Time course of nitric oxide synthase generation after gluten exposure in the rectal mucosa of gluten-sensitive patients.

Background: Nitric oxide is thought to play an important role in modulating chronic inflammatory responses as well as in immune-mediated inflammation. We reproduced a gluten-mediated mucosal response in the rectum of celiac and control subjects in order to determine the role of inducible and constitutive nitric oxide synthases in the pathogenesis of this process.

Material: Nine patients with confirmed celiac disease and five healthy controls underwent a long-term rectal gluten challenge (48 h) after an enema of 6 g of crude gluten, and constitutive and inducible nitric oxide synthase activity were determined in rectal biopsies.

The natural history of gluten sensitivity: report of two new celiac disease patients resulting from a long-term follow-up of nonatrophic, first-degree relatives.

Objective: Early studies revealed that up to 50% of non-atrophic, first-degree relatives of celiac disease patients exhibit features of gluten sensitivity. However, whether these features progress to a fully expressed celiac disease remain partially known. Our aim was to report two new patients resulting from a prospective, long-term surveillance of relatives who were nonatrophic at initial assessment.

[Helicobacter pylori detection by polymerase chain reaction in gastric juice and its correlation with the histology (Giemsa)].

HP infection is involved in the pathogenesis of several gastroduodenal diseases, as type B chronic gastritis, duodenal and gastric ulcer, MALT lymphoma and gastric cancer. The recent availability of molecular techniques, specifically the PCR, allow us to detect very low amounts of the bacterium. The aim of the study is to evaluate the presence of HP in gastric juice by PCR technique and to correlate this findings with histology (Giemsa) of gastric mucosa.

Usefulness of videoduodenoscopy and vital dye staining as indicators of mucosal atrophy of celiac disease: assessment of interobserver agreement.

Background: The present study was designed to determine the diagnostic usefulness of videoduodenoscopic inspection alone and the addition of vital dye staining in the detection of celiac disease. We additionally sought to evaluate interobserver agreement for specific duodenoscopic markers of mucosal atrophy.

Methods: One hundred sixty-seven consecutive subjects who underwent duodenoscopy for intestinal biopsy were included in a prospective controlled study.