Gastric emptying of solids is delayed in celiac disease and normalizes after gluten withdrawal.

Unlabelled: Several gastrointestinal motor abnormalities have been detected in patients with celiac disease, but it is unclear whether they are able to influence the gastric emptying rate. The aim of this work was to evaluate the gastric emptying rate of solids in children with celiac disease before and after a gluten-free diet. Nine children with celiac disease and nine healthy controls (age range 4-16 y) underwent a 13C-octanoic acid breath test to measure gastric emptying.

Cellular and humoral immunity against cow's milk proteins in type 1 diabetes.

Cow's milk beta-casein has been proposed as a candidate trigger of autoimmunity associated with type 1 diabetes. In this study, cellular and humoral immunity against beta-casein was compared to that against other major cow's milk proteins in patients with recent onset type 1 diabetes and control subjects. T cell responses were found against alpha-casein, beta-casein, beta-lactoglobulin and bovine serum albumin in both patients with type 1 diabetes (stimulation index: 0.

Autoimmune responses to the beta cell autoantigen, insulin, and the INS VNTR-IDDM2 locus.

Type 1 diabetes is associated with autoimmunity to insulin. Genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes is polygenic and includes the INS VNTR-IDDM2 locus which may regulate the expression of insulin in pancreas and thymus. In order to determine whether insulin autoimmunity could be attributed to a genetic susceptibility conferred by the INS VNTR-IDDM2 locus, peripheral blood T cell proliferation to human insulin and insulin autoantibodies (IAA) was measured in patients with new onset type 1 diabetes and control subjects.

Intraduodenal lipase activity in celiac disease assessed by means of 13C mixed-triglyceride breath test.

Background: In patients with celiac disease, the occurrence of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency has been related to an impairment of the gut-mediated stimulatory effect of the meal on the pancreas. The purpose of this study was to assess the intraduodenal lipase activity in patients with celiac disease by means of the 13C mixed-triglyceride breath test and to monitor pancreatic function after the institution of a gluten-free diet.

Methods: Seventeen untreated patients with celiac disease (mean age, 17.

Residual beta-cell function and spontaneous clinical remission in type 1 diabetes mellitus: the role of puberty.

To investigate the role of puberty on spontaneous clinical remission and on secretion of residual C-peptide during the first year of type 1 diabetes mellitus, we studied 77 pre-pubertal, 39 pubertal and 41 post-pubertal type 1 diabetic patients. Spontaneous partial clinical remission (HbA1c within the normal range and insulin dose less than 0.3 U x kg(-1) body weight x day(-1) lasting for at least 10 days) decreased with duration of diabetes: months 3 vs 6 vs 12, respectively 13 vs 7 vs 4% (P<0.

Two-step islet autoantibody screening for risk assessment of type 1 diabetes in relatives.

Objective: To examine the performance of islet cell antibodies (ICAs) and antibodies to glutamate decarboxylase (GADA), IA-2 (IA-2 antibody [IA-2A]), and insulin (insulin autoantibody [IAA]), alone and in combination, in assessing type 1 diabetes risk within type 1 diabetic families to identify a practical and effective screening strategy for predicting type 1 diabetes in relatives.

Research Design And Methods: ICA, GADA, IA-2A, and IAA were determined in 806 first-degree relatives participating in a prospective type 1 diabetes family study (median follow-up 6.17 years, range 0.

Helicobacter pylori infection may undergo spontaneous eradication in children: a 2-year follow-up study.

Background: Helicobacter pylori infection is generally acquired early in life. However, it is still unknown whether a spontaneous eradication can occur. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether H.

The 13C-urea breath test as a predictor of intragastric bacterial load and severity of Helicobacter pylori gastritis.

Background: The urea breath test (UBT) has been proposed as the most accurate test for diagnosing Helicobacter pylori infection. The aim of this work was to evaluate the accuracy of the UBT and to compare the results with histologic and endoscopic findings in H. pylori infected patients.

A breastfeeding drop-in center survey evaluation.

A survey evaluated a Breastfeeding Drop-In Center's (BDC) provision of "hands-on" professional breastfeeding help and support in a community setting. Results from telephone interviews using a pretested 29-item open- and closed-ended questionnaire with a sample of 57 BDC clients showed: (1) 81% were breastfeeding at 4 months, (2) 51% were exclusively or primarily breastfeeding at 4 months, (3) 50% breastfed to or beyond their intended duration, (4) return to work/school was the main factor in weaning, (5) wanting reassurance, crying/fussy baby and poor latch were the most common reasons for attending the BDC, and (6) 95% said their problems were completely or partially resolved after visiting the BDC, with crying/fussy baby and difficulties latching as problems sometimes not resolved. These results suggest the BDC is an effective community breastfeeding support strategy.

Helicobacter pylori infection and growth delay in older children.

It is thought that Helicobacter pylori infection may influence growth rate in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of H pylori infection in healthy Italian children, and to look for differences in height between infected and non-infected subjects. Two hundred and sixteen children, aged 3 to 14 years, were tested for H pylori infection by 13C-urea breath test.

Personality traits and metabolic control: a study in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus patients.

Background: In the present study the authors evaluated the relationship between personality traits (according to DSM-III-R) and poor metabolic control in an adult onset insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus sample (n = 77).

Methods: Personality traits were assessed with the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire--Revised. Metabolic control was evaluated through glycosilated hemoglobin (HbA1c): poor metabolic control was defined as HbA1c > or = 9% (normal values < 6.

H(+)-glycyl-L-proline cotransport in brush-border membrane vesicles of eel (Anguilla anguilla) intestine.

A plasma membrane H(+)-glycyl-L-proline (Gly-L-Pro) cotransport mechanism has been identified in isolated eel intestinal brush-border membrane vesicles (BBMV) by both measuring radiolabeled Gly-L-Pro uptake and monitoring Gly-L-Pro-dependent H+ influx with the pH-sensitive dye acridine orange. The application of an inside negative membrane potential resulted in increasing Gly-L-Pro uptake, as well as the application of inwardly directed H+ gradient (although only when an inside negative membrane potential was present). Furthermore, vesicular H+ influx was found specifically associated with the presence of Gly-L-Pro in the extravesicular medium.

Microscopic colitis progressed to collagenous colitis: a morphometric study.

Microscopic (also called lymphocytic) colitis and collagenous colitis are two newly recognised clinicopathologic entities of unknown aetiology presenting with chronic watery diarrhoea. In both conditions, the colon appears normal by barium enema and colonoscopy, however, colonic biopsies reveal infiltration of plasma cells and neutrophils within the lamina propria and increased intraepithelial lymphocytes within the surface epithelium. Lack of a thickened collagen band beneath the surface epithelium histologically differentiates microscopic from collagenous colitis.

HLA-DQ screening for risk assessment of insulin dependent diabetes in northern Italy.

Genetic markers may be used to improve the prediction of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (type 1) in individuals with islet autoantibodies. In order to develop a risk assessment strategy for the Lombardy region of northern Italy based on genetic and immunological markers, we analyzed HLA DQA1 and DQB1 alleles in 60 type 1 probands and their first-degree relatives and 65 unrelated control subjects from the same area using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and oligonucleotide probes. The major risk haplotypes were DQA1 *0501-DQB1*0201 (39.

Islet autoantibody markers in IDDM: risk assessment strategies yielding high sensitivity.

Identification of islet autoantigens offers the possibility that antibody tests other than islet cell antibodies may be used for assessing risk of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). The aim of this study was to determine the combination of islet autoantibody markers that could identify most future cases of IDDM. Islet cell antibodies, antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD)65, 37,000/40,000 M(r) islet tryptic fragments, carboxypeptidase-H, and islet cell autoantigen (ICA)69 were measured in sera from 100 newly-diagnosed IDDM patients, 27 individuals prior to onset of IDDM, and 83 control subjects.

Role of hepatitis C virus in chronic liver disease occurring after orthotopic liver transplantation.

Paediatric orthotopic liver transplant recipients may develop chronic hepatitis after surgery. To investigate the role of hepatitis C virus in this pathology a cohort of 249 paediatric orthotopic liver transplant recipients was studied. Sixteen children (6.

Effects of personality on metabolic control in IDDM patients.

Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between poor metabolic control and maladaptive personality traits (according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition-Revised) in an adult-onset insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus sample group (n = 77).

Research Design And Methods: Metabolic control was evaluated through glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c). Personality traits were assessed with the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-Revised, a self-administered questionnaire.

Sera from patients with IDDM and healthy individuals have antibodies to ICA69 on western blots but do not immunoprecipitate liquid phase antigen.

ICA69 is a recently cloned pancreatic islet protein proposed as a potential target of autoimmunity in insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). The aim of our study was to verify the relevance of ICA69 antibodies as markers of the disease. We measured antibodies to ICA69 in sera from newly-diagnosed IDDM patients, in age- and sex-matched normal controls, and in sera prior to the onset of IDDM (pre-IDDM).

[Osteoarticular manifestations during liver and gastrointestinal diseases].

The most important osteoarticular complications occurring during gastrointestinal and liver diseases are reviewed. Although etiopathogenesis of these disorders is not yet fully understood, their knowledge is required to gastroenterologists for two main reasons: to establish a correct diagnosis and to start an appropriate therapy.

The aminopyrine breath test.

The metabolic basis and clinical application of the aminopyrine breath test (ABT) as a measure of liver function is reviewed in this article. Several papers have been published in the 20 years that have elapsed since the test was validated in man by Hepner and Vesell. Nevertheless, even if the aminopyrine breath test has been shown to be a non-invasive, reliable and semiquantitative liver function test with diagnostic and prognostic accuracy, it is not yet extensively used in clinical practice, probably because it is not widely known to clinicians.

[Pancreatitis associated with salmonella].

There is no general agreement about the possibility that pancreatitis could be regarded as a clinical complication of Salmonella infection. We report 2 cases of salmonellosis WHO were admitted to our Department for clinical and biological signs of pancreatitis. Our observation agrees with other reported cases, suggesting that patients affected by salmonellosis with upper abdominal pain should be investigated for concomitant pancreatitis; on the other hand in patients suffering from diarrhea with hyperamylasaemia, salmonellosis should be considered as a likely explanation for their clinical condition.