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To determine whether an

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Because weight loss is common in colonic Crohn's disease and is poorly correlated with disease activity, we analyzed food intake in 63 patients without malabsorption, 30 patients with weight loss (9.2 +/- 4.2 kg), and 33 patients without weight loss. Energy and protein intakes were lower in patients with weight loss than in those with stable weight (P < 0.01). In the former group, food restrictions were more numerous (P < 0.01) and visual analog scales showed less hunger, decreased appetite, and fewer sensations of pleasure related to eating, as compared with the other group (P < 0.01). Food intake reduction was also related to depressive mood and medical advice. However, there was no difference between groups in fecal energy wasting and resting energy expenditure. Weight loss in Crohn's disease may be due to a decrease in food intake rather than to an increase in energy cost of the disease. Thus, focus of attention on the diet is crucial to prevent malnutrition.

One hundred forty-four consecutive patients with Zollinger-EIlison syndrome (ZES) were reviewed at Bichat Hospital in 1985. The population included 117 patients with a demonstrated tumoral process, 10 with islet-cell hyperplasia, and 17 in whom no anatomical findings had yet been demonstrated. Patients in the 2 latter categories had clinical and biological features of ZES. Thirty-five patients had multiple endocrine neoplasia type I (MEN I). Hyperparathyroidism was the most frequently associated endocrine disorder and required neck surgery in 65 % of the patients. Pancreatic surgery failed in 61% of these individuals. Preoperative imaging techniques allowed a correct topographic diagnosis in only 1 out of every 2 patients. In 27 patients with negative preoperative imagery, pathological findings were revealed at surgery.Since 1974, major gastric antisecretory agents were used systematically in practically every patient which recommended either no surgical intervention (18 patients) or in most cases elective abdominal surgery. H2-biockers have, in this series, clearly induced a reduction of the classical surgery combining total gastrectomy with gastrinoma removal and fostered gastrinoma surgery alone. The best chance of getting an apparently complete cure is offered to patients with ectopic gastrinomas, particularly those with duodenal wall tumors, and to a lesser degree, removable pancreatic tumors.Malignancy is frequent: 36 patients had hepatic metastases, which adversely and considerably influenced the probability of survival in ZES patients. Chemotherapy was used in 14 individuals with encouraging results.

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Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) proteins were detected by immunohistochemistry in the duodenal and rectal mucosa of 30% of 127 AIDS patients studied. HIV‐infected cells were present in the lamina propria in 95% of the positive biopsies. They were immune cells, either isolated lymphocytes and macrophages (1‐4 per positive biopsy) or dendritic reticulum cells forming a network in the germinal centres of mucosal lymphoid follicles. HIV proteins were not found in the duodenal epithelium or in the superficial rectal epithelium. In two cases (5% of the positive biopsies), they were found in rectal glands: the HIV‐infected cells could be either epithelial cells or immune cells. This study confirms that the gut can be a target organ for HIV and that HIV is mainly carried by gut immune cells. The phenotypic study of lymphoid populations and macrophages in the gut mucosa of AIDS patients showed an inverse CD4/CD8 ratio in the lamina propria, compared with normal controls. This was independent of the presence of HIV proteins and is probably responsible for the appearance of opportunistic infections in the mucosa. An increase in activated macrophages was also noted in the mucosa of AIDS patients.