Pyridostigmine in chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction - a systematic review.

Background: Chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction (CIPO) may be a primary or secondary phenomenon and is often multifactorial. Treatment is largely directed at improving colonic motility. The use of cholinesterase inhibitors such as pyridostigmine has been hypothesized to increase acetylcholine in the bowel, improving symptoms and transit times.

Massive gastric distension due to bulimia nervosa: a hotpot emergency.

Acute massive gastric distension is a rare but potentially life-threatening surgical complication of bulimia nervosa. This results from repeated binge eating and is likely compounded by increased gastric compliance and delayed gastric emptying. We describe a case of acute massive gastric distension in a 26-year-old female with undiagnosed bulimia nervosa who underwent a laparotomy and anterior gastrotomy after failed conservative measures for gastric decompression.

A rare case of transient duodenal volvulus in an elderly patient.

Duodenal volvulus is an extremely rare condition, with few cases reported in the literature. We present the case of an 83-year-old man with spontaneous duodenal volvulus diagnosed on CT imaging. Findings included volvulus of the third part of the duodenum, the chjmirocteristic whirl pattern of the superior mesenteric vessels and medialisation of the gallbladder.

Assessing the risk of viral infection from gases and plumes during intra-abdominal surgery: a systematic scoping review.

Background: The aim of this study was to identify the current evidence regarding the risk of acquiring viral infections from gases or plumes during intra-abdominal surgery. Peritoneal fluids may contain cellular material and virus particles. Electrocautery smoke and plumes from energy devices may aerosolize harmful substances and viral particles.

Robotic colorectal surgery in Australia: a cohort study examining clinical outcomes and cost.

Objective The aim of this study was to compare robotic versus laparoscopic colorectal operations for clinical outcomes, safety and cost. Methods A retrospective cohort study was performed of 213 elective colorectal operations (59 robotic, 154 laparoscopic), matched by surgeon and operation type. Results No differences in age, body mass index, median American Society of Anesthesiologists score or presence of cancer were observed between the laparoscopic or robotic surgery groups.

Hepatic cystic echinococcosis in Australia: an update on diagnosis and management.

Background: Echinococcosis is an uncommonly encountered zoonotic disease caused by the taeniid Echinococcus. The only endemic species in Australia, Echinococcus granulosus, forms cysts in the liver in 70% of cases. The aim of this study was to review the literature to provide an evidence-based narrative update on the diagnosis and management of hepatic cystic echinococcosis in Australia.

Antiviral innate immune response of RNA interference.

RNA interference (RNAi) is an ancient, natural process conserved among species from different kingdoms. RNAi is a transcriptional and post-transcriptional gene silencing mechanism in which, double-stranded RNA or hairpin RNA is cleaved by an RNase III-type enzyme called Dicer into small interfering RNA duplex. This subsequently directs sequence-specific, homology dependent, Watson-Crick base-pairing post-transcriptional gene silencing by binding to its complementary RNA and initiating its elimination through degradation or by persuading translational inhibition.

Immune response phenotype of allergic versus clinically tolerant pigs in a neonatal swine model of allergy.

The prevalence of childhood food allergy and the duration of these allergies, particularly those considered to be transient, like egg and milk allergy, are increasing. The identification of allergic individuals using minimally invasive, non-anaphylaxis-threatening methods is therefore of increasing importance. In this experiment, correlates were sought of an allergic immune response (IR) phenotype in pigs.

Effect of heat-killed Escherichia coli, lipopolysaccharide, and muramyl dipeptide treatments on the immune response phenotype and allergy in neonatal pigs sensitized to the egg white protein ovomucoid.

Predisposition to food allergies may reflect a type 2 immune response (IR) bias in neonates due to the intrauterine environment required to maintain pregnancy. The hygiene hypothesis states that lack of early environmental stimulus leading to inappropriate development and bias in IR may also contribute. Here, the ability of heat-killed Escherichia coli, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), or muramyl dipeptide (MDP) to alter IR bias and subsequent allergic response in neonatal pigs was investigated.

Immunoglobulin isotypes of lactating Holstein cows classified as high, average, and low type-1 or -2 immune responders.

Infectious diseases are detrimental to the health and economy of the livestock industry. Observations of cattle resistant to natural infections have implied the feasibility of breeding livestock for disease resistance. Studies of pigs selected for antibody (AMIR)- and cell (CMIR)-mediated immune responses have demonstrated increased immune responsiveness suggesting enhanced protection by both type 2 and type 1 responses, respectively.

Practical immunoregulation: neonatal immune response variation and prophylaxis of experimental food allergy in pigs.

The importance of environment in immune response is identified and the increase in prevalence of allergic, autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases reviewed. In particular, altered opportunity to acquire evolutionarily anticipated commensal microbiota is associated through the "hygiene hypothesis" with defective developmental and response signals to the innate and adaptive immune systems. Evidence of the detrimental effects of such environments is reviewed as is evidence for remediation using controlled exposure to bacteria or their active components such as LPS or peptidoglycan ligands for TLR and NOD-like receptors.

Antibody and cell-mediated immune responses to Staphylococcus aureus small colony variants and their parental strains associated with bovine mastitis.

