Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in inactive Crohn's disease: influence of thiopurine and biological treatment.

Aim: To investigate the influence of thiopurines and biological drugs on the presence of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) in patients with inactive Crohn's disease (CD).

Methods: This was a prospective study in patients with CD in remission and without corticosteroid treatment, included consecutively from 2004 to 2010. SIBO was investigated using the hydrogen glucose breath test.

Omega 3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and body weight.

In animal studies, n-3 PUFA have been shown to influence body composition and to reduce the accumulation of body fat, thereby affecting body weight homeostasis. In addition, it has been suggested that an additional supply of n-3 PUFA during pregnancy or lactation, or both, would have a beneficial effect on birth weight and infant growth and development. The purpose of the present study was to systematically review interventional clinical trials on the effects of dietary n-3 PUFA supplementation on body weight in adult subjects and in infants whose mothers were supplemented with these fatty acids during pregnancy and/or lactation.

Effect of calcineurin inhibitors in the outcome of liver transplantation in hepatitis C virus-positive recipients.

Background: There is a paucity of good studies evaluating the impact of calcineurin inhibitors on posttransplantation outcome in hepatitis C virus (HCV)-infected liver transplant (LT) recipients.

Methods: We sought to determine whether there are differences on posttransplantation survival and histologic recurrence in HCV-LT recipients based on initial immunosuppression (IS) by conducting a prospective study comparing tacrolimus (Tac) versus cyclosporine-based IS in patients undergoing LT between 2001 and 2007. Protocol liver biopsies were performed.

[Medium-term management of protein-losing enteropathy of cardiac origin unresponsive to medical therapy in a patient awaiting heart transplantation].

Protein-losing enteropathy is characterized by excessive leaking of serum proteins into the gastrointestinal tract, as a result of disease progression in several diseases. We report the case of a 17-year-old-woman with hypoproteinemia, generalized edema and serosal effusions diagnosed as protein-losing enteropathy due to right ventricular failure secondary to previous surgical damage. All previously described therapies were ineffective in curing or relieving the disease or its symptoms, and the patient was listed for heart transplantation.

[Fungal liver abscesses in a patient with primary sclerosing cholangitis and Crohn's disease].

Liver abscesses are a relatively infrequent complication of inflammatory bowel disease. These abscesses are usually multiple and of polymicrobial origin. The development of primary sclerosing cholangitis in inflammatory bowel disease, although provoking alterations in biliary morphology and a higher incidence of infections, does not predispose patients to the development of liver abscesses.

Membrane lipid composition of pancreatic AR42J cells: modification by exposure to different fatty acids.

Dietary fat type influences fatty acids in rat pancreatic membranes, in association with modulation of secretory activity and cell signalling in viable acini. We aimed to confirm whether AR42J cells are a valid model to study the interactions between lipids and pancreatic acinar cell function. For this purpose we have (i) compared the baseline fatty acid composition of AR42J cells with that of pancreatic membranes from rats fed a standard chow; (ii) investigated if fatty acids in AR42J membranes can be modified in culture; and (iii) studied if similar compositional variations that can be evoked in rats when dietary fat type is altered occur in AR42J cells.

Involvement of ryanodine-operated channels in tert-butylhydroperoxide-evoked Ca2+ mobilisation in pancreatic acinar cells.

Reactive oxygen species and related oxidative damage have been implicated in the initiation of acute pancreatitis, a disease characterised in its earliest stages by disruption of intracellular Ca2+ homeostasis. The present study was carried out in order to establish the effect of the organic pro-oxidant, tert-butylhydroperoxide (tBHP), on the mobilisation of intracellular Ca2+ stores in isolated rat pancreatic acinar cells and the mechanisms underlying this effect. Cytosolic free Ca2+ concentrations ([Ca2+]c) were monitored using a digital microspectrofluorimetric system in fura-2 loaded cells.

Effects of the type of dietary fat on acetylcholine-evoked amylase secretion and calcium mobilization in isolated rat pancreatic acinar cells.

Olive oil is a major component of the Mediterranean diet, and its role in human health is being actively debated. This study aimed to clarify the mechanism of pancreatic adaptation to dietary fat. For this purpose, we examined whether dietary-induced modification of pancreatic membranes affects acinar cell function in response to the secretagogue acetylcholine (ACh).

Effect of the type of dietary fat on biliary lipid composition and bile lithogenicity in humans with cholesterol gallstone disease.

Objective: The effect of the type of dietary fat on bile lipids and lithogenicity is unclear. This study compared the effects of two dietary oils that differed in fatty acid profile on biliary lipid composition in humans.

Methods: Female patients who had cholesterol gallstones and were scheduled for elective cholecystectomy were studied.

Dietary virgin olive oil enhances secretagogue-evoked calcium signaling in rat pancreatic acinar cells.

Objective: We evaluated the long-term effects of a fat-enriched diet (virgin olive oil) on calcium mobilization and amylase secretion induced by cholecystokinin-octapeptide (CCK-8) in rat pancreatic acinar cells. Olive oil is a major component of the Mediterranean diet, and its role in human health is actively being debated.

Methods: Weaning male Wistar rats (21 d old) were assigned to one of two experimental groups and fed for 8 wk with a commercial chow (control group) or an experimental diet (olive group) containing 100 g/kg of virgin olive oil as dietary fat.

Dietary-induced changes in the fatty acid profile of rat pancreatic membranes are associated with modifications in acinar cell function and signalling.

The effects of dietary lipids on the fatty acid composition of rat pancreatic membranes and acinar cell function were investigated. Weaning rats were fed for 8 weeks on one of two diets which contained 100 g virgin olive oil (OO) or sunflower-seed oil (SO)/kg. Pancreatic plasma membranes were isolated and fatty acids determined.

Comparison of the effects of dietary sunflower oil and virgin olive oil on rat exocrine pancreatic secretion in vivo.

The aim of this study was to investigate the functional consequences in vivo of adapting the rat exocrine pancreas to different dietary fats. Weanling rats were fed diets containing 10 wt% virgin olive oil or sunflower oil for 8 wk. We then examined resting and cholecystokinin-octapeptide (CCK-8)-stimulated pancreatic secretion in the anesthetized animals.

Distribution of Nitric Oxide Synthase and Secretory Role of Exogenous Nitric Oxide in the Isolated Rat Pancreas.

Exocrine pancreatic secretion is controlled for themost part by the autonomic neurons and by I and Stype enteroendocrine cells (1). In addition to the classic neurotransmitters and various neuropeptides that are apparently produced and stored in the pancreaticnerve cells (2), there is morphological evidencethat nitric oxide (NO) containing (nitrergic) nervesare also present in the pancreas (3). Nitric oxide synthase(NOS) containing perikarya and fibers havebeen shown in the pancreas of several species usingenzymehistochemical and immunohistochemicalmethods (4).

Effect of sodium nitroprusside and 8-bromo cyclic GMP on nerve-mediated and acetylcholine-evoked secretory responses in the rat pancreas.

The effects of sodium nitroprusside (SNP) and 8-bromo-guanosine 3'5' cyclic monophosphate (8-Br-cyclic GMP) on nerve-mediated and acetylcholine (ACh)-evoked amylase secretion, tritiated choline ([3H]-choline) release and on intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca2+]i) in the isolated rat pancreas were investigated. Electrical field stimulation (EFS; 10 Hz) and ACh (1 x 10(-5) M) caused large increases in amylase output from pancreatic segments. The response to ACh was blocked by atropine (1 x 10(-5) M) whereas the EFS-evoked response was markedly reduced but not abolished.