Immune Function in Patients With Obstructive Jaundice

Quorum Sensing Signal Molecules (QSSMs) and Immune Dysfunction in Patients Undergoing Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for Obstructive Jaundice

Patients with obstructive jaundice (OJ) often require surgical, endoscopic or radiological interventions to facilitate biliary drainage and relieve jaundice. However it is known that patients with OJ have increased surgical risks than non-jaundiced patients undergoing the same procedures. Surgery for severe OJ is associated with a significant post-operative mortality (10-15%) and morbidity (30-65%). The commonest complications are related to sepsis but the pathophysiological mechanisms behind this susceptibility to bacterial infection are not clear. Recent work has shown a pivotal role of bile in the maintenance of enterocyte tight junctions and the expression of tight junction-associated proteins which could account for the translocation of enteric bacteria and bacterial products to mesenteric lymph node complexes, the portal circulation and subsequently the liver. Some of these bacterial products, such as endotoxin and quorum sensing signalling molecules (QSSMs), have immunomodulatory properties which may dampen normal immune responses to infection resulting in life-threatening organ dysfunction. Bacterial endotoxin and quorum sensing signalling molecules (QSSMs) represent good candidates for the mediators of this immune suppression and although there is a compelling case for their involvement in the pathogenesis of sepsis, evidence to support their involvement in the aetiology of infection in OJ is currently lacking.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Obstructive Jaundice; Immune Tolerance; Disease as Reason for ERCP; Immune Dysfunction

Detailed Description

Obstructive jaundice (OJ) is a condition where a blockage of flow of bile from the liver leads to the accumulation of bile products in the blood resulting in yellowing and itching of the skin. Common causes of OJ include gallstones and also tumours of the pancreas or bile duct. Relieving this type of jaundice and treating the underlying cause can include endoscopic or surgical procedures. It is known however, that patients with OJ have increased surgical risks than non-jaundiced patients who undergo the same operations. Studies have shown that surgery for severe OJ is associated with a postoperative mortality in the region of 10-15% and morbidity rates of 30-65%. Complications related to bacterial infection are common and patients developing severe infections may require treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics with care in intensive or high dependency units.

Although antibiotics have proved invaluable in treating postoperative infections they carry the potential for adverse effects. Antibiotics can suppress normal gut bacteria and allow disease causing bacteria to proliferate, such as Clostridium difficile. This usually manifests as mild-to-moderate diarrhoea but can occasionally cause life-threatening bowel inflammation. The widespread use of antibiotics is also central to the development of bacterial strains with antibiotic resistance. This clinical problem also has economic, political and environmental implications for the National Health Service. Adherence to measures of infection control, education and antibiotic policy can minimise antibiotic resistance; however the limits surrounding such approaches have led to a demand for novel or alternative strategies.

It has recently been discovered that bacteria are able to communicate by producing specialised molecules known as quorum sensing signalling molecules (QSSMs). An accumulation of QSSMs in their surrounding environment allow for the bacteria to quantify the size of colonies. At specific colony sizes the concentration of QSSMs reaches a critical threshold leading to the activation of genes that cause an infection. Disruption of quorum sensing has been shown to reduce the severity of infection in animal studies and this has led to the development of inhibitors of quorum sensing as a possible strategy in antibacterial therapy.

Previous work conducted at the University of Nottingham has demonstrated that QSSMs also influence the number and function of a specific type of immune cell known as 'antigen presenting cells'. These cells are pivotal in allowing the immune system to recognise components of bacteria as foreign and thereby mount the appropriate response. It was found that large numbers of these types of cells underwent programmed cell death (cell suicide) in the presence of QSSMs compared to when QSSMs were absent. This mirrors the situation in blood sampled from patients with severe infections where there is a greater proportion of cell deaths among antigen presenting cells than other types of immune cell.

