N-acetyl cysteine improves glycogenesis after segmental liver ischemia and reperfusion injury in pigs.

Objective: N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an antioxidative molecule known to protect liver tissue from oxygen radical species generated during ischemia and reperfusion (IR). Nutritional and toxicology studies have shown that NAC also improves glucose metabolism and glycogen stores. We hypothesized that NAC improves glycogenesis and that impaired glycogenesis is a key element in IR injury.

Remote or conventional ischemic preconditioning--local liver metabolism in rats studied with microdialysis.

Background: Ischemic preconditioning (IPC) of the liver decreases liver injury secondary to ischemia and reperfusion. An attractive alternative to IPC is remote ischemic preconditioning (R-IPC), but these two methods have not previously been compared.

Material And Methods: Eighty-seven rats were randomized into four groups: sham operated (n = 15), 1 h segmental ischemia (IRI, n = 24), preceded by IPC (n = 24), or R-IPC (n = 24) (to the left hindleg).

Ischemic preconditioning prior to intermittent Pringle maneuver in liver resections.

Background/purpose: Continuous inflow vascular occlusion during liver resections causes less severe ischemia and reperfusion injury (IRI) if it is preceded by ischemic preconditioning (IP) or if intermittent inflow occlusion is used during the resection. No previous clinical trial has studied the effects of adding IP to intermittent inflow occlusion.

Methods: Consecutive patients (n = 32) with suspicion of malignant liver disease had liver resections (minimum 2 segments) performed with inflow occlusion (intermittent clamping in a manner of 15 min of ischemia and 5 min of reperfusion repetitively; 15/5).

Probiotics prevent intestinal barrier dysfunction in acute pancreatitis in rats via induction of ileal mucosal glutathione biosynthesis.

Background: During acute pancreatitis (AP), oxidative stress contributes to intestinal barrier failure. We studied actions of multispecies probiotics on barrier dysfunction and oxidative stress in experimental AP.

Methodology/principal Findings: Fifty-three male Spraque-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into five groups: 1) controls, non-operated, 2) sham-operated, 3) AP, 4) AP and probiotics and 5) AP and placebo.

Probiotics enhance pancreatic glutathione biosynthesis and reduce oxidative stress in experimental acute pancreatitis.

Factors determining severity of acute pancreatitis (AP) are poorly understood. Oxidative stress causes acinar cell injury and contributes to the severity, whereas prophylactic probiotics ameliorate experimental pancreatitis. Our objective was to study how probiotics affect oxidative stress, inflammation, and acinar cell injury during the early phase of AP.

Serum amino acid profile in patients with acute pancreatitis.

Patients in the early phase of acute pancreatitis (AP) have reduced serum levels of arginine and citrulline. This may be of patho-biological importance, since arginine is the substrate for nitric oxide, which in turn is involved in normal pancreatic physiology and in the inflammatory process. Serum amino acid spectrum was measured daily for five days and after recovery six weeks later in 19 patients admitted to the hospital for acute pancreatitis.

Cholecystokinin-8-induced hypoplasia of the rat pancreas: influence of nitric oxide on cell proliferation and programmed cell death.

The background of cholecystokinin-8 (CCK-8)-induced hypoplasia in the pancreas is not known. In order to increase our understanding we studied the roles of nitric oxide and NF-kappaB in rats. CCK-8 was injected for 4 days, in a mode known to cause hypoplasia, and the nitric oxide formation was either decreased by means of N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA) or increased by S-nitroso-N-acetylpencillamine (SNAP).

The Influence of a load of L-arginine on serum amino acids and pancreatic apoptosis/proliferation and ATP levels in the rat.

Objectives: Administration of high doses of amino acids like ethionine, methionine, and arginine causes pancreatic tissue damage. The initial mechanism behind these effects is not known. The aim of this study was to show the early effects of a load of L-arginine on programed cell death/proliferation and ATP levels in the pancreas.

Telomerase activity in surgical specimens and fine-needle aspiration biopsies from hyperplastic and neoplastic human thyroid tissues.

Background: Telomerase activity (TA) indicates malignancy, but activated lymphocytes also express TA. Correlation between TA in thyroid tissues and fine-needle aspiration (FNA) samples and knowledge about TA in adjacent tissue are of importance.

Methods: The telomeric repeat amplification protocol assay followed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay detection was performed on 78 thyroid cases including 53 suspected malignancies, preoperative and perioperative FNA specimens, and adjacent tissue.

The influence of nitric oxide on basal and cholecystokinin-8-induced proliferation and apoptosis in the rat pancreas.

