Biomedical subjects

J Lehtola

Publications and source records attributed to J Lehtola.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1995

A placebo-controlled trial of primary biliary cirrhosis treatment with colchicine and ursodeoxycholic acid.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) and colchicine have beneficial effects in primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC). The efficacy of colchicine and UDCA in PBC was compared in a 2-year placebo-controlled study (n = 90). METHODS: Clinical events, laboratory test results, and liver histology were recorded at the beginning and end of the trial. RESULTS: There were significantly fewer dropouts for hepatic reasons with UDCA than with placebo. Pruritus was reduced by both active drugs. Colchicine improved liver function test results only modestly, whereas UDCA significantly decreased the serum activities of aminotransferases, alkaline phosphatase, and gamma-glutamyltransferase compared with colchicine and placebo. Serum total bilirubin levels were decreased only by UDCA. Both colchicine and UDCA reduced serum cholesterol levels, and UDCA also reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Furthermore, UDCA reduced the serum levels of immunoglobulin (Ig) M and IgG, and colchicine reduced IgG levels compared with placebo. The elevated serum level of aminoterminal propeptide of type III procollagen remained unchanged by colchicine or UDCA, whereas the serum level of carboxyterminal propeptide of type I procollagen was significantly decreased by UDCA. UDCA significantly decreased ductular proliferation compared with colchicine or placebo. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that UDCA frequently is superior to colchicine and especially to placebo in the treatment of PBC.

Alanine Transaminase↗

PubMed1995

Serum cholestanol, cholesterol precursors, and plant sterols during placebo-controlled treatment of primary biliary cirrhosis with ursodeoxycholic acid or colchicine.

A randomized placebo-controlled 2-year study was performed in 69 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) on serum lipids during ursodeoxycholic acid (URSO) and colchicine treatments. In addition to serum bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase (AFOS), two variables considered to reflect liver function, serum lipoproteins, cholesterol precursors (squalene, delta 8-cholestenol, lathosterol and desmosterol), markers of cholesterol synthesis, cholestanol and plant sterols (campesterol and sitosterol), markers of liver function and cholesterol absorption, were studied before and during the treatments. Serum bilirubin was inconsistently improved by URSO, whereas improvement of AFOS values was better by URSO than colchicine, especially in patients with initially more advanced PBC. Serum total cholesterol was reduced by both drugs, very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol by URSO. Cholesterol precursor sterols were increased by both URSO and colchicine mainly in patients with initially less severe PBC. On the other hand, the cholestanol values were markedly increased initially, and the values were related to bilirubin during the 2-year period, were further increased in the placebo group, and reduced in the URSO and colchicine groups, so that the improvement was highest in the URSO-treated patients with the severe form of PBC. The increase of the serum plant sterols, particularly that of sitosterol, was retarded by the two drugs so that the campesterol/sitosterol ratio, which was related to serum bilirubin, was increased especially in the cases with initially more advanced PBC.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

PubMed1994

[Endoscopy today].

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Cholangiopancreatography, Endoscopic Retrograde↗

PubMed1993

Nerve fiber layer defects with normal visual fields. Do normal optic disc and normal visual field indicate absence of glaucomatous abnormality?

PURPOSE: When the optic disc has normal appearance with no abnormalities in routine automated perimetry, the subject is not considered to have glaucoma. The purpose of this study is to show how such patients may have localized retinal nerve fiber layer defects with corresponding functional abnormality. METHODS: The authors selected eight eyes of eight patients who had a localized retinal nerve fiber layer defect extending within a few degrees from fovea but in whom the optic disc appearance and Humphrey 30-2 visual fields were normal. Of the eight patients, three had positive family history of glaucoma, two had suspected retinal nerve fiber layer abnormality in routine eye examination, two had increased intraocular pressure (IOP), and one had advanced low-tension glaucoma in one eye with a normal fellow eye. The authors examined the central 10 degrees visual field with 1 degree resolution using Humphrey perimeter and the Ring and Centring programs of the high-pass resolution perimeter. RESULTS: A central field defect corresponding to retinal nerve fiber layer defect was found in six of eight patients: in both 10 degrees Humphrey field and Centring programs (2 eyes), in Humphrey only (2 eyes), and in Centring only (2 eyes). CONCLUSION: The results indicate that retinal nerve fiber layer photographs are helpful in diagnosing glaucoma because early glaucomatous abnormalities cannot be excluded without nerve fiber layer photography. Currently available routine perimetric examination programs do not always detect very early functional damage.

Aged↗

PubMed1991

Helicobacter pylori in dyspeptic patients: quantitative association with severity of gastritis, intragastric pH, and serum gastrin concentration.

The relationship between different features of gastric mucosal inflammation, intragastric pH and serum gastrin concentration and the distribution and quantity of Helicobacter pylori was studied in a series of 107 dyspepsia patients. H. pylori was identified in 62 cases (59%), and its presence was associated with increased amounts of mononuclear inflammatory cells and neutrophilic and eosinophilic leucocytes in both the antrum and the corpus. The number of H. pylori in the antral mucosa was significantly associated with the quantity of mononuclear inflammatory cells. It was also associated with glandular atrophy in antral mucosa, so that slight and moderate glandular atrophy were significantly more common in cases with abundant H. pylori. Intragastric pH and serum gastrin concentration were inversely related to the number of H. pylori in both the antral and corpus mucosa. H. pylori positive patients were also divided into groups according to proportions of H. pylori in the antral and corpus mucosa. In 5 of these patients (8%) the bacteria were present only in the corpus, and this group had a significantly more pronounced degree of glandular atrophy in the corpus mucosa, higher intragastric pH and a higher serum gastrin concentration than the other H. pylori positive patients. The other patients with a higher corpus H. pylori than antral H. pylori score (n = 25; 34%) also had a significantly higher intragastric pH and serum gastrin concentration than those with a corpus H. pylori score lower than or equal to the antral score, while the latter had more severe inflammation in the antral mucosa and a lower intragastric pH and serum gastrin concentration. The results suggest that inflammation in the antrum forms a favourable environment for H. pylori, while atrophy of the corpus glands, being connected with increased pH, leads to a diminished amount of H. pylori. They thus support the view that proliferation of H. pylori is dependent on acid produced by the corpus mucosa.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

Effect of erythromycin on the oro-caecal transit time in man.

Erythromycins often cause gastrointestinal side-effects due to an increase in motility or to change in the intestinal bacterial flora. In order to evaluate the effect of erythromycin on gastrointestinal motility. 11 healthy volunteers were given placebo, erythromycin stearate (ES) 1000 mg or a therapeutically equivalent single dose of erythromycin acistrate (EA.2'-acetyl erythromycin stearate) 800 mg in a double-blind trial. The oro-caecal transit time was measured using the hydrogen breath test with lactulose as the substrate. The transit time was estimated from the H2-peak (ppm) in end-expiratory breath by two methods, t1 representing the "front" and t2 the "bulk" of lactulose reaching the colon. t1 was 51 min in the placebo group, 38 min in the EA and 31 min in the ES group (p less than 0.05, ES vs placebo). t2 was 74 min, 64 min, and 46 min, respectively (p less than 0.05, ES vs placebo). The difference between EA and ES was also significant. Six subjects in the ES group but none in the EA group recorded adverse gastrointestinal effects attributable to medication. It was concluded that erythromycin shortens the oro-caecal transit time in man and that EA effects the transit time slightly less than ES.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Relationship of Campylobacter pylori and duodenogastric reflux.

We have examined the relationship of Campylobacter-like organism (CLO) and duodenogastric reflux (DGR) in 107 patients with unoperated stomachs. Neither the extent of externally measured bile reflux nor the concentrations of bile acids or lysolecithin in the gastric fluid differed significantly in the groups with different numbers of CLO in the gastric mucosa. Our results suggest that DGR, in the quantities commonly present in unoperated stomachs, does not effect the presence of C. pylori in the gastric mucosa.

Adult↗

PubMed1989

Pancreatitis in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease.

We describe six patients with acute pancreatitis associated with chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and no other etiological factor of pancreatic disease in a series of 513 patients with IBD. Five of the 6 patients had Crohn's disease and one indeterminate colitis; four had simultaneous symptoms of active colitis. The pancreatis was not caused by drugs or duodenal involvement of IBD. Our study suggests that pancreatic disease is one of the extra-intestinal manifestations of IBD, in particular of Crohn's disease.

Acute Disease↗

PubMed1987

Treatment of pneumatosis coli with metronidazole. Endoscopic follow-up of one case.

A case of pneumatosis cystoides intestinalis in the large bowel with complete resolution after eight weeks of metronidazole treatment is reported. This symptomatic case, with an acute onset classified as the primary (idiopathic) type, became asymptomatic after a few days and was followed until complete endoscopic and radiologic resolution. No recurrence was noticed during 15-month follow-up. This lends support to the assumption that anaerobic bacteria contribute to the etiopathogenesis of this condition. The choice of metronidazole as an easy ambulatory therapy is encouraged.

Colonoscopy↗

PubMed1987

Hematopoietic and gastric uracil-DNA glycosylase activity in megaloblastic anemia and in atrophic gastritis with special reference to pernicious anemia.

The activity of the DNA excision repair enzyme uracil-DNA glycosylase was measured in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and in bone marrow aspiration samples obtained from patients with pernicious anemia (PA) or other types of megaloblastic anemia (one case of tapeworm anemia and three cases of myelodysplastic syndromes). In addition, the expression of uracil-DNA glycosylase was investigated in biopsies from the antrum and body of the stomach obtained from nine PA patients, from five patients having atrophic gastritis (AG) not associated with PA, and from six control patients having transient upper abdominal complaints without AG. Our results revealed that there was a considerable interindividual variation in gastric uracil-DNA glycosylase activity. No clear correlation between the enzyme level and the level of gastric atrophy was noted, although AG is generally regarded as a risk factor of gastric cancer. Furthermore, uracil-DNA glycosylase activities in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and in bone marrow cells in PA and in myelodysplastic syndromes were similar to the activities observed previously in non-hematological patients and healthy persons. Transient uracil incorporation into DNA may have a role in the cellular abnormalities associated with megaloblastic hematopoiesis. The present findings demonstrated that the enzymatic activity required for rapid removal of uracil from DNA is also expressed in the megaloblastic state.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Campylobacter-like organisms and gastritis: histopathology, bile reflux, and gastric fluid composition.

We studied a prospective series of 107 randomly chosen dyspepsia patients without gastric ulcer for the association of spiral Campylobacter-like organisms (CLO) with features of antral and fundal gastritis and duodenogastric reflux. CLO were observed in 38% of the patients. The scores for all classes of inflammatory cells in both antral and body mucosa were significantly higher in the CLO-positive patients than in the CLO-negative ones (p less than 0.001), and foveolar hyperplasia was also associated with CLO (p less than 0.05). Metaplasia and glandular atrophy in the antral mucosa were significantly commoner in the CLO-positive group (p less than 0.05 and p less than 0.01, respectively). The body gastritis score correlated significantly with age in the CLO-negative patients (R = 0.33, p less than 0.01) but not in the CLO-positive ones. There were no significant differences between the groups with regard to duodenogastric reflux or intragastric pH. The results confirm that CLO are associated with gastritis, most notably superficial gastritis in the body and atrophic gastritis in the antrum, but their aetiological significance remains to be proved.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Campylobacter-like organisms in patients with gastric ulcer.

The occurrence of Campylobacter-like organisms (CLO) was studied in the gastric mucosa of 33 patients with gastric ulcer and 33 age- and sex-matched controls with non-ulcer dyspepsia, and the relation of CLO to the severity of gastritis was determined in both groups. CLO was significantly commoner in the ulcer patients (57.5%) than in the non-ulcer cases (33.3%) (p less than 0.05); this was related to a higher frequency of antral atrophic gastritis in the former. It is suggested that CLO may be associated with chronic antral gastritis and hence with gastric ulcer, but the causal relationship remains unclear.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Prepyloric erosions: an entity of its own among erosive gastric lesions. A morphologic and dynamic study of gastric mucosa in patients with gastric erosions.

The morphology and dynamics of the gastric mucosa were examined in 130 patients with gastric mucosal erosions by using mathematical methods based on stochastic principles. The results were compared with those of controls representative of the general population. The progression of antral gastritis was less rapid in erosion patients than in the controls (p less than 0.001), but body gastritis increased with age, as expected. In patients with prepyloric erosions body gastritis showed less rapid progression with age than in the controls (p less than 0.01) or in other erosion patients (p less than 0.05). Antral gastritis increased, as in the controls, and more rapidly than in other erosion patients (p less than 0.01). The preservation of the body mucosa in patients with prepyloric erosions despite ageing is similar to that seen in patients with duodenal ulcer disease, suggesting a common acid-related pathogenesis.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

Characteristics of reflux gastritis.

