Multicenter feasibility study of bowel preparation with castor oil for colon capsule endoscopy.

Background And Aim: Extensive use of laxatives and incomplete excretion rates are problematic for colon capsule endoscopy (CCE). The aim of the present study was to determine the effectiveness of castor oil as a booster.

Methods: At four Japanese hospitals, 319 examinees undergoing CCE were enrolled retrospectively.

Novel findings of capsule endoscopy and double-balloon enteroscopy in a case of eosinophilic gastroenteritis.

Eosinophilic gastroenteritis is a rare disease with unknown cause. It is characterized by marked eosinophilic infiltration in the gastrointestinal tract. There are few reports that include detailed endoscopic findings of eosinophilic gastroenteritis in the small intestine.

Successful endoscopic injection sclerotherapy of high-risk gastroesophageal varices in a cirrhotic patient with hemophilia A.

A 68-year-old man with hemophilia A and liver cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C virus was referred to our hospital to receive prophylactic endoscopic treatment for gastroesophageal varices (GOV). He had large, tense, and winding esophageal varices (EV) with cherry red spots extending down to lesser curve, predicting the likelihood of bleeding. Esophageal endoscopic injection sclerotherapy (EIS) was performed with a total 15 mL of 5% ethanolamine oleate with iopamidol (EOI).

Tissue factor pathway inhibitor 2 (TFPI2) is frequently silenced by aberrant promoter hypermethylation in gastric cancer.

Aberrant methylation of promoter CpG islands is associated with transcriptional inactivation of tumor-suppressor genes in cancer. TFPI2, a Kunitz-type serine proteinase inhibitor, has been identified as a putative tumor-suppressor gene from genome-wide screening for aberrant methylation, using a microarray combined with the methyltransferase inhibitor 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-aza-dCyd) in various types of tumors. We assessed the methylation status of TFPI2 and investigated its expression pattern in human primary gastric cancer (GC) tissues and in GC cell lines.

Epigenetic silencing of RELN in gastric cancer.

RELN (Reelin) is an extracellular glycoprotein that plays a critical role in neuronal migration. Here we show that the RELN gene is frequently silenced in gastric cancers (GCs) by aberrant promoter hypermethylation. Although RELN was strongly expressed in non-tumor gastric epithelia, its expression was weak, or absent, in GC cell lines and primary GC tumors.

Comparison of endoscopic findings with symptom assessment systems (FSSG and QUEST) for gastroesophageal reflux disease in Japanese centres.

Background And Aim: We compared endoscopic findings of the frequency scale for the symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux disease (FSSG), a written questionnaire developed in Japan, to that for the questionnaire for the diagnosis of reflux esophagitis (QUEST) for the diagnosis of reflux esophagitis.

Methods: We registered 475 patients with untreated symptoms of upper abdominal pain (male/female: 252/223, average age 52.4 +/- 17.

IL-17 is involved in Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric inflammatory responses in a mouse model.

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the major cause of chronic active gastritis and peptic ulcer disease. Recent studies have shown that H.

Sildenafil, an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase subtype 5, prevents indomethacin-induced small-intestinal ulceration in rats via a NO/cGMP-dependent mechanism.

We examined the effect of sildenafil, an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase subtype 5, that catalyzes hydrolysis of 3',5'-cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), on indomethacin-induced small-intestinal ulceration in rats and investigated the mechanism of this action, especially in relation to endogenous nitric oxide (NO). Animals without fasting were given indomethacin (10 mg/kg) s.c.

Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea with hematochezia is associated with ulcer formation.

Objective: Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) is a well-known iatrogenic infection with typical endoscopic features including pseudomembranes and intervening normal mucosa. Clinically, diarrhea frequently occurs, but occurrence of hematochezia is rare. The objective of this study was to investigate the background and endoscopic features of CDAD patients with hematochezia.

Dual role of nitric oxide in gastric hypersecretion in the distended stomach: inhibition of acid secretion and stimulation of pepsinongen secretion.

Aims: We investigate the role of nitric oxide (NO) in the hypersecretion of acid and pepsinogen induced by stomach distension.

Main Method: The rat stomach was distended by instillation of saline through an acute fistula under urethane anesthesia.

Key Findings: Both secretions of acid and pepsinogen were increased by the distension depending on the volume of saline introduced, and responses were attenuated by bilateral cervical vagotomy or prior administration of atropine.

ERK5 is a target for gene amplification at 17p11 and promotes cell growth in hepatocellular carcinoma by regulating mitotic entry.

