Perioperative Alanyl-Glutamine-Supplemented Parenteral Nutrition in Chronic Radiation Enteritis Patients With Surgical Intestinal Obstruction: A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Study

ESPEN guideline on chronic intestinal failure in adults - Update 2023

BACKGROUND & AIMS

In 2016, ESPEN published the guideline for Chronic Intestinal Failure (CIF) in adults. An updated version of ESPEN guidelines on CIF due to benign disease in adults was devised in order to incorporate new evidence since the publication of the previous ESPEN guidelines.

METHODS

The grading system of the Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) was used to grade the literature. Recommendations were graded according to the levels of evidence available as A (strong), B (conditional), 0 (weak) and Good practice points (GPP). The recommendations of the 2016 guideline (graded using the GRADE system) which were still valid, because no studies supporting an update were retrieved, were reworded and re-graded accordingly.

RESULTS

The recommendations of the 2016 guideline were reviewed, particularly focusing on definitions, and new chapters were included to devise recommendations on IF centers, chronic enterocutaneous fistulas, costs of IF, caring for CIF patients during pregnancy, transition of patients from pediatric to adult centers. The new guideline consist of 149 recommendations and 16 statements which were voted for consensus by ESPEN members, online in July 2022 and at conference during the annual Congress in September 2022. The Grade of recommendation is GPP for 96 (64.4%) of the recommendations, 0 for 29 (19.5%), B for 19 (12.7%), and A for only five (3.4%). The grade of consensus is "strong consensus" for 148 (99.3%) and "consensus" for one (0.7%) recommendation. The grade of consensus for the statements is "strong consensus" for 14 (87.5%) and "consensus" for two (12.5%).

CONCLUSIONS

It is confirmed that CIF management requires complex technologies, multidisciplinary and multiprofessional activity, and expertise to care for the underlying gastrointestinal disease and to provide HPN support. Most of the recommendations were graded as GPP, but almost all received a strong consensus.

Clean Production of l-Alanyl-l-glutamine by an Efficient Yeast Biocatalyst Expressing α-Amino Acid Ester Acyltransferase without N-Glycosylation

l-Alanyl-l-glutamine (Ala-Gln) is a widely used value-added dipeptide whose production relies heavily upon an efficient biocatalyst. The currently available yeast biocatalysts that express α-amino acid ester acyltransferase (SsAet) possess relatively low activity, which may be attributed to glycosylation. Here, to promote SsAet activity in yeast, we identified the N-glycosylation site as the Asn residue at position 442 and subsequently eliminated the negative effect of N-glycosylation on SsAet by removing artificial and native signal peptides to obtain K3A1, a novel yeast biocatalyst with significantly improved activity. Additionally, the optimal reaction conditions of strain K3A1 were determined (25 °C, pH 8.5, AlaOMe/Gln = 1:2), resulting in a maximum molar yield and productivity of approximately 80% and 1.74 g·(L·min)^-1, respectively. Therefore, we developed a promising system to cleanly produce Ala-Gln in a safe, efficient, and sustainable manner, which may contribute to the future industrial production of Ala-Gln.

Pharmacokinetic study of single and multiple oral administration of glutamine in healthy Beagles

Glutamine is an amino acid that is mainly used for the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases in clinic, but there is a lack of such medicine in veterinary clinic, and its research in dogs has never been seen. This study aimed to investigate the pharmacokinetics of single and multiple administration of glutamine (Gln) tablets in Beagles. Twenty-four healthy Beagles were randomly selected for the pharmacokinetic study of a single dose of low (120 mg/kg), medium (240 mg/kg), and high (360 mg/kg) Gln tablets. After 7 days of washout period, six Beagles in the medium group were selected for a multiple-dose pharmacokinetic study, 240 mg/kg twice a day for 7 days. The Gln concentration in plasma was determined by a validated UPLC-MS/MS method. The results of single oral administration of different doses of Gln tablets showed that C_max, AUC_0→t, AUC_0→∝ had a certain linear relationship with the dosage. T-tests were performed for single and multiple administration of T_max, C_max, t_1/2λz, AUC_0→t, and AUC_0→∝, and the results showed no significant differences (p > 0.05). Therefore, Gln tablets were absorbed quickly by oral administration, and there was no accumulation in Beagles after 7 days of administration.

