Alterations of the salivary and fecal microbiome in patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis.

BACKGROUND: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic, progressive liver disease known for its frequent concurrence with inflammatory bowel disease. PSC can progress to cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease, hepatobiliary cancer, and/or colorectal cancer. The etiopathogenesis of PSC remains poorly understood, and, as such, pharmacotherapy has yet to be definitively established. Little is known about the salivary microbiome in PSC and PSC-IBD. This study aimed to evaluate the oral microbiome of patients with PSC, with association to these patient's fecal microbial composition. METHODS: Saliva, fecal samples and Food Frequency Questionnaires were collected from 35 PSC patients with or without concomitant inflammatory bowel disease and 30 age- and BMI-matched healthy volunteers. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was performed using Illumina MiSeq platform. RESULTS: The salivary microbial signature of PSC was significantly altered as compared to healthy controls, independent of concomitant IBD, and was comprised of 19 significantly altered species, of which, eight species were consistently overrepresented in both fecal and saliva of patients with PSC, including Veillonella, Scardovia and Streptococcus. CONCLUSIONS: PSC is characterized by microbial dysbiosis in the gut and the salivary microbiome, independently from IBD. The PSC dysbiotic signature includes a reduction in autochthonous bacteria and an increased relative abundance of pathogenic bacteria, including an invasion of oral bacteria to the gut. PSC is a strong modulator of the microbial profile, in the gut and the oral microbiome. These results may lead to the development of biomarkers for screening and early diagnosis or the development of personalized medicine in PSC.

Hepatic Iron Overload following Liver Transplantation from a C282Y/H63D Compound Heterozygous Donor.

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is a genetic disease associated with progressive iron overload, eventually leading in some cases to damage of parenchymal organs, such as the liver, pancreas, and heart. Although the gene had been identified (HFE), HH pathogenesis remains to be fully elucidated. We report here, for the first time, a case of inadvertent transplantation of a liver from a donor with C282Y/H63D compound heterozygosity into a nonhemochromatotic 19-year-old Caucasian male recipient with primary sclerosing cholangitis. Progressive iron overload occurred over 1.5 years, as observed in liver biopsies and iron studies, after ruling out secondary causes of iron overload. This case strengthens the hypothesis that the liver, rather than the small intestine, plays a primary role in the maintenance of iron homeostasis.

Specific thermodynamical potentials on surfaces under relativistic conditions.

Expressions of specific thermodynamical potentials on surfaces (J/cm(2)) were obtained (for internal energy, enthalpy, free energy, and free enthalpy) under relativistic conditions.

New explanation of the high electron concentration at the surface of a carbon electrode.

It is pointed out that the high surface electron concentration in the carbon electrode gives rise to surface repulsion forces between ensembles of electrons and carbon atoms.

The interconnection between the surface tension and fluctuations within fine drops, bubbles, and their nuclei.

We consider the effect of surface tension upon fluctuations within the core of drops and bubbles. We also investigate the fluctuations of the substance density rho, volume V, and particle number N within the objects under study. It is demonstrated that cores of drops and bubbles are homogeneous when they contain several thousand nanoparticles (molecules, atoms). Fluctuations of particle number are very large within the nucleus core containing only a few nanoparticles. Therefore, the surface tension has a probabilistic character since there is no surface separating the nucleus substance from the surrounding medium, only a transitional zone whose radius fluctuates considerably in time. In this case, it is more correct to consider not the surface tension but a certain quantity that we named the quasi surface tension.

Relativistic state equations for the interface.

Relativistic state equations were obtained for various interfaces and cases. The relativistic state equation was done for perfect gases as well.

Computerised analysis of liver texture with correlation to needle biopsy.

AIM: To assist in tissue characterisation for the non-invasive diagnosis of diffuse fatty liver infiltration by providing quantitative indices of ultrasonic (US) backscatter with correlation to histology. METHODS AND MATERIALS: US images from patients referred to US-guided liver needle biopsy (LNB) for persistently elevated liver enzymes or serologically positive markers for viral hepatitis were recorded. The histopathological reports were reviewed. Steatosis, inflammation and degree of fibrosis were scored from 0 (normal) to 3 (severe). Patients with level 3 steatosis without inflammation or fibrosis were selected. US images from twenty-four healthy subjects served as control. Four textural indices were calculated for a selected ROI corresponding to the biopsy site. Sensitivity and specificity of discrimination between the two groups were evaluated. RESULTS: Fatty and healthy livers formed two distinct clusters. However, in all parametric subspaces there was a slight overlap between the groups with a few numbers of cases located across the dichotomy line.The sensitivity for all the indices was high (90 - 100 %). The specificity for each of the indices was moderate. The co-occurrence local homogeneity index yielded the highest specificity (88.5 %), with a sensitivity equivalent to two of the other indices (90 %). CONCLUSIONS: Highly accurate "ultrasonic biopsy" may be obtained for severe fatty liver. The described indices can serve as a tool in US computer- aided diagnosis (CAD) of diffuse parenchymal liver disease, in particular for severe steatosis of the liver.

On the rate of relativistic surface chemical reactions.

On the basis of special relativity and the classical theory of chemical reaction rates it is shown how the surface chemical reaction rates vary as v --> c, where v is the velocity of the object under study and c is the velocity of light.

On relativistic surface tension.

On the basis of special relativity and classical thermodynamics, the surface tension was shown to be a relativistic invariant.

Prevalence and characteristics of pain induced by percutaneous liver biopsy.

UNLABELLED: Percutaneous needle liver biopsy is an important procedure for the diagnosis and evaluation of liver disease and is frequently associated with pain. In this prospective study, we investigated the prevalence and characteristics of this pain syndrome. Fifty-four subjects, who underwent liver biopsy under ultrasound guidance, received 5 mg of diazepam orally 1 h before the procedure and local infiltration with 10 mL of 2% lidocaine just before needle insertion. Outcome measures included the visual analog scale for measuring pain intensity over 24 h, pain localization on a body scheme, and the Spielberger questionnaire for measuring anxiety levels. Forty-seven (84%) of the 54 respondents reported pain 30 min after the biopsy (visual analog scale, 4.2 +/- 0.5; mean +/- SEM), and 21 (39%) reported pain at the 24-h time point. Biopsy site pain was reported by 9 subjects, right shoulder pain by 14, and pain at both sites by 24. Higher pain intensities were reported by women and by subjects with higher anxiety levels. This study indicates that liver biopsy is a painful condition in most patients. Mild anxiolytic treatment plus local anesthetic infiltration seem to produce insufficient analgesia, thus indicating that a more profound analgesic treatment is required for better control of this pain. IMPLICATIONS: Percutaneous liver biopsy is a painful procedure in most patients. Mild anxiolytic treatment plus local anesthetic infiltration seem to produce insufficient analgesia. A more profound analgesic treatment is required for better control of this pain.

Some problems of interface chemical mechanics.

On the basis of quasiton theory an expression was obtained for the potential of interpartical attractive macroforces in a curved interface, being between liquid and gas, for a centrally symmetric case when thickness the DeltaL of the area under study is commensurable with the radius of curvature r(s) of a bubble or a drop. Expressions were also obtained for normal and tangential components of a stress tensor in the interface; using variational principles, it is shown that density profiles in the interface cannot be equilibrium, and there is a probability that the surface tension for the fine bubble or drop may be even negative.