Smectite in the treatment of acute diarrhea: a nationwide randomized controlled study of the Italian Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology (SIGEP) in collaboration with primary care pediatricians. SIGEP Study Group for Smectite in Acute Diarrhea.

Background: Childhood gastroenteritis is associated with considerable health costs. The natural clay dioctahedral smectite increases intestinal barrier function and is effective against infectious diarrhea in children in developing countries. The purpose of this work was to investigate the efficacy of smectite in Italian children with acute diarrhea of mild to moderate severity.

Structural and functional features of modified heat-stable toxins produced by enteropathogenic Klebsiella cells.

Heat-stable enterotoxins (STs) are 18- or 19-amino acid peptides (STa or ST1) produced by enteropathogenic bacteria with small differences in their amino acid sequence and a highly conserved carboxy terminus. All STs contain a core of three disulfide bridges whose integrity is believed to be necessary for full biologic activity. We previously reported that strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae transformed by the plasmid pSLM004 produce a modified toxin not recognized by MAb raised against genuine Escherichia coli ST.

Discography: A Review.

The etiology of back pain appears elusive at times. Discography represents one tool that can help in the diagnosis. The following reviews the controversies and uses of this procedure.

[The timing of tracheotomy. Advantages of early timing].

Tracheotomy is widely performed in Intensive Care Units, but no general agreement exists about its correct timing in ventilated patients. Many articles examine the complications of long-term endotracheal intubation and tracheotomy; few data, however, relate these damages and ventilated patients outcome to tracheotomy timing. No universally accepted guidelines exist, but last years clinical practice prefer early tracheotomy, particularly if performed by percutaneous approach.

Neosporosis in water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in Southern Italy.

A study was carried on 1377 water buffalo serum samples from 50 farms in southern Italy to test the presence of Neospora caninum antibodies by indirect fluorescence antibody test (IFAT). Rabbit anti-buffalo immunoglobulins conjugated to fluorescein were used in the test. Fluorescence in sera dilutions above 1:200 was considered as indicative of the presence of N.

Recombinant human, active site-blocked factor VIIa reduces infarct size and no-reflow phenomenon in rabbits.

Oxygen free radicals induce de novo synthesis of tissue factor (TF), the initiator of the extrinsic pathway of coagulation, within the coronary vasculature during postischemic reperfusion. In the present study we wanted to assess whether TF expression might cause myocardial injury during postischemic reperfusion. Anesthetized rabbits underwent 30 min of coronary occlusion followed by 5.

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy in HIV-infected children in Italy.

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy is a major problem in children with HIV infection, who depend on parents or foster parents for receiving drugs. During an ongoing investigation on intestinal function in children with symptomatic HIV infection who were treated with zidovudine, blood samples were obtained six hours after the administration of zidovudine as reported by the parents and, again, one and six hours after its administration in the hospital, and drug concentration was measured by radioimmunoassay. Both peak and steady state zidovudine levels were within the expected concentration ranges after administration in the hospital.

Exocrine pancreatic function and fat malabsorption in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients.

Background: Nutrients malabsorption frequently occurs in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, but very few studies have investigated exocrine pancreatic digestive capacity in these patients. We therefore evaluated the frequency of exocrine pancreatic impairment and its eventual relation with fat malabsorption in HIV-infected patients.

Methods: Thirty-five HIV-infected patients (30 male, 5 female: mean age +/- standard deviation, 33.

Ritonavir combination therapy restores intestinal function in children with advanced HIV disease.

Objectives: To investigate the intestinal absorptive processes in children with HIV infection before and after treatment with combination therapy that includes ritonavir. To test the hypothesis that combination therapy improves intestinal function.

Design: Intestinal function tests were performed in 10 children with advanced HIV disease at the enrollment and after 3 and 6 months of therapy with ritonavir combined with two HIV reverse transcriptase inhibitors.

Severe and protracted diarrhea: results of the 3-year SIGEP multicenter survey. Working Group of the Italian Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology (SIGEP).