A retrospective study of enteral nutrition on immune and inflammatory factors after liver cancer surgery

ABSTRACT

This retrospective study aimed to explore the effect of enteral nutrition (EN) on immune and inflammatory factors after liver cancer surgery (LCS).It was retrospectively conducted on enrolled LCS patients between January 2017 and May 2020. The medical records of 528 patient case records were collected and reviewed. After selection, a total of 80 eligible patient case records were finally included. All those patients received routine diet, and they were allocated to a treatment group (n = 40) and a control group (n = 40). In addition, patients in the treatment group also received EN. The primary outcomes were immune factors (CD4+, CD8+, CD4+/CD8+) and inflammatory factors (interleukin-1, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α). The secondary outcomes were postoperative hospital stay (day), time to first bowel sounds (hour), time to first flatus (day), time to first defecation (day), and complications.There were not significant differences in CD4+/CD8+ (P = .34), postoperative hospital stay (P = .39), and time to first bowel sounds (P = .17) between 2 groups. However, there were significant differences in CD4+ (P < .01), CD8+ (P < .01), interleukin-1 (P < .01), interleukin-6 (P < .01), tumor necrosis factor-α (P < .01), time to first flatus (P < .01), and time to first defecation (P < .01) between 2 groups. As for complications, there were not significant differences between 2 groups (P > .05).The results of this study found that EN may benefit for patients after LCS during the recovery period. Future high quality prospective studies are needed to warrant the present conclusion.

Effect of postoperative early enteral nutrition on clinical outcomes and immune function of cholangiocarcinoma patients with malignant obstructive jaundice

BACKGROUND

Most cholangiocarcinoma patients with malignant obstructive jaundice (MOJ) have varying degrees of malnutrition and immunodeficiency preoperatively. Therefore, perioperative nutritional support has important clinical significance in the treatment of cholangiocarcinoma.

AIM

To investigate the effects of postoperative early enteral nutrition (EEN) on immunity function and clinical outcomes of cholangiocarcinoma patients with MOJ.

METHODS

This prospective clinical study included 60 cholangiocarcinoma patients with MOJ who underwent surgery. The patients were randomly divided into an experimental group and a control group according to the nutrition support modes. The control group received postoperative total parenteral nutrition (TPN), whereas the experimental group received postoperative EEN and parenteral nutrition (PN; EEN + PN). The clinical outcomes, postoperative immune function, incidences of surgical site infection and bile leakage, intestinal function recovery time, average hospitalization days, and hospitalization expenses of the two groups were assessed on postoperative days (PODs) 1, 3, and 7.

RESULTS

The CD3+T, CD4+T, CD8+T, and CD4+T/CD8+T cell count and the immunoglobulin (Ig) G, IgM, and IgA levels in the EEN + PN group were significantly higher than those in the TPN group on PODs 3 and 7 (P < 0.05), whereas no significant differences in the CD3+T, CD4+T, CD8+T, and CD4+T/CD8+T cell counts and IgG, IgM, and IgA levels before operation and on POD 1 were found between the two groups (P > 0.05). The intestinal function recovery time and postoperative hospital stay were shorter (P < 0.001 for both) in the EEN + PN group than in the TPN group. The hospitalization expenses of the EEN + PN group were lower than those of the TPN group (P < 0.001). However, the incidence of abdominal distension was higher than in the EEN + PN group than in the TPN group (P < 0.05). The incidence rates of biliary leakage and surgical site infection were not significantly different between the two groups (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSION

A postoperative EEN program could reduce the incidence of postoperative complications and improve the clinical outcomes and immune functions of cholangiocarcinoma patients with MOJ and is thus beneficial to patient recovery.

Effects of Immunonutrition on Chemoradiotherapy Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE

We conducted a systematic review to assess the effects of immunonutrition on chemoradiotherapy patients.

METHODS

We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, MEDLINE, CINAHL, and the Web of Science. We assessed the risk of bias using the Cochrane Risk of Bias tool. Our primary outcomes were the incidence of oral mucositis and diarrhea. The secondary outcomes were the incidence of esophagitis, grade ≥3 oral mucositis, grade ≥3 diarrhea, grade ≥3 esophagitis, and body weight loss.

RESULTS

A total of 1478 patients and 27 studies were included. There were no significant differences in the incidence of oral mucositis (relative risk [RR] = 0.91; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.79-1.05), diarrhea (RR = 0.89; 95% CI, 0.76-1.05), or esophagitis (RR = 0.55; 95% CI, 0.11-2.86) between the immunonutrition group and standard nutrition/placebo group. Nevertheless, immunonutrition significantly reduced the incidence of grade ≥3 oral mucositis (RR = 0.45; 95% CI, 0.22-0.92), grade ≥3 diarrhea (RR = 0.56; 95% CI, 0.35-0.88), grade ≥3 esophagitis (RR = 0.15; 95% CI, 0.04-0.54), and losing >5% body weight (RR = 0.34; 95% CI, 0.18-0.64).

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, immunonutrition failed to reduce the incidence rates of oral mucositis, diarrhea, or esophagitis but was conducive to significantly improving the severity of oral mucositis and diarrhea esophagitis and reducing the rate of body weight loss.

