Anti-carcinogenic properties of curcumin on colorectal cancer.

Curcumin has been used in traditional Indian medicine for many centuries for its anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic properties. There has been some promising research concerning curcumin as a safe therapeutic agent for many cancers, colorectal cancer being among them. This has been shown through research in cell cultures, animal models, and humans.

Microscopic colitis: a large retrospective analysis from a health maintenance organization experience.

Aim: To examine the demographic data on a large multi-ethnic population of patients with microscopic colitis (MC) in Southern California and to determine the association of MC with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer.

Methods: All patients diagnosed with MC by colonic biopsy from 1996-2005 were identified utilizing a pathology database. All biopsies were reviewed by experienced pathologists utilizing standard histologic criteria.

Treatment of HIV-associated diarrhea with curcumin.

Curcumin is the organic extract of turmeric and possesses known anti-inflammatory properties. Our aim was to explore the utility of curcumin in patients with HIV-associated diarrhea. Eight patients with HIV-associated diarrhea were given a mean daily dose of 1,862 mg of curcumin and followed for a mean of 41 weeks.

Therapy for human gastrointestinal microsporidiosis.

Gastrointestinal microsporidiosis is a major cause of diarrhea and wasting in persons with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). Microsporidia demonstrate properties of both true eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The biology of microsporidia makes its elimination from the gastrointestinal tract therapeutically challenging.

Successful treatment of idiopathic colitis and proctitis using thalidomide in persons infected with human immunodeficiency virus.

Gastrointestinal ulcerations in persons infected with HIV have many causes, the most common being opportunistic infections and neoplasms. Recently, idiopathic ulcerative lesions of the colon and rectum have been described. Two cases are reported of idiopathic colonic and anorectal inflammation and ulceration which failed traditional therapies but responded to thalidomide with complete clinical and histologic resolution.

Permanence of Fungi-Fluor epifluorescence stain to detect microsporidia.

Objective: Epifluorescence microscopy, a methodology for the screening of bodily fluids and tissue specimens for microsporidia species, was directed to evaluate the retention of epifluorescence of fixed and stained specimens over time.

Methods: Thirty samples of stool, bodily fluids, duodenal touch preparations, and biopsies, were tested for the retention of their epifluoresence using the Fungi-Fluor procedure. Specimens were examined under a 330- to 380-nm UV filter at the time of preparation, 3 wk later, and then at monthly intervals for 18 months.

Examination of the prevalence and seasonal variation of intestinal microsporidiosis in the stools of persons with chronic diarrhea and human immunodeficiency virus infection.

The epidemiology of human microsporidiosis is poorly understood and environmental factors affecting transmission of the organism have not been fully elucidated. Temporal variation in the prevalence of microsporidia in the stool of patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and diarrhea was studied to evaluate the role of water-borne transmission. From January 1993 to December 1996, 8,439 stools from HIV-infected individuals were examined for microsporidia spores in southern California.

Modification of the clinical course of intestinal microsporidiosis in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients by immune status and anti-human immunodeficiency virus therapy.

The clinical course of 37 Enterocytozoon bieneusi-infected acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients with diarrhea was studied. Parasite clearance was seen in 15 patients (40.5%).

Workup of gastrointestinal microsporidiosis.

Microsporidia, which are members of the phylum Microspora, are increasingly recognized as causing opportunistic infections in persons with immunodeficiency (e.g., AIDS).

Fluorescence techniques for diagnosing intestinal microsporidiosis in stool, enteric fluid, and biopsy specimens from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients with chronic diarrhea.

Objective: To evaluate three fluorescent chitin stains for detecting microsporidia spores in specimens from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) patients with chronic diarrhea.

Methods: We compared the Fungifluor, Calcofluor White, and Fungiqual A fluorochrome stains for identifying Enterocytozoon bieneusi and Septata intestinalis spores in stool, intestinal fluid, biopsy imprints, and paraffin biopsy sections. The modified chromotrope trichrome stain was used as the standard light microscopic technique for stool and fluid specimens.

