Background
The number of morbidly obese kidney transplant candidates is growing. They have limited access to kidney transplantation and are at a higher risk of postoperative complications. Bariatric ...surgery is considered as a safe weight loss method in those patients.
Objectives
Matched pair analysis was designed to analyze the preparatory and postoperative weight loss after bariatric procedures in end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) and non-ESKD morbidly obese patients.
Methods
Twenty patients with ESKD underwent bariatric surgery in our Centre of Excellence for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery between 2015 and 2019 (nine one-anastomosis gastric bypasses, nine Roux-en-Y gastric bypasses, and two sleeve gastrectomies). They were compared with matched pairs from a dataset of 1199 morbidly obese patients without ESKD. Data on demographic factors and comorbidities was recorded. BMI was obtained at the start of the preparatory period preceding the bariatric procedure, at the time of procedure, and during the 1-year follow-up.
Results
The ESKD and non-ESKD patients did not differ significantly in preoperative weight loss (13.00 ± 11.69 kg and 15.22 ± 15.96 kg respectively,
p
= 0.619). During the 1-year follow-up, the weight loss was similar to the non-ESKD group. In the first 3 months, faster weight loss in ESKD was observed. Initial and follow-up BMI values did not differ significantly between groups. We demonstrated that obese patients with ESKD can lose weight as effectively as non-ESKD patients.
Conclusion
Morbidly obese ESKD patients have an equal weight loss to patients without ESKD. Bariatric surgery could improve access to kidney transplantation and may potentially improve transplantation outcomes of obese patients with ESKD.
Altered metabolism of lipids is currently considered a hallmark characteristic of many malignancies, including colorectal cancer (CRC). Lipids are a large group of metabolites that differ in terms of ...their fatty acid composition. This review summarizes recent evidence, documenting many alterations in the content and composition of fatty acids, polar lipids, oxylipins and triacylglycerols in CRC patients' sera, tumor tissues and adipose tissue. Some of altered lipid molecules may be potential biomarkers of CRC risk, development and progression. Owing to a significant role of many lipids in cancer cell metabolism, some of lipid metabolism pathways may also constitute specific targets for anti-CRC therapy.
Human HtrA proteins are serine proteases involved in essential physiological processes. HtrA1 and HtrA3 function as tumor suppressors and inhibitors of the TGF-β signaling pathway. HtrA2 regulates ...mitochondrial homeostasis and plays a pivotal role in the induction of apoptosis. The aim of the study was to determine whether the HtrA proteins are involved in thyroid carcinogenesis. We used the immunoblotting technique to estimate protein levels of HtrA1, HtrA2, long and short variants of HtrA3 (HtrA3-L and HtrA3-S) and TGF-β1 in tissues of benign and malignant thyroid lesions, and control groups. We found that the levels of HtrA2 and HtrA3-S were higher in thyroid malignant tumors compared to normal tissues and benign tumors. The HtrA3-L level was increased in malignant tumor tissues compared to benign tumor tissues and control tissues from patients with benign lesions, and elevated in normal tissues from patients with thyroid carcinoma compared to normal tissues from patients with benign lesions. We also compared levels of HtrA proteins in follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) and found that these types of carcinoma differed in the expression of HtrA3-S and HtrA1. These results indicate the implication of HtrA proteins in thyroid carcinogenesis suggest that HtrA3 variants may play different roles in cancer development, and that the increased HtrA3-L levels in thyroid tissue could be correlated with the development of malignant lesions. The TGF-β1 levels in tumor tissues were not significantly altered compared to control tissues.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) cells show some alterations in lipid metabolism, including an increased fatty acid elongation. This study was focused on investigating the effect of a small interfering RNA ...(siRNA)-mediated decrease in fatty acid elongation on CRC cells' survival and migration. In our study, the elongase 4 (
) and elongase 6 (
) genes were observed to be highly overexpressed in both the CRC tissue obtained from patients and the CRC cells cultured in vitro (HT-29 and WiDr cell lines). The use of the siRNAs for
and
reduced cancer cell proliferation and migration rates. These findings indicate that the altered elongation process decreased the survival of CRC cells, and in the future, fatty acid elongases can be potentially good targets in novel CRC therapy.
The therapy of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients is often unsuccessful because of the presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) resistant to conventional approaches. Dendritic cells (DC)-based protocols ...are believed to effectively supplement CRC therapy. Our study was aimed to assess how the number and properties of CSCs isolated from tumor tissue of CRC patients will affect the biological characteristics of in vitro modified DCs. Similar procedures were conducted with the using of CRC HCT116 and HT29 cell lines. We found that the detailed configuration of CSC-like markers significantly influenced the maturation and activation of DCs after stimulation with cancer cells lysates or culture supernatants. This basic stimulatory effect was enhanced by LPS that is normally present in CRC CSCs niche. The increased number of CD29
and CD44
CSCs presented the opposite impact on treated DCs as showed by many significant correlations. The CD133
CSCs seemed to impair the functions of DCs. The more CD133
CSCs in tumor sample the lower number of activated DCs evidenced after stimulation. Moreover, our results showed superiority of the spherical culture model over the adherent one since spherical HCT116 and HT29 cells presented similar influence on DCs properties as CRC patients cancer cells. We concluded that the DCs features may depend directly on the properties of CSCs affected by progression status of tumor.
