Hepatic abscess secondary to foreign body perforation of the stomach.

Foreign body penetration of the stomach is seldom encountered in general surgical practice. Liver abscess as a consequence of such occurrence has only been reported sporadically. We report three cases of liver abscesses due to direct penetration injury of the stomach by ingested foreign bodies.

Potency of select statin drugs in a new mouse model of hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis.

Poloxamer-407 (P-407) is a nonionic surfactant that induces atheroma formation in the aortas of C57BL/6 mice with long-term (14 weeks) administration. The objectives of the present study were to determine the mechanism(s) responsible for the induction of hypercholesterolemia as well as to determine whether this animal model may be of potential use in rank ordering the efficacy (lipid lowering) of various statin drugs. The effect of long-term (16 weeks) administration of P-407 on the catalytic activities of rate-limiting enzymes of cholesterol biosynthesis [HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR)] and catabolism [microsomal cholesterol 7alpha-hydroxylase (C7alphaH) and mitochondrial sterol 27 hydroxylase (S27H)] was assessed in C57BL/6 mice.

Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase, not extracellular signal-regulated kinase, regulates activation of the antioxidant-responsive element in IMR-32 human neuroblastoma cells.

The antioxidant-responsive element (ARE) plays an important role in the induction of phase II detoxifying enzymes including NADPH:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1). We report herein that activation of the human NQO1-ARE (hNQO1-ARE) by tert-butylhydroquinone (tBHQ) is mediated by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-kinase), not extracellular signal-regulated kinase (Erk1/2), in IMR-32 human neuroblastoma cells. Treatment with tBHQ significantly increased NQO1 protein without activation of Erk1/2.

Lipid emulsions as vehicles for enhanced nasal delivery of insulin.

The objective of this work is to explore lipid emulsion based formulations of insulin as an enhancer of nasal absorption. Insulin was incorporated into the aqueous phases of water-in-oil (w/o) and oil-in-water (o/w) emulsions. The formulations were perfused through the nasal cavity of rats in situ.

Cadmium-mediated activation of the metal response element in human neuroblastoma cells lacking functional metal response element-binding transcription factor-1.

Metal response element-binding transcription factor-1 (MTF-1) binds specifically to metal response elements (MREs) and transactivates metallothionein (MT) gene expression in response to zinc and cadmium. This investigation contrasts the mechanism of mouse MT gene (mMT-I) promoter activation by cadmium and zinc in IMR-32 human neuroblastoma cells to determine whether MTF-1 binding to the MRE is necessary for activation by these metals. Cadmium activated a mMT-1 promoter (-150 base pairs) luciferase reporter 20-25-fold through a MRE-dependent mechanism.

Participation of upstream stimulator factor (USF) in cadmium-induction of the mouse metallothionein-I gene.

The roles of the bHLH-Zip protein, upstream stimulatory factor (USF), in mouse metallothionein-I (MT-I) gene expression were examined. The promoter contains a putative USF binding site which overlaps an antioxidant response element (ARE) located at -101 bp relative to the transcription start point. The USF/ARE composite element increases basal expression of the mouse MT-I gene, and partly mediates response to oxidative stress.