Metabolic Surgery for Type 2 Diabetes in Patients with a BMI of <35 kg/m(2): A Surgeon's Perspective

Metabolic and bariatric surgery in patients with class I obesity; a two-year follow-up

BACKGROUND

Patients with class I obesity may need metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) in the presence of obesity-associated medical problems, but MBS in this class of obesity is under debate. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of MBS in patients with class I obesity.

METHODS AND MATERIALS

This study was a historical cohort carried out on 112 patients with class I obesity with body mass index (BMI) of 30-35 kg/m2 with a 24-month follow-up underwent MBS at Rasoul-e-Akram Hospital. The required data were extracted through the Iran National Obesity Surgery Database. The data required for the study consisted of demographic information such as age, gender, and obesity-associated medical problems like type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, and dyslipidemia before surgery, 6, 12, and 24 months after surgery.

RESULTS

Mean age of the patients was 38.10 ± 10.04 years; mean BMI was 32.96 ± 1.35 kg/m2 and 83.9% (n = 94) of patients were female. Out of 18 patients with T2DM, 11 patients (61.11%) had complete remission and seven patients (38.88%) had partial remission. Obstructive sleep apnea, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and gastroesophageal reflux disease were observed in 18 (16.07%), 23 (20.53%), 43 (38.39%), and 13 patients (11.60%) before surgery and resolved at 24-month follow-up. Post-operative complications during the 24-month follow-up were checked to assess safety and there were no De novo gastroesophageal reflux disease, intolerance, leakage, pulmonary thromboembolism, deep vein thrombosis, incisional hernia, hypoalbuminemia (Albumin < 3.5 g/dl), excessive weight loss (BMI < 18.5 kg/m2) at any time during 24-months follow-ups and mortality. Early complications occurred as splenic injury in one case (0.89%), wound infection in one patient (0.89%), and extra-luminal bleeding in 10 (8.92%) after surgery, without any mortality.

CONCLUSION

MBS is safe and effective in class I obesity and can be considered in selected patients with obesity-associated medical problems.

Innovative Bariatric Procedures and Ethics in Bariatric Surgery: the IFSO Position Statement

With the rise in obesity and bariatric procedures worldwide, there has been a surge in new and innovative procedures that has been increasingly offered to patients. In this position statement, IFSO highlights the importance of surgical ethics in innovation and when offering new procedures. Furthermore, the task force reviewed the current literature to describe which procedures can be offered as mainstream outside research protocols versus those that are still investigational and need further data.

Role of Proximal Intestinal Glucose Sensing and Metabolism in the Blood Glucose Control in Type 2 Diabetic Rats After Duodenal Jejunal Bypass Surgery

BACKGROUND

Although gastric surgery can significantly improve blood glucose homeostasis in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), its mechanism remains unclear. This study evaluated the role of intestinal glucose sensing, glucose transport, and metabolism in the alimentary limb (A limb) of T2DM rats after duodenal jejunal bypass (DJB) surgery.

METHODS

A T2DM rat model was induced via a high-glucose high-fat diet and low-dose streptozotocin injection. The diabetic rats were divided into two groups: the DJB surgery (T2DM-DJB) group and the sham surgery (T2DM-Sham) group. Wistar rats were used as wild-type control (Control). Small animal PET was used to assess the change in glucose metabolic status in the intestine. The intestinal villi height and the number of EECs after DJB were evaluated. The expressions of sweet taste receptors (T1R2/T1R3), glucose transporters (SGLT1/GLUT2), and key enzymes involved in glucose metabolism (HK2, PFK2, PKM2, G6Pase, and PCK1) in the A limb after DJB was detected by Western blot and qRT-PCR.

RESULTS

Small animal PET analysis showed the intestinal glucose metabolism increased significantly 6 weeks after DJB surgery. The intestinal villi height and the number of EECs in the A limb 6 weeks after surgery increased significantly in T2DM-DJB rats comparing to T2DM-Sham rats. The mRNA and protein expression of T1R1/T1R3 and SGLT1/GLUT2 were downregulated in DJB-T2DM rats, while enzymes involved in glucose metabolism was upregulated in the A limb in T2DM-DJB rats.

CONCLUSION

Proximal intestinal glucose sensing and metabolism play an important role in blood glucose homeostasis by DJB.

