Markers of enteral adaptation in pediatric short bowel syndrome.

Background: The aim of this study was to ascertain if prospective determination of specific gut hormones and growth factors could predict bowel adaptation in children with short bowel syndrome (SBS).

Methods: We studied independence from parenteral nutrition (PN) as the short-term result and discontinuation of enteral nutrition (EN) as the long-term result from a retrospective chart review of seven patients with SBS, who were managed in the absence of growth retardation. The correlation between increased number of enteral feeds or enteral nutrients and fasting serum gastrin, glucagon-like peptide 2 (GLP-2), citrulline, and D-amino acid oxidase (DAO) activity was analyzed.

Methylation of the WNT5A gene is frequently detected in early gastric carcinoma.

Background/aims: Recently, it has been reported that WNT5A methylation was frequently detected in colorectal cancers. However, the relationship between the WNT5A methylation and the characteristics of gastric cancer remains unknown.

Methodology: Methylation status of the WNT5A gene was examined in primary carcinomas and the corresponding normal tissues derived from 38 patients with gastric cancer using quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP) and the correlation between the methylation status and the clinicopathological findings was evaluated.

Methylation of the UNC5C gene is frequently detected in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background/aims: Recently, we detected that UNC5C expression was downregulated in colon and gastric cancer.

Methodology: In the present study, the methylation status of the UNC5C gene was examined in primary carcinomas and the corresponding normal tissues derived from 42 patients with HCC.

Results: Methylation of the UNC5C gene was detected in 11 out of the 42 (26%) HCCs, suggesting that the methylation of UNC5C was frequently observed in HCCs.

FBN2 methylation is detected in the serum of colorectal cancer patients with hepatic metastasis.

Background, Materials And Methods: For the purpose of colorectal cancer detection, we investigated fibrillin-2 (FBN2) methylation in the serum of colorectal cancer patients using quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (qMSP).

Results: Out of 78 patients with colorectal cancer, 49 (63%) exhibited methylation of FBN2 in their tumor tissue DNA, suggesting that FBN2 methylation frequently exists in colorectal cancer. We next examined the methylation status of FBN2 in the serum DNA of patients with colorectal cancer.

Functional characterization and substrate specificity of a novel gene encoding zinc finger-like protein, ZfLp, in Xenopus laevis oocytes.

In the present study, we isolated and determined the pharmacological characteristics of a novel gene encoding the zinc finger-like protein (ZfLp). The isolated cDNA consisted of 1,581 base pairs that encoded a 526-amino acid protein. The amino acid sequence of ZfLp is 96% identical to that of zinc finger protein 415 isoform 5 (ZNF415-5).

Beneficial effects of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate on ischemia-reperfusion testicular injury in rats.

Background/purpose: The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on testicular ischemia-reperfusion injury in rats.

Methods: Forty male Wistar rats were assigned to 5 groups. A sham operation was performed on the animals in group 1.

Expression levels of thymidylate synthase, dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase, and thymidine phosphorylase in patients with colorectal cancer.

Background: Predictors of the response of colorectal cancer to chemotherapy remain poorly understood. We analyzed the mRNA expression levels of enzymes related to sensitivity to 5-fluorouracil derivatives in patients with colorectal cancer.

Patients And Methods: Danenberg tumor profile method (DTP) was used in order to measure mRNA expression levels of thymidylate synthase (TYMS), dihydropyrimidine dehydrogenase (DPYD), and thymidine phosphorylase (TYMP) from 180 patients with colorectal cancer.

Detection of vimentin methylation in the serum of patients with gastric cancer.

Aim: Detection of gastric cancer using serum assay of vimentin methylation.

Methods: A quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction assay was used to detect vimentin gene (VIM) methylation in the serum of 71 patients with gastric cancer.

Results: Mean VIM methylation in cancer patients (0.

Methylation of TFPI2 no longer detected in the serum DNA of colorectal cancer patients after curative surgery.