The aim of this study was to estimate the range of mechanical properties of the human stomach in order to use the collected data in numerical modelling of surgical stapling during resections of the ...stomach. The biomedical tests were conducted in a self-developed tensile test machine. Twenty-two fresh human stomach specimens were used for the experimental study of its general strength. The specimens were obtained from morbidly obese patients on whom sleeve gastrectomy was performed. Finally, data on mechanical properties of the stomach wall with detailed analysis of anatomical regions of the stomach have been presented.
Fatty acid synthase (FASN) provides palmitate for cell membrane formation in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells, however, palmitate is also available in the blood of CRC patients. The aim of this study ...was to examine whether orlistat, a FASN inhibitor, is able to attenuate CRC cell growth despite the availability of extracellular palmitate.
Palmitate concentrations were measured in serum from CRC patients and healthy controls. HT-29 CRC cells were treated with orlistat and palmitate.
Treatment of CRC cells with orlistat caused a dose-dependent inhibition of cell proliferation. In turn, delivery of extracellular palmitate at doses lower than those found in the serum of CRC patients reversed inhibition by orlistat concentrations of up to 10 μM.
Inhibition of CRC cell proliferation by orlistat is reversed by palmitate which is present at high levels in the serum. Therefore, orlistat may be effective in vivo only at high concentrations.
Background: The European Thyroid Imaging and Reporting Data System (EU-TIRADS) aims to reduce the overdiagnosis of thyroid cancer (TC) by guiding the selection of nodules for fine-needle aspiration ...biopsy (FNAB). This study sought to validate EU-TIRADS nodule selection criteria using data from EUROCRINE, an extensive international endocrine surgery registry. Method: We reviewed indications for FNAB among patients with TC compared to those with benign disease who underwent surgery between March 2020 and March 2022, considering preoperative EU-TIRADS scores and dominant nodule size (FNAB is recommended in Category 5 (˃10 mm or ˂10 mm with suspicious lymph nodes), 4 (˃15 mm), and 3 (˃20 mm)). Patients were categorized into three risk groups: minimal risk (patients with papillary microcarcinoma), high risk (patients with pT3b stage or higher, pN1b, or pM1), and low–moderate risk (all other patients). We conducted a Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) analysis to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the EU-TIRADS. Results: We analyzed 32,008 operations. Approximately 68% of the surgical records included EU-TIRADS classifications. The EU-TIRADS exhibited diagnostic accuracy across high-volume sites, with a median ROC Area Under the ROC Curve (AUC) of 0.752, indicating its effectiveness in identifying malignancy. Among the cases, 7907 patients had TC. Notably, 55% of patients with TC underwent FNAB despite not initially meeting the EU-TIRADS criteria. These patients were distributed across the minimal- (58%), low–moderate- (36%), and high-risk (5.8%) categories. Of the patients with TC recommended for FNAB, 78% were deemed low–moderate risk, 21% high risk, and only 0.7% minimal risk. Conclusion: The EU-TIRADS offers effective preoperative malignancy risk stratification. Promoting the proper use of the EU-TIRADS in clinical practice is essential to mitigate the overdiagnosis and overtreatment of low-risk TC.
Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is an important problem for modern medicine, the healthcare system (Poland - NFZ) and the national insurance system (Poland - ZUS). The chronic nature of the disease, the ...lack of targeted treatment and the low mortality rate lead to an accumulation of patients who demand expensive treatment, both conservative and invasive. Rising costs in health care are forcing the need for a more cost-effective method of treatment.
The primary aim of this study was to perform a retrospective calculation of costs in both surgical and endoscopic treatment, hospital stay, healthcare, and public insurance of patients suffering from chronic pancreatitis. Parallel quality of life analysis was performed. It was possible to develop a cost-effective therapeutic algorithm for patients with an uncomplicated stricture of Wirsung's duct within the Polish health care system.
In Poland, the hospital costs of endoscopic treatment of patients with chronic pancreatitis were higher than those of the surgical treatment group despite both resulting in a similar life quality.
From a cost-effectiveness perspective, it was shown that surgical intervention is a more cost-effective therapy than endotherapy. Furthermore, patients with benign stricture of the main pancreatic duct in chronic pancreatitis should not be treated with endotherapy for longer than 12 months.