We report a unique case of acute cholecystitis due to strangulation of a floating gallbladder by the lesser omentum, which could be detected by abdominal ultrasonography. We believe this case to be the first case of reported literatures in English.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Differences in interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor and IL-1 receptor antagonist production by human monocytes stimulated with muramyl dipeptide (MDP) and its stearoyl derivative, romurtide.

The immunostimulatory reagents muramyl dipeptide (MDP) and its stearoyl derivative romurtide [MDP-Lys(L18)] were assessed for cytokine inducing activity in human monocytes. Both MDP and romurtide stimulated the production of interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra). Kinetics study indicated that IL-1, TNF and IL-1Ra were induced after 4 h stimulation but IL-6 was produced at a later phase. Romurtide induced these cytokines for longer period that MDP. Dose-response study indicated that romurtide was far more potent than MDP in induction of IL-1, IL-6 and TNF. Although the magnitude of the IL-1 and IL-6 induction was almost the same, that of TNF induction was greater in romurtide-stimulated monocytes than in MDP-stimulated cells. Among IL-1, IL-1 beta appeared to be a major product. In contrast to other cytokines, IL-1Ra was induced by MDP and romurtide in a similar dose and time dependent manner with similar magnitude of response. These studies indicate that MDP and romurtide, especially romurtide, are very potent inducers of both immunostimulatory and immunosuppressive cytokines by human monocytes but with different efficacy and kinetics.

Acetylmuramyl-Alanyl-Isoglutamine↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Regeneration of the recurrent laryngeal nerve in the guinea pig: reorganization of motoneurons after freezing injury.

The purpose of this study was to clarify the morphologic changes resulting from reinnervation after a freezing injury. We chose the freezing injury as the most promising nerve regeneration model in order to examine the mechanism behind the production of misdirected reinnervation. The left recurrent laryngeal nerve of the adult guinea pig was injured by freezing (-80 degrees C) at the level of the 10th tracheal ring. At intervals ranging from 2 weeks to 6 months after the injury, horseradish peroxidase was injected into the left posterior cricoarytenoid muscle to ascertain the presence of retrograde-labeled perikarya in the medulla oblongata. Projections to the individual laryngeal muscles and to the entire recurrent laryngeal nerve served as normal controls. In addition, we observed by electron microscopy the degeneration and regeneration processes of the recurrent laryngeal nerve following injury. From 2 to 6 months after the freezing injury, the number of labeled neurons in the nucleus ambiguus increased gradually from 20 to 90. In addition, the area occupied by neurons which project to the posterior cricoarytenoid muscle was expanded, but was confined within the region of perikarya projecting to the normal recurrent laryngeal nerve. Most axons degenerated within 3 days and showed regenerative sprouting with growth cones by 7 days postinjury. Despite the fact that freezing injury preserved the basal lamina tunnel with minimal disturbance of the recurrent laryngeal nerve fiber structure, target-specific reinnervation was incomplete.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Fentanyl for sedation during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy.

The effects of sedation by intravenous fentanyl on the rate-pressure product (pulse rate x systolic blood pressure/100), arterial oxygen saturation, electrocardiographic change, and serum cortisol concentration were studied during gastroduodenoscopy in 84 patients randomized to receive fentanyl or no intravenous sedative (controls). Fentanyl administration increased the tolerance of patients and attenuated the endoscopy-induced rise in rate-pressure product and serum cortisol concentration. Desaturation of arterial oxygen was minimal and there was no difference in arterial oxygen saturation between the fentanyl group and the control group. Therefore, fentanyl appears to be a favorable sedative for upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, since its administration increased the tolerance of patients and decreased cardiac oxygen consumption.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Incidence of fundic gland polyps in patients without familial adenomatous polyposis.

The incidence of fundic gland polyps was evaluated using a high-resolution videoendoscope. In 1388 upper gastrointestinal endoscopic studies, 26 cases of fundic gland polyps (1.9% of the studied cases) were found. None of these patients had evidence of familial adenomatous polyposis. Fifteen of these patients (58%) had a solitary polyp in the gastric body, most of which were small sessile polyps of less than 2 mm in diameter. The results of this study indicated that a small solitary fundic gland polyp is not a rare gastric lesion and that little relationship exists between these solitary fundic gland polyps and familial adenomatous polyposis.

Adenomatous Polyposis Coli↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Laparoscopic observation of liver colored with indocyanine green in chronic hepatitis. I. Improved sensitivity for diagnosis of fibrosis.

