Sulfasalazine inhibits inflammation and fibrogenesis in pancreas via NF-κB signaling pathway in rats with oxidative stress-induced pancreatic injury.

Background: Pathogenesis and effective therapeutics of chronic pancreatic inflammation and fibrosis remain uncertain.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of sulfasalazine (SF) on pancreatic inflammation and fibrogenesis.

Methods: Chronic pancreatic injury in rats was induced by diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) and interfered by SF through intraperitoneal injection.

Hepatocellular carcinoma that arose from primary Sjögren's syndrome.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) typically originates from HBV or HCV associated liver cirrhosis. Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is a kind of autoimmune disease. A sixty-two year old female patient with mild liver damage was diagnosed with pSS after excluding viral, alcoholic and drug-induced hepatitis according to serum immunological detection and liver biopsy.

Involvement of nuclear factor kappa B in high-fat diet-related pancreatic fibrosis in rats.

Background/aims: High-fat diets contribute to pancreatic fibrogenesis, but the pathogenesis remains unclear. This study investigated the role of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) in high-fat diet-induced pancreatic fibrosis in rats.

Methods: Male Wistar rats were fed a high-fat diet or standard normal chow for 20 weeks.

Effects of epigallocatechin gallate on diethyldithiocarbamate-induced pancreatic fibrosis in rats.

Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), a major component of green tea extracts, is known to have anti-fibrotic properties in many organs. The aim of present study was to investigate effects of EGCG on rat pancreatic fibrosis induced by diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC). Oral gavages of different dose of EGCG (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg daily for 8 weeks) ameliorated histological changes and significantly suppressed collagen deposition in a dose-dependent manner.

Long-term high-fat diet induces pancreatic injuries via pancreatic microcirculatory disturbances and oxidative stress in rats with hyperlipidemia.

Relations between hyperlipidemia and chronic pancreatitis remain unclear. Microcirculatory disturbances and oxidative stress are involved in pathogeneses of a high numbers of diseases. The objective of this study was to induce hyperlipidemia in rats by long-term high-fat diet intake, then investigate the biochemical, microcirculatory, and histological alterations in blood and pancreatic tissues of these animals, and discuss their potential significances.

Elevated levels of serum soluble E-selectin in patients with chronic hepatitis B: Correlation with T lymphocyte subsets, NK cells and liver inflammation.

Background: It has been reported that serum soluble E-selectin (sE-selectin) may be increased in some inflammatory liver diseases. The purpose of our study was to investigate changes of sE-selectin, T lymphocyte subsets, natural killer (NK) cells, and HBV load in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), analyze the relationship between them, and discuss their significances.

Methods: Fifty-four patients with chronic hepatitis B and fourteen controls were studied.

[A clinical study of abnormal bone metabolism in patients with HBV liver cirrhosis].

Objective: To study the pathogenesis of abnormal bone metabolism in patients with HBV liver cirrhosis.

Methods: NM-300 signal-energy X-ray absorptiometry system was used to measure the bone mineral density (BMD) in 61 liver cirrhosis patients and 30 age-matched healthy controls. The serum levels of 1,25(OH)2D3, parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin (CT), bone gamma-carboxyglutamic acid-containing protein (BGP), IL-1beta, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)alpha and urine crosslaps were also detected in these patients.