The amount of postprandial duodenogastric bile reflux was correlated with detailed histologic findings in the stomachs of 107 patients with dyspepsia. The reflux was associated with infiltration of mononuclear leukocytes, neutrophilic granulocytes, and eosinophilic granulocytes and with foveolar hyperplasia in the gastric mucosa. No significant association with intestinal metaplasia emerged. Our results suggest that postprandial duodenogastric bile reflux is characterized by superficial inflammatory changes in the gastric mucosa.

Adult↗

PubMed1987

The effect of ethanol with a meal on the mucosa of the stomach and duodenal bulb.

The effect of ethanol together with a meal on the mucosa of the stomach and duodenal bulb was studied in nine healthy volunteers. The pre-study gastroscopy was performed after an overnight fast. Two to four weeks later the volunteers drank 72-136 g (mean 111.2 +/- 18.3 SD) alcohol together with a meal. They underwent endoscopy again on the following morning. The endoscopic and histological changes were evaluated by scoring the lesions (0-4). Alcohol caused slight to moderate endoscopically detected changes in the stomach of seven volunteers, the difference being statistically almost significant (p congruent to 0.05) in the case of haemorrhagic lesions. In two subjects slight hyperaemia was seen in the duodenal bulb. The histological study did not reveal significant changes after alcohol drinking. The bile acid concentrations of the gastric juice did not change after drinking. It is concluded that ethanol with a meal causes only slight changes in the mucosa of the stomach, haemorrhagic ones being the most prominent.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

Pirenzepine in the treatment of reflux oesophagitis. A placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

The efficacy of 50 mg pirenzepine twice daily in the treatment of reflux oesophagitis was compared with that of placebo in 47 patients over a period of 12 weeks. The 23 patients receiving pirenzepine experienced decreases in symptoms after 4 weeks (p less than 0.001) and 12 weeks (p less than 0.02) of treatment significantly greater than those in the 24 patients receiving placebo. The decreases in symptoms were associated with significantly less use of antacids by the pirenzepine group (p less than 0.01) during the first 4 weeks. Endoscopically, oesophagitis was healed or improved in 54.5% of patients receiving pirenzepine and in 18.2% of patients receiving placebo (p less than 0.05) after 4 weeks of treatment. After 12 weeks of treatment healing or improvement was seen in 55.0% and 35.0% of patients, respectively (difference not significant). Histologic improvement did not differ significantly between the groups. Our results suggest that pirenzepine is useful in the management of reflux oesophagitis.

Adult↗

PubMed1986

Ranitidine, 150 mg three times a day, in the treatment of reflux oesophagitis. A placebo-controlled, double-blind study.

The effect of ranitidine, 150 mg three times a day, in the treatment of reflux oesophagitis was studied. A double-blind method was used, and 41 patients with endoscopically verified symptomatic oesophagitis were randomly allocated to ranitidine or placebo. In addition, antacid tablets could be taken as needed. Eighteen patients in both the ranitidine and the placebo groups completed the study. Endoscopically, the healing rate was significantly higher in the ranitidine group after both 6 weeks' (p less than 0.05) and 12 weeks' (p less than 0.01) treatment. The proportion of patients whose oesophagitis healed or improved was also higher in the ranitidine group (p less than 0.05). The patients receiving ranitidine used significantly (p less than 0.002) less antacids than the controls, suggesting a favourable effect of ranitidine on the symptoms of oesophagitis. The histological study did not show significant differences between the ranitidine and the placebo groups. No serious side effects were noted. Ranitidine in a dose of 150 mg three times a day is effective and safe in the treatment of reflux oesophagitis.

Clinical Trials as Topic↗

PubMed1985

Gastric carcinoids with minimal or no macroscopic lesion in patients with pernicious anemia.

In a series of 44 patients with pernicious anemia examined by gastroscopy, three cases of gastric carcinoids were found. During the same ten-year period about 11,000 gastroscopies were performed on patients not suffering from pernicious anemia, and only one case of gastric carcinoid was detected. In two of the cases no endoscopic lesion was seen and the carcinoid was detectable only at histological examination, while in one case an unusual combination of carcinoid tumor and tubular adenoma in the same polyp was found. Most of the carcinoids arose in atrophic body mucosa, but in one case the mucosa around the carcinoid showed antral properties. One patient had slightly elevated values of pancreatic polypeptide, while no hormonal activity was found in others. No growth or spread of the carcinoid was observed during follow-up. It is suggested that the same pathogenetic factors may operate in the genesis of gastric carcinoid and gastric carcinoma in patients with pernicious anemia.

Adenoma↗