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Aim: Central liver resections are considered to be high‐risk procedures due to postoperative biliary complications. However, anatomical aspect‐related causes are underreported. Focusing upon right anterior sectionectomy (H58) and central bisectionectomy (H458), we assessed risk factors for postoperative biliary complications. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent H58 or H458 in our hospital between April 2008 and June 2023 (n = 58). We conducted univariate and multivariate analysis of risk factors of postoperative biliary complications among perioperative factors and anatomical factors including the branching type of the right posterior hepatic duct (RPHD) and the length of the right hepatic duct (RHD). Results: Twenty‐six patients (44.8%) had postoperative biliary complications. Potent risk factors in univariate analysis were the tumor proximity to the right anterior Glissonean branch and longer RHD (both P < 0.01). In multivariate analysis, longer RHD was the only independent risk factor and its hazard (95% confidence interval [CI] was 1.19 (1.05–1.35). Receiver operating characteristics curve (ROC) analysis and the area under the ROC showed that 10 mm was the optimal cutoff value with high discriminatory power (0.72). Considering intraoperative procedures of the right anterior segment Glissonean branch dissection, mass ligation at the second‐order branch had marginal risk, especially in patients with RHD >10 mm; its hazard (95% CI) was 5.83 (0.95–35.7). Conclusion: Anatomical factors of RPHD and RHD influenced postoperative biliary complications in this cohort. The supraportal with RHD type was most common anatomy but considered to be hazardous if the RHD was >10 mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate factors to predict positive peritoneal cytology, whcih would determine the indication for staging laparoscopy in pancreatic cancer. Methods: A total of 430 patients that underwent pancreatectomy for resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Among 430 patients, 36 had positive cytology (8.4%). Median survival time in negative cytology was 24.7 months, compared with 15.1 months in positive cytology (p =.004). Factors to predict positive cytology in pancreatic cancer according to multivariate analysis were tumor location (body, tail; OR 2.66; 95% CI: 1.21–5.85; p =.015), tumor size ≥30 mm (OR 2.95; 95% CI: 1.35–6.47; p =.007) and radiographic other‐organ invasion (HR 2.79; 95% CI: 1.01–7.67; p =.047). Patients were scored 0 to 3 corresponding with these factors. Rates of positive cytology increases in each score were: score 0: 2.9%, score 1: 6.7%, score 2: 18.3%, score 3: 36.8%. Conclusions: Tumor location (body or tail), tumor size ≥30 mm, and radiographic other‐organ invasions were risk factors for positive cytology in pancreatic cancer. This scoring system might be a useful indicator to perform staging laparoscopy to diagnose positive cytology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probiotics are widely used in food for their health benefits to the host. Inactivated probiotics also reportedly improve the intestinal environment and immune regulation. Our previous studies showed that heat‐killed Lacticaseibacillus paracasei MCC1849 (hk‐MCC1849) effectively induced IL‐12 production in mouse spleen cells and significantly reduced cold symptoms in clinical trial subjects. To further elucidate the mechanism of host immune regulation by hk‐MCC1849, human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were cocultured with hk‐MCC1849. The Toll‐like receptor 9 ligands CpG‐ODN 2216 and hk‐MCC1849 and the heat‐killed Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus ATCC53103 were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. The results showed that, compared with the control, hk‐MCC1849 significantly increased the expression of the plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) marker CD86 (p <.0001) and the pDC marker HLA‐DR (p <.001) in PBMCs. The expression levels of the IL‐12p40, IFNα, IFNα1, IFNγ, and ISG15 genes were significantly increased after coculture with hk‐MCC1849 (p <.05, p <.05, p <.05, p <.05, and p <.05, respectively, vs. control). Furthermore, to confirm whether hk‐MCC1849 directly interacted with pDCs, DCs were enriched with PBMCs following 24 h of coculture with hk‐MCC1849. Phagocytosis of fluorescently labeled hk‐MCC1849 by pDCs was observed, and there were significant increases in CD86 (p <.05) and HLA‐DR (p <.0001) expression in pDCs. These results suggest that hk‐MCC1849 exerts a potential immunomodulatory effect on the host through the activation of peripheral pDCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The interaction between the gut microbiota and the host can influence the host's immune system. Bifidobacterium, a commensal genus of gut bacteria, seems to have positive effects on host health. Our previous clinical research showed that B. longum subsp. longum BB536 enhanced innate and adaptive immune responses in elderly individuals with a lower grade of immunity, but the immunomodulatory mechanism is still unclear. In this study, dendritic cell (DC) surface markers in peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from healthy individuals were evaluated through coculture with heat-killed BB536. DC markers, innate immune activity and cytokine levels in plasma were also evaluated by a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study (UMIN000045564) with 4 weeks of continuous live BB536 intake. BB536 significantly increased the expression of CD86 and HLA-DR on plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) in vitro. Compared to placebo (n = 48), a significant increase in the expression of CD86 on peripheral pDCs was detected at week 4 of live BB536 intake (n = 49; 1 × 1010 CFU/day). Furthermore, coculture with hk-BB536 significantly increased the IFNγ expression level and demonstrated trends of increased IFNα1 and IFNβ expression. These findings suggest that consumption of BB536 has potential immunomodulatory effects on healthy individuals through the activation of peripheral pDCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate factors to predict positive peritoneal cytology, whcih would determine the indication for staging laparoscopy in pancreatic cancer., Methods: A total of 430 patients that underwent pancreatectomy for resectable and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer were retrospectively reviewed., Results: Among 430 patients, 36 had positive cytology (8.4%). Median survival time in negative cytology was 24.7 months, compared with 15.1 months in positive cytology (p = .004). Factors to predict positive cytology in pancreatic cancer according to multivariate analysis were tumor location (body, tail; OR 2.66; 95% CI: 1.21-5.85; p = .015), tumor size ≥30 mm (OR 2.95; 95% CI: 1.35-6.47; p = .007) and radiographic other-organ invasion (HR 2.79; 95% CI: 1.01-7.67; p = .047). Patients were scored 0 to 3 corresponding with these factors. Rates of positive cytology increases in each score were: score 0: 2.9%, score 1: 6.7%, score 2: 18.3%, score 3: 36.8%., Conclusions: Tumor location (body or tail), tumor size ≥30 mm, and radiographic other-organ invasions were risk factors for positive cytology in pancreatic cancer. This scoring system might be a useful indicator to perform staging laparoscopy to diagnose positive cytology., (© 2024 Japanese Society of Hepato‐Biliary‐Pancreatic Surgery.)

Probiotics are widely used in food for their health benefits to the host. Inactivated probiotics also reportedly improve the intestinal environment and immune regulation. Our previous studies showed that heat-killed Lacticaseibacillus paracasei MCC1849 (hk-MCC1849) effectively induced IL-12 production in mouse spleen cells and significantly reduced cold symptoms in clinical trial subjects. To further elucidate the mechanism of host immune regulation by hk-MCC1849, human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were cocultured with hk-MCC1849. The Toll-like receptor 9 ligands CpG-ODN 2216 and hk-MCC1849 and the heat-killed Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus ATCC53103 were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. The results showed that, compared with the control, hk-MCC1849 significantly increased the expression of the plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC) marker CD86 ( p  < .0001) and the pDC marker HLA-DR ( p  < .001) in PBMCs. The expression levels of the IL-12p40 , IFNα , IFNα1 , IFNγ , and ISG15 genes were significantly increased after coculture with hk-MCC1849 ( p  < .05, p  < .05, p  < .05, p  < .05, and p  < .05, respectively, vs. control). Furthermore, to confirm whether hk-MCC1849 directly interacted with pDCs, DCs were enriched with PBMCs following 24 h of coculture with hk-MCC1849. Phagocytosis of fluorescently labeled hk-MCC1849 by pDCs was observed, and there were significant increases in CD86 ( p  < .05) and HLA-DR ( p  < .0001) expression in pDCs. These results suggest that hk-MCC1849 exerts a potential immunomodulatory effect on the host through the activation of peripheral pDCs., Competing Interests: We declare no conflict of interest associated with this manuscript., (© 2024 The Authors. Food Science & Nutrition published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)