Impact of Z score system on the management of coronary artery lesions in Kawasaki disease.

Background: Coronary artery aneurysms are well-described in Kawasaki disease and the Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children and are graded using Z scores. Three Z score systems (Boston, Montreal, and DC) are widely used in North America. The recent Pediatric Heart Network Z score system is derived from the largest diverse sample to-date.

Functional role of cellular senescence in biliary injury.

Cellular senescence is a state of irreversible cell cycle arrest that has been involved in many gastrointestinal diseases, including human cholestatic liver disorders. Senescence may play a role in biliary atresia, primary sclerosing cholangitis, cellular rejection, and primary biliary cirrhosis, four liver diseases affecting cholangiocytes and the biliary system. In this review, we examine proposed mechanisms of senescence-related biliary diseases, including hypotheses associated with the senescence-associated phenotype, induction of senescence in nearby cells, and the depletion of stem cell subpopulations.

Overexpression of membrane metalloendopeptidase inhibits substance P stimulation of cholangiocarcinoma growth.

Substance P (SP) promotes cholangiocyte growth during cholestasis by activating its receptor, NK1R. SP is a proteolytic product of tachykinin (Tac1) and is deactivated by membrane metalloendopeptidase (MME). This study aimed to evaluate the functional role of SP in the regulation of cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) growth.