Using high-density oligonucleotide microarrays, we investigated DNA copy-number aberrations in cell lines derived from hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) and detected a novel amplification at 17p11. To identify the target of amplification at 17p11, we defined the extent of the amplicon and examined HCC cell lines for expression of all seven genes in the 750-kb commonly amplified region. Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) 7, which encodes extracellular-regulated protein kinase (ERK) 5, was overexpressed in cell lines in which the gene was amplified.

Alteration of the expression profiles of acidic mucin, sialytransferase, and sulfotransferases in the intestinal epithelium of rats infected with the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis.

Acidic mucins such as sialomucin and sulfomucin produced by intestinal epithelial cells have been implicated in the protection of the mucosa from pathogens. In the present study, we analyzed the alteration of acidic mucins in the jejunum of euthymic and athymic rats infected with the nematode Nippostrongylus brasiliensis using alcian blue staining and a high iron-diamine method. The numbers of sialomucin+ goblet cells increased markedly 7 and 10 days post-infection and decreased gradually thereafter in euthymic rats, while athymic rats did not show sialomucin+ goblet cell hyperplasia at least until 28 days post-infection, suggesting that sialomucin production might be regulated by thymus-derived T cells.

Acute pancreatitis from mumps re-infection in adulthood. A case report.

Context: Acute pancreatitis is a complication of mumps which mainly affects children who then usually acquire permanent immunity. We present the case of a woman with acute pancreatitis caused by mumps re-infection in adulthood.

Case Report: A 34-year-old woman developed mild acute pancreatitis caused by re-infection with mumps, as confirmed serologically by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays mumps-specific IgM and IgG.

Levels of interleukin-18 are markedly increased in Helicobacter pylori-infected gastric mucosa among patients with specific IL18 genotypes.

Background: The cellular immune response in gastric mucosa infected with Helicobacter pylori is proposed to be predominantly of the T helper cell type 1 type.

Methods: Interleukin (IL)-18, IL-12, and interferon (IFN)-gamma levels were measured in gastric mucosal biopsy specimens by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; IL18 polymorphisms were determined by PCR.

Results: Biopsy specimens from 128 patients (56 with nonulcer dyspepsia, 28 with gastric ulcers, 28 with duodenal ulcers, and 16 with gastric cancer) were examined; 96 patients had H.

Clear cell adenocarcinoma of the colon: a case report and review of literature.

A primary clear cell adenocarcinoma of the colon is a rare oncologic entity. We herein report a case of such a tumor of the sigmoid colon in a 71-year-old woman who was successfully treated by an endoscopic polypectomy in our hospital. We also reviewed the published reports regarding cases of primary clear cell tumors in the colon.

[A case of adult-onset type II citrullinemia having a liver histology of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)].

A 47-year man was hospitalized to our hospital because of consciousness disturbance. He had been abnormally fond of soy bean products since childhood. His plasma levels of ammonia and citrulline were elevated, and we suspected of adult-onset type II citrullinemia (CTLN2).

Pseudomyxoma peritonei occurring after an uneventful 23 years interval from appendectomy.

A 77-year-old male was admitted to our hospital for a bulky abdominal mass. He had a history of appendectomy under the diagnosis of appendiceal rupture 23 years previously. He also had received a radical lung resection for an early lung cancer 2 years earlier in another hospital.

Clinicopathological characteristics of esophageal squamous papillomas in Japanese patients--with comparison of findings from Western countries.

To clarify the characteristics of esophageal squamous papillomas (ESPs) in the Japanese population, we investigated 38 ESPs of 35 Japanese patients from a file with 17,387 upper gastrointestinal endoscopies in our university hospital. ESPs accounted for 0.20% of the total number of endoscopies and comprised 21 females and 14 males with an average age of 59.

Comparison of clinical features and patient background in functional dyspepsia and peptic ulcer.

To elucidate the clinical features of functional dyspepsia (FD), patients with FD were compared with patients with peptic ulcer. Fifty-eight FD and fifty-nine peptic ulcer patients were compared with respect to clinical features and patient background. In the FD group, symptoms of dyspepsia, especially upper abdominal fullness and nausea, were more common than in the peptic ulcer group.

Different changes in the expression of multiple kinds of tight-junction proteins during ischemia-reperfusion injury of the rat ileum.

Dysfunction of tight junctions (TJs), located at the most apical part of the intestinal epithelium, is believed to result in various complications in intestinal disease. However, the behaviors of multiple kinds of TJ proteins during ischemia-reperfusion injury are not understood in detail. To determine changes in expression and localization of TJ proteins during intestinal-barrier recovery, we induced intestinal ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats, measured mucosa-to-blood permeability of fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran-4 kDa, and compared it with spatiotemporal changes of ZO-1, occludin, and claudin-1, -2, -3, -4, and -5 by immunoconfocal microscopy.