Duodenal administered seal oil for patients with subjective food hypersensitivity: an explorative open pilot study

Short-term duodenal administration of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)-rich seal oil may improve gastrointestinal complaints in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity, as well as joint pain in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of the present explorative pilot study was to investigate whether 10-day open treatment with seal oil, 10 mL self-administrated via a nasoduodenal tube 3 times daily, could also benefit nongastrointestinal complaints and quality of life (QoL) in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity. Twenty-six patients with subjective food hypersensitivity, of whom 25 had irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), were included in the present study. Before and after treatment and 1 month posttreatment, patients filled in the Ulcer Esophagitis Subjective Symptoms Scale (UESS) and the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) for gastrointestinal symptoms and subjective health complaints (SHC) inventory for nongastrointestinal symptoms in addition to short form of the Nepean dyspepsia index (SF-NDI) for evaluation of QoL. Compared with baseline, gastrointestinal, as well as nongastrointestinal, complaints and QoL improved significantly, both at end of treatment and 1 month posttreatment. The consistent improvements following seal oil administration warrant further placebo-controlled trials for confirmation of effect

Short-term duodenal seal oil administration normalised n-6 to n-3 fatty acid ratio in rectal mucosa and ameliorated bodily pain in patients with inflammatory bowel disease

BACKGROUND: A high dietary intake of n-6 compared to n-3 fatty acids (FAs) may promote the production of pro-inflammatory eicosanoids and cytokines. In two recent studies, short-term (10-day) duodenal administration of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid rich seal oil ameliorated joint pain in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Using unpublished data from these two studies we here investigated whether normalisation of the n-6 to n-3 FA ratio in blood and tissues by seal oil administration was associated with improved health related quality of life (HRQOL) as assessed by the generic short-form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. RESULTS: In the first pilot study, baseline n-6 to n-3 FA ratio in rectal mucosal biopsies from 10 patients with IBD (9 of those had joint pain) was significantly increased compared with that in 10 control patients without IBD or joint pain. Following seal oil administration, the n-6 to n-3 FA ratio of the IBD-patients was significantly lowered to the level seen in untreated controls. In the subsequent, randomized controlled study (n = 19), seal oil administration reduced the n-6 to n-3 FA ratio in blood similarly and also the SF-36 assessed bodily pain, while n-6 FA rich soy oil administration had no such effect. CONCLUSION: In these two separate studies, short-term duodenal administration of seal oil normalised the n-6 to n-3 FA ratio in rectal mucosa and improved the bodily pain dimension of HRQOL of patients with IBD-related joint pain. The possibility of a causal relationship between n-6 to n-3 FA ratio in rectal mucosa and bodily pain in IBD-patients warrants further investigations

Ábyrgð og hlutverk endurskoðenda : er ábyrgð endurskoðenda við áritun ársreikninga nógu mikil?

Markmið verkefnisins var að skoða hvort ábyrgð endurskoðenda við áritun ársreikninga er nógu mikil og hvernig reynt hefur á ábyrgð endurskoðenda vegna starfa sinna fyrir dómstólum. Tilgangurinn var einnig að kanna væntingabil almennings á hlutverki og ábyrgð endurskoðenda og hvernig refsingu almenningur telur að endurskoðendur hljóti ef dæmt er um vanrækslu á endurskoðunarstörfum. Jafnframt kannaði höfundur hvort endurskoðendur álíti sig bera nógu mikla ábyrgð við endurskoðun reikningsskila fyrirtækja, ásamt því hvert álit þeirra er á ábyrgð þeirra vegna vanrækslu við endurskoðunarstörf fyrir dómstólum. Rannsakandi framkvæmdi tvær megindlegar rannsóknir til að nálgast viðfangsefnið. Annars vegar var um að ræða spurningakönnun sem almenningur svaraði á samfélagsmiðlum og hins vegar spurningakönnun sem endurskoðendur svöruðu rafrænt og fengu senda í tölvupósti. Í ritgerðinni var jafnframt fjallað um hvað felst í endurskoðun, tegundir áritana sem endurskoðendur veita ársreikningi félaga og þá ábyrgð sem endurskoðendur bera. Núgildandi lög og reglur voru skoðaðar, sem og endurskoðunarstaðla sem gilda á Íslandi. Nýleg og eldri dómsmál voru skoðuð sem tengjast endurskoðendum á Íslandi, þar sem þeir voru sakaðir um brot við endurskoðunarstörf sín. Niðurstöður rannsóknarinnar voru að endurskoðendur bera mikla ábyrgð við áritun ársreikninga. Þátttakendur töldu endurskoðendur bera mikla ábyrgð við endurskoðun ársreikninga. Væntingbil almennings á hlutverki endurskoðenda var hins vegar töluvert og er augljóst að almenningur er ekki nógu vel upplýstur um það hvert hlutverk endurskoðenda er. Niðurstöður leiddu einnig í ljós að almenningur taldi endurskoðendur oftast hljóta áminningu í starfi þegar reynt hefur á ábyrgð endurskoðenda fyrir dómstólum. Endurskoðendur voru flestir hlutlausir hvað varðar ábyrgð endurskoðenda vegna vanrækslu starfa sinna fyrir dómstólum. Sökum hárra krafna sem gerðar eru um sönnunarbyrgði í efnahagsbrotum fyrir dómstólum er minna um sakfellingar endurskoðenda

