Weight-loss drug blocks absorption of cholesterol

By Jim Dryden

University investigators have shown that a weight-loss drug, orlistat, can help prevent obese people from absorbing cholesterol from their food. They reported their findings in the journal Obesity Research.

"This is the first time that a medication for obesity has been shown to block the absorption of cholesterol," said Samuel Klein, M.D., the Danforth Professor of Medicine and Nutritional Science at the School of Medicine. "The results from our study suggest that orlistat therapy in obese patients may have beneficial effects on blood cholesterol that are independent of its effects on body weight."

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Gastric reflux diagnosed by new technique

By Jim Dryden

University gastroenterologists at Barnes-Jewish Hospital have become one of five groups in the country now using a novel means of testing for one of the most common digestive-tract problems in the United States: gastroesophageal reflux.

Known as the Bravo pH System, the test measures the amount of stomach acid reaching the esophagus over 24 hours in patients who may have reflux but have never been officially diagnosed with the problem.

Reflux occurs when the valve between the esophagus and stomach weakens, and gastric fluids flow back up into the esophagus and the throat. The condition can cause symptoms ranging from heartburn to chest pain that mimics heart disease. Some people become hoarse and have difficulty speaking, and chronic reflux is thought to increase the risk of esophageal cancer in some people.

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Clouse: Uses new reflux test

Nerve transplantation grant awarded

By Diane Duke Williams

Susan E. Mackinnon, M.D., the Shoenberg Professor and chief of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the School of Medicine, has received a $2.6 million grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to study the transplantation of donor nerves.

Mackinnon is considered an international authority on nerve regeneration and transplantation and on the use of limited immunosuppression following nerve transplantation. She was the first surgeon in the world to transplant peripheral nerves from a donor cadaver into a patient without the use of lifelong immunosuppressive drugs.

In the past, physicians had few alternatives to amputating the limbs of accident victims with extensive nerve damage to their arms or legs. They were convinced that a patient's body would reject a donor nerve without lifetime use of immunosuppressants, drugs that prevent rejection by suppressing the body's immune system. Unfortunately, these drugs also increase the risk of contracting potentially life-threatening illnesses or of permanently damaging the kidneys or liver. For these reasons, the risks of nerve transplantation were thought to be higher than the risks of amputation.

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