Background: The spectrum of severe and protracted diarrhea (SPD), previously defined as intractable diarrhea, has changed during the past several decades. Despite recent advances in determining the cause of SPD and in treatment, this syndrome still represents a challenge and is becoming a major problem affecting health care resources. This study was conducted to characterize the epidemiology, spectrum of causes, and the outcome of SPD in Italy in recent years.

[Acute infectious diarrhea in children].

Infantile acute gastroenteritis is still a frequent problem particularly in younger children, with high mortality rate in developing countries and high impact on health costs in industrialized countries. The increased knowledge on its pathophysiology has led to the definition of two distinct mechanisms of diarrhea: the secretory and the osmotic pathway. Investigation on the host-microorganism interaction revealed a complex scenario with sophisticated mechanisms developed by microorganisms during evolution to overcome the host defense system.

Experimental tracheal transplantation using a cryopreserved aortic allograft.

Background: The tracheal reconstruction after wide resections remains a critical surgical problem. Our aim was to replace trachea with a tissue easy to vascularize, which allows a simple reconstruction and does not require an immunosuppressive regimen.

Materials And Methods: A segment of cryopreserved aorta was used in order to verify its adequacy as tracheal substitute.

Growth hormone stimulates, through tyrosine kinase, ion transport and proliferation in human intestinal cells.

Background: Growth hormone (GH) stimulates intestinal growth and differentiation and promotes water and ion absorption in the rat intestine. Epidermal growth factor has similar effects, which involve tyrosine kinase activity. The effects of growth hormone on ion transport and cell growth and the role of tyrosine kinase in these effects were examined in a human-derived intestinal cell line (Caco-2).

Self-monitoring and student integration of community college students.

This article reports how the Self-Monitoring Scale (M. Snyder, 1974) predicted integration in the student integration model (V. Tinto, 1987, 1993) among a sample of 380 American community college students.

Pancreatic dysfunction and its association with fat malabsorption in HIV infected children.

Background: Nutrient malabsorption frequently occurs in HIV infected children, but very few studies have investigated exocrine pancreatic digestive capacity in these cases.

Aims: To investigate pancreatic function in HIV infected children and to determine whether faecal fat loss, a prominent feature of intestinal dysfunction, is associated with pancreatic dysfunction.

Patients: Forty seven children with HIV infection without apparent pancreatic disease and 45 sex and age matched healthy controls.

Enterotoxic effect of the vacuolating toxin produced by Helicobacter pylori in Caco-2 cells.

Preliminary clinical evidence suggests that Helicobacter pylori may be associated with diarrhea through its vacuolating toxin (VacA). To establish whether VacA induces intestinal secretion, epithelial damage, or both, purified pH-activated VacA was added to Caco-2 cell monolayers mounted in Ussing chambers, and electrical parameters were monitored. Mucosal addition of VacA induced an increase in short circuit current, consistent with enterotoxic effect.

Serum pancreatic enzymes in human immunodeficiency virus-infected children. A collaborative study of the Italian Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

Background: Numerous studies have shown pancreatic disease in adult human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients, but there are very few reports on pediatric patients. Our aim was to determine the prevalence of increased serum pancreatic enzyme levels and their relationship to clinical manifestations of acute pancreatitis in HIV-infected children.

Methods: Forty-seven consecutive, symptomatic HIV-infected children (24 male; median age, 7.

Fresh and cryopreserved arterial homografts in the treatment of prosthetic graft infections: experience of the Italian Collaborative Vascular Homograft Group.

Following the experience of cardiac surgeons with homografts in the treatment of infective aortic valve endocarditis, cardiovascular surgeons have investigated in situ revascularization by means of homografts in the management of vascular prosthetic graft infections. Preliminary results are encouraging, but their late fate in long-term follow-up and the influence of preservation techniques are still under investigation. This article reports the experience of the Italian Collaborative Vascular Homograft Group, with the use of fresh and cryopreserved arterial homografts for the treatment of prosthetic graft infections.