Bile acids inhibit Na⁺/H⁺ exchanger and Cl⁻/HCO₃⁻ exchanger activities via cellular energy breakdown and Ca²⁺ overload in human colonic crypts.

Bile acids play important physiological role in the solubilisation and absorption of dietary lipids. However, under pathophysiological conditions, such as short bowel syndrome, they can reach the colon in high concentrations inducing diarrhoea. In this study, our aim was to characterise the cellular pathomechanism of bile-induced diarrhoea using human samples.

Na+/Ca2+ exchangers regulate the migration and proliferation of human gastric myofibroblasts.

Gastrointestinal myofibroblasts are contractile, electrically nonexcitable, transitional cells that play a role in extracellular matrix production, in ulcer healing, and in pathophysiological conditions they contribute to chronic inflammation and tumor development. Na+/Ca2+ exchangers (NCX) are known to have a crucial role in Ca2+ homeostasis of contractile cells, however, no information is available concerning the role of NCX in the proliferation and migration of gastrointestinal myofibroblasts. In this study, our aim was to investigate the role of NCX in the Ca2+ homeostasis, migration, and proliferation of human gastrointestinal myofibroblasts, focusing on human gastric myofibroblasts (HGMs).

NHE1 activity contributes to migration and is necessary for proliferation of human gastric myofibroblasts.

Myofibroblasts play central roles in wound healing, deposition of the extracellular matrix and epithelial function. Their functions depend on migration and proliferation within the subepithelial matrix, which results in accelerated cellular metabolism. Upregulated metabolic pathways generate protons which need to be excreted to maintain intracellular pH (pH(i)).

Efficacy and safety of infliximab induction therapy in Crohn's Disease in Central Europe--a Hungarian nationwide observational study.

Background: Infliximab (IFX) has proven to be an effective addition to the therapeutic arsenal for refractory, fistulizing, and steroid dependent Crohn's disease (CD), with efficacy in the induction and maintenance of clinical remission of CD. Our objective in this study is to report the nationwide, multicenter experience with IFX induction therapy for CD in Hungary.

Methods: During a 6-year-period, beginning in 2000, a total of 363 CD patients were treated with IFX as induction therapy (5 mg/kg IFX infusions given at week 0, 2 and 6) at eleven centers in Hungary in this observational study.

Efficacy of 6-mercaptopurine treatment after azathioprine hypersensitivity in inflammatory bowel disease.

Aim: To investigate the efficacy of 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) in cases of azathioprine (AZA) hypersensitivity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease.

Methods: Twenty nine previously confirmed Crohn's disease (CD) (n = 14) and ulcerative colitis (UC) (n = 15) patients with a known previous (AZA) hypersensitivity reaction were studied prospectively. The 6-MP doses were gradually increased from 0.

A new severe acute necrotizing pancreatitis model induced by L-ornithine in rats.

Objective: Intraperitoneal administration of large doses of L-arginine is known to induce severe acute pancreatitis in rats. We therefore set out to determine whether metabolites of L-arginine (L-ornithine, L-citrulline, and nitric oxide) cause pancreatitis.

Design: The authors conducted an in vivo animal study.

Effects of bile acids on pancreatic ductal bicarbonate secretion in guinea pig.

Background And Aims: Acute pancreatitis is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Bile reflux into the pancreas is a common cause of acute pancreatitis and, although the bile can reach both acinar and ductal cells, most research to date has focused on the acinar cells. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of bile acids on HCO(3)(-) secretion from the ductal epithelium.

The c.1-260C>T promoter variant of CD14 but not the c.896A>G (p.D299G) variant of toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) genes is associated with inflammatory bowel disease.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) results from an aberrant immune response to the indigenous intestinal flora in genetically susceptible hosts. Therefore, the study of candidate genes involved in host pathogen interactions is of key interest.

Methods: In this two-center, retrospective German and Hungarian cohort study, patients with Crohn's disease (CD) (n = 379; German n = 235, Hungarian n = 144) and ulcerative colitis (UC) (n = 263; German n = 145, Hungarian n = 118) and healthy controls (n = 605; German n = 403, Hungarian n = 202) were genotyped for the presence of the CD14 c.

No association of the CARD8 (TUCAN) c.30T>A (p.C10X) variant with Crohn's disease: a study in 3 independent European cohorts.

Background: A recent study reported that the c.30T>A (p.Cys10Ter; rs2043211) variant, in the CARD8 (TUCAN) gene, is associated with Crohn's disease (CD).

Increased prevalence of gallstone disease and impaired gallbladder motility in patients with Barrett's esophagus.

The prevalence of gallstones in patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE) and their gallbladder motility relative to that of healthy volunteers and GERD patients without BE were investigated. Of the 707 patients reviewed, 203 (125 males and 78 females) had BE. The prevalence of gallstones was significantly higher in the patients with BE than in those without BE (34 vs.

Endoscopic mucosal resection: not only therapeutic, but a diagnostic procedure for sessile gastric polyps.

Background And Aims: Histological examination of specimens obtained by forceps biopsy sampling of gastric lesions is of limited accuracy, and their management on this basis is therefore controversial. Endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) was initially developed in Japan for the resection of early gastric cancer (EGC). The potential use of EMR as a diagnostic tool has been suggested.

A study in three European IBD cohorts confirms that the ATG16L1 c.898A>G (p.Thr300Ala) variant is a susceptibility factor for Crohn's disease.

Background And Aims: A recent study reported that a nonsynonymous SNP rs2241880 (c.898A>G, p.Thr300Ala) within ATG16L1 confers susceptibility to Crohn's disease (CD).

