A Prospective Study on Lactate Dehydrogenase Levels in Acute Intestinal Obstruction as a Marker of Bowel Gangrene.

Background Intestinal obstruction continues to be one of the most common causes of emergencies presenting to the surgical department. A thorough clinical examination along with relevant investigations continue to be best modality for timely management and prompt decision-making in such cases. Objectives The aim of this study was to identify patients of intestinal obstruction with elevated levels of serum lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and correlate elevated LDH levels with bowel viability.

Expression of , , and in the mature cochlea reprograms nonsensory cells into hair cells.

Mechanosensory hair cells of the mature mammalian organ of Corti do not regenerate; consequently, loss of hair cells leads to permanent hearing loss. Although nonmammalian vertebrates can regenerate hair cells from neighboring supporting cells, many humans with severe hearing loss lack both hair cells and supporting cells, with the organ of Corti being replaced by a flat epithelium of nonsensory cells. To determine whether the mature cochlea can produce hair cells in vivo, we reprogrammed nonsensory cells adjacent to the organ of Corti with three hair cell transcription factors: , , and We generated numerous hair cell-like cells in nonsensory regions of the cochlea and new hair cells continued to be added over a period of 9 wk.

Cellular reprogramming with ATOH1, GFI1, and POU4F3 implicate epigenetic changes and cell-cell signaling as obstacles to hair cell regeneration in mature mammals.

Reprogramming of the cochlea with hair-cell-specific transcription factors such as ATOH1 has been proposed as a potential therapeutic strategy for hearing loss. ATOH1 expression in the developing cochlea can efficiently induce hair cell regeneration but the efficiency of hair cell reprogramming declines rapidly as the cochlea matures. We developed Cre-inducible mice to compare hair cell reprogramming with ATOH1 alone or in combination with two other hair cell transcription factors, GFI1 and POU4F3.

Randomized clinical trial: Combination antiretroviral therapy with tenofovir-emtricitabine and lopinavir-ritonavir in patients with primary biliary cholangitis.

Background: Prior studies using reverse transcriptase inhibitors to treat a human betaretrovirus (HBRV) in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) resulted in a 21% reduction in alkaline phosphatase (ALP). Herein, we studied the safety and efficacy of combination tenofovir-emtricitabine (TDF/FTC) and lopinavir-ritonavir (LPRr) in PBC patients unresponsive to ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA).

Methods: A double-blind randomized controlled trial was performed in patients on UDCA for 6 months or more with ALP levels greater than two-fold the upper limit of normal or bilirubin greater than the upper limit of normal.

Perforated Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor of the Meckel's Diverticulum: a Case Report and Review of Literature.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) are the most common mesenchymal tumors of the GI tract, they have a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations, and a small proportion of them present as an acute abdomen due to obstruction, perforation, or hemoperitoneum. We present a case of a perforated GIST of the Meckel's diverticulum and review the current literature on perforated GISTs. We ran a search on Pubmed and Google Scholar with the following terms "perforated GIST," "perforated Meckel's diverticulum," "GIST with peritonitis," and "GIST in Meckel's diverticulum.

Synchronous malignancies of the gall bladder and common bile duct: a case report.

Background: Synchronous malignancies of the gall bladder and common bile duct are a rare entity. Much of our knowledge on this topic comes from Japanese literature. Most of the synchronous carcinomas described in Japanese literature are associated with the presence of an anomalous pancreatic-bile duct junction (APBDJ).