Primary hydatid cyst of the gallbladder: a case report.

Introduction: Echinococcosis, or hydatid disease, is endemic in some regions of the world, and has been a common pathology of surgical wards in Kosovo. Primary hydatid cyst of the gallbladder is an unusual and very rare localization of hydatid disease. So far, only five cases that fulfill the criteria of primary gallbladder hydatidosis have been published in the English medical literature.

A comparison of three single layer anastomotic techniques in the colon of the rat.

Introduction: Although intestinal anastomoses are mainly made by staplers, manual anastomoses are still in use worldwide. In previous studies, single layer anastomosis has shown better results compared to double layer techniques.

Purpose: To test experimentally some aspects of three different single layer anastomotic techniques in order to identify advantages and disadvantages of each.

Role of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in hyperoxia-induced enhancement of contractility and impairment of relaxation in lung parenchyma.

Prolonged hyperoxic exposure contributes to neonatal lung injury, and airway hyperreactivity is characterized by enhanced contraction and impaired relaxation of airway smooth muscle. Our previous data demonstrate that hyperoxia in rat pups upregulates expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) mRNA and protein, disrupts NO-cGMP signaling, and impairs cAMP production in airway smooth muscle. We hypothesized that BDNF-tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) signaling plays a functional role in airway hyperreactivity via upregulation of cholinergic mechanisms in hyperoxia-exposed lungs.

Disruption of NO-cGMP signaling by neonatal hyperoxia impairs relaxation of lung parenchyma.

Exposure of immature lungs to hyperoxia for prolonged periods contributes to neonatal lung injury and airway hyperreactivity. We studied the role of disrupted nitric oxide-guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (NO-cGMP) signaling in impairing the relaxant responses of lung tissue from hyperoxia-exposed rat pups. Pups were exposed to >/=95% O(2) or room air for 7 days starting from days 1, 5, or 14.

An astrocyte toxin influences the pattern of breathing and the ventilatory response to hypercapnia in neonatal rats.

Recent in vitro data suggest that astrocytes may modulate respiration. To examine this question in vivo, we treated 5-day-old rat pups with methionine sulfoximine (MS), a compound that alters carbohydrate and glutamate metabolism in astrocytes, but not neurons. MS-treated pups displayed a reduced breathing frequency (f) in baseline conditions relative to saline-treated pups.