Therapeutic role of glutamine in management of radiation enteritis: a meta-analysis of 13 randomized controlled trials

Objective

To systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of glutamine in treating radiation enteritis in cancer patients treated with radiotherapy.

Methods

Electronic databases including Pubmed, Embase, the Cochrane library, and CNKI were systematically searched, until April 2016. Randomized controlled trials (RCT) of glutamine in the treatment of radiation enteritis in cancer patients were searched, and RevMan 5.3 software was used for Meta-analysis.

Results

A total of 13 RCTs were included, involving 979 patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that the total efficacy of glutamine was higher for patients with radiation enteritis compared with that in control group, however, there was no statistically significant difference(OR = 3.07, 95%CI: 0.79-11.96; P > 0.05). The combined ORs for all 5 grades(from grade 0 to grade 4) of radiation enteritis in patients receiving glutamine were 2.06, 1.35, 0.55, 0.62 and 0.59, respectively(P > 0.05 for all). Glutamine also failed to significantly improve the symptoms of radiation enteritis in terms of tenesmus, abdominal cramping and blood in bowel movement(P > 0.05).

Conclusions

Implementation of glutamine fails to improve the severity and symptoms in patients with radiation enteritis.

Comparison of the Effects of Glutamine, Curcumin, and Nesfatin-1 on the Gastric Serosal Surface Neomucosa Formation: An Experimental Rodent Model

Introduction. Short bowel syndrome can crop up if more than 50% of small intestine is resected or when less than 100 cm of small bowel is left. Glutamine is the main food source of enterocytes. Curcumin has protective effects on intestinal ischemia-reperfusion damage. Nesfatin-1 is a satiety molecule. It has protective effects on gastric mucosa. The primary purpose of this study is to compare effects of glutamine, curcumin, and nesfatin-1 on the gastric serosal surface neomucosa formation on rats. Materials and Methods. 24 Wistar-Hannover rats were randomly divided into 4 groups and treated with saline, glutamine, curcumin, and nesfatin-1 after ileogastric anastomosis. After 14 days all rats were euthanized, and blood was collected. En bloc resection of anastomotic part was performed for histopathological examination. Results. PDGF, TGF-β, and VEGF levels and neomucosa formation were higher in glutamine group (p = 0.003, p = 0.003, and p = 0.025). Glutamine promotes the intestinal neomucosa formation on the gastric serosal surface and augments growth factors essential for neomucosa formation on rats. Conclusion. Glutamine may be used in short bowel syndrome for increasing the absorption surface area. But that needs to be determined by adequately powered clinical trials.

Associations between body composition and nutritional assessments and biochemical markers in patients with chronic radiation enteritis: a case-control study

Background

Chronic radiation enteritis (CRE) is defined as loss of absorptive capacity after irradiation due to chronic inflammation and damage of intestinal mucosa, which may lead to varying degrees of malnutrition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential correlation between the nutritional status and systemic inflammation in patients with CRE.

Methods

Medical records of 92 patients with CRE and 184 age- and sex-matched controls in a single center from January 2010 to October 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. All enrolled subjects underwent nutritional status analysis, including three different nutritional indices: Nutritional Risk Screening-2002 (NRS-2002), Patient-generated Subjective Global Assessment (PG-SGA) and Controlling Nutritional Status (CONUT), bioelectrical impedance spectroscopy (BIS), and biochemical markers, within 24 h of admission.

Results

The results showed that NRS-2002, PG-SGA and CONUT were all positively correlated with neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio (NLR) (r = 0.304, 0.384 and 0.425, all p < 0.001) and C-reactive protein (CRP) (r = 0.357, 0.479 and 0.230, all p < 0.001), while negatively correlated with albumin (r = −0.612, −0.727 and −0.792, all p < 0.001) and total cholesterol (TC) (r = −0.485, −0.545 and −0.473, all p < 0.001) in patients with CRE, respectively. Body cell mass (BCM) has been deemed a key body composition parameter. It was positively correlated with albumin (r = 0.489, p < 0.001) and TC (r = 0.237, p < 0.001), while negatively correlated with NLR (r = −0.140, p = 0.02) and CRP (r = −0.215, p < 0.001). A multivariate linear regression analysis showed that values of intracellular water (β coefficient = 0.760, p < 0.001), extracellular water (β coefficient = 0.006, p = 0.011), protein (β coefficient = 0.235, p < 0.001) and CRP (β coefficient = 0.001, p = 0.009) were independent determinants of BCM.

Conclusion

This study revealed that BIS combined with nutritional assessments and biochemical markers were appropriate methods to assess the nutritional and inflammatory status in patients with CRE. Furthermore, the nutritional status was verified to be significantly correlated with systemic inflammation.