Pathophysiological role of platelets and platelet system in acute pancreatitis.

The most successful approach for restoring normal long-term glucose homeostasis in type I diabetes mellitus is whole-organ pancreas transplantation. Graft pancreatitis is observed in up to 20% of patients and may lead to loss of the transplanted organ. Several pathophysiological events have been implicated in this form of pancreatitis.

Inhibition of histone deacetylase for the treatment of biliary tract cancer: a new effective pharmacological approach.

Aim: To investigate in vitro and in vivo therapeutic effects of histone deacetylase inhibitors NVP-LAQ824 and NVP-LBH589 on biliary tract cancer.

Methods: Cell growth inhibition by NVP-LAQ824 and NVP-LBH589 was studied in vitro in 7 human biliary tract cancer cell lines by MTT assay. In addition, the anti-tumoral effect of NVP-LBH589 was studied in a chimeric mouse model.

Sirolimus improves early microcirculation, but impairs regeneration after pancreatic ischemia-reperfusion injury.

Ischemia and reperfusion injury remains a relevant problem in clinical pancreas transplantation. We investigated the effect of sirolimus (SRL) in a rodent model of 90-min warm pancreatic ischemia. Four groups were studied: (1) sham surgery and vehicle; (2) sham surgery and SRL; (3) warm ischemia and vehicle; (4) warm ischemia and SRL.

Pathophysiological role of platelets in acute experimental pancreatitis: influence of endothelin A receptor blockade.

The potential pathophysiological role of platelet-endothelium interactions was investigated during ischemia/reperfusion (I/R), and the effect of a selective endothelin(A) receptor antagonist (ET(A)-RA) was evaluated in an acute pancreatitis model. Acute pancreatitis was induced by warm ischemia (60 min) in Wistar rats, and its effects with and without antagonist treatment were investigated. Equivalent sham-operated animals were also studied.

Endothelin-A receptor blockade improves postischemic hepatic microhemodynamics.

The aim of this study was to investigate a possible protective role of a selective endothelin-A receptor antagonist on hepatic microcirculation after ischemia/reperfusion. In a rat model, warm ischemia of the left liver lobe was induced for 90 minutes under intraperitoneal anesthesia with xylazine and ketamine. Shamoperated and untreated ischemic groups and a group treated with BSF 208075 were investigated.