Expression of growth hormone and its receptor in chronic atrophic gastritis and its clinical significance

AIM: To investigate the growth hormone (GH) and growthhormone receptor (GHR) expression of and its clinicalsignificance in patients with chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG).METHODS: A total of 90 cases were enrolled in the study.Thirty were healthy controls, the other 60 patients weredivided into two groups according to the endoscopical andhistological diagnosis. Blood samples were drawn in themorning (menarche did not occur during the bloodextraction in female patients), gastric mucosa was obtainedby endoscopy. Serum GH and gastrice mucosal GHR levelswere measured using radioimmunoassay (RIA) and EnVinsion technique.RESULTS: The average GH level was 1.021*0.132 pg/L inCAG patients, in controls it was 2.869+_0.512 )~g/L. Therewas a significant difference between these two groups(P<0.01). The positive rate of GHR in CAG patients was10%, in controls the rate was 100%. There was asignificant difference (P<0.01). There was no significantchange of GH level (3.176+0.421 ~tg/L) in patients withgastric carcinoma compared with controls (P>0.05).CONCLUSION: The study shows that levels of GH andGHR expression are low in CAG patients. CAG pathogenesishas a correlation with mucosal nutrient deficiency,decreased levels of GH and GHR have an adverse effect onthe repair and regeneration of CAG. There is no significantchange of GH in gastric carcinorma patients, GH dose notplay a role in the pathogenesis of gastric cancer.

Quality of gastric ulcer healing evaluated by endoscopic ultrasonography

AIM: To evaluate the quality of gastric ulcer healing after different antiulcer treatment by endoscopic ultrasonography(EUS).METHODS: The patients were divided into three groups, and received lansoprazole, amoxicillin and clarithromycinfor 1 wk. Then group A took lansoprazole combined with tepreton for 5 wk, group B took lansoprazole and group C took tepreton for 5 wk. Endoscopy and EUS were performed before and 6 wk after medication. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in cumulative healing rate to S stage between the groups (89%, 82%vs83%,P＞0.05). The rate of white scar formation was significantly higher in group A than in groups B and C (67%, 36%, 50%, P＜0.05). The average contraction rates of the width of ulcer crater, length of disrupted muscularis propria layer and hypoechoic area were higher in groupA than in groups B and C (0.792±0.090, 0.660±0.105 vs0.668±0.143, P＜0.05). The hypoechoic area disappeared in four cases of group A, one of group B and two of group C. The percentage of hypoechoic area disappearance was higher in group A than in the other two groups (44%, 9%vs 17%, P＜0.05). Gastric ulcer healing was better ingroup A.CONCLUSION: The combined administration of proton pump inhibitors and mucosal protective agent can improve gastric ulcer healing.

Vascular contractile response and signal transduction in endothelium-denuded aorta from cirrhotic rats

AIM: The mechanism of decreased vascular reactivity to vasoconstrictors in portal hypertension is still unclear. In addition to nitric oxide, defects in post-receptor signal transduction pathway have been suggested to play a role.However, substantial evidences observed equivocal changes of vascular reactivity following different agonists that challenged the hypothesis of the post-receptor defect. The current study was to evaluate the vascular reactivity to different agonists and the inositol trisphosphate (IP3)changes in signal transduction cascade from cirrhotic rats with portal hypertension.METHODS: The endothelial denuded aortic rings from cirrhotic and sham-operated rats were obtained for ex vivo tension study and measurement of the corresponding [3H] IP3 formation following different receptor and nonreceptor-mediated agonists' stimulation. Additionally,iNOS protein expression was measured in thoracic aorta.The contractile response curves to phenylephrine were performed in endothelial denuded aortic rings with and without preincubation with a specific iNOS inhibitor (L-N (6)-(1-iminoethyl)-lysine, L-NIL).RESULTS: In endothelial denuded aortic rings of cirrhotic rats, the vascular responses were reduced with phenylephrine and arginine vasopressin (AVP) stimulation but were normal with U-46619, NaF/AlCl3, and phorbol esterdibutyrate (PdBU) stimulation. Compared to the corresponding control groups, the degree of the increment of [3H] IP3 formation from basal level was also decreased with phenylephrine and AVP stimulation, but was normal with U-46619 and NaF/AlCl3 stimulation. The preincubation with L-NIL did not modify the hyporesponsiveness to phenylephrine. Additionally, the iNOS protein expression in thoracic aorta was not different in cirrhotic and shamoperated rats.CONCLUSION: Without the influence of nitric oxide, vascular hyporeactivity to vasoconstrictors persisted in cirrhotic rats with portal hypertension. However, the decreased vascular reactivity is an agonist-specific phenomenon. In addition,G-protein and phospholipase C pathway associated with the IP3 productions may be intact in cirrhotic rats with portal hypertension.

Development of X-ray dark-field imaging towards clinical application

Review of X-ray dark-field imaging under development is presented. Its goal is its application to clinical diagnosis of organs that have been invisible by the ordinary techniques. In order to clinically visualize tissues in detail one needs high contrast and high spatial resolution say ～50 μm. This X-ray optics comprises a Bragg asymmetric monochro-collimator and a Bragg case or a Laue case filter with capability of analyzing angle in a parallel position. Their diffraction index is 4,4,0 and the X-ray energy 35 keV (λ= 0.0354 nm). The filter has 0.6 mm thickness in the Bragg case or 1.075 mm or 2.15 mm thickness in the Laue case. Under this condition only the refracted X-rays from object can transmit through the filter while the beam that may receive absorption and/or phase change will not. Soft tissues at human joints thus taken show high contrast images so that the DFI is promising for clinical diagnosis. Preliminary X-ray absorption images of another clinical candidates of ear bones are also shown.