Fluconazole compared with ketoconazole for the treatment of Candida esophagitis in AIDS. A randomized trial.

Objective: To determine the clinical and endoscopic response of candida esophagitis to antifungal therapy and to compare the two oral antifungal agents, fluconazole and ketoconazole.

Design: Multicenter, randomized, double-blind trial.

Setting: Fifteen U.

In vitro model of attachment of Giardia intestinalis trophozoites to IEC-6 cells, an intestinal cell line.

Attachment of giardias to intestinal cells has been difficult to study because of a lack of a convenient in vitro model. We developed an assay for attachment of radiolabeled trophozoites to IEC-6 cells that can be done in microtiter trays. Attachment was confirmed by scanning and transmission electron microscopy.

Cellular levels of thymosin immunoreactive peptides are linked to proliferative events: evidence for a nuclear site of action.

Thymosin alpha 1 (T alpha 1), the N-terminal 28-amino acid fragment of prothymosin alpha (ProT alpha), and ProT alpha, although originally isolated from whole thymus extracts, are also present in nonthymic cells and tissues. We used an ELISA with an antibody raised against T alpha 1 to investigate the relationship between intracellular levels of thymosin immunoreactive peptide(s) (TIP) and cell proliferation in a rat small intestinal IEC-6 cell line. Increasing TIP levels were observed during cell proliferation, which decreased when proliferation was halted by cellular contact inhibition.

Modulation of epidermal growth factor-induced cell proliferation and receptor binding by insulin in cultured intestinal epithelial cells.

The effect of insulin on EGF-induced cell proliferation and on modulation of EGF receptors was examined in IEC-6 cells in culture. Insulin-induced cell proliferation was not seen until concentration of the hormone reached the microgram (10 micrograms/ml) level, producing an increase in EGF receptor binding affinity (Ka 8.2 +/- .

Biochemical markers in colorectal cancer: diagnostic and therapeutic implications.

Markers that are now in use, including CEA and CA-19-9, are not specific or sensitive enough to detect early colorectal cancer. Newer tumor markers such as polyamines, ornithine decarboxylase, and altered blood group carbohydrate antigens may have a potential as future tumor markers. Additional studies of these markers as well as the development of new biochemical markers are warranted in the future to enhance the sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis of early colorectal cancer and those at risk for developing cancer.

Relationship of hormones and growth factors to colon cancer.

The role of hormones and growth factors in the pathogenesis and therapy of colon cancer is biologically intricate and medically important. The effects of the previously described hormones and growth factors on normal and neoplastic colonic growth and development suggest the mechanisms by which hormonal alteration might either enhance or suppress the cancer process. The high degree of association between the specific endocrine-related processes (breast cancer, acromegaly, hyperparathyroidism, gastrin sensitivity of colon cancer, and cancer cell lines) suggests a significant role for hormones in colonic carcinogenesis.

Fatal pancreatitis presenting with subcutaneous fat necrosis. Evidence that lipase and amylase alone do not induce lipocyte necrosis.

We report a case of fatal pancreatitis heralded by the presence of cutaneous panniculitis without abdominal pain or other stigmata of the disease. Although cutaneous fat necrosis has been associated with pancreatitis, it is unusual as the presenting complaint of this relatively common disease. In vitro evidence suggests that human pancreatic amylase or lipase alone is not responsible for the observed panniculitis.

The effects of gastrin, epidermal growth factor, and somatostatin on DNA synthesis in a small intestinal crypt cell line (IEC-6).

Exposure of IEC-6 cells for 24 hr to either gastrin (50-500 ng/ml) or EGF (100-500 ng/ml) significantly stimulated (100-165%) the rate of [3H]thymidine incorporation into DNA (referred to as DNA synthesis) when compared with the corresponding basal levels. Somatostatin (10-500 ng/ml) produced no apparent change in DNA synthesis in IEC cells. On the other hand, somatostatin completely inhibited the EGF-induced rise in DNA synthesis.