Alarm features and age for predicting upper gastrointestinal malignancy in Chinese patients with dyspepsia with high background prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection and upper gastrointestinal malignancy: an endoscopic database review of 102,665 patients from 1996 to 2006.

Objective: Patients with dyspepsia with alarm features are suspected of having upper gastrointestinal (GI) malignancy; however, the true value of alarm features in predicting an underlying malignancy for patients with dyspepsia with high background prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection and upper GI malignancy is uncertain. The aim of the present study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of alarm features in predicting upper GI malignancy by reviewing an endoscopic database consisting of >100,000 Chinese patients.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data was conducted in a single tertiary medical centre.

Upregulated histone deacetylase 1 expression in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and specific siRNA inhibits the growth of cancer cells.

Objectives: So far, there are no investigations about the role of histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) in tumorigenesis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. This study was designed to elucidate the roles and mechanisms of HDAC1 in tumorigenesis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Methods: Real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry techniques were adopted to detect the expression of HDAC1 in human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma tissues and paired paracancerous tissues.

Quantitative assessment and characterization of visceral hyperalgesia evoked by esophageal balloon distention and acid perfusion in patients with functional heartburn, nonerosive reflux disease, and erosive esophagitis.

Background And Objectives: The role of esophageal hypersensitivity in functional heartburn (FH) with negative pH test, negative symptom index, and the proton pump inhibitor (PPI) failure has not been established. The aim of this study was to investigate the characterization of visceral hyperalgesia evoked by esophageal balloon distention and acid perfusion in patients with FH, nonerosive reflux disease, and erosive esophagitis and further characterize the pathophysiologic mechanism of FH.

Methods: A total of 21 FH patients (with esophageal acid exposure <3.

Metformin induces apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells.

Aim: To assess the role and mechanism of metformin in inducing apoptosis of pancreatic cancer cells.

Methods: The human pancreatic cancer cell lines ASPC-1, BxPc-3, PANC-1 and SW1990 were exposed to metformin. The inhibition of cell proliferation and colony formation via apoptosis induction and S phase arrest in pancreatic cancer cell lines of metformin was tested.

[Characteristics of cortical mapping in response to acid exposure in non-erosive reflux disease and erosive esophagitis using functional magnetic resonance imaging].

Objective: To investigate the brain mechanisms for esophageal visceral hypersensitivity.

Methods: Thirty-one non-erosive reflux disease (NERD) patients, 21 in the group of NERD with esophageal hypersensitivity (NERD-H) and 10 in the group of NERD with normal esophageal sensation (NERD-N), 13 patients with erosive esophagitis (EE), and 12 healthy volunteers, all sex- and age-matched, underwent whole brain blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) fictional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record the cortical fMRI response to intraesophageal perfusion of normal saline or dilute hydrochloric acid.

Results: The main centers affected in the NERD-H patients included the secondary somatosensory cortex (SII), primary somatosensory cortex (S1), right prefrontal cortex (PFC), right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), insular cortex, amygdala, striatum, motor cortex and its supplementary area, and cerebellum cortices, which form part of the matrix controlling emotional, autonomic modulatory responses to pain.

Esophageal motility in patients with sliding hiatal hernia with reflux esophagitis.

Background: Patients with sliding hiatus hernia (HH) and reflux esophagitis (RE) usually suffer from esophageal dysmotility. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of acid reflux and duodenal gastroesophageal reflux (DGER), esophageal manometry, and esophageal dysmotility by applying the barium meal examination.

Methods: RE with HH was initially diagnosed using the reflux disease questionnaire, and was further confirmed by a barium meal examination and an endoscopy.

[The clinical value of endoscopic ultrasonography in early diagnosis of pancreatic tumor].

Objective: To investigate the clinical value of endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) and intraductal ultrasonography (IDUS) compared with the other imaging examination in the early diagnosis of pancreatic tumor.

Methods: Retrospect studied of 188 cases of small pancreatic lesions (less than 3 cm in diameter) detected by EUS, IDUS and the other imaging examination at Changhai hospital from October 1992 to September 2006.

Results: (1) The accurate rate of small pancreatic cancer diagnosed by EUS was 95.

Effect of esomeprazole and rabeprazole on intragastric pH in healthy Chinese: an open, randomized crossover trial.

Background And Aim: Esomeprazole is the S-isomer of omeprazole, with a stronger acid suppressive effect than omeprazole. This open, randomized crossover study was designed to evaluate the effect of esomeprazole and another proton-pump inhibitor, rabeprazole, on intragastric pH in healthy Chinese.

Methods: Thirty-six healthy volunteers (26 men and 10 women, aged between 20 and 31 years) were enrolled.

Construction of an oral recombinant DNA vaccine from H pylori neutrophil activating protein and its immunogenicity.

Aim: To construct a live attenuated Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium) strain harboring the H pylori neutrophil activating protein (HP-NAP) gene as an oral recombinant DNA vaccine, and to evaluate its immunogenicity.

Methods: By genetic engineering methods, the genomic DNA of H pylori was extracted as a template.

Endoscopic management of foreign bodies in the upper-GI tract: experience with 1088 cases in China.

Background: Reports on endoscopic management of ingested foreign bodies of the upper-GI tract in China are scarce.

Objective: To report our experience and outcome in the management of ingestion of foreign bodies in Chinese patients.

Setting And Patients: Between January 1980 and January 2005, a total of 1088 patients (685 men and 403 women; age range, 1 day to 96 years old) with suspected foreign bodies were admitted to our endoscopy center.

