Appeal No. 93-4191
Application 07/831,627
“whose gut bacteria flora is modified, reduced, or eliminated
so as to impair its ability to provide short chain fatty acids
as an energy source.” According to the specification, this
physiological state can occur, but is not limited to, the
treatment of patients with antibiotics, chemotherapy, or
radiation. Specification, p. 2, lines 2-4. In this regard,
we direct attention to the teachings of Cotter ‘807 that
triglycerides of medium chain fatty acids (MCTs), which
include triglycerides of C fatty acids, be administered to
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patients with organ transplants, Crohn’s disease, etc. With
respect to Crohn’s disease, for example, The Merck Manual3
states that immunosuppressive drugs are effective to treat
some aspects of the disease, and that “[b]road spectrum
antibiotics that are active against enteric gram-negative and
anaerobic flora may be of benefit in reducing disease activity
in some patients but are most effective for suppurative
complications (e.g., abscess infected fistula).” Thus, it
3The Merck Manual, Sixteenth edition, pp. 832-34 (1992),
copy attached to this decision. We recognize that this
edition is not prior art against the present claims. The
examiner should perform the necessary investigation to
determine if similar knowledge is contained in the prior art.
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