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Ménétriers disease is a rare mucosal hyperproliferative disorder of the stomach, however, the evidence for long-term care remains limited, especially if a gastrectomy is declined. We present a case of 25-year-old Caucasian woman with a history of end-stage renal failure (ESRF) who experienced worsening symptoms of abdominal pain, haematemesis and abdominal swelling, with her serum albumin dropping to 20 g/L and haemoglobin to 4.9 g/dL. Endoscopy showed markedly hyperplastic gastric folds consistent with Ménétriers disease, confirmed histologically by gland dilation and gastric pit expansion. Intravenous cetuximab was prescribed for 12 months, with clinical, biochemical and endoscopic improvement. However, 5 weeks post cetuximab completion, there was relapse to 50% gastric coverage with Ménétriers. A discussion around gastrectomy was rejected by the patient. This is the first report of relapsing Ménétriers disease in a female patient with ESRF; we suggest that long-term cetuximab should be considered if a gastrectomy is declined.

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OBJECTIVE: Abnormalities in circulating ghrelin have been reported in chronic liver disease. This study assessed the response of anabolic peptides ghrelin, growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and healthy subjects to oral glucose. In a previous study, using oral glucose we identified loss of ghrelin regulation in nonalcoholic steato-hepatitis. PATIENTS/DESIGN/MEASUREMENTS: Fourteen patients with alcoholic cirrhosis were compared with 11 healthy subjects. Patients with cirrhosis were studied when adjudged clinically stable in hospital. After an overnight fast, they ingested 100-g glucose dissolved in 250 ml of water. Blood was sampled before and every 20 minutes after ingestion for 120 minutes. Plasma acylated and des-acyl ghrelin, GH, IGF-1 and insulin were assayed by ELISA. RESULTS: Expressed as median (95% CI): 120-minutes integrated acylated ghrelin was 26 (19-66) in controls compared to 170 (129-252) pg/ml per hour in patients with cirrhosis; P < 0.001. Both groups exhibited a normal postglucose plasma total ghrelin profile. Among patients with cirrhosis (compared to controls), growth hormone was increased 15-fold and IGF-1 decreased 4-fold. Acylated ghrelin correlated with GH (Spearman r = 0.69, P = 0.0015) in control subjects but not in patients with cirrhosis. CONCLUSIONS: Acylated ghrelin is markedly increased in alcoholic cirrhosis, with apparent preservation of normal postprandial mechanisms of gastric ghrelin secretion. GH is also increased; however, its correlation with acylated ghrelin (confirmed in healthy subjects) is absent in patients with cirrhosis. Despite increased ghrelin and GH, patients with alcoholic cirrhosis remain anorexic and catabolic suggesting potential tissue resistance to the actions of these anabolic peptides.

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Liver transplantation remains an effective treatment for those with end-stage disease and with intractable liver-related symptoms. The shortage of organs for transplantation has resulted in the need for rationing. A variety of approaches to selection and allocation have been developed and vary from country to country. The shortage of donors has meant that new approaches have to be adopted to make maximal use of the available organs; these include splitting grafts, use of extended criteria livers, livers from non-heart-beating donors and from living donors. Post transplantation, most patients will need life-long immunosuppression, although a small proportion can have immunosuppression successfully withdrawn. Newer immunosuppressive drugs and different strategies may allow a more targeted approach with a reduction in side-effects and so improve the patient and graft survival. For autoimmune diseases, transplantation is associated with significant improvement in the quality and length of life. Disease may recur after transplantation and may affect patient and graft survival.

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Daclizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody which binds to the IL-2 receptor on activated lymphocytes and blocks the production of IL-2. Its use is well established in solid organ transplantation as induction therapy, especially in high-risk patients where reduction or delayed dose of standard immunosuppression would be beneficial. It has been used effectively in both 2-dose and 5-dose regimens in conjunction with other standard immunosuppressive agents. The incidence of acute rejection appears reduced without increasing the rates of infection or post-transplant lympho-proliferative disorders. The agent is generally well tolerated in adults and children and there is no need for additional monitoring. Daclizumab has also been used outside the transplant arena in a variety of immune-mediated diseases with limited success.

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BACKGROUND: Ghrelin is an orexigenic gut peptide produced predominantly by the stomach. Gastric mucosal ghrelin production could be compromised by an infiltrating adenocarcinoma. AIMS: To assess the expression of ghrelin mRNA and peptide in oesophagogastric adenocarcinomas and adjacent non-neoplastic mucosa. METHODS: 10 gastric and 22 oesophageal adenocarcinoma archival samples were randomly selected from a database. The presence of ghrelin-positive cells was assessed in cancer and corresponding non-neoplastic mucosa by immunohistochemistry. Quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for ghrelin mRNA was also performed on 24 gastric and 8 oesophageal adenocarcinoma specimens and adjacent non-neoplastic mucosa. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry and reverse transcriptase PCR confirm a negligible expression of ghrelin in adenocarcinoma specimens. By contrast, non-neoplastic gastric mucosa was rich in ghrelin-positive cells and ghrelin mRNA. The number (median and range) of ghrelin-positive cells per 2 mm section of non-neoplastic mucosa was 73 (45-215) in the corpus; this was significantly higher than in cardia mucosa (9 (0-64), p<0.001) and antral mucosa (5 (0-14), p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Gastric and oesophageal adenocarcinomas have no ghrelin-producing cells. The highest level of ghrelin expression was noted in the non-neoplastic mucosa of the gastric corpus. Disruption of the gastric ghrelin-producing mechanism may occur during oesophagogastric malignancy.

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