Usefulness of virtual enteroscopy for the detection of small polypoid lesion in the small bowel, a case report.

Introduction: Virtual enteroscopy (VE) has been developed to explore the entire small bowel. We have previously reported that VE can reveal elevated lesions measuring >10 mm in diameter. However, data on the existence of smaller polypoid lesions is scarce.

[Three cases of enteroenteric intussusception examined by three-dimensional computed tomography enteroclysis].

Three-dimensional computed tomography (3D CT) enteroclysis or virtual enteroscopy is a novel technique to explore the entire small bowel using a modified protocol of virtual colonoscopy by inflating the small bowel with air. In our hospital, the procedure is performed routinely for cases with suspected gross lesions. We performed 3D CT enteroclysis for three cases with enteroenteric intussusception bowel.

[Virtual enteroscopy for the evaluation of stenosis in a case of chronic multiple ulcers of the small intestine].

A 39-year-old female presented to our hospital with diarrhea, vomiting, anemia, and hypoalbuminemia. Virtual enteroscopy was performed to evaluate the small bowel; we found annular stenoses at 89, 100, 116, 147, and 154 cm from the ligament of Treitz. Small bowel resection was performed, and annular ulcers were confirmed at 58, 71, 90, 130, 138, 218, and 225 cm from the ligament of Treitz.

[Meckel's diverticulum detected by virtual enteroscopy in a patient with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced enteropathy].

A 68-year-old female presented to our hospital with abdominal discomfort and obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. She had been prescribed aspirin for retinal venous occlusion. Video capsule endoscopy (VCE) revealed multiple erosions, annular ulcers, and bleeding, confirming a diagnosis of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-induced enteropathy.

Molecular mechanisms of pancreatic stone formation in chronic pancreatitis.

Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a progressive inflammatory disease in which the pancreatic secretory parenchyma is destroyed and replaced by fibrosis. The presence of intraductal pancreatic stone(s) is important for the diagnosis of CP; however, the precise molecular mechanisms of pancreatic stone formation in CP were left largely unknown. Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is a chloride channel expressed in the apical plasma membrane of pancreatic duct cells and plays a central role in [Formula: see text] secretion.

Computed tomographic enteroclysis with air and virtual enteroscopy: protocol and feasibility for small bowel evaluation.

Background And Aims: We describe our optimized protocol for computed tomographic enteroclysis using air as the contrast material and report an early assessment of its clinical performance.

Methods: Thirty-one examinations of computed tomographic enteroclysis with air were performed in 30 patients in our hospital from September 2008 to September 2010. The volume of injected air and intra-intestinal pressure were monitored in 16 cases.

Corticosteroids correct aberrant CFTR localization in the duct and regenerate acinar cells in autoimmune pancreatitis.

Background & Aims: Corticosteroids are now widely accepted as a treatment for autoimmune pancreatitis (AIP). However, the molecular mechanism by which steroid treatment improves AIP remains largely unknown. The aim of this study was to elucidate cellular mechanisms by which corticosteroids improve both pancreatic exocrine function and histopathology in AIP.

Aquaporin 1 water channel is overexpressed in the plasma membranes of pancreatic ducts in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis.

Chronic pancreatitis with all kinds of etiologies is characterized by pancreatic exocrine dysfunction especially impaired fluid secretion from pancreatic ducts. However, the molecular mechanism of this impaired fluid secretion in chronic pancreatitis is largely unknown. Aquaporin water channels are intrinsic membrane proteins expressed most of the cell types which have high osmotic water permeability.

An in situ hybridization-based screen for heterogeneously expressed genes in mouse ES cells.

We previously reported that Zscan4 showed heterogeneous expression patterns in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. To identify genes that show similar expression patterns, we carried out high-throughput in situ hybridization assays on ES cell cultures for 244 genes. Most of the genes are involved in transcriptional regulation, and were selected using microarray-based comparisons of gene expression profiles in ES and embryonal carcinoma (EC) cells versus differentiated cell types.

Fecal pancreatic elastase: a reproducible marker for severe exocrine pancreatic insufficiency.