Metabolic surgery: gastric bypass for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is one of the largest health emergencies of the 21st century given the worldwide increase of obesity during the last decades and its close association. T2DM is an inherited, polygenic and chronic disease caused by the interaction between several genetic variants in genes and the environment. The continuous search for new and more effective tools to achieve appropriate glycemic control became imperative in order to reduce long-term complications and mortality rates related to T2DM. Treatment options includes lifestyle modifications and several pharmacotherapies as first step in the therapeutical algorithm, but high corps of evidence have shown that gastrointestinal (GI) operations, especially those that involve food rerouting through the GI tract, are safe interventions and achieve superior outcomes for improvement in glucose metabolism when comparing with optimal medical and lifestyle changes. GI Surgery, specially Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), is currently the most accepted surgical procedure to treat T2DM, and has also demonstrated to reduce significantly other cardiovascular risk factors (lipids and blood pressure control) when compared with optimal medical treatment, with good long-term effects on cardiovascular risks and mortality. Although the most effective technique in achieving diabetes remission is biliopancreatic diversion, the effectiveness-adverse effects balance is superior for RYGB. For these reasons, metabolic surgery (which was defined as "the operative manipulation of a normal organ or organ system to achieve a biological result for a potential health gain") has been considered and accepted as a new step in the therapeutic algorithm for T2DM when optimal lifestyle and medical interventions don't achieve optimal glycemic goals.

The Contribution of Diabetes Education in the Treatment of People with Type 2 Diabetes and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

Diabetes has caused 5.1 million deaths, primarily from cardiovascular disease. Large clinical studies have proven the importance of intensive control of diabetes from diagnosis to prevent microvascular and macrovascular complications of the disease in the long term. Diabetes education conducted by an interdisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, nutritionists, psychologists, and others is a necessary tool to ensure effective behavioral change and help overcome the obstacles that may hinder self care. Several studies have been analyzed in this review, in which we find a variety of results. Diabetes education has proven to be essential to patient compliance with their T2DM treatment; the main objective is to prevent acute and chronic complications, especially cardiovascular ones, which are the main causes of mortality.

How Durable Are the Effects After Metabolic Surgery?

Bariatric surgery was initially developed as a tool for weight reduction only, but it is gaining popularity because of its remarkable effect on glucose metabolism in morbidly obese and less obese patients. Recent publications have shown the superiority of metabolic surgery over medical treatment for diabetes, creating a new field of clinical research that is currently overflowing in the medical community with outstanding high-quality data. Metabolic surgery is effective in treating diabetes, even in non-morbidly obese patients.

Gap Between Evidence and Patient Access: Policy Implications for Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery in the Treatment of Obesity and its Complications

Despite consistently supportive evidence of clinical effectiveness and economic advantages compared with currently available non-surgical obesity treatments, patient access to bariatric and metabolic surgery (BMS) is impeded. To address this gap and better understand the relationship between value and access, the objectives of this study were twofold: (i) identify the multidimensional barriers to adoption of BMS created by clinical guidelines, public policies, and health technology assessments; and, most importantly, (ii) develop recommendations for stakeholders to improve patient access to BMS. Updated public policies focused on treatment and clinical guidelines that reflect the demonstrated advantages of BMS, patient education on safety and effectiveness, updated reimbursement policies, and additional data on long-term BMS effectiveness are needed to improve patient access.

Could the improvement of obesity-related co-morbidities depend on modified gut hormones secretion?

Obesity and its associated diseases are a worldwide epidemic disease. Usual weight loss cures - as diets, physical activity, behavior therapy and pharmacotherapy - have been continuously implemented but still have relatively poor long-term success and mainly scarce adherence. Bariatric surgery is to date the most effective long term treatment for morbid obesity and it has been proven to reduce obesity-related co-morbidities, among them nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and mortality. This article summarizes such variations in gut hormones following the current metabolic surgery procedures. The profile of gut hormonal changes after bariatric surgery represents a strategy for the individuation of the most performing surgical procedures to achieve clinical results. About this topic, experts suggest that the individuation of the crosslink among the gut hormones, microbiome, the obesity and the bariatric surgery could lead to new and more specific therapeutic interventions for severe obesity and its co-morbidities, also non surgical.

Role of metabolic surgery in less obese or non-obese subjects with type 2 diabetes: influence over cardiovascular events

Bariatric surgery was initially developed as a tool for weight reduction only, but it is gaining increasing popularity because of its remarkable effect on glucose metabolism in morbidly obese and less obese patients. Recent publications have shown the good results of metabolic surgery, creating a new field of clinical research that is currently overflowing in the medical community with outstanding high-quality data. In morbidly obese population, there is compelling data on long term cardiovascular risk reduction and mortality, coming from longitudinal prospective studies and systematic reviews. Numbers range from 33 to 92% of decrease in fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events . In low body mass index (BMI) diabetics, there is an increasing number of reported good outcomes after metabolic surgery with the aim to treat type 2 diabetes (T2DM). There is scarce information on cardiovascular outcomes in non-morbidly obese subjects, but the extraordinary glucose, lipid and blood pressure control in the published series are suggesting good long-term effects on cardiovascular risk profile and mortality. The papers review was comprehensive, including the available randomized controlled trials, long-term prospective series and systematic reviews.