Charité

About: Charité is a healthcare organization based out in Berlin, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Transplantation. The organization has 30624 authors who have published 64507 publications receiving 2437322 citations. The organization is also known as: Charite & Charité – University Medicine Berlin.

Early enteral supply of lactobacillus and fiber versus selective bowel decontamination: a controlled trial in liver transplant recipients.

Abstract: Background. Early enteral nutrition with solutions containing prebiotics (fiber) and probiotics (Lactobacillus) is suggested to reduce bacterial translocation and minimize the incidence of infections after liver transplantation. Methods. In a prospective, randomized placebo-controlled trial consisting of 95 patients, we compared the incidence of postoperative infections and other complications after liver transplantation among three different groups, all supplied with early enteral nutrition: (a) standard formula plus selective bowel decontamination (SBD), (b) fiber-containing formula plus living Lactobacillus plantarum 299, and (c) fiber-containing formula plus heat-killed L plantarum 299. Results. The groups were comparable regarding preoperative American Society of Anesthesiologists classification, Child-Pugh classification of cirrhosis, operative data, and degree of immunosuppression. The patients who received living lactobacilli plus fiber developed significantly fewer bacterial infections (1370) than the patients with SBD (48%). The incidence of infections was 34% in the group with inactivated lactobacilli and fiber. Cholangitis and pneumonia were the leading infections and enterococci the most commonly isolated bacteria. In the living Lactobacillus group, the mean duration of antibiotic therapy, the mean total hospital stay, and the stay on the intensive care unit were also shorter than in the groups with inactivated lactobacilli and fiber as well as with SBD. However, these differences did not reach statistical significance. Conclusions. Early enteral nutrition with fiber-containing solutions and living L plantarum 299 was well tolerated. It decreases markedly the rate of postoperative infections both in comparison with inactivated L plantarum 299 and significantly with SBD and a standard enteral nutrition formula. As it is a cheap and feasible alternative to SBD, further studies should evaluate whether this ecoimmunonutrition should be already started while patients are on the waiting list for transplantation. (Less)

Glycolytic strategy as a tradeoff between energy yield and protein cost

Abstract: Contrary to the textbook portrayal of glycolysis as a single pathway conserved across all domains of life, not all sugar-consuming organisms use the canonical Embden–Meyerhoff–Parnass (EMP) glycolytic pathway Prokaryotic glucose metabolism is particularly diverse, including several alternative glycolytic pathways, the most common of which is the Entner–Doudoroff (ED) pathway The prevalence of the ED pathway is puzzling as it produces only one ATP per glucose—half as much as the EMP pathway We argue that the diversity of prokaryotic glucose metabolism may reflect a tradeoff between a pathway’s energy (ATP) yield and the amount of enzymatic protein required to catalyze pathway flux We introduce methods for analyzing pathways in terms of thermodynamics and kinetics and show that the ED pathway is expected to require several-fold less enzymatic protein to achieve the same glucose conversion rate as the EMP pathway Through genomic analysis, we further show that prokaryotes use different glycolytic pathways depending on their energy supply Specifically, energy-deprived anaerobes overwhelmingly rely upon the higher ATP yield of the EMP pathway, whereas the ED pathway is common among facultative anaerobes and even more common among aerobes In addition to demonstrating how protein costs can explain the use of alternative metabolic strategies, this study illustrates a direct connection between an organism’s environment and the thermodynamic and biochemical properties of the metabolic pathways it employs