Effects of Seal Oil on Meal-Induced Symptoms and Gastric Accommodation in Patients with Subjective Food Hypersensitivity: A Pilot Study

Background: Food hypersensitivity is a prevalent condition with poorly characterized underlying mechanisms. In the present pilot study we investigated effects of seal oil and soy oil on meal-induced symptoms and gastric accommodation in patients with subjective food hypersensitivity (FH). Single dose experiment: On three consecutive days, 10 mL of seal oil, soy oil, or saline were randomly administered into the duodenum of 10 patients with subjective FH and 10 healthy volunteers through a nasoduodenal feeding tube 10–20 minutes before the ingestion of a test meal. Short-term treatment study: 24 patients with subjective FH were randomly allocated to 10 days’ treatment with either 10 mL of seal or soy oil, self-administrated through an indwelling nasoduodenal feeding tube, 3 times daily. In both experiments meal-induced abdominal symptoms and gastric accommodation were measured by visual analogue scales and external ultrasound respectively. Results: Symptoms and gastric accommodation were not significantly influenced by single doses of seal or soy oil. When given daily for 10 days, seal oil, but not soy oil, reduced total symptom scores significantly (P = 0.03). The symptomatic improvement was not associated with improvements in gastric accommodation. Conclusion: Daily administration of seal oil may benefit patients with subjective FH. The beneficial effect of seal oil in patients with subjective FH can not be ascribed to improved gastric accommodation

Reduced Joint Pain after Short-term Duodenal Administration of Seal Oil in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Comparison with Soy Oil

Background: Rheumatic joint pain is a common extraintestinal complication of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Because the high ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids (FAs) of the Western diet might promote rheumatic disorders, we wanted to compare the effects of short-term duodenal administration of n-3 rich seal oil and n-6 rich soy oil, on IBD-related joint pain. Methods: Nineteen patients with IBD-related joint pain were included, 9 had Crohn’s disease and 10 had ulcerative colitis. Ten ml of seal oil (n = 10) or soy oil (n = 9) was self-administered through a nasoduodenal feeding tube 3 times daily for 10 days. Results: Compared with soy oil treatment, seal oil significantly reduced the duration of morning stiffness (P = 0.024), number of tender joints (P = 0.035), intensity of pain (P = 0.025) and the doctor’s scoring of rheumatic disease activity (P = 0.025) at end of the 10 days’ treatment period. Analysing the effects as area under the curve (area between the curve and baseline, zero) for the entire period from start of treatment until 6 months’ post treatment, suggested a long-lasting beneficial effect on joint pain of seal oil administration, while soy oil tended (not significantly) to aggravate the condition. Consistently, the serum ratios of n-6 to n-3 FAs (P << 0.01) and arachidonic acid to eicosapentaenoic acid (P << 0.01) were reduced after treatment with seal oil. Conclusion: The results suggest distinctive differential prolonged effects on IBD-related joint pain of short-term duodenal administration of n-3 rich seal oil (significant improvement) and n-6 rich soy oil (tendency to exacerbation)