Effect of loperamide on mucosal guanylyl cyclase activity in rat jejunum following Escherichia coli heat-stable toxin-induced fluid accumulation.

Loperamide has antidiarrhoeal activities against secretagogues with different mechanisms of action. Besides its opioid-like effect on intestinal motility and secretion it might exhibit additional antisecretory properties which may not be completely elucidated yet. Direct effects of loperamide on mucosal guanylyl cyclase have never been observed.

Inhibition by loperamide of mucus secretion in the rat colon in vivo.

The effect of loperamide on mucus secretion and the net transport of fluid, sodium and potassium was investigated in the perfused rat colon in vivo. Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2, 1 mg/kg per h intraarterially) and deoxycholic acid (2 mM intraluminally) were used as secretagogues. Mucus secretion was determined as the total amount of protein-bound hexose in the effluent.

Discrepancy between effects of cholera toxin on net fluid movement and cAMP levels in rat jejunum, ileum, and colon.

Regional differences in the response to cholera toxin were evaluated in rat jejunum, ileum, and colon in vivo. Ligated intestinal loops were exposed to a supramaximal concentration of cholera toxin for 5 hr, and net fluid transport, adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) concentrations, and adenylate cyclase and phosphodiesterase activities of mucosal homogenates were determined. The fluid transport response and the specific activities of adenylate cyclase (with and without cholera toxin) and phosphodiesterase declined progressively from the jejunum to the colon.

Hepatobiliary fibropolycystic diseases. Two cases of Caroli's disease.

Two case reports of Caroli's disease type I are given. The main clinical features were recurrent severe cholangitis, biliary colics, and persistent cholestasis. Both cases demonstrate the predominance in males and the prevalence of symptoms in adults up to the sixth decade.

Influence of vasoactive intestinal peptide, secretin, and Ala4, Val5-secretin on the net movements of electrolytes, fluid, and mucus in the rat colon in vivo.

The effect of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), secretin, and VIP-secretin (Ala4, Val5-secretin) on the net movements of sodium, potassium, fluid, and mucus was investigated in the rat colon perfused in vivo. Peptides (1-100 micrograms/kg.h) were infused intra-arterially.

The influence of bisacodyl and deacetylbisacodyl on mucus secretion, mucus synthesis and electrolyte movements in the rat colon in vivo.

The effect of the diphenolic laxatives bisacodyl and deacetylbisacodyl on mucus secretion and fluid, sodium and potassium net transport was studied in rat colon perfused in vivo. Mucus output in the effluent was determined as total protein-bound hexose. Deacetylbisacodyl was more potent than the parent compound and was used to investigate dose-response relationships.

Treatment of HBsAg-,HBeAg-positive chronic active hepatitis with adenine arabinoside. A case report with clinical remission and seroconversion to anti-HBs.

A 26-year-old patient developed HBsAg-, HBeAg-positive chronic active hepatitis arising from an acute infection 6 months earlier. Treatment with adenine arabinoside (Ara-A), 15 mg/kg/day administered as overnight infusions for three weeks, resulted in clinical and complete biochemical remission with normalisation of aminotransferases, loss of HBsAg, HBeAg and DNA polymerase, and appearance of Anti-HBs during follow-up for 9 months. Treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection using Ara-A for several weeks may be especially effective when initiated early in the course of the disease.

[Rhino-cranial mucormycosis in acute leukemia].

The diagnosis of acute lymphatic non-T-non-B leukaemia of common ALL type was confirmed in a 22-year-old woman. Cytostatic treatment brought full remission for 21/2 years. Renewed cytostatic treatment for recurrence brought about a mucormycosis in the mid-face region during a period of protracted agranulocytosis, despite antibiotic prophylaxis with ketoconazole and cotrimoxazole.

Bacterial-mycotic liver abscess in a non-immunocompromised host.

