Comparing bowel lengthening procedures: which, when, and why?

Purpose Of Review: Intestinal failure secondary to short bowel syndrome is still a very serious condition. Treatment consists of parenteral nutrition to provide nutrients and maintain body weight. During the last decades, intestinal lengthening procedures have become more available.

The gastrointestinal microbiota in colorectal cancer cell migration and invasion.

Colorectal carcinoma is the third most common cancer in developed countries and the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Interest in the influence of the intestinal microbiota on CRC emerged rapidly in the past few years, and the close presence of microbiota to the tumour mass creates a unique microenvironment in CRC. The gastrointestinal microbiota secrete factors that can contribute to CRC metastasis by influencing, for example, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition.

Involvement of the Commensal Organism in the Pathogenesis of Anastomotic Leak.

It is now well established that microbes play a key and causative role in the pathogenesis of anastomotic leak. Yet, in patients, determining whether a cultured pathogen retrieved from an anastomotic leak site is a cause or a consequence of the complication remains a challenge. The aim of this study was to test a methodology to invoke causality between a retrieved microbe from a leak site and its role in anastomotic leak.

Infliximab Does Not Promote the Presence of Collagenolytic Bacteria in a Mouse Model of Colorectal Anastomosis.

Background: Previous work from our group has suggested a pivotal role for collagenolytic bacteria in the development of anastomotic complications. Tumor necrosis factor antagonists are a mainstay of treatment for patients with inflammatory bowel disease. The reported impact of these agents on key surgical outcomes such as anastomotic leak has been inconsistent.

Western Diet Promotes Intestinal Colonization by Collagenolytic Microbes and Promotes Tumor Formation After Colorectal Surgery.

Background & Aims: The Western diet, which is high in fat, is a modifiable risk factor for colorectal recurrence after curative resection. We investigated the mechanisms by which the Western diet promotes tumor recurrence, including changes in the microbiome, in mice that underwent colorectal resection.

Methods: BALB/c male mice were fed either standard chow diet or Western-type diet (characterized by high fat, no fiber, and decreased minerals and vitamins) for 4 weeks; some mice were given antibiotics or ABA-PEG20k-Pi20 (Pi-PEG), which inhibits collagenase production by bacteria, but not bacterial growth, in drinking water.

Peribiliary Glands Are Key in Regeneration of the Human Biliary Epithelium After Severe Bile Duct Injury.

Peribiliary glands (PBG) are a source of stem/progenitor cells organized in a cellular network encircling large bile ducts. Severe cholangiopathy with loss of luminal biliary epithelium has been proposed to activate PBG, resulting in cell proliferation and differentiation to restore biliary epithelial integrity. However, formal evidence for this concept in human livers is lacking.

Mucus Microbiome of Anastomotic Tissue During Surgery Has Predictive Value for Colorectal Anastomotic Leakage.

Objective: The aim of the present study is to investigate the association of gut microbiota, depending on treatment method, with the development of colorectal anastomotic leakage (AL).

Background: AL is a major cause for morbidity and mortality after colorectal surgery, but the mechanism behind this complication still is not fully understood.

Methods: Bacterial DNA was isolated from 123 "donuts" of patients where a stapled colorectal anastomosis was made and was analyzed using 16S MiSeq sequencing.

Intestinal microbiota and anastomotic leakage of stapled colorectal anastomoses: a pilot study.

Background: Anastomotic leakage (AL) after colorectal surgery is a severe complication, resulting in morbidity, reinterventions, prolonged hospital stay and, in some cases, death. Some technical and patient-related aetiological factors of AL are well established. In many cases, however, none of these factors seem to explain the occurrence of AL.