Biomedical subjects

B Glasbrenner

Publications and source records attributed to B Glasbrenner.

62 records · Page 4Linked to original sources

PubMed1988

Role of nutrients in pancreatic adaptation with implication of cholecystokinin release.

The exocrine pancreatic function is adapted to the composition of nutritional substrates. Dietary constituents activate specific neural mechanisms and the release of gut peptides operating on pancreatic enzyme synthesis and secretion. Cholecystokinin (CCK) released by dietary protein and by protease inhibition stimulates protease synthesis in the pancreas and promotes pancreatic growth. The interplay between changes in dietary protein content and increased plasma CCK released by a synthetic protease inhibitor (Foy 305) confirm the essential role of the nutritional support of protein to enable the display of pancreatic adaptation.

Animals↗

PubMed1987

Pancreatic trophism after truncal vagotomy in rats.

Thirty-two rats had truncal vagotomy either with or without pyloroplasty. After 2 or 4 weeks, respectively, the pancreas was excised and weighed. Measurements of amylase, trypsin, lipase, total protein, and DNA were obtained from the homogenated pancreatic tissue. Isolated pancreatic lobules were incubated with and without ceruletide (5 X 10(-10) g/ml) during a 60 minute period. Amylase values were determined four times in the incubation medium. Morphometry was performed by light microscopy analysis. There was a significant increase in pancreatic weight, DNA content, and trypsin concentration 2 weeks after vagotomy with and without pyloroplasty. These changes were accelerated after 4 weeks. DNA, amylase, and total protein concentrations were unchanged. Lipase concentration decreased 2 weeks after vagotomy and pyloroplasty, whereas at 4 weeks, it decreased in both experimental groups. The in vitro incubation study revealed a significantly decreased amylase discharge under basal conditions, whereas the stimulated amylase discharge was unchanged in both experimental groups compared with the control group. Morphometry did not detect differences in exocrine cellular size. We conclude that vagotomy in rats induces pancreatic hyperplasia, enzyme dissociation, and decreased basal amylase discharge in vitro.

Amylases↗

PubMed1987

Adaptive changes of the exocrine pancreas and plasma cholecystokinin release following subtotal gastric resection in rats.

This study was performed to investigate adaptive changes of the exocrine pancreas occurring after distal gastric resection by different procedures: Billroth I (BI) and Billroth II (BII). Sixty-four male Wistar rats were used and divided into four groups: controls (n = 16), sham-operated (n = 16), BI (n = 16) and BII (n = 16) subtotal gastric resection. Both procedures of subtotal gastric resection showed an organotrophic effect on the pancreas after 2 weeks: pancreatic weight in BI- and BII-operated rats increased by 23 and 35% and DNA content by 36 and 27%, respectively, compared to controls (p less than 0.001). After 4 weeks a further increase in pancreatic weight (46%), DNA content (52%) and protein content (58%) was found in BII rats. Trypsin and amylase content were increased in BI rats after 2 weeks (p less than 0.01). No parallel changes were observed in the enzyme content of BII rats as trypsin increased by over 200%, amylase by over 100% and lipase remained unaffected. Hormonal studies were carried out in 36 rats divided into groups as above. Basal and stimulated plasma levels of gastrin were reduced (p less than 0.01) following both types of subtotal gastric resection (p less than 0.01). Basal cholecystokinin (CCK) plasma levels did not differ between operated and control rats. Following the test meal CCK plasma levels were significantly increased after BII gastric resection (p less than 0.001) and BI gastric resection (p less than 0.01) compared to controls.

Amylases↗

PubMed1986

Rat exocrine pancreas following total gastrectomy.

Sixteen rats underwent a total gastrectomy with an end-to-end anastomosis between the esophagus and duodenum. After either two or four weeks, the entire pancreas was excised and isolated lobules were incubated for 60 min in Krebs-Ringer-Hepes solution either with or without addition of ceruletide (5 X 10(-10) g/ml). Amylase was determined every 15 min in the supernatant medium. Measurements of amylase, lipase, trypsin, DNA and total protein were carried out in the homogenized pancreatic tissue. Morphometry was performed via light microscopic analysis. Two weeks following gastrectomy there was an increase in pancreatic wet weight, DNA, total protein and enzyme content (except lipase). Four weeks after surgery, pancreatic weight, amylase and trypsin increased further, whereas DNA content and lipase content remained stable. The DNA concentration decreased, and the size of exocrine pancreatic cells increased. In vitro, amylase discharge increased only after four weeks. The experiments demonstrate a short-term adaptation of the rat exocrine pancreas following total gastrectomy in the form of cellular hyperplasia (after 2 weeks), and hypertrophy (after 4 weeks), and enzyme dissociation.

