Pancreatic hyperechogenicity associated with hypoadiponectinemia and insulin resistance: A Japanese population study.

Aim: To examine the relationship between pancreatic hyperechogenicity and risk factors for metabolic syndrome.

Methods: A general population-based survey of lifestyle-related diseases was conducted from 2005 to 2006 in Japan. The study involved 551 participants older than 40 year of age.

Stromal Fibrosis and Expression of Matricellular Proteins Correlate With Histological Grade of Intraductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm of the Pancreas.

Objective: The aim of the study was to clarify the correlation between the microenvironmental factors and histological grade in intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN).

Methods: We investigated 65 IPMNs resected at Yamagata University Hospital between 2000 and 2011, and all cases were categorized to low-inter (including low- and intermediate-grade dysplasia) and high-inv (including high-grade dysplasia and IPMN with an associated invasive carcinoma) groups. We compared between the 2 groups pathologically with regard to fibrosis and the expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), periostin, and galectin-1 in the periductal stroma of IPMN.

Pancreatic fat accumulation, fibrosis, and acinar cell injury in the Zucker diabetic fatty rat fed a chronic high-fat diet.

Objective: The histological alteration of the exocrine pancreas in obesity has not been clarified. In the present study, we investigated biochemical and histological changes in the exocrine pancreas of obese model rats.

Methods: Zucker lean rats were fed a standard diet, and Zucker diabetic fatty (ZDF) rats were divided into 2 groups fed a standard diet and a high-fat diet, respectively.

Quantitative assessment of gene methylation in neoplastic and non-neoplastic gastric epithelia using methylation-specific DNA microarray.

A fiber-type DNA microarray was used to calculate methylation rates (MR) of four tumor suppressor genes, lysyl oxidase (LOX), p16, RUNX3, and tazarotene-induced gene 1 (TIG1). MR were calculated in 26 primary gastric cancers and corresponding non-neoplastic gastric epithelia, and the results were compared to those of conventional methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP). MR ranged from 0.

[An autopsy case of periampullary carcinoid with amyloid stroma and type 1 neurofibromatosis].

A 67-year-old woman presented with a chief complaint of malaise. CT showed a pancreatic head tumor 5 cm in diameter with calcification. It also showed multiple liver metastases and bile duct dilatation.

Quantitative assessment of RUNX3 methylation in neoplastic and non-neoplastic gastric epithelia using a DNA microarray.

Silencing of the RUNX3 gene by hypermethylation of its promoter CpG island plays a major role in gastric carcinogenesis. To quantitatively evaluate RUNX3 methylation, a fiber-type DNA microarray was used on which methylated and unmethylated sequence probes were mounted. After bisulfite modification, a part of the RUNX3 promoter CpG island, at which methylation is critical for gene silencing, was amplified by polymerase chain reaction using a Cy5 end-labeled primer.

Multiple tumor suppressor genes are increasingly methylated with age in non-neoplastic gastric epithelia.

A number of tumor suppressor and tumor-related genes are silenced by promoter hypermethylation in gastric cancer. Hypermethylation is not restricted to cancer cells, but is also present in non-neoplastic cells during aging. Such age-related methylation in non-neoplastic gastric epithelia is postulated to constitute a field defect that increases the risk for development of gastric cancer.

Spreading of methylation within RUNX3 CpG island in gastric cancer.

RUNX3 is a novel tumor suppressor gene that is frequently silenced by promoter hypermethylation in gastric cancer. The methylation status of multiple regions within the RUNX3 promoter CpG island (3,478 bp) was examined in gastric cancer cell lines, primary gastric cancers and non-neoplastic gastric mucosa to clarify how methylation spreads within the CpG island. The critical regions for RUNX3 silencing were evaluated by analysis of cell lines.

Expression of tumor suppressor and tumor-related proteins in differentiated carcinoma, undifferentiated carcinoma with tubular component and pure undifferentiated carcinoma of the stomach.

Background: The recent development of tissue microarray (TMA) technology allows high-throughput protein expression profiling of cancer tissues by immunohistochemistry. We attempted to clarify the derivation of undifferentiated-type gastric carcinoma with tubular component by using TMA.

Methods: We constructed a TMA system composed of six paraffin blocks in which 274 samples of formalin-fixed gastric carcinoma tissue from 274 patients were embedded.

Hypermethylation of Chfr and hMLH1 in gastric noninvasive and early invasive neoplasias.

Human tumors are genetically unstable, and the instability exists at two distinct levels-the chromosomal level and the nucleotide level. Chfr and hMLH1 hypermethylation, which may lead to chromosomal instability (CIN) and microsatellite instability (MSI), respectively, was analyzed in gastric noninvasive neoplasias (NIN, Padova international classification) and submucosal invasive adenocarcinomas and in their corresponding non-neoplastic gastric epithelia. Results were compared with microsatellite status, p53 immunoreactivity, and cellular phenotype.

Promoter hypermethylation of DAP-kinase is associated with poor survival in primary biliary tract carcinoma patients.

To clarify the clinicopathological significance of promoter hypermethylation of tumor suppressor and tumor-related genes in biliary tract carcinomas, we examined the promoter methylation status of multiple genes in primary biliary tract carcinomas. These consisted of carcinomas of the bile duct, gallbladder, and duodenal ampulla. Surgical specimens were obtained from a total of 37 patients with biliary tract carcinoma.

Demethylation of the synuclein gamma gene CpG island in primary gastric cancers and gastric cancer cell lines.

Purpose: Whereas synuclein gamma (SNCG) gene expression is usually highly tissue-specific and restricted to the nervous system, SNCG is expressed in advanced-stage breast and ovarian cancers. When overexpressed, SNCG stimulates cancer cell proliferation and metastasis. It is thought that the molecular mechanism of CpG island demethylation may underlie aberrant SNCG expression.

Hypermethylation of the TSLC1 gene promoter in primary gastric cancers and gastric cancer cell lines.

The TSLC1 (tumor suppressor in lung cancer-1) gene is a novel tumor suppressor gene on chromosomal region 11q23.2, and is frequently inactivated by concordant promoter hypermethylation and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Because LOH on 11q has also been observed frequently in other human neoplasms including gastric cancer, we investigated the promoter methylation status of TSLC1 in 10 gastric cancer cell lines and 97 primary gastric cancers, as well as the corresponding non-cancerous gastric tissues, by bisulfite-SSCP analysis followed by direct sequencing.

Molecular and cellular phenotypic profiles of gastric noninvasive neoplasia.

According to the Padova international classification, 52 gastric noninvasive neoplasias (NIN) were classified as follows: 20 low-grade NIN (L-NIN); 9 high-grade NIN including suspicion for carcinoma without invasion (H-NIN); and 23 high-grade NIN including carcinoma without invasion (Ca-NIN). The molecular and cellular phenotypic profiles were investigated and compared. The APC gene was mutated in seven (35%) L-NIN, two (22%) H-NIN, and two (9%) Ca-NIN tumors; APC mutations were significantly more frequent in L-NIN compared with Ca-NIN tumors (p < 0.