The effect of taurine treatment on oxidative stress in experimental liver fibrosis.

Oxidative stress is important in pathogenesis of liver fibrosis, which is the result of deposition of excessive ECM proteins produced by activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production decreases collagen accumulation in liver. We investigated the benefits of antioxidant therapy in liver fibrosis and its association with HSC apoptosis.

Is late antibiotic prophylaxis effective in the prevention of secondary pancreatic infection?

Background: Secondary infection of the inflamed pancreas is the principal cause of death after severe acute pancreatitis (AP). Although patients are not always managed early in the course of AP in clinical practice, prophylactic antibiotics that were used in experimental studies in rats were always initiated early after induction of pancreatitis. The effectiveness of antibiotics initiated later is unknown.