Lactase persistence/non-persistence variants, C/T_13910 and G/A_22018, as a diagnostic tool for lactose intolerance in IBS patients.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a symptom-based disorder characterized by abdominal pain related to altered bowel habit. We evaluated the predictive power of 2 genetic markers of hypolactasia, C/T_13910 and G/A_22018, in IBS patients with and without lactose intolerance in order to gain insight into the role of lactose intolerance in IBS.

Methods: Seventy five patients (59F/16M, mean age: 49.

Histologic study of colonic mucosa in patients with chronic diarrhea and normal colonoscopic findings.

Background: There are controversies about the importance of biopsies of normal colon mucosa in the investigation of patients with chronic diarrhea.

Study: Colonic and terminal ileum biopsies of 167 patients were reviewed. In 5 patients, used as controls, colonoscopy was done due to family history of colon cancer.

Postoperative portal vein thrombosis in patients with hepatosplenic mansonic schistosomiasis: relationship with intraoperative portal pressure and flow. A prospective study.

Background/aims: Portal vein thrombosis is a frequent postoperative complication after esophagogastric devascularization with splenectomy. The aim of this study was to analyze biochemical, hematological, coagulation blood tests and intraoperative portal vein hemodynamics after surgical treatment of hepatosplenic Mansonic schistosomal portal hypertension.

Methodology: Forty patients with hepatosplenic schistosomiasis with indication for surgical treatment were prospectively studied.

Prevalence of immune disturbances and chronic liver disease in family members of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

Background And Aims: Primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) has been reported in up to 4-6% of first degree relatives of patients with the disease. In addition, immune abnormalities, including hypergammaglobulinemia, autoantibodies and increased frequency of autoimmune disorders, were reported in family members of PBC patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of PBC in relatives of patients with PBC, and to investigate the occurrence of chronic liver disease (CLD) and immune abnormalities in these subjects.

Portal hyperflow in patients with hepatosplenic mansonic schistosomiasis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess portal hemodynamics in patients with portal hypertension due to hepatosplenic schistosomiasis as well as to assess the contribution of splanchnic hyperflow to the pathophysiology of the portal hypertension.

Methods: Sixteen patients with schistosomal portal hypertension and previous history of upper digestive bleeding due to esophageal varices rupture underwent elective esophagogastric devascularization and splenectomy and were prospectively studied. All patients underwent intraoperative invasive hemodynamic portal monitoring with a 4F-thermodilution catheter.

Prevalence of pulmonary hypertension in patients with hepatosplenic Mansonic schistosomiasis--prospective study.

Background/aims: Thirty-four patients with portal hypertension and previous history of esophageal varices hemorrhage due to hepatosplenic Mansonic schistosomiasis were prospectively studied.

Methodology: All patients underwent invasive hemodynamic monitoring with introduction of a pulmonary artery catheter. Hemodynamic evaluation was characterized by an increased cardiac index (4.

Different degrees of malnutrition and immunological alterations according to the aetiology of cirrhosis: a prospective and sequential study.

Objectives: In this work we investigated how immunological dysfunction and malnutrition interact in alcoholic and viral aetiologies of cirrhosis.

Methods: To investigate the matter, 77 cirrhotic patients divided in three aetiologies [Alcohol, HCV and Alcohol + HCV) and 32 controls were prospectivelly and sequentially studied. Parameters of humoral immunity (Components 3 and 4 of seric complement and immunoglobulins A M, G and E) and of cellular immunity (total leukocytes and lymphocytes in peripheral blood, T lymphocytes subpopulations, CD4+ and CD8+, CD4+/CD8+ ratio and intradermic tests of delayed hypersensitivity), as well as nutritional parameters: anthropometric measures, serum albumin and transferrin were evaluated.

The impact of Helicobacter pylori resistance on the efficacy of a short course pantoprazole based triple therapy.

Background: Many of the currently used Helicobacter pylori eradication regimens fail to cure the infection due to either antimicrobial resistance or poor patient compliance. Those patients will remain at risk of developing potentially severe complications of peptic ulcer disease.

Aim: We studied the impact of the antimicrobial resistance on the efficacy of a short course pantoprazole based triple therapy in a single-center pilot study.

CFTR, PRSS1 and SPINK1 mutations in the development of pancreatitis in Brazilian patients.

Context: Mutations in cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), in cationic trypsinogen (PRSS1) and in serine protease inhibitor Kazal type 1 (SPINK1) genes have been associated with chronic pancreatitis (alcohol related, idiopathic and hereditary). However, the inheritance pattern is still not clear.