It is likely that the susceptibility to infectious complications in patients with obstructive jaundice is due to the interplay of various factors. The absence of intestinal bile has implications for the integrity of the bowel wall as a barrier, changes in gut microflora flora and translocation of both bacteria and their products. In addition, it is clear that a form of immune dysfunction occurs, which dampens the normal response following exposure to bacterial products. This immune dysfunction may avert powerful inflammatory cascades resulting in life-threatening multi organ dysfunction but at the expense of conditions that favour bacterial survival. QSSMs represent good candidates for the mediators of this immune dysfunction and although there is a compelling case for their involvement in the pathogenesis of sepsis, definitive evidence to support their role in infective processes in OJ is currently lacking.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 50

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Nottinghamshire
    • Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, NG7 2UH
      • Recruiting
      • Queen's Medical Centre
      • Contact: Abeed H Chowdhury, MBChB MRCS; Phone Number: 441158231144; Email: abeed.chowdhury@nottingham.ac.uk
      • Principal Investigator: Abeed H Chowdhury, MBChB MRCS
      • Sub-Investigator: Guruprasad Aithal, MD MRCP
      • Sub-Investigator: Dileep N Lobo, FRCS FACS

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 75 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients referred to tertiary hepatopancreaticobiliary centre for investigation of obstructive jaundice and Healthy volunteers

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Obstructive jaundice
• Willing to participate and able to give informed consent
• Alcohol abstinence during study

Exclusion Criteria:

• Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II Score ≥8
• Severe neutropaenia
• Smokers/substance abuse
• Diabetes Mellitus
• Oral/IV Steroids
• On regular antibiotics
• Patients with active cholangitis
• Patients who have a history liver transplantation or chronic liver disease

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Healthy volunteers
Patients with obstructive jaundice

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in monocyte cytokine responses to endotoxin stimulation	Evaluation of monocyte cytokine responses to endotoxin stimulation at specified time points	Baseline (pre ERCP) and post ERCP days 1, 7, 14 and 30

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in concentration of systemic quorum sensing signaling molecules	Evaluation of the presence of quorum sensing signalling molecules in the systemic circulation at specified time points	Baseline (pre ERCP) and post ERCP days 1, 7, 14 and 30

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Nottingham
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Abeed H Chowdhury, MBChB MRCS, University of Nottingham

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Blamey SL, Fearon KC, Gilmour WH, Osborne DH, Carter DC. Prediction of risk in biliary surgery. Br J Surg. 1983 Sep;70(9):535-8. doi: 10.1002/bjs.1800700910.
• Han XC, Li JL, Han G. Surgical mortality in patients with malignant obstructive jaundice: a multivariate discriminant analysis. Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int. 2003 Aug;2(3):435-40.
• Povoski SP, Karpeh MS Jr, Conlon KC, Blumgart LH, Brennan MF. Association of preoperative biliary drainage with postoperative outcome following pancreaticoduodenectomy. Ann Surg. 1999 Aug;230(2):131-42. doi: 10.1097/00000658-199908000-00001.
• Wang Q, Gurusamy KS, Lin H, Xie X, Wang C. Preoperative biliary drainage for obstructive jaundice. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2008 Jul 16;(3):CD005444. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD005444.pub2.
• Diggle SP, Crusz SA, Camara M. Quorum sensing. Curr Biol. 2007 Nov 6;17(21):R907-10. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.08.045. No abstract available.
• Martin CA, Hoven AD, Cook AM. Therapeutic frontiers: preventing and treating infectious diseases by inhibiting bacterial quorum sensing. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2008 Aug;27(8):635-42. doi: 10.1007/s10096-008-0489-3. Epub 2008 Mar 6.
• Williams P. Bacillus subtilis: a shocking message from a probiotic. Cell Host Microbe. 2007 Jun 14;1(4):248-9. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2007.05.010.
• Boontham P, Robins A, Chandran P, Pritchard D, Camara M, Williams P, Chuthapisith S, McKechnie A, Rowlands BJ, Eremin O. Significant immunomodulatory effects of Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum-sensing signal molecules: possible link in human sepsis. Clin Sci (Lond). 2008 Dec;115(11):343-51. doi: 10.1042/CS20080018.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: May 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): December 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Anticipated): December 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: May 31, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 6, 2011
• First Posted (Estimate): June 7, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): October 5, 2012
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 4, 2012
• Last Verified: October 1, 2012

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: ERCP; Quorum sensing; Obstructive jaundice; Immune dysfunction; Endotoxin tolerance
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Skin Manifestations; Hyperbilirubinemia; Immune System Diseases; Jaundice; Jaundice, Obstructive
• Other Study ID Numbers: 10040 (Other Identifier: Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium); 10/H0408/53 (Other Identifier: Nottingham Research Ethics Committee 2)