Persistence of bovine Staphylococcus aureus mastitis may be associated with the small colony variant (SCV) form that is adapted to intracellular life and resists elimination by the immune system. This study evaluated antibody-mediated (AMIR) and cell-mediated immune responses (CMIR) to two bovine SCV forms and their parent strains isolated from cows with mastitis. Four groups of healthy cows, five cows/treatment group, were challenged by the intramammary route with naturally occurring bovine SCV Heba3231, its parent strain 3231, a hemB mutant displaying the SCV phenotype or its parent strain, Newbould 305.

Endogenous antiviral mechanisms of RNA interference: a comparative biology perspective.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a natural process that occurs in many organisms ranging from plants to mammals. In this process, double-stranded RNA or hairpin RNA is cleaved by a RNaseIII-type enzyme called Dicer into small interfering RNA duplex. This then directs sequence-specific, homology-dependent, posttranscriptional gene silencing by binding to its complementary RNA and triggering its elimination through degradation or by inducing translational inhibition.

Porcine allergy and IgE.

Anaphylaxis was reported in 1963 in pigs experimentally sensitized with ovalbumin and was subsequently associated indirectly with IgE-related antibodies by functional assays to confirm heat-labile passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA), reverse passive anaphylaxis (RPA) and Prausnitz-Küstner (PK) reactions to this and other allergens. The immunoglobulin mediating immediate hypersensitivity could be cross-adsorbed with anti-human IgE. Porcine IgE epsilon chain has been cloned and sequenced.

Attenuation of allergy to ovomucoid in pigs by neonatal treatment with heat-killed Escherichia coli or E. coli producing porcine IFN-gamma.

Food allergy is epidemic and prompts investigation to reduce allergic predisposition. It was hypothesized that heat-killed Escherichia coli injected intramuscularly (im) with or without interferon gamma (IFN-gamma), reduces neonatal susceptibility to experimental egg allergy. Two litters of Yorkshire pigs were assigned to three intramuscular treatment groups (four/group): control (PBS), heat-killed E.

Steering orally induced deviation of xenogeneic immunity with exogenous cytokines in rats fed porcine proteins.

Immune response to xenoantigens is a barrier to xenotransplantation. The objective of this study was to determine if rat cell-mediated immunity (CMI) and antibody (Ab) to discordant porcine xenoantigens could be suppressed by oral administration of porcine protein with adjunct systemic cytokine therapy. Based on principles of oral tolerance, it was hypothesized that: a.

Somatic cell scores and clinical signs following experimental intramammary infection of dairy cows with a Staphylococcus aureus small colony variant (S. aureus SCV) in comparison to other bovine strains.

A recently isolated bovine Staphylococcus aureus small colony variant (SCV) was shown to persist within cultured endothelial cells. However, the clinical importance of S. aureus SCV in persistent infection of the mammary gland is unknown.

Antibody to ovalbumin and delayed-type hypersensitivity to Candida albicans and mycobacteria in lactating Holstein cows using Quil A or Freund's complete adjuvant.

Antibody-mediated immune response (AMIR) to ovalbumin (OVA) or hen-egg white lysozyme (HEWL) and cell-mediated immune response (CMIR) such as delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) to mycobacteria have been proposed as quantitative traits for selective breeding to improve animal health. However, DTH to mycobacteria may confound diagnosis of tuberculosis in cattle. Candida albicans, a yeast also known to induce DTH, was tested as an alternative for DTH induction and testing since it is not a target of regulatory diagnostic tests.

Porcine IgE in the context of experimental food allergy: purification and isotype-specific antibodies.

Measurement of allergen-specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) is a common practice in the investigation of allergy. It has not been possible to measure porcine IgE due to unavailability of anti-porcine IgE. This study was undertaken to purify and characterize porcine IgE from sera of allergic pigs, identify heterologous anti-IgE reactive with pig IgE and to use purified heavy (H) chain of porcine IgE to generate rabbit anti-IgE.

Expression of bioactive porcine interferon-gamma by recombinant Lactococcus lactis.

Lactococcus lactis is an immunomodulator and candidate live mucosal delivery vehicle for vaccine antigens and for biologically active molecules, including immunoregulatory cytokines such as interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). To provide a tool for investigating downregulation of allergic predisposition of pigs to experimental food allergy, porcine IFN-gamma was cloned and expressed as a fusion protein with the usp45 secretion signal. Immunoblot analysis with polyclonal anti-pIFN-gamma-antibody demonstrated that the recombinant porcine IFN-gamma (rpIFN-gamma) protein was expressed in the L.

A neonatal swine model of allergy induced by the major food allergen chicken ovomucoid (Gal d 1).

Background: Food allergy is a serious health problem for which a validated outbred large animal model would be useful in comparative investigations of immunopathogenesis and treatment and in testing hypotheses relevant to complex host-environmental interactions in predisposition to and expression of food allergy.

Objective: To establish a neonatal swine model of IgE-mediated allergy to the egg protein ovomucoid (Ovm) that may mimic human allergy.

Methods: In order to induce Ovm sensitivity, piglets at days 14, 21 and 35 of age were sensitized by intraperitoneal injection of 100 microg of crude Ovm and cholera toxin (50, 25 or 10 microg).