Sofalcone, a mucoprotective agent, increases the cure rate of Helicobacter pylori infection when combined with rabeprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin.

Aim: The mucoprotective agents, sofalcone and polaprezinc have anti-Helicobacter pylori (H pylori) activities. We determined the therapeutic effects of sofalcone and polaprezinc when combined with rabeprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycin for Helicobacter pylori infection.

Methods: One hundred and sixty-five consecutive outpatients with peptic ulcer and H pylori infection were randomly assigned to one of the following three groups and medicated for 7 d.

Effect of Helicobacter pylori eradication on gastric hyperplastic polyposis in Cowden's disease.

A 21-year-old woman with complaints of hematochezia was diagnosed as having Cowden's disease (CD), an autosomal dominant condition characterized by multiple hamartomas, since facial papules and gingival papillomas were identified. On endoscopy, multiple hyperplastic polyps were seen in the rectum and left-side colon. There were also esophageal glycogenic acanthosis and hyperplastic polyposis in the antrum accompanied by Helicobacter pylori-related gastritis.

High-dose rabeprazole-amoxicillin versus rabeprazole-amoxicillin-metronidazole as second-line treatment after failure of the Japanese standard regimen for Helicobacter pylori infection.

Background: There is currently no optimal second-line treatment after failure of Helicobacter pylori triple therapy.

Aim: To determine effective salvage therapy after failure of lansoprazole-amoxicillin-clarithromycin.

Methods: After failure of lansoprazole-amoxicillin-clarithromycin 123 out-patients were randomized to receive either 2-week rabeprazole (20 mg b.

Lafutidine, a novel histamine H2-receptor antagonist, vs lansoprazole in combination with amoxicillin and clarithromycin for eradication of Helicobacter pylori.

Background: In contrast to the growing amount of data concerning proton pump inhibitor-based triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection, it is still controversial whether proton pump inhibitor can be replaced by H2 receptor antagonist without compromising efficacy. Lafutidine is a novel potent H2 receptor antagonist with gastroprotective activities such as enhancement of gastric mucosal blood flow.

Methods: 122 outpatients with positive cultures and subsequent successful cultivation of H.

Five minute endoscopic urea breath test with 25 mg of (13)C-urea in the management of Helicobacter pylori infection.

Objective: The endoscopic (13)C-urea breath test ((13)C-EUBT), which combines the urea breath test (UBT) with endoscopy, provides high accuracy for the detection of Helicobacter pylori. This study was conducted to determine whether the (13)C-EUBT using low doses of urea and short sampling times could preserve accuracy in the management of H. pylori infection.

Different distribution of mast cells and macrophages in colonic mucosa of patients with collagenous colitis and inflammatory bowel disease.

Background/aims: Chronic inflammatory cells in colonic mucosa is a histopathologic feature in patients with collagenous colitis and inflammatory bowel disease. The aim of this study was to compare the distribution of mast cells and macrophages in the colonic mucosa of patients with collagenous colitis, Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis.

Methodology: Patients with histologically confirmed collagenous colitis (n = 13), Crohn's disease (n = 20) or ulcerative colitis (n = 20) and normal control patients (n = 20) were included in this study.

Accumulation of mast cells and macrophages in focal active gastritis of patients with Crohn's disease.

Background/aims: Recent studies have shown that focal active gastritis seems to be the typical gastric pathology in Crohn's disease. The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of focal active gastritis, Helicobacter pylori infection and distribution of gastric mast cells and macrophages in patients with Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis and H. pylori gastritis without inflammatory bowel disease.

Enhanced expression of transcription factor E2F in Helicobacter pylori-infected gastric mucosa.

Objective: Helicobacter pylori is implicated in gastric carcinogenesis through increased gastric epithelial cell turnover. In fact, high proportions of proliferating and apoptotic epithelial cells are found in H. pylori-infected gastric mucosa.

Ulcerative colitis complicating pseudomembranous colitis of the right colon.

A 65-year-old man in the remission stage of ulcerative colitis developed severe bloody diarrhea and high fever. He was treated with imipenem/cilastatin and clindamycin for infectious enterocolitis at a local hospital, but there was no improvement in his condition. Steroid pulse therapy was also ineffective.

5-day vs. 7-day triple therapy with rabeprazole, clarithromycin and amoxicillin for Helicobacter pylori eradication.

Aim: To determine whether a 5-day regimen with rabeprazole, clarithromycin and amoxicillin (RCA) was as effective as a 7-day regimen.

Methods: A total of 139 H. pylori-infected patients were randomized to receive either a 5-day or 7-day course of rabeprazole 10 mg b.

Effect of intrarectal prostaglandin E2 analogue (enprostil) on trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid-induced colitis in rats.

Prostaglandins exert a protective effect on colonic mucosa in experimentally induced colitis. This study investigated the effect of enprostil, a prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) analogue, on trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid (TNBS)-induced colitis in rats. Each rat received a rectal enema containing TNBS (30 mg), followed 24 h later by intrarectal once-daily enprostil (200 microg).

Development of hepatocellular carcinoma in a patient with chronic hepatitis C after 6 years of a sustained and complete response to IFN-alpha.

The authors report a rare case of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) that developed 6 years after a sustained and complete response to interferon (IFN) therapy for chronic hepatitis C. A 61-year-old Japanese man presented with a mass in the liver that was diagnosed as HCC. Six years earlier he was treated with IFN-alpha and responded successfully to therapy, with sustained normalization of serum aminotransferases and eradication of serum hepatitis C virus (HCV)-ribonucleic acid (RNA).

Von Hippel-Lindau disease with multiple spinal cord hemangioblastomas, syringomyelia and pheochromocytoma.

A 31-year-old blind man presented with numbness and weakness in the left hand, and elevated blood pressure. Multiple hemangioblastomas in the spinal cord associated with syringomyelia were well demonstrated by gadolinium-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). He also had pheochromocytoma in the right adrenal gland, which was disclosed by abdominal computed tomography, MRI and 131I-metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy.