Prolonged mitosis causes separase deregulation and chromosome nondisjunction.

During mitotic chromosome segregation, the protease separase severs cohesin between sister chromatids. A probe for separase activity has shown that separase undergoes abrupt activation shortly before anaphase onset, after being suppressed throughout metaphase; however, the relevance of this control remains unclear. Here, we report that separase activates precociously, with respect to anaphase onset, during prolonged metaphase in multiple types of cancer cell lines.

George E. Palade memorial lecture: My life in pancreatic research-unexpected results may open the door.

The Palade Prize is the most distinguished award of the IAP for achievement in pancreatic research. It is named after George E. Palade, who in 1974 was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on protein trafficking in pancreatic acinar cells.

Treatment with atorvastatin attenuates progression of insulin resistance and pancreatic fibrosis in the Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima fatty rats.

Purpose: The effects of statins on insulin resistance (IR) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) are still controversial and its effects on pancreatic fibrosis are poorly defined. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of atorvastatin on these issues using the Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rat, an animal model of IR, T2DM and pancreatic fibrosis.

Methods: Male OLETF rats were divided into 2 groups at 6weeks of age.

Effect of endogenous cholecystokinin on the course of acute pancreatitis in rats.

Aim: To examine the effects of pancreatic rest, stimulation and rest/stimulation on the natural course of recovery after acute pancreatitis.

Methods: Acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis (AP) was induced in male rats by intraductal infusion of 40 μL/100 g body weight of 3% sodium taurocholate. All rats took food ad libitum.

Criteria for the diagnosis and severity stratification of acute pancreatitis.

Recent diagnostic and therapeutic progress for severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) remarkably decreased the case-mortality rate. To further decrease the mortality rate of SAP, it is important to precisely evaluate the severity at an early stage, and initiate appropriate treatment as early as possible. Research Committee of Intractable Diseases of the Pancreas in Japan developed simpler criteria combining routinely available data with clinical signs.

Valsartan, a specific angiotensin II receptor blocker, inhibits pancreatic fluid secretion via vagal afferent pathway in conscious rats.

Background/aim: The renin-angiotensin system (RAS) exists in the pancreas, but the role of RAS in the regulation of pancreatic exocrine secretion under physiological conditions has been little known. The present study addressed the RAS's effect on the pancreatic secretion by using valsartan, a specific angiotensin II receptor blocker, in conscious rats.

Method: Male Wistar rats prepared with pancreatic, biliary, duodenal and jugular vein cannulas were used.

Mild collateral varices and a fundic plexus without perforating veins on EUS predict endoscopic non-recurrence of esophageal varices after EVL.

Background/aims: This study assessed the risk of recurrence of esophageal varices by evaluating the severity of esophageal collateral and cardiac vascular structures in patients with portal hypertension on EUS before endoscopic variceal ligation (EVL).

Methodology: Twenty-three consecutive patients with esophageal varices at high risk for bleeding were studied. Simultaneous conventional endoscopy and EUS were performed before endoscopic variceal ligation.

Characteristics of pancreatic diabetes in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis.

Objective: Although patients with autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) tend to have concurrent diverse disorders, very few studies have focused on diabetes mellitus (DM) coexisting with AIP.

Methods: In total 102 AIP patients with DM were divided into three groups. Those with DM before the onset of AIP were labeled group A (n=35), those who developed DM and AIP simultaneously were labeled group B (n=58) and those who developed DM after steroid therapy for AIP were labeled group C (n=9).

Treatment with pravastatin attenuates progression of chronic pancreatitis in rat.

As appropriate therapies for pancreatic fibrosis and inflammation are limited, prognosis of chronic pancreatitis has not improved to date. Recent studies have shown that statins improve inflammation and fibrosis in several organs. We therefore examined the therapeutic effect of pravastatin on progression of chronic pancreatitis by starting this treatment after induction of pancreatic fibrosis in rats.

Transient stasis of pancreatic fluid flow together with mild injury of the pancreatic duct cause chronic pancreatitis.

Background: Little is known about the etiopathogenesis of chronic pancreatitis, due mainly to the lack of simple animal models suitable to study inflammatory and fibrogenetic processes in the pancreas.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine whether transient congestion of pancreatic fluid flow alone or slight ductal injury alone is sufficient, or where both are required, to induce chronic pancreatic injury.

Methods: Three different models of pancreatitis were tested in rats induced by retrograde intraductal infusion of 40 μl/100 g body weight of 0.

Animal models of chronic pancreatitis.

Animal models for CP in rats can be classified into 2 groups: one is noninvasive or nonsurgical models and the other is invasive or surgical models. Pancreatic injury induced by repetitive injections of supramaximal stimulatory dose of caerulein (Cn) or by intraductal infusion of sodium taurocholate (NaTc) recovered within 14 days, whereas that caused by repetitive injection of arginine or by intraductal infusion of oleic acid was persistent. However, the destroyed acinar tissues were replaced by fatty tissues without fibrosis.

Gastric mucosal cancer smaller than 7mm can be treated with conventional endoscopic mucosal resection as effectively as with endoscopic submucosal dissection.

Background/aims: Recently, endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has been accepted for the treatment of gastrointestinal mucosal neoplasms because of the higher en bloc resection rate. However, ESD is technically more difficult, requires a longer procedure time and has more frequent complications compared with conventional endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR). We evaluated retrospectively the clinical outcomes of ESD compared with EMR to determine the size of the lesion for choosing EMR rather than ESD.

Salt sensitivity is associated with insulin resistance, sympathetic overactivity, and decreased suppression of circulating renin activity in lean patients with essential hypertension.

Background: The mechanisms by which a derangement of glucose metabolism causes high blood pressure are not fully understood.

