Impact of a High-Fat or High-Fiber Diet on Intestinal Microbiota and Metabolic Markers in a Pig Model.

To further elaborate interactions between nutrition, gut microbiota and host health, an animal model to simulate changes in microbial composition and activity due to dietary changes similar to those in humans is needed. Therefore, the impact of two different diets on cecal and colonic microbial gene copies and metabolic activity, organ development and biochemical parameters in blood serum was investigated using a pig model. Four pigs were either fed a low-fat/high-fiber (LF), or a high-fat/low-fiber (HF) diet for seven weeks, with both diets being isocaloric.

Impact of synaptic localization and subunit composition of ionotropic glutamate receptors on synaptic function: modeling and simulation studies.

Ionotropic NMDA and AMPA glutamate receptors (iGluRs) play important roles in synaptic function under physiological and pathological conditions. iGluRs sub-synaptic localization and subunit composition are dynamically regulated by activity-dependent insertion and internalization. However, understanding the impact on synaptic transmission of changes in composition and localization of iGluRs is difficult to address experimentally.

Detection and treatment of medical inpatients with or at-risk of malnutrition: Suggested procedures based on validated guidelines.

Objective: Despite the high prevalence of malnutrition in the general inpatient population, there is a lack of knowledge in regard to detecting disease-related malnutrition and implementing nutritional support. Our aim was to suggest practical procedures for screening and treating malnourished or at-risk patients hospitalized in medical wards, thereby fostering a straightforward implementation of nutritional therapy independent of the underlying disease and comorbidities.

Methods: A working group of experts in clinical nutrition selected and analyzed published disease-specific European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) guidelines relevant for our aim.

Modeling and simulation of organophosphate-induced neurotoxicity: Prediction and validation by experimental studies.

Exposure to organophosphorus (OP) compounds, either pesticides or chemical warfare agents, represents a major health problem. As potent irreversible inhibitors of cholinesterase, OP may induce seizures, as in status epilepticus, and occasionally brain lesions. Although these compounds are extremely toxic agents, the search for novel antidotes remains extremely limited.

Intestinal Microbiota and Microbial Metabolites Are Changed in a Pig Model Fed a High-Fat/Low-Fiber or a Low-Fat/High-Fiber Diet.

The intestinal microbiota and its metabolites appear to be an important factor for gastrointestinal function and health. However, research is still needed to further elaborate potential relationships between nutrition, gut microbiota and host's health by means of a suitable animal model. The present study examined the effect of two different diets on microbial composition and activity by using the pig as a model for humans.

Analysis of factors contributing to variation in the C57BL/6J fecal microbiota across German animal facilities.

The intestinal microbiota is involved in many physiological processes and it is increasingly recognized that differences in community composition can influence the outcome of a variety of murine models used in biomedical research. In an effort to describe and account for the variation in intestinal microbiota composition across the animal facilities of participating members of the DFG Priority Program 1656 "Intestinal Microbiota", we performed a survey of C57BL/6J mice from 21 different mouse rooms/facilities located at 13 different institutions across Germany. Fresh feces was sampled from five mice per room/facility using standardized procedures, followed by extraction and 16S rRNA gene profiling (V1-V2 region, Illumina MiSeq) at both the DNA and RNA (reverse transcribed to cDNA) level.

Citrus peel polymethoxyflavones nobiletin and tangeretin suppress LPS- and IgE-mediated activation of human intestinal mast cells.

Purpose: Allergic diseases with mast cells (MC) as main effector cells show an increased prevalence. MC also play an essential role in other inflammatory conditions. Therapeutical use of anti-inflammatory nutraceuticals directly targeting MC activation could be of interest for afflicted patients.

Cinnamon extract reduces symptoms, inflammatory mediators and mast cell markers in murine IL-10(-/-) colitis.

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) shows an increasing prevalence and harm in western countries. Conventional therapies are associated with bad compliance and adverse side effects. Natural substances like cinnamon extract (CE) could be an additional therapy.

ESPEN guideline on ethical aspects of artificial nutrition and hydration.

Background: The worldwide debate over the use of artificial nutrition and hydration remains controversial although the scientific and medical facts are unequivocal. Artificial nutrition and hydration are a medical intervention, requiring an indication, a therapeutic goal and the will (consent) of the competent patient.

Methods: The guideline was developed by an international multidisciplinary working group based on the main aspects of the Guideline on "Ethical and Legal Aspects of Artificial Nutrition" published 2013 by the German Society for Nutritional Medicine (DGEM) after conducting a review of specific current literature.

Characterization of the Gut Microbial Community of Obese Patients Following a Weight-Loss Intervention Using Whole Metagenome Shotgun Sequencing.

Background/objectives: Cross-sectional studies suggested that obesity is promoted by the gut microbiota. However, longitudinal data on taxonomic and functional changes in the gut microbiota of obese patients are scarce. The aim of this work is to study microbiota changes in the course of weight loss therapy and the following year in obese individuals with or without co-morbidities, and to asses a possible predictive value of the gut microbiota with regard to weight loss maintenance.

Mast cells in gastrointestinal disorders.

Mast cells are constitutively found in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. The three major physiological functions of GI mast cells comprise of - as far as we know - regulation of GI functions, namely epithelial and endothelial functions, crosstalk with the enteric nervous system, and contribution to the host defense against bacterial, viral and parasitic agents. A number of chronic GI diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis), celiac disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and food allergies, are thought to be associated with mast cell hyperplasia and humoral activity.

Gastric ghrelin, GOAT, leptin, and leptinR expression as well as peripheral serotonin are dysregulated in humans with obesity.

