The Effects of Enteral Nutrition on the Intestinal Environment in Patients in a Persistent Vegetative State.

Enteral nutrition (EN) is a rational approach to providing nutritional intake via the intestines in patients who are unable to tolerate parenteral nutrition. We conducted a preliminary study to investigate the effects of EN on the intestinal environment in 10 patients in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) (n = 5 each in the EN and EN with probiotics; Clostridium butyricum MIYAIRI 588) groups compared with 10 healthy controls. The results of 16S amplicon sequencing of the intestinal microbiota showed that EN led to dysbiosis with a decrease in α-diversity and an obvious change in ß-diversity. A particularly significant decrease was seen in useful intestinal bacteria such as Bifidobacterium and butyrate-producing bacteria. Analysis of intestinal metabolites also supported these results, showing significant decreases in butyric and pyruvic acid after EN. Although C. butyricumMIYAIRI 588 improved some intestinal metabolites that were decreased after EN, it did not improve the dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota. These findings indicate that EN causes dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota and an imbalance in some intestinal metabolites in patients in a PVS. Moreover, although C. butyricumMIYAIRI 588 improved the imbalance of some intestinal metabolites after EN, it did not prevent dysbiosis of the intestinal microbiota.

[Resection of a left obturator lymph node recurrence five years five months after surgery for rectal cancer].

A 62-year-old man with lower rectal cancer underwent abdominoperineal resection and dissection of the lateral pelvic lymph nodes. The cancer was staged at pT3pN0cM0, pStage II and did not show recurrence. Two years later, the patient had dysphagia and was diagnosed with esophageal cancer based on upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) performed to detect distant metastasis revealed fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in the left obturator lymph nodes, indicating rectal cancer recurrence. The patient received radiation therapy (60.4 Gy) for the recurrence. A PET/CT scan obtained 2 years 6 months after the initial rectal cancer resection revealed no FDG uptake. Uraciltegafur plus Leucovorin (UFT+LV) was started and continued for 6 months, but tumor enlargement was noted. Treatment was changed to LV, 5-fluorouracil, and irinotecan (FOLFIRI), but after 4 courses, the patient's carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels rose. The patient then received 4 courses of bevacizumab plus FOLFIRI. A CT scan revealed tumor shrinkage, so the patient received 4 more courses of this regimen. Five years postoperatively, the patient's CEA levels rose again. A PET/CT scan 4 months later revealed FDG uptake in the left obturator lymph nodes, indicative of rectal cancer recurrence. One month later, the lymph nodes were resected. The patient was subsequently recurrence free. Tumor marker measurement and PET/CT helped to assess the patient's condition. When cancer recurs in the lateral pelvic lymph nodes with no involvement of the pelvis and R0 resection is possible, resection should be considered if the patient is capable of undergoing surgery.

Pancreatic Cancer Registry in Japan: 20 years of experience.

The prognosis of pancreatic cancer is defined by the histology and extent of disease. Preoperative histologic diagnosis and diagnostic imaging are fundamentals in managing the disease, but it is not rare to find unexpected peritoneal dissemination or liver metastasis at the time of operation. The overall resectability rate of pancreatic cancer is 40% in Japan. Resecting the portal vein and peripancreatic plexus were performed on 40% of the patients who underwent pancreatectomy for invasive cancer in the head of the pancreas. Long-term survival was only found in patients who underwent pancreatectomy. Radical lymph node dissection, or combined resection of the large vessels, did not seem to improve survival further than the standard resection. Multidisciplinary treatments combined with surgery were performed, and various effects of postoperative chemotherapy after pancreatectomy, intraoperative- and postoperative-radiation therapy, or postoperative chemotherapy for unresectable tumor, were shown. Development of unconventional therapies and refinement of the conventional therapy should be promoted on a randomized prospective trial basis. To promote this effort, which requires the international comparisons and cooperation, JPS developed a computerized JPS registration system downloadable from the JPS website (http://www.kojin.or.jp/suizou/index.html).

Multifocal motor neuropathy caused by a B-cell lymphoma producing a monoclonal IgM autoantibody against peripheral nerve myelin glycolipids GM1 and GD1b.

Various data support the pathogenetic significance of serum IgM autoantibodies against glycolipid GM1 in patients with multifocal motor neuropathy. Although some patients with this neuropathy have an extraneural lymphoma, IgM anti-GM1 glycolipid autoantibodies have not been investigated in these cases. We found IgM anti-GM1 autoantibody in the serum of a 52-year-old man who developed multifocal motor neuropathy that was associated with an extraneural diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. An autopsy showed severe widespread demyelination without lymphoma cell infiltration in the peripheral nerves. Immunofluorescent flow cytometry and thin-layer chromatographic immunostaining demonstrated that most of the anti-GM1 antibody in the serum was monoclonal IgM of lambda type, which was also demonstrable in secretory form on lymphoma cells. The antibody showed affinity for the Galbeta1-3GalNAc terminal disaccharide of glycolipids GM1 and GD1b, which both are widespread in peripheral nerve myelin. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay demonstrated that this antibody was much more abundant in lymphoma cell culture supernatant than in normal lymphocyte culture supernatant. Thus, our patient's B-cell lymphoma cells produced a monoclonal IgM lambda autoantibody against this terminal disaccharide residue. This antibody bound to glycolipids GM1 and GD1b in peripheral motor nerve myelin, presumably initiating formation of destructive immune complexes that caused multifocal motor neuropathy.

[Occult pancreatobiliary reflux and gallbladder carcinoma].

A total of 108 patients with a normal pancreaticobiliary junction who had gallbladder wall thickness as shown by ultrasonography or computed tomography underwent secretin injection magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography. Based on the changes in the diameter of the biliary system after secretin injection, patients were categorized into the intensified group (n = 19) or the non-intensified group (n = 89). The mean (+/- SD) biliary amylase level in the bile duct was 41674 (+/- 59779) IU/L in the intensified group, which was significantly higher than that in the non-intensified group (210 (+/- 418)) IU/L (p < 0.0001). There were four patients with carcinoma of the gallbladder in the intensified group and their biliary amylase level in the bile duct was 90783 (+/- 82528) IU/L. Pancreatobiliary reflux similar to that seen in patients with pancreaticobiliary maljunction can occur in persons with a normal pancreaticobiliary junction and this may be associated with carcinoma of the gallbladder. Secretin injection magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography proved useful to identify such persons.