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Dietary factors, affect Akkermansia muciniphila (AM) abundance in the colon, have attracted attention, driven by the inverse correlation between AM abundance and metabolic disorders. We prepared skate-skin mucin (SM), porcine stomach mucin (PM), and rat gastrointestinal mucin (RM). SM contained more sulfated sugars and threonine than PM or RM. Rats were fed a control diet or diets including SM, PM, or RM (15 g/kg), or SM (12 g/kg) from 5 different threonine contents for 14 d. Cecal total bacteria and AM were less and more numerous, respectively, in SM-fed rats than the others, but SM did not affect microbial species richness. Low-threonine SM did not induce AM proliferation. The in vitro fermentation with human feces showed that the rate of AM increase was greater with SM than PM. Collectively, heavy SM sulfation facilitates a priority supply of SM-derived amino sugars and threonine that promotes AM proliferation in rats and human feces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to provide a basis for appropriate home care for cancer patients by clarifying the usefulness of home visits in a collaboration program between visiting and certified hospital nurses. This was a mixed-methods study. (1) A quantitative study was conducted, involving all patients referred to the palliative care team, and (2) a questionnaire survey was conducted, involving 40 visiting nurses. In the study (1), the subjects were all patients who were referred to a palliative care team before (October 2010 to March 2012; control group) and after (April 2012 to September 2013; collaborative home visit group) the initiation of collaborative home visits. After the patients underwent observation through December 2013, their data from charts, as of January 2014, were obtained. The proportion of home deaths increased by 3.8%, from 58.3% (n = 14) to 62.1% (n = 18), after the initiation of collaborative home visits; this increase was not significant (P = .78). However, in the survey (2), visiting nurses' sense of difficulty in providing palliative home care was significantly reduced in comparison between those with and without experience of such visits (P= .013).Visiting nurses' reduced sense of difficulty in providing palliative home care after collaboration during home visits suggests the usefulness of such collaboration for them. This program may contribute to increases in the proportion of home deaths by increasing the numbers of nurses newly engaged in palliative home care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which investigated the effects of elemental diet (ED) on goblet cells in the rat duodenum and jejunum the small intestine of a rat, and how gastric osmolality affects the acidic mucin pattern. Topics discussed include the composition of the ED, histochemical analysis and measurement of gastric osmolality, the increase of sulfomucin goblet cells with ED ingestion, and the increase of sialomucin goblet cells after ingestion of a high glucose diet (GD).

The article examines the result of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) on immunoglobulin A (IgA) and mucin secretion in the rat cecum following its prolonged ingestion periods. It the beneficial effects of FOS and galacto-oligosaccharides prebiotics on gut health in animals and humans through the production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). It also emphasizes the IgA promotes immune exclusion and serves as the key component of the mucus and physical functions.

The article presents a study which evaluates ameliorating effects of short-chain inulin-like fructans (SIF) with differing degrees of polymerization (DP) on the trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis in rats. It states that the study monitored fecal myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and IgA concentration. It concludes that DP4 significantly reduced colonic inflammation accompanied with higher concentrations of short-chain fatty acids.

The article focuses on a study that was conducted to examine the non-effect of an antibiotic treatment on dietary flber-induced goblet cell proliferation in the rat ileum. It states that under the experiment, rats were fed on dietary fiber where rats consuming it experienced increased number of goblet cells in the ileum. It further reveals that the fiber effect on goblet cell was found to be irrespective by the treatment of antibiotics such as endotoxin.