Addition of soluble fiber to standard purified diets is important for gut morphology in mice.

Purified diets (PD) increase standardization and repeatability in rodent studies but lead to differences in the phenotype of animals compared to grain-based "chow" diets. PD contain less fiber and are often devoid of soluble fiber, which can impact gut health. Thus, the aim of the present study was to modify the PD AIN93G by addition of soluble fiber, to promote more natural gut development as seen with chow diets. One hundred twenty male C57BL/6J mice were fed over 12 weeks either a chow diet, AIN93G or one of three modified AIN93G with increased fiber content and different ratios of soluble fiber to cellulose. Gut health was assessed through histological and immunohistochemical parameters and gut barrier gene expression. Gut microbiota composition was analyzed and its activity characterized through short chain fatty acid (SCFA) quantification. Feeding AIN93G led to tissue atrophy, a less diverse microbiota and a lower production of SCFA compared to chow diet. The addition of soluble fiber mitigated these effects, leading to intermediate colon and caecum crypt lengths and microbiota composition compared to both control diets. In conclusion, the addition of soluble fibers in PDs seems essential for gut morphology as well as a diverse and functional gut microbiome.

NHE1 expression at wound margins increases time-dependently during physiological healing.

Wound repair is an orchestrated process, encompassing the phases of inflammation, proliferation and tissue remodeling. In this context, sodium hydrogen exchanger 1 (NHE1) is crucial to epidermal barrier integrity and acidification. Recently, we found that extracellular pH (pHe) on wound surfaces is dramatically increased initially after barrier disruption, and that pHe decreases gradually during physiological healing. Additionally, we have shown that spatial NHE1-patterns account for pHe-gradients on surfaces of chronic wounds. Here, we show that NHE1-expression is very low at margins initially after wounding and that it increases massively during the time-course of physiolgical healing. This finding is in accordance with the decrease of pHe on wound surfaces, which we reported on in previous works. Thus, we show that NHE1 is an interesting target when it comes to modification of surface pHe on wounds, both acute and chronic, and that NHE1 is time-dependently regulated in physiological healing.

Impact of Surgical Evaluation of Additional Cine Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Advanced Thymoma with Infiltration of Adjacent Structures: The Thoracic Surgeon's View.

Background Preoperative radiological assessment is important for clarification of surgical operability for advanced thymic tumors. Objective was to determine the feasibility of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with cine sequences for evaluation of cardiovascular tumor invasion. Patients and Methods This prospective study included patients with advanced thymoma, who underwent surgical resection. All patients received preoperative computed tomography (CT) scan and cine MRI. Results Tumor infiltration was surgically confirmed in the pericardium (n = 12), myocardium (n = 1), superior caval vein (SCV; n = 3), and aorta (n = 2). A macroscopic complete resection was possible in 10 patients, whereas 2 patients with aortic or myocardial tumor invasion had R2 resection. The positive predictive value (PPV) was 50% for cine MRI compared with 0% for CT scan regarding myocardial tumor infiltration. The PPV for tumor infiltration of the aorta was 50%, with a higher sensitivity for the CT scan (100 vs. 50%). Infiltration of the SCV could be detected slightly better with cine MRI (PPV 75 vs. 66.7%). Conclusion Cine MRI seems to improve the accuracy of preoperative staging of advanced thymoma regarding infiltration of cardiovascular structures and supports the surgical approach.

Existence of circulating anti-endothelial cell antibodies after heart transplantation is associated with post-transplant acute allograft rejection.

Anti-endothelial cell antibodies (AECA) may be involved in the development of heart allograft rejection. Its detection might be a cheap and noninvasive method to identify high-risk patients. An indirect immunofluorescence method on human umbilical vein endothelial cells was used to investigate the presence of AECAs in 260 pre- and post-transplant serum samples sequentially collected from 34 patients within the first year after heart transplantation (HTX). The presence of AECAs before (23.5 %) and early after HTX (14.7 %) was associated with a significantly increased risk of early acute rejection (75 and 60 %, respectively) compared to 33 % in AECA-negative patients (p = 0.049). Moreover, rejections from AECA-positive patients were more severe (p = 0.057) with a significantly increased incidence of multiple (p = 0.025). The mean number of the sum of rejection episodes was significantly higher in AECA-positive patients (p ≤ 0.05). Patients free of AECAs mainly received mycophenolate mofetil as primary immunosuppression (p = 0.067). Nevertheless, the presence of AECAs did not affect long-term outcome and mortality of HTX patients. Despite a low number of patient samples, the detection of AECAs before and early after HTX could be used as a biomarker for an increased risk of early acute rejection in high-risk patients. This easy method might be a valuable tool to support screening procedures to improve individualized immunosuppressive therapy.

Radical surgical resection of advanced thymoma and thymic carcinoma infiltrating the heart or great vessels with cardiopulmonary bypass support.

BACKGROUND: Radical surgical resection of advanced thymic tumors invading either the heart or great vessels facing towards the heart is uncommonly performed because of the potential morbidity and mortality. To achieve a complete tumor resection, the use of cardiolpulmonary bypass (CPB) support might be necessary. METHODS: Retrospective analysis of the results in six patients, who underwent radical tumor resection with CBP support. RESULTS: Mean age was 46 years (27 to 66 years) and five patients were male. Tumor infiltration of the heart or the great vessels was evident in all patients. Five patients underwent induction therapy. Two patients were operated in complete cardioplegic arrest (antegrade cerebral perfusion: n = 1). Arterial cannulation of the ascending aorta (n = 5) or the femoral artery (n = 1) and venous cannulation of the right atrium (n = 4) or the femoral vein (n = 2) were performed. Resection of the left brachiocephalic vein (n = 6), resection of the superior caval vein (n = 2), the ascending aorta (n = 1) and the complete aortic arch with outgoing branches (n = 1) were performed. A macroscopic complete resection (R0/R1) was achieved in five patients, whereas one patient was resected incompletely (R2). In-hospital mortality was 0 %. Three (50 %) patients needed operative revision (hematothorax: n = 2, chylothorax: n = 1). All patients had a complicated postoperative course and developed respiratory insufficiency. CONCLUSIONS: Locally advanced thymoma/thymic carcinoma invading the heart or great vessels can be treated with radical surgical resection alongside with increased perioperative morbidity. The usage of CBP improves the chance of complete tumor resection in selected patients and might lead to a prolonged survival.