Objectives: This study aimed to clarify the relation between salt sensitivity of blood pressure and insulin resistance, which are important subcharacteristics of hypertension and impaired glucose metabolism, respectively. Effects on the renin-angiotensin and sympathetic nervous systems were also studied.

The revised Japanese clinical diagnostic criteria for chronic pancreatitis.

In Japan, we are now using the clinical diagnostic criteria for chronic pancreatitis (CP) that were revised in 2001 to add the findings of magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography to the criteria compiled by the Japan Pancreas Society (JPS) in 1995. Because the current criteria are set for diagnosing advanced CP, they are unlikely to improve patients' prognoses. In addition, they seem unsuitable for current clinical practice because exocrine pancreatic function tests, which have become obsolete in Japan, are included in the diagnostic factors.

Epidemiological study of pancreatic diabetes in Japan in 2005: a nationwide study.

Objectives: There have been few epidemiological studies on pancreatic diabetes. In this study, we determined the incidence and pathology of pancreatic diabetes in Japan.

Methods: We examined the epidemiology of pancreatic diabetes in Japan in 2005 by using a nationwide stratified random-sampling method.

Long-term treatment with proton pump inhibitor is associated with undesired weight gain.

Aim: To examine the effects of long-term proton pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy on body weight (BW) and body mass index (BMI) in patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

Methods: The subjects were 52 patients with GERD and 58 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. GERD patients were treated with PPI for a mean of 2.

Overexpression of Smad6 exacerbates pancreatic fibrosis in murine caerulein-induced chronic pancreatic injuries.

Objectives: We examined the effect of the overexpression of Smad6 on pancreatic fibrosis after chronic pancreatic injury.

Methods: Chronic pancreatic injury was induced in transgenic mice overexpressing Smad6 (Tg mice) in acini and wild-type (Wt) mice by 3 episodes of acute pancreatitis per week for 1 to 4 consecutive weeks. Acute pancreatitis was elicited by 6 intraperitoneal injections of caerulein (Cn) at 50 microg/kg of body weight at hourly intervals.

Decreased production of immunoglobulin M and A in autoimmune pancreatitis.

Background: Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a rare type of chronic pancreatitis caused by an autoimmune abnormality. It is well known that high serum concentrations of IgG4 are helpful for making a diagnosis of AIP; however, it is unclear whether there are abnormalities in the production of other immunoglobulins in AIP.

Methods: We examined the immune condition of AIP patients before and after glucocorticoid treatment, focusing on serum levels of IgG, IgG4, IgM and IgA, and compared the results with those in other hepato-pancreatic diseases, such as autoimmune hepatitis, primary biliary cirrhosis, chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic carcinoma.

Interactions between the endocrine and exocrine pancreas and their clinical relevance.

In consequence of the close anatomical and functional links between the exocrine and endocrine pancreas, any disease affecting one of these parts will inevitably affect the other. Pancreatic conditions which might cause diabetes mellitus include acute and chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic surgery, cystic fibrosis and pancreatic cancer. The development of diabetes greatly influences the prognosis and quality of life of patients with exocrine pancreatic diseases.

Autoimmune pancreatitis and IgG4-associated sclerosing cholangitis.

Autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) is a unique form of chronic pancreatitis characterised by a high serum IgG4 concentration and complications that include various extrapancreatic manifestations, one of which is sclerosing cholangitis. In AIP patients, infiltration of abundant IgG4-positive plasma cells and dense fibrosis are commonly observed in the pancreas and wall of the bile duct and gallbladder. The major symptom at onset of AIP is obstructive jaundice caused by stricture of the bile duct, and this requires differential diagnosis of AIP from pancreato-biliary malignancies and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

'The mentor's quality determines the probability of success of the young researcher'. An interview with Prof. Makoto Otsuki. Interview by Martín E Fernández-Zapico.

In this interview, Professor Makoto Otsuki points out the importance of mentorship during young researchers' development. Dr. Otsuki, a Professor and Chair of the Third Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Occupational and Environmental Health, has contributed significantly to the field of pancreatic physiology.

[Combined treatment with dacarbazine, nimustine, cisplatin, and tamoxifen plus interferon-beta in a patient with advanced anorectal malignant melanoma].

A 73-year-old man, who was diagnosed as having advanced anorectal malignant melanoma (Stage IV), was treated with combination chemotherapy using dacarbazine, nimustine, cisplatin, and tamoxifen plus interferon-beta. After the first course of chemotherapy, rectal tumor was decreased in size with less anal pain and liver tumor was disappeared. Twenty-four months after the first treatment, the patient is survived.

Association analyses of genetic polymorphisms of GSTM1, GSTT1, NQO1, NAT2, LPL, PRSS1, PSTI, and CFTR with chronic alcoholic pancreatitis in Japan.

Background: Excessive consumption of alcohol is involved in the onset of pancreatitis. However, most of heavy drinkers do not always develop chronic pancreatitis. Various genetic factors appear to be involved in these individual differences in onset of chronic alcoholic pancreatitis.

Conference report: Korea-Japan symposium on autoimmune pancreatitis.

A consensus meeting on autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP) was held in Seoul on August 31, 2007. Many Korean and Japanese gastroenterologist interested in AIP participated in the joint symposium, and issues related to histology, radiology, clinical manifestation, serology, and diagnostic criteria were discussed. This joint meeting indicated the need for unified diagnostic criterion for AIP in Korea and Japan.

RecQ family helicases in genome stability: lessons from gene disruption studies in DT40 cells.

Cells of all living organisms have evolved complex mechanisms to maintain genome stability. There is increasing evidence that spontaneous genomic instability occurs primarily during DNA replication. RecQ DNA helicases function during DNA replication and are essential for the maintenance of genome stability.