[Clinical pharmacological aspects of the proton pump inhibitor therapy: importance of pharmacogenetic differences in the clinical practice].

Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are widely used for the treatment of gastroesophageal reflux disease, as well as other acid-related disorders. Omeprazole, lansoprazole, pantoprazole, rabeprazole and esomeprazole effectively suppress gastric acid secretion by blocking the gastric acid pump, H+/K+ -adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase). Understanding the pharmacokinetic properties of PPIs and examining the pharmacogenetic differences may help clinicians to optimize PPI therapy and to perform individual treatment, especially in non-responder patients with GERD or ulcer or after failed eradication therapy.

Seroreactivity to microbial components in Crohn's disease is associated with ileal involvement, noninflammatory disease behavior and NOD2/CARD15 genotype, but not with risk for surgery in a Hungarian cohort of IBD patients.

Background: Antibodies directed against Saccharomyces cerevisiae (ASCA), perinuclear components of neutrophils (pANCA), and porin protein C of Escherichia coli (anti-OmpC) are reported to be associated with disease phenotype and may be of diagnostic importance in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Since limited data are available from Eastern Europe, we assessed the above antibodies in Hungarian IBD patients.

Methods: In all, 653 well-characterized, unrelated consecutive IBD patients (Crohn's disease [CD]: 558, m/f: 263/295, duration: 8.

Antioxidant measurements.

Chemical reactions, including oxidation and reduction of molecules, occur in every cell. These reactions can lead to the production of free radicals. Free radicals react with organic substrates such as lipids, proteins, and DNA.

Plasma carnitine ester profiles in Crohn's disease patients characterized for SLC22A4 C1672T and SLC22A5 G-207C genotypes.

Crohn's disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory bowel disorder caused by environmental and genetic factors. The purpose of this study was to analyse the possible influence of functional variants of genes of OCTN cation transporters on the carnitine ester profile of patients with CD. Genotyping for SLC22A4 1672C --> T, SLC22A5-207G --> C mutations and three common NOD2 variants (R702W, G908R and 1007finsC) were performed in 100 adult CD patients and in ninety-four healthy controls by direct sequencing.

Computational analysis reveals 43% antisense transcription in 1182 transcripts in mouse muscle.

It is increasingly evident that there is a widespread antisense transcription in the human and other eukaryotic genomes. However, the concept of general antisense expression is rarely investigated. We retrieved and correlated the expression of sense and antisense sequences of 1182 mouse transcripts to assess the prevalence of antisense transcription.

Evaluation of malignant and benign gastric biopsy specimens by mRNA expression profile and multivariate statistical methods.

Background: mRNA expression array and multivariate statistical analysis of gastric biopsies can yield insight into the molecular biology basis of local alterations, supporting expression-based identification of morphological alterations.

Methods: From 11 patients with erosive gastritis(EG), 5 with adenocarcinoma (GC), 11 with atrophic gastritis (AG) gastric biopsies were collected, total RNA isolated, T7 amplification and expression analysis of 1047 mRNAs was performed using commercial glass arrays (Clontech, USA). After microarray quality control, applicable data were available from 7 EG, 4 GC, and 5 AG.

Plasma ghrelin response to an oral glucose load in growth hormone-deficient adults treated with growth hormone.

Background: Little is known about the pathophysiology of ghrelin secretion in growth hormone-deficient adults treated with growth hormone, and the relationship between plasma ghrelin and hyperinsulinemia induced by an oral glucose load has not been investigated in these patients.

Objective: In the present study we examined the relationship between plasma ghrelin, insulin, C-peptide and leptin after an oral glucose load in growth hormone-deficient adults receiving treatment with growth hormone.

Methods: Plasma ghrelin, leptin, insulin, C-peptide and blood glucose were measured before and then at 30, 60, 90 and 120 min after the ingestion of glucose (75 g orally) in 20 growth hormone-deficient adults (12 women and 8 men), who had been treated with growth hormone for 7.

[Pathogenesis and treatment of pain in chronic pancreatitis].

Chronic pancreatitis is an inflammatory, usually painful disease characterized by progressive fibrosis and the loss of exocrine and endocrine functions. Pain influences the quality of life of patients and may lead to inability to work and frequent hospitalisation. The pathogenesis of pain in chronic pancreatitis is still unclear.

[Treatment of iatrogenic Cushing syndrome: questions of glucocorticoid withdrawal].

Iatrogenic Cushing's syndrome is the most common form of hypercortisolism. Glucocorticoids are widely used for the treatment of various diseases, often in high doses that may lead to the development of severe hypercortisolism. Iatrogenic hypercortisolism is unique, as the application of exogenous glucocorticoids leads to the simultaneous presence of symptoms specific for hypercortisolism and the suppression of the endogenous hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.

[Genetic background of multifactorial liver and bile duct diseases].

The majority of liver diseases, are complex. They are the results of interactions between several genes and environmental factors. Familial aggregation and higher concordance rate of monozygotic twins compared to those of dizygotic twins provide evidence for the importance of genetic factors in the pathogenesis.

[Hepatitis C viral infection and depression].

About 170 million individuals can be found with chronic hepatitis C viral infection all over the world. The occurrence of depression is more frequent among the persons than in the healthy population, this depression can be found in 58 per cent of patients with chronic hepatitis C. On the basis of the literature the authors review the aetiology of depression in liver diseases, examining the neuropathogenic effect of HCV.