Role of duodenogastroesophageal reflux in the pathogenesis of esophageal mucosal injury and gastroesophageal reflux symptoms.

Background And Aim: Patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) usually suffer from acid reflux and duodenogastroesophageal reflux (DGER) simultaneously. The question of whether DGER has an important effect on the development of GERD remains controversial. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of DGER in the pathogenesis of GERD and its value for the diagnosis of nonerosive reflux disease (NERD).

[A study of cerebral evoked potentials response to esophageal distention in non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease].

Objective: To study the mechanism of visceral hypersensitivity in patients with non-erosive gastroesophageal reflux disease (NERD) and to get further objective evidence in the abnormal alteration of the afferents involved in mediating esophageal sensation by cerebral evoked potentials (CEP).

Methods: We recruited 21 NERD patients and 10 normal healthy volunteers for the study. Mechanical distention stimulation was performed using a balloon-affixed polyvinyl multilumen catheter.

Changes in endothelin-1 gene expression in the gastric mucosa of rats under cold-restraint-stress.

Objective: To investigate in rats the role of endothelin (ET)-1 gene expression in the development and progression of acute gastric mucosal lesions (AGML) induced by stress, and the effect of BQ-123 (a special ETA receptor antagonist) on the AGML.

Methods: A rat model of gastric ulcer induced by cold-restraint-stress (CRS) was used. ET-1 concentrations in the plasma and gastric mucosa were determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA), gastric mucosa blood flow (GMBF) was measured with a laser Doppler flow meter, the ulcer index (UI) was used to estimate the degree of gastric mucosa damage and the expression levels of ET-1 mRNA in the gastric mucosa were measured using dot blot and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Angiotensin II type 1 receptor mRNA and its protein expression in human pancreatic cancer cell lines.

Objective: The incidence of pancreatic cancer is increasing in China, and in many patients the surrounding lymphatics have already been invaded and there is blood-borne metastasis at the time of diagnosis. Additionally, pancreatic cancer is largely refractory to conventional therapies. Therefore, to improve its prognosis, it is important to resolve the problem of its growth.

Dynamic changes of mitogen-activated protein kinase signal transduction in rats with severe acute pancreatitis.

Objective: To investigate the dynamic changes of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal transduction in rats with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP).

Methods: The SAP model was induced by infusing the bilio-pancreatic duct of 56 Sprague-Dawley rats with 5% sterile sodium taurocholate solution. The rats were randomly divided into seven groups: control group, 0.

Study of visceral hypersensitivity in irritable bowel syndrome.

Objective: Visceral hypersensitivity is highly prevalent in most functional bowel disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and activation of intestinal mast cells (MC) may play a role because they have been found in close proximity to gastrointestinal mucosal sensory nerve terminals containing neuropeptides and a bi-directional pathway connecting the central nervous system, gut, and MC has been demonstrated. The current study appraised the status of rectal visceral perception, as well as the changes in the MC and substance P (SP) in the intestinal mucosa of patients with IBS.

Methods: The study group comprised 42 patients with IBS and 19 healthy subjects who underwent anorectal manometry and rectal perception thresholds to balloon distension.

Construction of a recombinant attenuated Salmonella typhimurium DNA vaccine carrying Helicobacter pylori hpaA.

Aim: To construct a recombinant attenuated Salmonella typhimurium DNA vaccine carrying Helicobacter pylori hpaA gene and to detect its immunogenicity.

Methods: Genomic DNA of the standard H pylori strain 17 874 was isolated as the template, hpaA gene fragment was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and cloned into pUCmT vector. DNA sequence of the amplified hpaA gene was assayed, then cloned into the eukaryotic expression vector pIRES through enzyme digestion and ligation reactions.

[The role of duodenogastroesophageal reflux in gastroesophageal reflux disease].

Objective: To investigate the role of duodenogastroesophageal reflux (DGER) in the pathogenesis of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and its value for the diagnosis of non-erosive reflux disease (NERD).

Methods: 95 cases of GERD were divided into two groups according to endoscopic findings: reflux esophagitis (RE) (n = 51) and NERD (n = 44). Simultaneous 24-hour esophageal pH and bilirubin monitoring were performed.

Detection of K-ras point mutation and telomerase activity during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Aim: To study the value of monitoring K-ras point mutation at codon 12 and telomerase activity in exfoliated cells obtained from pancreatic duct brushings during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

Methods: Exfoliated cells obtained from pancreatic duct brushings during ERCP were examined in 27 patients: 23 with pancreatic cancers, 4 with chronic pancreatitis. K-ras point mutation was detected with the polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment-length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP).

[Treatment of refractory malignant biliary obstraction: comparing results of percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage with external catheters or endoscopic metallic stenting].

Objective: To compare the initial results and adverse events of percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage with external catheters or metallic stents for refractory malignant biliary obstruction.

Methods: To review the data of those patients with refractory malignant biliary obstruction treated with external catheters or metallic stents in Changhai hospital from Sept. 1999 to Aug.

Detection of point mutation in K-ras oncogene at codon 12 in pancreatic diseases.

Aim: To investigate frequency and clinical significance of K-ras mutations in pancreatic diseases and to identify its diagnostic values in pancreatic carcinoma.

Methods: 117 ductal lesions were identified in the available sections from pancreatic resection specimens of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, comprising 24 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, 19 peritumoral ductal atypical hyperplasia, 58 peritumoral ductal hyperplasia and 19 normal duct at the tumor free resection margin. 24 ductal lesions were got from 24 chronic pancreatitis.