We are presenting the case of a 70-year-old, formerly healthy patient. Seven weeks after abdominal surgery, a liver abscess was diagnosed by sonography and aspiration. Cultures revealed a mixed bacterial-fungal etiology.

Inhibition by loperamide of deoxycholic acid induced intestinal secretion.

The effect of loperamide on deoxycholic acid (DOC)-induced secretion was studied in ligated loops of the rat jejunum and colon in vivo. In controls, loperamide slightly augmented fluid absorption. 3 mmol DOC caused net fluid secretion.

Mechanism of action of diphenolic laxatives: the role of adenylate cyclase and mucosal permeability.

Net fluid movement and mucosal 14C-erythritol clearance were measured in ligated colonic loops of the rat in vivo. The diphenolic laxatives, oxyphenisatin and bisacodyl, dose-dependently inhibited net fluid absorption or caused secretion, both increased the 14C-erythritol clearance. Pretreatment with the adenylate cyclase inhibitor, RMI 12 330 A, did not change these results.

Differentiation of secretagogue drugs by chlorpromazine in rat intestine in vivo.

The effect of chlorpromazine (CPZ) on passive epithelial permeability and net fluid movement induced by secretagogues was tested in the rat intestine in vivo. CPZ, in a dose of 20 mg/kg intramuscularly, did not alter colonic permeability either in control conditions or during increased permeability caused by deoxycholic acid (DOC) or bisacodyl. Fluid secretion induced by cholera toxin and theophylline was strongly reduced by CPZ.

Is the secretagogue effect of deoxycholic acid mediated by the adenylate cyclase-cAMP system.

The role of the adenylate cyclase (Ac)-cAMP system in mediating deoxycholic acid (DOC)-induced fluid secretion was studied in the rat jejunum and colon in vivo using the AC inhibitor, RMI 12 330 A. A potent inhibitory effect of RMI 12 330 A on fluid secretion induced by cholera toxin was demonstrated in ligated rat jejunal loops. On the contrary, the changes of fluid movement in jejunal and colonic loops caused by DOC could not be influenced by RMI 12 330 A, and mucosal cAMP levels of colonic loops were not increased.

Independence of the activation of mucus and potassium secretion on the inhibition of sodium and water absorption by deoxycholate in rat colon.

The dose dependence of the influence of deoxycholic acid (DOC) on fluid and sodium absorption, transmural potential difference (PD), permeability of 14C-erythritol and secretion of potassium and mucus (protein bound hexoses) was measured in the in vivo perfused rat colon. The following results were obtained: 1. The threshold concentration for the inhibitory effect of DOC on fluid and sodium absorption is 2 mmol.

Loperamide reduces the intestinal secretion but not the mucosal cAMP accumulation induced by choleratoxin.

The effect of loperamide on net fluid transport and epithelial cAMP accumulation was tested in choleratoxin-exposed ligated colon loops of the rat in vivo. Purified choleratoxin (50 micrograms/ml saline, for 5 h) induced net secretion and doubled cAMP levels in comparison with saline-treated controls. Loperamide (4 mg/kg intragastrically) reduced this secretion by 75%, without diminishing cAMP accumulation; it had no effect on basal fluid transport or cAMP.

[Alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency, liver cirrhosis and pulmonary emphysema (author's transl)].

It is well known that incidence of chronic obstructive lung disease in adult patients with alpha 1-antitrypsin deficiency (ATD) is high. Adult carriers of this genetic trait with cirrhosis of the liver, and also with fibrosis of the liver and hepatoma, have been reported. A causal relationship between ATD and liver lesions has been suspected.

[Percutaneous, transhepatic thrombosis of the coronary vein in the treatment of bleeding oesophageal varices (author's transl)].

Percutaneous, transhepatic catheterisation of the portal vein in order to occlude the gastric coronary vein was carried out in six patients with bleeding oesophageal varices. Bleeding stopped in three patients, but in the other three ceased only temporarily. Complications were one pleural effusion and one haemothorax.