We investigated the significance of intravenous injection of indocyanine green during laparoscopic examination in chronic hepatitis. The presence or absence of bridging fibrosis was estimated during laparoscopy from the pattern of lobular markings before and after indocyanine green coloration. Laparoscopy without indocyanine green predicted the presence of bridging fibrosis in biopsy specimens with a low sensitivity of 0.42 (specificity, 0.8). After intravenous injection of indocyanine green, lobular markings became clearer and the sensitivity of laparoscopy in the diagnosis of bridging fibrosis was markedly increased (sensitivity, 0.89; specificity, 0.8). These results indicate that the indocyanine green coloration method improves the correspondence between laparoscopy and liver biopsy in evaluating the severity of chronic hepatitis.

Hepatitis, Chronic↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Control of IkappaBalpha proteolysis by the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway.

It has recently been determined that the proteolytic destruction of IkappaB (inhibitor of NF-kappaB) by the ubiquitin-proteasome system plays a key role in the immediate elimination of IkappaB from the IkappaB-(NF-kappaB) complex which allows nuclear translocation of free NF-kappaB, thus leading to activation of a multitude of target genes. The SCF(Fbw1) (composed of Skp1, Cul-1, Roc1, and Fbw1) complex, identified as an IkappaBalpha-E3 ligase, binds and ubiquitylates IkappaBalpha phosphorylated by IkappaB kinase that has been activated in response to extracellular signals. The generating poly-ubiquitin chain is finally recognized by the 26S proteasome for ultimate degradation. In this NF-kappaB signalling pathway, it becomes clear that the SCF(Fbw1) activity is enhanced by a ubiquitin-like protein NEDD8 (equivalent to Rub1) that modifies Cul-1 in a manner analogous to ubiquitylation, and consequently, IkappaBalpha proteolysis is induced. NEDD8 is a new regulator of the SCF ubiquitin-ligase, functioning as a covalent modifier for proteolytic targeting at a physiological level.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

mRNA expression of cytokines and chemokines in the normal gastric surface mucous epithelial cell line GSM06 during bacterial infection with Helicobacter felis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: A group of the proinflammatory and chemotactic cytokines (chemokines) has been considered as an important factor in the pathomechanism of different bacterial diseases, among them the common Helicobacter pylori infection. Experimental results obtained with gastric biopsy samples of H. pylori positive patients, and with H. pylori infected tumor originated gastric cell lines indicated that these cytokines have essential roles in the development and maintenance of the immune response and inflammation of the gastric mucosa during H. pylori infection. Although the mRNA expression was shown in these biopsy samples and cell lines, it is not yet proved that the normal gastric mucosal epithelial cells themselves express these cytokines. The establishment of a gastric surface mucous cell line with non-tumor origin (GSM06), and the usage of Helicobacter felis as a model of the classic H. pylori infection gave us the possibility to check this question. MATERIALS AND METHODS: in this study GSM06 cells were infected with different numbers (10(5), 10(6), 10(7), 10(8), 10(9) bacterium/ml medium) of H. felis for two different time periods (2, 4 h). Cells treated with medium only were used as control. Then the mRNA expression of the following cytokines was measured by RT-PCR method in the GSM06 cells: proinflammatory cytokine IL1-beta, and chemokine RANTES, eotaxin, MCP-1, MIP1-alpha and MIP1-beta. RESULTS: we found that neither mRNA of the investigated cytokines was expressed constitutively, however the GSM06 cells expressed the mRNA of each cytokine during H. felis infection. CONCLUSION: our results prove that normal gastric surface mucous epithelial cells express immunologically active peptides during H. felis infection. We may suppose that the epithelial cells of the gastric mucosa contribute to the immune response and inflammation by expressing proinflammatory (IL1-beta) and chemotactic (RANTES, eotaxin, MCP-1, MIP1-alpha and beta) cytokines during H. pylori infection in human.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

A neonate with Löffler syndrome.

We report a neonate-boy with pulmonary infiltrates and peripheral blood eosinophilia. He was noted to have abnormal pulmonary infiltrates on a chest X-ray film taken on day 8 after birth when he had vomiting. He had not such symptoms as cough or dyspnea. In routine laboratory studies, eosinophilia was noted. Radiographic changes were transient and disappeared by day 25. Eosinophilia was also transient and gradually returned to normal level by 2 months. Löffler syndrome is very rare in neonates and its diagnosis is often made fortuitously likely in this case.

