Correlation between a gene polymorphism of tumor necrosis factor and inflammatory bowel disease.

Objectives: To analyze polymorphism of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) gene in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients from the Han Chinese ethnic group, and to investigate the role of polymorphism in the pathogenesis of IBD.

Methods: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) techniques were used to analyze gene polymorphisms in the TNF-alpha and TNF-beta genes in 131 patients with IBD.

Results: The genotype frequency and allelic frequency of TNF-alpha-308 in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) were 15.

Diagnosis of atrophic body gastritis in Chinese patients by measuring serum pepsinogen.

Objective: Atrophic body gastritis (ABG) is common in China. Although histology via endoscopy is an efficient and reliable means of diagnosing ABG, it is an invasive procedure. Therefore, in the present study serum pepsinogen (PG) was used as a biomarker to develop a novel noninvasive test as the first option for screening of ABG in certain groups of Chinese.

Postoperative endoscopic surveillance of human living-donor small bowel transplantations.

Aim: To determine the significance of endoscopic surveillance in the diagnosis of acute rejection after human living-donor small bowel transplantations.

Methods: Endoscopic surveillance was performed through the ileostomy after human living-donor small bowel transplantations. The intestinal mucosa was observed and biopsies were performed for pathological observations.