Identification and validation of colorectal neoplasia-specific methylation markers for accurate classification of disease.

Aberrant DNA methylation occurs early in oncogenesis, is stable, and can be assayed in tissues and body fluids. Therefore, genes with aberrant methylation can provide clues for understanding tumor pathways and are attractive candidates for detection of early neoplastic events. Identification of sequences that optimally discriminate cancer from other diseased and healthy tissues is needed to advance both approaches.

Genetic polymorphisms of NOD1 and IL-8, but not polymorphisms of TLR4 genes, are associated with Helicobacter pylori-induced duodenal ulcer and gastritis.

Background: Intracellular pathogen receptor NOD1 is involved in the epithelial cell sensing Helicobacter pylori, which results in a considerable interleukin (IL)-8 production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between NOD1 and IL-8 genetic polymorphisms and the development of H. pylori-induced gastritis and duodenal ulcer (DU), as compared with TLR4 polymorphisms.

Alterations of glutathione S-transferase and matrix metalloproteinase-9 expressions are early events in esophageal carcinogenesis.

Aim: To investigate the role of glutathione S-transferase (GST) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expressions in the development and progression of reflux esophagitis-Barrett's metaplasia-dysplasia-adenocarcinoma sequence in the esophagus.

Methods: GST and MMP-9 expressions were analyzed in 51 paraffin-embedded tissue samples by immunohistochemistry including patients with reflux esophagitis (n = 7), Barrett's metaplasia (n = 14), Barrett and esophagitis (n = 8), Barrett and dysplasia (n = 7), esophageal adenocarcinoma (n = 8) and a control group without any histological changes (n = 7). Immunostaining was determined semiquantitatively.

[Chemotherapy agents, response rates and mechanisms of resistance in the therapy of the colorectal carcinoma].

Colorectal carcinoma is one of the most common cancers in Hungary, responsible for about 5000 deaths each year. In the first line treatment the most commonly used drugs are 5-fluorouracil, oxaliplatin and irinotecan. The most frequently used drug is 5-fluorouracil, which has no effect in 90% of the cases.

[Nucleotide sequence variants of the glucocorticoid receptor gene and their significance in determining glucocorticoid sensitivity].

Nucleotide sequence variants of the glucocorticoid receptor gene and their significance in determining glucocorticoid sensitivity. The physiologic response and sensitivity to glucocorticoids may significantly differ among species, individuals, tissues and cell types. The variability of the effect of endogenous and exogenous glucocorticoids is largely determined by genetic components, of which the authors review the knowledge on the glucocorticoid receptor gene.

[Inflammatory bowel disease and colorectal cancer].

The colorectal cancer is one of the most serious complication of inflammatory bowel disease. Longer duration of the disease, extensive colitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, family history of colorectal cancer are the main risk factors. The relative risk of colorectal cancer in ulcerative colitis is increased, however, there're marked geographically differences.

mRNA expression, functional profiling and multivariate classification of colon biopsy specimen by cDNA overall glass microarray.

Aim: To understand the local pathophysiological alterations and gene ontology-based functional classification of colonic biopsies into inflammatory and neoplastic diseases.

Methods: Total RNA was extracted from frozen biopsies and amplified by T7-method. Expression profile was evaluated by Atlas Glass 1K microarrays.

[Insulin-like growth factor receptor, hepatocyte-derived growth factor receptor and telomerase expression in ulcerative colitis].

Background: The risk of colorectal carcinoma development is elevated in chronic, longstanding ulcerative colitis. The changes of such regenerative and immortalizing pathways caused by the inflammatory process that are proved to be carcinogenic in other human tissues have not been fully and uniformly described. Aim of the study was to describe the expression alterations of regenerative signal receptors and cell aging inhibitory systems within colonic crypts considering the histological activity of the disease.

[Microelectrodes and their application in diagnostic medicine].

Microelectrodes are in common use in medical detection systems. The binding of two complementary nucleic acid sequences is called hybridization. Today the major obstacle of large-scale hybridization approaches is the large time-dependency of a single reaction, which is up to 16 hours.

[Molecular biology background of inflammatory bowel disease].

The exact pathological background of inflammatory bowel disease has not been clarified yet. Many aspects of genetical and environmental factors, as well as certain alterations of the functions of epithelial cells and immunoregulation which may attenuate chronic inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract are known. These three components have many connecting points.

Automated virtual microscopy of gastric biopsies.

Background: Automated virtual microscopy of specimens from gastrointestinal biopsies is based on cytometric parameters of digitized histological sections. To our knowledge, cytometric parameters of gastritis and of adenocarcinoma have yet to be fully characterized. Our objective was to classify gastritis and adenocarcinoma based on cytometric parameters.

Laser microdissection in translational and clinical research.

Laser microdissection (LMD) is now a well established method for isolating individual cells or subcellular structures from a heterogeneous cell population. In recent years, cell, DNA, RNA, and protein based techniques has been successfully coupled to LMD and important information has been gathered through the analysis of the genome, transcriptome, and more recently the proteome of individual microdissected cells. The aims of this review are to summarize and compare the principles of different laser microdissection instruments and techniques, to discuss sample preparation procedures for microdissection, and to provide wide variety of examples of translational/clinical research applications of LMD.