In our previous study, we used quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (qMSP) to examine the methylation status of tissue factor pathway inhibitor 2 (TFPI2) in the preoperative serum DNA of 215 colorectal cancer patients and found that TFPI2 was methylated in serum DNA from 39 of these patients. In this study, we examined postoperative serum DNA, obtained within one month after surgery from 38 out of the 39 patients and found that TFPI2 was methylated in the serum DNA of only 18 (47%) of these patients, suggesting that TFPI2 methylation in the serum of the remaining colorectal cancer patients was abolished by surgical tumor reduction. Next, we examined the correlation between the presence of TFPI2 methylation in postoperative serum DNA and residual cancer status after surgery.

[Significance of Onodera's prognostic nutritional index for treating unresectable or recurrent colorectal cancer with chemotherapy].

We analyzed the relationship between Onodera's prognostic nutritional index(PNI), classified by serum albumin level, lymphocyte level, and clinicopathological features, in 46 patients with unresectable or recurrent colorectal cancer being treated with chemotherapy.Onodera 's PNI was distributed between 29.7 and 56.

Detection of TFPI2 methylation in the serum of gastric cancer patients.

Background: Methylation of tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 (TFPI2) has been detected in the stool of colorectal cancer patients. Using quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (qMSP), 39 out of 215 (18%) patients exhibited TFPI2 methylation in their serum DNA, suggesting that a significant number of methylated TFPI2 existed in colorectal cancer patients' sera.

Materials And Methods: Methylation status of the TFPI2 gene was examined in sera derived from 73 patients with gastric cancer using qMSP and the correlation between the methylation status and the clinicopathological findings was evaluated.

Down-regulation of EGFL8: a novel biomarker for advanced gastric cancer.

Background: Recently, we have reported an important role of epidermal growth factor-like domain 8 (EGFL8) in the progression of colorectal cancer (CRC) and documented EGFL8 to be a novel prognostic biomarker for this malignancy. However, the function of EGFL8 in the other human gastroenterological malignancies such as gastric cancer remains largely unknown.

Patients And Methods: EGFL8 expression in 53 cases of gastric cancer and the corresponding normal tissues were determined by quantitative real-time PCR and the EGFL8 down-regulation score for each patient was calculated.

Detection of TFPI2 methylation in the serum of colorectal cancer patients.

We examined whether TFPI2 methylation can be used as a molecular marker for colorectal cancers by detecting TFPI2 methylation in colorectal cancer patients' sera by using quantitative methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (qMSP). The qMSP analysis showed that 39 of 215 (18%) patients exhibited TFPI2 methylation in their serum DNA, suggesting that TFPI2 methylation frequently existed in colorectal cancer patients' sera. After completion of qMSP analysis, clinicopathological data were correlated with molecular data.

Down-regulation of EGFL8: a novel prognostic biomarker for patients with colorectal cancer.

Background: In a previous study, we reported a critical role of epidermal growth factor-like domain 7 (EGFL7) in the metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and documented it to be a prognostic biomarker as well as a potential therapeutic target for HCC. However, the role of EGFL8, the only known paralog of EGFL7, in human malignancies is currently unclear.

Patients And Methods: EGFL8 expression in 101 cases of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients was determined by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and the clinicopathological features of the CRC patients were correlated with the EGFL8 down-regulation scores.

[Diamine oxidase as blood biomarker in rats and humans to GI tract toxicity of fluorouracil anti-cancer drugs].

Diarrhea is a side effect of a 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) anti-cancer drug-induced intestinal mucosal disorder, which sometimes becomes more severe. Blood diamine oxidase (DAO; EC1. 4.

Methylation of OSMR gene is frequently observed in non-invasive colorectal cancer.

Background: Recently, it has been reported that oncostatin M receptor-β (OSMR) is frequently methylated in primary colon cancer tissues, but not in normal tissues. We examined the methylation status of the OSMR gene in primary carcinomas and the corresponding normal tissues derived from 56 patients with colorectal cancer.

Patients And Methods: The methylation status of the OSMR gene was examined in primary carcinomas and corresponding normal tissues derived from 56 patients with colorectal cancer using quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP), and the correlation between the methylation status and the clinicopathological findings was evaluated.

Aberrant methylation of the Vimentin gene in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Recently, it was shown that the Vimentin gene, usually activated in mesenchymal cells, was highly methylated in colorectal carcinoma.

Materials And Methods: The methylation status of the Vimentin gene was examined in primary carcinomas and the corresponding normal tissues derived from 43 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP) and the correlation between the methylation status and the clinicopathological findings was evaluated.