Diagnosis, Differential↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Unique mutations in mitochondrial DNA of senescence-accelerated mouse (SAM) strains.

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is exclusively inherited maternally and hence could offer a good method for tracing the lineage of mouse strains. We examined the mtDNA sequence of senescence-accelerated mouse (SAM) strains as well as other laboratory strains of inbred mice to deduce the ancestral strain of SAM. Four unique mutations were identified at bases 2256, 10,847, 11,181, and 13,053 in SAM strains. The mutations were not found in other mouse strains including AKR/J, one of the parental strains of SAM. Comparison of the mtDNA sequences also led to the consensus mtDNA sequence of laboratory strains of inbred mice. The seven laboratory strains of common inbred mice showed polymorphisms at base 9348, thymine repeat from base 9818, and adenine repeat from base 9821, and could be classified into five types by combination of the differences. Although we could not identify mouse strains with the same type of mtDNA as SAM in this study, the polymorphisms would provide a promising clue to ascertain the ancestral strain(s) of SAM. The polymorphism in mtDNA could be used to ascertain the genealogy of other mouse strains as well.

Aging↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Correlation between serum pepsinogen concentration and gastric acidity measured by 24 h pH monitoring.

The relationship between the intragastric pH measured by 24 h pH monitoring system and the serum pepsinogen I/II ratio was studied in 68 cases. When pepsinogen I/II ratio was compared with pH 3.0 holding time (the percentage time during which the gastric pH is above 3.0), there was a negative correlation between these two parameters (correlation coefficient r = -0.62, P < 0.001). Furthermore, there was also a strong negative correlation between the early morning (from 03.00 to 06.00 h) gastric pH and pepsinogen I/II ratio (r = -0.76, P < 0.001). Accordingly, by simply measuring serum pepsinogen I and II, it may be possible to infer gastric acidity and to obtain the information concerning the early morning intragastric pH.

Female↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Augmentation of water-immersion stress- induced gastric mucosal lesions in BALB/c mice infected with Helicobacter felis.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Inoculation of Helicobacter felis into the murine stomach has been reported to induce chronic gastric inflammation and may be a model of Helicobacter pylori-induced chronic gastritis. In this study, to characterize H. felis-induced gastritis, the gastric production of interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) was measured in mice. METHODS: Gastric mucosal lesions were induced in H. felis-infected BALB/c mice by water-immersion stress. The severity score of gastric erosions per stomach was measured as the sum of the length of erosions. Gene expression of IL-1beta and HGF were analyzed by Northern blot analysis and production of HGF was examined using the enzyme immunoassay method. RESULTS: Water-immersion stress induced gastric mucosal lesions accompanied by increased expression of IL-1beta mRNA. H. felis infection evoked enhanced expression of IL-1beta and HGF genes. When H. felis-infected mice were stressed by water immersion, the mucosal lesions were more severe than those in non-infected mice. Moreover, IL-1beta gene expression as well as HGF production was further increased. CONCLUSIONS: Although H. felis inoculation did not cause gastric mucosal erosions by itself, it augmented the stress-induced erosions.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

In utero repair of rectal atresia after complete resection of a sacrococcygeal teratoma.

PURPOSE: A case of a fetus with a prenatally diagnosed sacrococcygeal teratoma that produced high-output cardiac failure, hydrops, rectal atresia, and urinary tract obstruction is presented. The unique prenatal surgical management along with the embryogenesis of tumor-related rectal atresia is discussed. CASE REPORT: A large fetal sacrococcygeal teratoma with a significant intrapelvic component was detected at routine ultrasound in a 35-year-old gravida 3 para 2. Fetal hydrops developed rapidly due to high-output cardiac failure from the vascular 'steal' by the growing tumor. The urinary tract was obstructed due to the intrapelvic tumors mass. At 27 weeks' gestation, the female fetus underwent hysterotomy, resection of the entire mass and urinary diversion via bilateral flank ureterostomies. The rectum was found to be completely atretic due to apparent encasement by the tumor. Pull-through anorectoplasty was carried out concurrently. At 30 weeks' gestation, the mother developed preterm labor and a 1.8-kg was delivered by cesarean section. The baby did very well for 3 days but had a cardiac arrest and died due to an atrial perforation by a transfemoral venous catheter. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge this is the first report of a complete prenatal resection of a sacrococcygeal teratoma with concomitant pull-through anorectoplasty for rectal atresia.

Adult↗