in plasma and erythrocyte PL and adipose TG, respectively. There were the highest correlations for total n-3 PUFA and the n-6/n-3 ratio between plasma and erythrocyte PL and adipose TG. There was a positive correlation between n-3 PUFAs and age, but a negative correlation was found between n-6 PUFAs and age. There was no significant difference in the values of PUFAs in plasma and erythrocyte PL and adipose TG between men and women. The patients with cholesterol cholecystolithiasis showed a significantly lower proportion of eicosapentaenoic acid in plasma and erythrocyte PL than those of the other patients. Our findings suggest that PUFA in plasma and erythrocyte PL may be good biomarkers and more acceptable for studying participants than adipose TG.

The synthesis rate of albumin decreases during laparoscopic surgery.

In previous studies, a decline in total liver protein synthesis during elective laparoscopic surgery has been observed. However, when albumin synthesis was measured in parallel no apparent influence of the procedure was detected. The aim of the present study was to specifically investigate the effect of a laparoscopic procedure on albumin synthesis. Female (n = 9) patients scheduled for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy as a consequence of cholecystolithiasis were investigated. The fractional synthesis rate (FSR) of albumin was investigated twice in each patient, before and during surgery (2-3 h apart), employing L-[2H5]phenylalanine and gas chromatography mass spectrometry. The FSR of albumin decreased from 7.3 +/- 1.2% per day before surgery to 6.2 +/- 1.4% per day during the procedure (P<0.01), whereas the corresponding absolute synthesis rates of albumin decreased from 114 +/- 24 to 86 +/- 16 mg kg(-1) day(-1), respectively (P<0.001). In conclusion, the synthesis rate of albumin decreased during a laparoscopic surgery procedure. However, the characteristics for this decrease differ from those previously observed for total liver protein synthesis.

[Nanobacteria in serum, bile and gallbladder mucosa of cholecystolithiasis patients].

OBJECTIVE: To find the distribution of nanobacteria in the serum, bile and gallbladder mucosa of cholecystolithiasis patients. METHODS: The infection rate of nanobacteria was identified by ELISA in the serum samples from 338 healthy people and 76 patients with cholecystolithiasis (chi(2) = 0.89, P > 0.05). Nanobacteria were cultured from the bile samples in 57 patients with cholecystolithiasis and 18 non-cholelithiasis patients and identified by immunohistochemical staining and TEM (chi(2) = 29.80, P < 0.05). Forty samples of gallbladder mucosa randomly selected from the 57 cholecystolithiasis patients were identified by immunohistochemical staining and compared with the corresponding bile samples. RESULTS: The infection rate of nanobacteria was 8.0% and 31.6% for the serum samples of the healthy people and cholecystolithiasis patients, respectively. The positive rate of nanobacteria in the bile samples was 61.3% and there was no significant difference in the bile of the cholecystolithiasis patients and the control group (61.4% vs. 61.1%). Fourteen positive patients had infection of nanobacteria in the gallbladder mucosa, submucosa, and calcific field. CONCLUSIONS: The infection rate of nanobacteria was 8% in the serum samples from the healthy people. There are nanobacteria in the serum, bile, and gallbladder mucosa. The infection of the nanobacteria may result in calcification and fibrosis of the gallbladder.