Background: In order to apply fecal pancreatic elastase for follow-up of exocrine pancreatic function in chronic pancreatitis and cystic fibrosis, we examined the sensitivity, specificity, and long-term variability of a new polyclonal antibody-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

Methods: Patients with definite chronic pancreatitis (n = 23), probable or possible chronic pancreatitis (n = 14), autoimmune pancreatitis (n = 7), or acute pancreatitis (n = 11), and 51 healthy subjects and 11 healthy infants participated in this study. Pancreatic function was graded as normal (n = 3), mild (n = 18), moderate (n = 9), or severe (n = 18) exocrine insufficiency on the basis of secretin tests.

Esg1, expressed exclusively in preimplantation embryos, germline, and embryonic stem cells, is a putative RNA-binding protein with broad RNA targets.

In our earlier attempt to identify genes involved in the maintenance of cellular pluripotency, we found that KH-domain protein Embryonal stem cell-specific gene 1 (Esg1) showed similar expression patterns to those of Oct3/4 (Pou5f1), whereas the forced repression of Oct3/4 in mouse embryonic stem cells immediately downregulated the expression of Esg1. Here we further confirm this overlap by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical analyses. Both Esg1 transcript and protein exist in the egg and preimplantation embryos.

High-throughput screen for genes predominantly expressed in the ICM of mouse blastocysts by whole mount in situ hybridization.

Mammalian preimplantation embryos provide an excellent opportunity to study temporal and spatial gene expression in whole mount in situ hybridization (WISH). However, large-scale studies are made difficult by the size of the embryos ( approximately 60mum diameter) and their fragility. We have developed a chamber system that allows parallel processing of embryos without the aid of a microscope.

Dual effects of n-alcohols on fluid secretion from guinea pig pancreatic ducts.

Ethanol strongly augments secretin-stimulated, but not acetylcholine (ACh)-stimulated, fluid secretion from pancreatic duct cells. To understand its mechanism of action, we examined the effect of short-chain n-alcohols on fluid secretion and intracellular Ca(2+) concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) in guinea pig pancreatic ducts. Fluid secretion was measured by monitoring the luminal volume of isolated interlobular ducts.

A finger sweat chloride test for the detection of a high-risk group of chronic pancreatitis.

Objectives: Mutations of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene are associated with chronic pancreatitis in Caucasians. We developed a simple method for measuring finger sweat chloride concentration to test whether CFTR dysfunction underlies chronic pancreatitis in Japan where cystic fibrosis (CF) is rare.

Methods: We studied 25 patients with chronic (21 alcoholic and 4 idiopathic) pancreatitis and 25 healthy volunteers.

Transcriptome analysis of mouse stem cells and early embryos.

Understanding and harnessing cellular potency are fundamental in biology and are also critical to the future therapeutic use of stem cells. Transcriptome analysis of these pluripotent cells is a first step towards such goals. Starting with sources that include oocytes, blastocysts, and embryonic and adult stem cells, we obtained 249,200 high-quality EST sequences and clustered them with public sequences to produce an index of approximately 30,000 total mouse genes that includes 977 previously unidentified genes.

Expression profiling of placentomegaly associated with nuclear transplantation of mouse ES cells.

Transplantation of nuclei (NT) from engineered mouse ES cells is a potentially powerful and rapid route to create knockout mice, obviating the need for matings to obtain germ-line chimeras. However, such an application is currently impossible, because NT often results in abnormalities in embryo and placenta. Although the epigenetic instability of several imprinted genes in ES cells and ES-derived NT mice has been demonstrated, it is not clear yet what causes the abnormalities.

Distribution of aquaporin 1 in the rat pancreatic duct system examined with light- and electron-microscopic immunohistochemistry.

The pancreatic duct is the major site for the secretion of pancreatic fluid, but the pathway of water transport in this system is not known. Recently, intense signal for mRNA of aquaporin 1 (AQP1) water channels was detected in isolated rat interlobular ducts. Therefore, we performed light- and electron-microscopic (EM) immunohistochemistry for AQP1 in the rat pancreatic ducts.

Aquaporins in rat pancreatic interlobular ducts.

The aquaporin (AQP) family of water channels is distributed ubiquitously in many epithelia and plays a fundamental role in transmembrane water transport. The aim of this study is to identify the water transport pathway in pancreatic duct cells where most of the HCO-rich fluid originates. Using digital videomicroscopy, we measured the osmotic water permeability (P(f)) of pancreatic duct epithelium by exposing isolated rat interlobular ducts to the hypotonic solution (145 mosM).