Amylases↗

PubMed1985

[Secondary pancreatic insufficiency following distal stomach resection].

Forty-five patients, 1-37 years following gastric resection (B II n = 34, B I n = 11) underwent an oral pancreatic function test with fluorescein dilaurate (PLT). Out of this group 11 patients suffered from a chronic pancreatitis proven by specific examination. All patients with chronic pancreatitis had pathological PLT-test results. In the B II-patients without primary pancreatic disease there were pathological PLT-test results in 69.7% and 63.6% in the B I-patients, respectively. In the resected patients malabsorption was excluded by unchanged fluorescein-excretion pattern following oral ingestion of free fluorescein. The results indicate a secondary pancreatic insufficiency following distal gastric resection. Patients with signs of malnutrition after gastric resection should undergo an indirect pancreatic function test. Substitution therapy with pancreatic enzymes is indicated following evaluation of exocrine function impairment.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Chronic pancreatitis: diagnosis and staging.

Chronic pancreatitis is a dynamic disease characterized on one side by a progressive destruction of the pancreatic parenchyma and change in the architecture of the gland and on the other by the impairment of its function. Diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis may be a quite easy or a very difficult attempt according to the severity and evolutive stage of disease. In fact, while most patients presents with a typical history of alcohol abuse, recurrent abdominal pain and steatorrhea, in the late stage of disease it is not rare to see patients with symptoms and signs which may be not typical for pancreatitis. A large number of morphological and functional methods has been developed to allow an easy and early diagnosis of disease. However, while in the advanced stages of disease, where pancreatic insufficiency, calcifications, or pseudocysts are present, diagnosis is easy and most of the procedures show high sensitivity and specificity, in the early disease the degree of pancreatic dysfunction and structural change are too small to be detected by current methods. The present article aims to evaluate the different morphological and functional methods with their advantages and shortcomings, as well as to establish their role in the diagnostic assessment of chronic pancreatitis.

Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Comparison of different endocrine stimulation tests in nondiabetic patients with chronic pancreatitis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate endocrine functional impairment in nondiabetic patients with chronic pancreatitis and to determine its reliability in the staging of this disease. METHODOLOGY: Eighteen patients with chronic pancreatitis and fasting normoglycemia (fasting blood glucose level < 100 mg/dl) and 10 healthy subjects underwent an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), an intravenous glucose test (IGT) and an arginine stimulation test (AST). Blood glucose and serum concentrations of insulin, C-peptide and glucagon were measured before and after stimulation. Exocrine pancreatic function was assessed by the pancreolauryl serum test (PLT), and morphological changes were staged by endoscopic retrograde pancreaticography (ERP), which were rated as I (mild), II (moderate) or III (severe). RESULTS: Glucagon and C-peptide secretions after arginine stimulation were reduced in patients with moderate and severe chronic pancreatitis while no parameter was able to show impaired endocrine function in the early stage (ERP I) of the disease. Serum insulin concentrations proved to be of no use in the diagnosis of pathological B-cell function, since even patients with severe chronic pancreatitis and fasting normoglycemia demonstrated normal insulin secretion. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that there is a close correlation between morphological changes of the pancreas and functional endocrine reserve capacity, whereas endocrine stimulation tests were not shown to be helpful in the clinical assessment of nondiabetic patients with chronic pancreatitis.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection, histological gastritis, and functional dyspepsia.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: It is still controversial as to whether or not Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, histological gastritis, and functional dyspepsia (FD) are intercorrelated. We prospectively evaluated patients with functional dyspepsia in an attempt to clarify this issue. METHODOLOGY: Eighty-eight consecutive patients with functional dyspepsia (age range: 18-84 years) who did not show disease(s) other than gastritis were investigated. In a questionnaire they were asked to report the presence or absence of 8 upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms and to score them from 0 (absence) to 3 (severe), whereupon a sum score was calculated. Forty age-matched subjects with a sum score of <3 served as controls. Biopsy specimens for histology, bacterial culture, and rapid urease test were taken. A C13-urease breath test was also performed in 122 subjects. RESULTS: H. pylori infection was present in 43% of patients with functional dyspepsia and 35% of control subjects (not significant (n.s.)). None of the symptoms were correlated with H. pylori infection. The median symptom sum score was 8.5 in H. pylori-positive and 9.5 in H. pylori-negative patients with functional dyspepsia (n.s.). Histological gastritis was strongly associated with H. pylori infection but was not correlated with any of the symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: In a prospective population of patients with functional dyspepsia, H. pylori infection or gastritis are not associated with specific or severe symptoms. Our data imply that H. pylori gastritis is not an important condition in the pathogenesis of dyspeptic complaints.

Adolescent↗