Background: Gastrointestinal hormone release and the regulation of appetite and body weight are thought to be dysbalanced in obesity. However, human data investigating the expression of gastrointestinal hormones in the obese are rare. We studied the expression of ghrelin, leptin, and the serotonergic system in stomach tissue and serum of obese and non-obese individuals.

Impact of protein supplementation after bariatric surgery: A randomized controlled double-blind pilot study.

Objectives: Bariatric patients are at risk of protein deficiency. The aim of this study was to determine possible benefits of postoperative protein supplementation weight reduction, body composition, and protein status.

Methods: Twenty obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery were randomized either to the protein (PRO) group, which received a daily protein supplement over 6 months postoperatively, or to the control (CON) group, which received an isocaloric placebo in a double-blind fashion.

Second-Line Treatment in Pancreatic Cancer Patients: Who Profits?--Results From the CONKO Study Group.

Objectives: With increasing numbers of therapeutic options in inoperable pancreatic cancer (PAC), patients tend to receive more than just a first line (FL) therapy.

Methods: All patients who started FL for PAC at our institution (1997-2012) were retrospectively studied to identify patient's and treatment characteristics. Significant parameters in regard to second-line (SL) related survival were looked for as the basis for a prognostic model.

Economy matters to fight against malnutrition: Results from a multicenter survey.

Background And Aim: Malnutrition represents a serious health care threat, as it increases morbidity, mortality and health care cost. The effective screening and treatment with enteral (EN) or parenteral (PN) nutrition are the key elements of the policy called Optimal Nutrition Care for All (ONCA). The study tried to analyze the impact of the state's economy on the implementation of EN and PN to define its role in ONCA.

Renal glucose release during hypoglycemia is partly controlled by sympathetic nerves - a study in pigs with unilateral surgically denervated kidneys.

Catecholamines are known to increase renal glucose release during hypoglycemia. The specific extent of the contribution of different sources of catecholamines, endocrine delivery via circulation or release from autonomous sympathetic renal nerves, though, is unknown. We tested the hypothesis that sympathetic renal innervation plays a major role in the regulation of renal gluconeogenesis.

Microbiota and aging.

Purpose Of Review: This article summarizes our current knowledge of changes in the intestinal microbiota in elderly people and centenarians.

Recent Findings: Age-related processes comprise specific changes in the intestinal microbiota and related metabolic alterations. They result in 'inflamm-aging', which is associated with age-related inflammatory processes and diseases, including cachexia, frailty, cancer, and metabolic as well as neurological diseases.

Trends in treatment and outcomes of ankylosing spondylitis in outpatient rheumatological care in Germany between 2000 and 2012.

Objectives: To describe changes in drug treatment and clinical outcomes of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) during the past decade.

Methods: The national database of the German collaborative arthritis centres collects clinical and patient-derived data from unselected outpatients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Cross-sectional data from 2000 to 2012 of around 1000 patients with AS per year were compared with regard to clinical presentation and quality of life indicators.

Assessment of the Intestinal Barrier with Five Different Permeability Tests in Healthy C57BL/6J and BALB/cJ Mice.

Background: Intestinal permeability is thought to be of major relevance for digestive and nutrition-related diseases, and therefore has been studied in numerous mouse models of disease. However, it is unclear which tools are the preferable ones, and how normal values should be defined.

Aims: To compare different in vivo permeability tests in healthy mice of commonly used genetic backgrounds.

Synaptic Efficacy as a Function of Ionotropic Receptor Distribution: A Computational Study.

Glutamatergic synapses are the most prevalent functional elements of information processing in the brain. Changes in pre-synaptic activity and in the function of various post-synaptic elements contribute to generate a large variety of synaptic responses. Previous studies have explored postsynaptic factors responsible for regulating synaptic strength variations, but have given far less importance to synaptic geometry, and more specifically to the subcellular distribution of ionotropic receptors.

A fully parallel in time and space algorithm for simulating the electrical activity of a neural tissue.

Background: The resolution of a model describing the electrical activity of neural tissue and its propagation within this tissue is highly consuming in term of computing time and requires strong computing power to achieve good results.

New Method: In this study, we present a method to solve a model describing the electrical propagation in neuronal tissue, using parareal algorithm, coupling with parallelization space using CUDA in graphical processing unit (GPU).

Results: We applied the method of resolution to different dimensions of the geometry of our model (1-D, 2-D and 3-D).

Altered intestinal neuroendocrine gene expression in humans with obesity.

Objective: Gastrointestinal hormones are critically involved in the regulation of food intake and body weight. Previous studies support an interplay between gastrointestinal hormones and the serotonergic system. This study explored intestinal neuroendocrine expression patterns in humans with obesity versus nonobese humans.

Pre-clinical evaluation of a minimally invasive laryngeal pacemaker system in mini-pig.

Microlaryngoscopic enlargement techniques have been the standard treatment for bilateral vocal fold paralysis (BVFP) for decades. Laryngeal pacing is a promising alternative treatment based on the electrostimulation of the posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA) muscle. This paper reports on the results of a pre-clinical study aiming to evaluate this method.

Standard operating procedures for ESPEN guidelines and consensus papers.

The ESPEN Guideline standard operating procedures (SOP) is based on the methodology provided by the Association of Scientific Medical Societies of Germany (AWMF), the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN), and the Centre for Evidence-based Medicine at the University of Oxford. The SOP is valid and obligatory for all future ESPEN-sponsored guideline projects aiming to generate high-quality guidelines on a regular basis. The SOP aims to facilitate the preparation of guideline projects, to streamline the consensus process, to ensure quality and transparency, and to facilitate the dissemination and publication of ESPEN guidelines.