Results: Aberrant methylation of the Vimentin gene was detected in 24 out of the 43 (56%) primary HCC.

MACC 1 as a marker for vascular invasive hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Recently, metastasis associated with colon cancer 1 (MACC1) gene was identified by genome-wide search for differentially expressed genes in human colon cancer tissues and metastases. Previously, MACC1 expression was examined in colorectal carcinomas and gastric carcinomas and was found to show significant correlation with peritoneal dissemination.

Patients And Methods: In this study, MACC1 expression was analyzed in 60 samples (tumor and the surrounding non-tumorous liver tissue) collected from 30 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR).

Down-regulation of Mus81 as a potential marker for the malignancy of gastric cancer.

Background: The Mus81 gene encodes a critical endonuclease involved in DNA repair and tumor suppression. In the present study, the role of Mus81 in gastric cancer was explored.

Materials And Methods: Mus81 expression in 53 cases of gastric cancer and the corresponding normal tissues was determined by quantitative real-time PCR.

Downregulation of Mus81 as a novel prognostic biomarker for patients with colorectal carcinoma.

The Mus81 gene encodes a critical endonuclease involved in DNA repair and tumor suppression. Our previous study has shown reduced expression of Mus81 in hepatocellular carcinoma and its association with the metastatic potential and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. However, the role of Mus81 in colorectal carcinoma is currently unknown.

Methylation of the TFPI2 gene is frequently detected in advanced gastric carcinoma.

Background: Recently, Glockner et al. identified the methylation of TFPI2 as a frequent event in human colorectal cancer using a gene expression array-based strategy.

Materials And Methods: Methylation status of the TFPI2 gene was examined in primary carcinomas and the corresponding normal tissues derived from 38 patients with gastric cancer using quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP) and the correlation between the methylation status and the clinicopathological findings was evaluated.

Methylation of the p16 gene is frequently detected in lymphatic-invasive gastric cancer.

Background: A tumor suppressor gene, p16, was found to harbor promoter methylation associated with the loss of protein expression in cancer cells, suggesting that p16 inactivation due to promoter methylation may be important for gastric tumorigenesis.

Patients And Methods: The methylation status of the p16 gene was examined in primary carcinomas and the corresponding normal tissues derived from 49 patients with gastric cancer using quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP) and the correlation between the methylation status and the clinicopathological findings was evaluated.

Results: Aberrant methylation of the p16 gene was detected in 17 out of the 49 (34%) primary gastric carcinomas, suggesting that the aberrant methylation of p16 is frequently observed in gastric carcinomas.

Activation of cyclosporin A transport by a novel lambda light chain of human Ig surface antigen-related gene in Xenopus laevis oocytes.

In the present study, we isolated and determined the pharmacological characteristics of a novel gene encoding the lambda light chain of human Ig surface antigen-related gene (IgLC-rG). The isolated cDNA consisted of 693 base pairs that encoded a 232-amino acid protein. Northern blot analysis revealed that the IgLC-rG mRNA is expressed in the adult spleen and small intestine but not in fetal tissues.

Methylation of TFPI2 gene is frequently detected in advanced well-differentiated colorectal cancer.

Background: Recently, it has been reported that TFPI2 (tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2), a Kunitz-type serine proteinase inhibitor, is frequently methylated in human colorectal cancer using a gene expression array-based strategy. The aim of this study therefore was to examine whether the TFPI2 methylation in surgically removed colorectal cancers was correlated to the clinicopathological features.

Materials And Methods: The methylation status of the TFPI2 gene was examined in primary carcinomas and corresponding normal tissues derived from 50 patients with colorectal cancer using quantitative methylation-specific PCR (qMSP), and the correlation between the methylation status and the clinicopathological findings was evaluated.

Demethylation of the CD133 gene is frequently detected in early gastric carcinoma.

Background: Recently, it has been reported that colorectal carcinoma is created and propagated by a small number of undifferentiated tumorigenic CD133(+) cells. Furthermore, it has been reported that CD133 expression is directly regulated by epigenetic modifications. Therefore, it is possible that CD133 expression by gene demethylation is related to colorectal and gastric carcinogenesis.