Breath Tests Used in the Context of Bariatric Surgery.

This review article focuses on the use of breath tests in the field of bariatrics and obesitology. The first part of the review is an introduction to breath test problematics with a focus on their use in bariatrics. The second part provides a brief history of breath testing.

Faecal immunochemical tests for haemoglobin: Analytical challenges and potential solutions.

Quantitative faecal immunochemical tests for haemoglobin (FIT) are being used increasingly around the world in colorectal cancer screening programmes, and in patients presenting with lower bowel symptoms to determine who should proceed to further bowel visualisation investigations, usually colonoscopy. The clinical utility of FIT is well reported. There are a number of analytical challenges including pre-analytical variation, difficulty setting up external quality assessment schemes, access to third party internal quality control material and a lack of standardisation or harmonisation of FIT methods.

Laboratory screening markers in gastroenterology--state of the art.

Introduction: Screening tests for gastrointestinal diseases acceptable for population with a high sensitivity and high specificity can now be offered by clinical laboratories. This paper summarizes major recent advances in this area of laboratory medicine.

Methods: Relevant articles published within the last 5 years in the NLM (National Library of Medicine) PubMed - Medline database covering the three gastrointestinal diseases - colorectal cancer, coeliac disease, and atrophic gastritis were included for this overview.

[Specificities of the diagnostics and therapy of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency].

Exocrine pancreatic insufficiency develops steadily; however, the initial reduction in secretion is practically not diagnosable. More advanced stages, which usually replicate morphological changes, can be determined with tests which asses the exocrine pancreatic capacity. Substantial damage of the pancreas and replacement of viable parenchyma with connective tissue is accompanied by the occurrence of steatorrhoea.

Improvements in colorectal cancer screening programmes - quantitative immunochemical faecal occult blood testing - how to set the cut-off for a particular population.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the optimum cut-off value of the quantitative immunochemical test (q-FIT) OC-Sensor for colorectal cancer and advanced adenomatous polyps in a particular population.

Methods: 815 patients were referred for colonoscopy and were offered two q-FIT examinations at two different colonoscopy centers. The patients were classified according to the colonoscopic findings.

Monitoring of daily gliadin intake in patients on gluten-free diets.

The aim of the study was to show patients suffering from the coeliac disease, their real gliadin daily intake, offer them very useful information concerning their diet and to find random possible mistakes. The monitoring was carried out within the context of their routine everyday diet regimen. The daily intake of gliadin in the diet was quantified on the basis of gliadin determination in their current daily food.

[Faecal elastase I--its use in diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis].

Background: The diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis is based on the imaging methods. These imaging methods show the main morphological changes in the pancreatic ducts and its parenchyma, but they do not define the function of the pancreas. The aim of our study was Faecal Elastase I.

[Hyperamylasemia, laboratory and clinical aspects].

Biochemical estimation of the total a-amylase represents in the Czech Republic almost two millions of assessments per year. Estimation of the total alpha-amylase for the diagnostics of pancreatic diseases has a very low specificity and it is therefore recommended to analyze specific pancreatic enzymes - pancreatic isoenzyme alpha-amylase and pancreatic lipase. Paper summarizes laboratory and clinical aspects aimed namely on hyperamylasamia.

The serologic screening for celiac disease in the general population (blood donors) and in some high-risk groups of adults (patients with autoimmune diseases, osteoporosis and infertility) in the Czech republic.

The prevalence of celiac disease (CD) was determined in healthy blood donors and in high-risk groups of adults (a total of 1835 adults--randomly selected 1312 healthy blood donors, 102 patients with primary osteoporosis, 58 patients with autoimmune diseases and 365 infertile women). It was calculated on the basis of a two-step serologic screening method--in the first step IgA and IgG antigliadin antibodies (AGA) and IgA anti-gamma-glutamyltransferase ('transglutaminase') antibodies (ATG) were estimated, in the second step sera positive for IgA AGA and/or IgA ATG were examined for antiendomysial IgA (AEA) antibodies. Immunoenzymic assay (ELISA) was used for determining of AGA and ATG antibodies; immunofluorescence method, performed on human umbilical cord tissue, was used for assaying of AEA antibodies.

IgA and IgG antigliadin, IgA anti-tissue transglutaminase and antiendomysial antibodies in patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases and their relationship to thyroidal replacement therapy.

Celiac disease is a chronic illness of the small bowel caused by gliadin intolerance in genetically predisposed subjects. The aim of this study was to investigate serum levels of IgA and IgG antigliadin antibodies, IgA antiendomysial antibodies, and IgA anti-tissue transglutaminase antibodies in 169 patients with autoimmune thyroid diseases, i.e.

Tissue transglutaminase-serology markers for coeliac disease.