Nitric oxide (NO) is formed by different cell types in the pancreas. In this study, inhibition of endogenous nitric oxide by N(omega)-nitro-L-arginine (L-NNA) reduced the urinary excretion of NO(2)/NO(3) and raised serum L-arginine and the NO donator S-nitroso-N-acetylpenicillamine (SNAP) increased the urinary excretion of NO(2)/NO(3). The peptide cholecystokinin-8 (CCK-8) has a strong influence on exocrine pancreatic proliferation.

Telomerase is not activated in human hyperplastic and adenomatous parathyroid tissue.

Background: Telomerase is a specific enzyme that appears to have a key role in cellular senescence and the progression of neoplastic tissue. High telomerase activity has been found in several cancers, but not in most normal and benign tissue. Little is known about the influence of telomerase on the abnormal growth associated with hyperparathyroidism.

Inverse relation between mRNA synthesis and secretion of parathyroid hormone in athymic mice grafted with human parathyroid tissue.

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) mRNA in original and transplanted human adenomatous parathyroid tissue and human serum intact PTH (S-iPTH) was measured in athymic mice at 4, 7, 14, and 28 days after transplantation. Parathyroid tissue was obtained during surgery for hyperparathyroidism and implanted subcutaneously. PTH mRNA detection was done with RT-PCR followed by membrane blot and hybridisation and S-iPTH was analysed using a human specific immunoradiometric method.

Cholecystokinin octapeptide induces both proliferation and apoptosis in the rat pancreas.

Cholecystokinin-8 (CCK-8) causes exocrine pancreatic hypertrophy and hyperplasia. High doses of the CCK analogue cerulein causes necrosis and an inflammatory response in the pancreas. We have studied the pancreatic growth response in rats after administration of CCK-8 for 3 days, given either intermittently (20-80 microg/kg) twice a day, or continuously (2.

Survival of human parathyroid tissue xenotransplanted in nude mice after 9 to 55 months' cryopreservation.

Survival of human parathyroid tissue xenotransplanted after cryopreservation was studied. Peroperative biopsies from 26 patients were cryopreserved and xenotransplanted into nude mice after 9 to 55 months. At 8 to 12 weeks after transplantation, the morphology of the transplanted tissue was compared to that of the original tissue after thawing and before transplantation.

Dermatitis with an unusual explanation in a welder.

Occupational diseases among welders include asthma, acute keratoconjunctivitis, and various skin disorders. A localized cutaneous erythema from UVC radiation is common and does not generally constitute any problem, as its cause is obvious to the welder, the symptoms are slight, and it is transient. In this report a welder with UVC-induced erythema on the cheeks is described.

Allergic contact dermatitis from diphenylthiourea in Vulkan heat retainers.

11 cases of contact dermatitis from Vulkan heat retainers are reported. The skin eruptions started on days 1-11 after the 1st day of exposure. The clinical picture varied from eczema through urticaria to purpura.

Demonstration of contact sensitizers in resins and products based on phenol-formaldehyde.

12 phenol-formaldehyde resins were investigated with regard to the presence of 14 contact sensitizers by using high-pressure liquid chromatography. The allergens consisted of simple methylol phenols, dihydroxydiphenyl methanes, 4,4(1)-dihydroxy-(hydroxymethyl)-diphenyl methanes and 2,4(1)-dihydroxy-(hydroxymethyl)-diphenyl methanes. Four substances, 2,4-dimethylol phenol, 2,6-dimethylol phenol, 4,4(1)-dihydroxydiphenyl methane and 2,4(1)-dihydroxydiphenyl methane, were isolated from a resol resin and identified by mass-spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry.

Contact dermatitis from the epoxy resins tetraglycidyl-4,4'-methylene dianiline and o-diglycidyl phthalate in composite material.

An outbreak of dermatitis occurred in an aircraft factory using epoxy resin composite material. Of 25 operatives, 14 gave positive patch test reactions to the composite material and/or diglycidylether of bisphenol A (DGEBA), tetraglycidyl-4,4'-methylene dianiline (TGMDA), and o-diglycidyl phthalate. This report seems to be the first to demonstrate contact allergy to the two last mentioned epoxy resins.

Contact allergy to styrene and related chemicals.

One patient, sensitive to styrene, cross-reacted at patch testing to 2-,3-and 4-vinyltoluene (2-,3-and 4-methylstyrene) and to the metabolites styrene epoxide and 4-vinylphenol (4-hydroxy-styrene). It is assumed that styrene is a prohapten metabolized in the skin by aryl hydrocarbon hydroxylase (AHH) to styrene epoxide acting as the true hapten. Styrene occurs in nature and as a synthetic product.

An attempt to isolate and identify allergens in lanolin.

One sensitizer, a sterol, has previously been reported to be present in lanolin. In this study, a related substance, a sterol, with a molecular weight of 424 has been isolated. A few sensitive subjects did not react to this substance.