Patients: Eighty-two unrelated Brazilian patients with chronic pancreatitis (alcohol-related disease in 64, idiopathic disease in 16, and hereditary disease in 2).

Analysis of major histocompatibility complex and CTLA-4 alleles in Brazilian patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

Background And Aims: Predisposition to primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) has been classically linked to HLA-DRB1 locus. However, the presence of the HLA-DRB1*08 antigen has been reported in less than one-third of PBC patients from Northern Europe and Japan. Recently, polymorphisms in the tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFA) gene promoter at position -308 and in exon 1 of the cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4) gene at position 49 have been associated with susceptibility to PBC in Caucasians.

Cholestasis in a murine experimental model: lesions include hepatocyte ischemic necrosis.

Objective: To establish a murine experimental model of bile duct obstruction that would enable controlled observations of the acute and subacute phases of cholestasis.

Methodology: Adult male isogenic BALB/c mice underwent a bile duct ligation (22 animals) or a sham operation (10 animals). Fifteen days after surgery, or immediately after the animal's death, macroscopic findings were noted and histological study of the liver, biliary tree, and pancreas was performed (hematoxylin-eosin and Masson trichromic staining).

Therapeutic efficacy of ranitidine bismuth citrate with clarithromycin for seven days in the eradication of Helicobacter pylori in Brazilian peptic ulcer patients.

Context: The curative treatment of peptic ulcer is made available nowadays through the eradication of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which is associated with it, but the best therapeutic regimen is yet to be determined.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of a therapeutic regimen with 400 mg ranitidine bismuth citrate associated with 500 mg clarithromycin given twice a day for seven days in a cohort of Brazilian patients with peptic ulcer.

Type Of Study: Cross-sectional study.

Ultrastructural study of the pancreas in AIDS.

Introduction: Frequent histologic changes (90%) in the pancreas suggesting protein-energy malnutrition were found in a previous necropsy study of pancreas morphology in patients with AIDS. However, additional studies were required to clarify subcellular changes.

Aim: To ultrastructurally analyze pancreas changes in AIDS patients through transmission electron microscopy.

Omeprazole, furazolidone, and tetracycline: an eradication treatment for resistant H. pylori in Brazilian patients with peptic ulcer disease.

Objectives: To determine the efficacy of a simple, short-term and low-cost eradication treatment for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) using omeprazole, tetracycline, and furazolidone in a Brazilian peptic ulcer population, divided into 2 subgroups: untreated and previously treated for the infection.

Patients And Methods: Patients with peptic ulcer disease diagnosed by endoscopic examination and infected by H.

Treatment by splenectomy of a portal vein aneurysm in hepatosplenic schistosomiasis.

Portal vein aneurysm is a rare medical entity that can be caused by chronic hepatic diseases with portal hypertension. We describe a 45-year-old man with variceal bleeding from hepatosplenic schistosomiasis and an incidentally found intrahepatic aneurysm. Diagnosis was confirmed with non-invasive imaging exams, arteriography and liver biopsy.

Low efficacy of an ultra-short term, once-daily dose triple therapy with omeprazole, azithromycin, and secnidazole for Helicobacter pylori eradication in peptic ulcer.

Purpose: To determine the eradication rate of an ultra-short treatment schedule for Helicobacter pylori infection in a population with peptic ulcers, using omeprazole, secnidazole, and azithromycin in a once-daily dose for 3 days.

Methods: Thirty patients with peptic ulcer diagnosed by upper endoscopy and for Helicobacter pylori infection by rapid urease test and histologic examination received omeprazole 40 mg, secnidazole 1000 mg, and azithromycin 500 mg, administered once daily for 3 days. A follow-up exam was performed 12 weeks after the end of the treatment.

Preoperative serum levels of CA 72-4, CEA, CA 19-9, and alpha-fetoprotein in patients with gastric cancer.

Introduction: The clinical importance of preoperative serum levels of CA 72-4, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), CA 19-9, and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) was prospectively evaluated in 44 patients with gastric cancer.

Method: The serum tumor marker levels were determined by commercial radioimmunoassay kits. Positivity for CA 72-4 (>4 U/mL), CEA (>5 ng/mL), CA 19-9 (>37 U/mL), and AFP (>10 ng/mL) were correlated according to the stage, histology, and lymph node metastasis.

Celiac disease in Brazilian adults.

Unlabelled: Forty-eight adult patients with celiac disease between 15 and 68 years of age (mean, 41 years) were studied. Sixty-seven percent were female and 33% were male patients. Most of the patients were white (98%).