Effect of left lateral tilt-down position on cecal intubation time: a 2-center, pragmatic, randomized controlled trial.

Background And Aims: Colonoscopy insertion is technically challenging, time-consuming, and painful, especially for the sigmoid. Several pilot studies indicated that the (left) tilt-down position could facilitate the insertion procedure, but no formal trials have been published to demonstrate its efficacy. We performed this study to verify the benefits of the left lateral tilt-down position (LTDP) on the insertion process.

Construction and expression of a humanized M2 autoantigen trimer and its application in the diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis.

Aim: To construct and express a humanized M(2) autoantigen trimer designated as BPO and to apply it in the diagnosis of primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC).

Methods: cDNA fragments encoding M(2)-reactive epitopes of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex E(2) (PDC-E(2)), branched chain 2-oxo-acid dehydrogenase complex E(2) (BCOADC-E(2)) and 2-oxo-glutarate dehydrogenase complex E(2) (OGDC-E(2)) were amplified with PCR using total RNA extracted from human peripheral mononuclear blood cells. The fragments were cloned into the plasmid vector pQE-30 and then transferred into E.