Neonatal co-infection with helicobacter species markedly accelerates the development of inflammation-associated colonic neoplasia in IL-10(-/-) mice.

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is hypothesized to represent an aberrant immune response against enteric bacteria that occurs in a genetically susceptible host. Humans and mice with IBD are at markedly increased risk for colonic neoplasia. However, the long lead time required before development of inflammation-associated colon neoplasia in commonly used murine models of IBD slows the development of effective chemopreventative therapies.

Functional evaluation of the grafted wall with porcine-derived small intestinal submucosa (SIS) to a stomach defect in rats.

Background: Small intestinal submucosa (SIS) represents a novel bio-scaffolding material that may be used to repair hollow-organ defects. However, it is unclear whether neurophysiologic responses return to SIS-grafted areas in the gut. We evaluated the functional recovery of a stomach defect grafted with the porcine-derived SIS.

In situ detection of nuclear atypia in Barrett's esophagus by using angle-resolved low-coherence interferometry.

Background: Monitoring of patients with Barrett's esophagus (BE) for dysplasia, currently done by systematic biopsy, can be improved through increasing the proportion of at-risk tissue examined.

Objective: Optical biopsy techniques, which do not remove the tissue but interrogate the tissue with light, offer a potential method to improve the monitoring of BE. Frequency-domain angle resolved low-coherence interferometry (fa/LCI) is an optical spectroscopic technique applied through an endoscopic fiber bundle and measures the depth-resolved nuclear morphology of tissue, a key biomarker for identifying dysplasia.

Glycogen storage disease type III-hepatocellular carcinoma a long-term complication?

Background/aims: Glycogen storage disease III (GSD III) is caused by a deficiency of glycogen-debranching enzyme which causes an incomplete glycogenolysis resulting in glycogen accumulation with abnormal structure (short outer chains resembling limit dextrin) in liver and muscle. Hepatic involvement is considered mild, self-limiting and improves with age. With increased survival, a few cases of liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been reported.

The Kraske procedure: a critical analysis of a surgical approach for mid-rectal lesions.

Background And Objectives: To analyze the Kraske procedure as an approach to mid-rectal disease.

Methods: Twenty-two patients underwent a Kraske procedure at either Duke University Medical Center, the Durham Veterans Administration Medical Center, or the Durham Regional Hospital between 1992 and 1997. The clinical and pathologic characteristics of these patients were retrospectively analyzed and compared with previous published series.

Glycogenic hepatopathy: an underrecognized hepatic complication of diabetes mellitus.

Reported are the clinical and pathologic features of glycogenic hepatopathy, a pathologic overloading of hepatocytes with glycogen that is associated with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus. Fourteen cases were studied by stains, including hematoxylin and eosin, trichrome, periodic acid-Schiff, and periodic acid-Schiff with diastase. Ultrastructural analysis was performed in 2 cases.

Piroxicam treatment of IL-10-deficient mice enhances colonic epithelial apoptosis and mucosal exposure to intestinal bacteria.

Treatment with the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs piroxicam or sulindac was recently shown to accelerate the development of colitis in interleukin (IL)-10-deficient (IL-10) mice. Although NSAIDs have been hypothesized to decrease the barrier function of the intestinal epithelium, the mechanism by which this accelerates colitis in IL-10 mice is not well understood. In this study, the effects of piroxicam on the colonic mucosa of IL-10 C57BL/6 mice were evaluated histologically.

Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging of the gastrointestinal tract.

The evaluation of lesions in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract using ultrasound can suffer from poor contrast between healthy and diseased tissue. Acoustic Radiation Force Impulse (ARFI) imaging provides information about the mechanical properties of tissue using brief, high-intensity, focused ultrasound to generate radiation force and ultrasonic correlation-based methods to track the resulting tissue displacement. Using conventional linear arrays, ARFI imaging has shown improved contrast over B-mode images when applied to solid masses in the breast and liver.

Treatment with oral bromelain decreases colonic inflammation in the IL-10-deficient murine model of inflammatory bowel disease.

Bromelain is a mixture of proteinases derived from pineapple stem that is marketed in health food stores as a "digestive aid". Orally administered bromelain was anecdotally reported to induce clinical and endoscopic remission of ulcerative colitis in two patients whose disease was refractory to multi-agent conventional medical therapy. However, the potential efficacy of bromelain in colitis has not yet been tested rigorously in either animals or humans.

Significance of histological response to preoperative chemoradiotherapy for pancreatic cancer.

Background: Neoadjuvant (preoperative) chemoradiotherapy (CRT) for pancreatic cancer offers theoretical advantages over the standard approach of surgery followed by adjuvant CRT. We hypothesized that histological responses to CRT would be significant prognostic factors in patients undergoing neoadjuvant CRT followed by resection.

Methods: Since 1994, 193 patients with biopsy-proven pancreatic adenocarcinoma have completed neoadjuvant CRT, and 70 patients have undergone resection.

Heterotopic ossification in rectal cancer: Rare finding with a novel proposed mechanism.

The rare finding of heterotopic ossification in a case of primary rectal adenocarcinoma is described along with a review of the literature. Immunohistochemistry for a bone morphogenic protein (BMP-2) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2), both of which induce and stimulate bone formation, was performed and revealed overexpression of BMP-2 by the tumor cells, elucidating a possible mechanism which up to now had been based merely on speculation.

Evaluation of porcine-derived small intestine submucosa as a biodegradable graft for gastrointestinal healing.

High-risk anastomoses in the gut may benefit from the application of a synthetic reinforcement to prevent an enteric leak. Recently a porcine-derived small intestine submucosa (SIS) was tested as a bioscaffold in a number of organ systems. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of SIS in stimulating healing in the stomach.

Clinical utility of positron emission tomography in the diagnosis and management of periampullary neoplasms.

Background: This study examined the effect that 18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography ((18)FDG-PET) imaging had on the clinical management of patients with suspected periampullary malignancy.

Methods: Fifty-four patients with suspected pancreatic neoplasms underwent both whole-body (18)FDG-PET and abdominal computed tomography (CT). Malignant or benign disease was confirmed pathologically in 47 patients.