NOD1 gene E266K polymorphism is associated with disease susceptibility but not with disease phenotype or NOD2/CARD15 in Hungarian patients with Crohn's disease.

Background: NOD1/CARD4, a member of the pattern-recognition receptor family, is a perfect candidate as a susceptibility gene for Crohn's disease. Since only limited and conflicting data are available on G796A polymorphisms in inflammatory bowel disease patients, we set out to study the effect of this polymorphism on the susceptibility and course of Crohn's disease in the Hungarian population.

Methods: Four hundred thirty-four unrelated Crohn's disease patients (age at presentation: 28.

Zerumbone exerts a beneficial effect on inflammatory parameters of cholecystokinin octapeptide-induced experimental pancreatitis but fails to improve histology.

Objective: Our experiments were designed to investigate the effects of zerumbone pretreatment on cholecystokinin octapeptide (CCK-8)-induced acute pancreatitis in rats.

Methods: Male Wistar rats weighing 240 to 280 g were divided into a control group, a group treated with CCK-8, a group receiving 20 mg/kg zerumbone before CCK-8 administration, and a group treated with zerumbone only.

Results: The serum amylase and lipase activities and the pancreatic weight-body weight ratio were significantly reduced by zerumbone pretreatment, but the drug failed to influence the histological parameters of pancreatitis.

Heterozygosity for IL23R p.Arg381Gln confers a protective effect not only against Crohn's disease but also ulcerative colitis.

Background: A recent study reported that a non-synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism (rs11209026, p.Arg381Gln) located in the IL23R gene is a protective marker for inflammatory bowel disease.

Aim: To analyse the frequency of p.

CFTR gene transfer to human cystic fibrosis pancreatic duct cells using a Sendai virus vector.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a fatal inherited disease caused by the absence or dysfunction of the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) Cl- channel. About 70% of CF patients are exocrine pancreatic insufficient due to failure of the pancreatic ducts to secrete a HCO3- -rich fluid. Our aim in this study was to investigate the potential of a recombinant Sendai virus (SeV) vector to introduce normal CFTR into human CF pancreatic duct (CFPAC-1) cells, and to assess the effect of CFTR gene transfer on the key transporters involved in HCO3- transport.

New experimental method to study acid/base transporters and their regulation in lacrimal gland ductal epithelia.

Purpose: The main function of the lacrimal gland is to produce the most aqueous component of the tear film covering the surfaces of the cornea and the conjunctiva. Studies have been conducted that characterize the mixed fluid and protein secretion of isolated acini, but no methods have been developed to characterize lacrimal gland ductal cell (LGDC) secretion. Secretory mechanisms of ductal epithelia may play physiological roles in the maintenance of the standard environments for the cornea and the conjunctiva.

Hyperlipidemia induced by a cholesterol-rich diet aggravates necrotizing pancreatitis in rats.

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether hyperlipidemia can cause acute pancreatitis or alter its severity. Male Wistar rats were fed a 3% cholesterol-enriched diet or a normal diet for 16 weeks. Edematous and necrotizing pancreatitis was induced with 3x75 mug/kg body weight of cholecystokinin s.

How can a pancreatic neoplasm be diagnosed by colonoscopy? A case report.

Gastrointestinal bleeding frequently manifests as a severe, life-threatening condition. The pathological conditions of the pancreas rarely associate with rectal hemorrhage. The history of a male patient with cancer of the tail of the pancreas, which invaded the large bowel and manifested clinically as a severe lower gastrointestinal bleeding, is reported.

A pilot study of fecal serine-protease activity: a pathophysiologic factor in diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome.

Background & Aims: The pathogenesis of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) remains only partially understood, and no specific or universally effective patient management procedure has been developed to date. Our study was designed to evaluate if colonic luminal serine-proteases may be a relevant pathophysiologic marker of IBS.

Methods: Fecal samples of 38 IBS patients, 15 patients with ulcerative colitis (UC), and 15 healthy controls were studied.

Genetic polymorphisms of NOD1 and IL-8, but not polymorphisms of TLR4 genes, are associated with Helicobacter pylori-induced duodenal ulcer and gastritis.

Background: Intracellular pathogen receptor NOD1 is involved in the epithelial cell sensing Helicobacter pylori, which results in a considerable interleukin (IL)-8 production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between NOD1 and IL-8 genetic polymorphisms and the development of H. pylori-induced gastritis and duodenal ulcer (DU), as compared with TLR4 polymorphisms.

A case of interstitial pneumonitis in a patient with ulcerative colitis treated with azathioprine.

The early hypersensitivity reaction and late bone marrow depression are well-known side-effects of azathioprine, whereas interstitial pneumonia is a rare complication. A 40-year old male patient had been treated with azathioprine in consequence of extensive ulcerative colitis for 10 years. He then complained of 7 d of fever, cough and catarrhal signs, without symptoms of active colitis.

Characterization of functional biliary pain and dyspeptic symptoms in patients with sphincter of Oddi dysfunction: effect of papillotomy.

Aim: To characterize functional biliary pain and other gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in postcholecystectomy syndrome (PCS) patients with and without sphincter of Oddi dysfunction (SOD) proved by endoscopic sphincter of Oddi manometry (ESOM), and to assess the post-endoscopic sphincterotomy (EST) outcome.

Methods: We prospectively investigated 85 cholecystectomized patients referred for ERCP because of PCS and suspected SOD. On admission, all patients completed our questionnaire.