Serology markers of coeliac disease (CD) - antigliadin IgA/IgG antibodies (AGA/AGG) with purified alpha-gliadin, antiendomysium IgA antibodies (EmA) and anti-tissue transglutaminase (atTG) IgA/IgG antibodies--determined in 1451 serum samples, were analysed with respect to different screening algorithms. Determination of atTG using five ELISA methods was compared taking into account the impact of human recombinant antigen and IgG class of atTG. A subgroup of 119 patients undergoing small intestinal biopsy was used to calculate sensitivity and specificity of CD markers.

[Occult fecal blood loss--comparison of immunochemical and biochemical tests].

Background: Test of occult fecal blood loss belongs to the basic diagnostic procedures in gastroenterology. That examination is introductory method for screening, diagnosis and dispensarization of patients with colorectal cancer. Most frequently used tests in practice are biochemical and immunochemical tests.

[Digitalization, archival storage and use of image documentation in the GastroBase-II system].

"GastroBase-II" is a module of the clinical information system "KIS-ComSyD"; The main part is represented by structured data-text with an expert system including on-line image digitalization in gastroenterology (incl. endoscopic, X-ray and endosonography pictures). The hardware and software of the GastroBase are described as well as six-years experiences with application of digitalized image data.

Arginase activity determination. A marker of large bowel mucosa proliferation.

Arginase activity of the intestinal mucosa was tested as a proliferative marker in the adenoma-carcinoma sequence. The enzyme activity was determined by an end-point colorimetric method with L-arginine as substrate. Arginase activity was evaluated in 430 biopsy samples of large bowel mucosa, polyps and cancer tissue.

Molecular mimicry as a possible cause of autoimmune reactions in celiac disease? Antibodies to gliadin cross-react with epitopes on enterocytes.

Structural similarities between external antigen and self components are believed to be one of the possible causes of autoimmunity. This study describes the presence of similar structures shared by gliadin and enterocyte surface molecules recognized by antigliadin mAbs. The reactivity of mAbs to gliadin was followed by ELISA using fixed enterocytes, their brush-border membranes, or purified enterocyte antigen.

Characterization of human, mouse and rabbit anti-gliadin antibodies by ELISA and western blotting.

Monoclonal, hyperimmune rabbit and human serum anti-gliadin antibodies were analyzed by ELISA and immunoblotting techniques. In Western blotting the difference in reactivity between monoclonal and human antibodies was quantitative rather than qualitative. Rabbit antisera differed in reactivity according to the protein used for immunization.

Binding of gliadin to lymphoblastoid, myeloid and epithelial cell lines.

The aim of our work was to investigate the in vitro reactivity of gliadin peptides of natural and synthetic origin with various cell lines. We have found that all tested cell lines of human, mouse and rat origin were agglutinated by enzymically digested gliadin (peptic-tryptic- and peptic-tryptic pancreatic digest of alpha-gliadin) in a concentration dependent manner. In order to test the specificity of binding, inhibition studies were performed using a panel of sugars as well as natural and synthetic peptides derived from gliadin.

The clinical information system GastroBase: integration of image processing and laboratory communication.

GastroBase, a clinical information system, incorporates patient identification, medical records, images, laboratory data, patient history, physical examination, and other patient-related information. Program modules are written in C; all data is processed using Novell-Btrieve data manager. Patient identification database represents the main core of this information systems.

[Comparison of immunochemical and biochemical tests for occult hemorrhage in feces].

The authors compared in a group of 104 patients assessment of occult haemorrhage in faeces made by the immunochemical test HemeSelect (HS-SmithKline Diagnostics) and the biochemical Haemoccult test (HT-Röhm Pharma). In all patients subsequently total coloscopy was performed. In the whole group the sensitivity of HS was 49.

Effective peritoneal therapy of acute pancreatitis in the rat with glutaryl-trialanin-ethylamide: a novel inhibitor of pancreatic elastase.

The six hour peritoneal lavage with glutaryl-trialanin-ethylamide, a low molecular competitive inhibitor of pancreatic elastase (IC50-8 mumol/l), effectively suppresses the evolution of taurocholate induced acute pancreatitis in the rat. The lavage alone is followed by a marked decrease of fat necrosis and amylase and lipase activity in serum. The area of pancreatic haemorrhage was significantly reduced only after the lavage solution was supplemented with Glt-Ala3-NHEt.

[Comparison of immunochemical and biochemical methods for determination of occult fecal blood].

The authors compared two tests of occult Fecal Blood Loss--the immunochemical Hemolex test based on agglutination of latex particles lined with antibodies against human haemoglobin and the biochemical Haemoccult test. Both tests were used to examine 55 patients invited to the department for endoscopic polypectomy or coloscopy as part of dispensarization after resection of colorectal carcinoma. The sensitivity of the Hemolex test (48.