Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology
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J. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. · Apr 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialRanitidine bismuth citrate-based triple therapies as a second-line therapy for Helicobacter pylori in Turkish patients.
Quadruple therapy with a proton pump inhibitor, bismuth, metronidazole and tetracycline is recommended as the optimal second-line therapy of Helicobacter pylori infection in the Maastricht Consensus Report. The aim of the present paper was to evaluate the efficacy of ranitidine bismuth citrate (RBC)-based regimens as second-line therapies after failure of the standard Maastricht triple therapy. ⋯ RMT is an effective and well-tolerated second-line therapy after H. pylori eradication failure from PPI, amoxicillin, and clarithromycin.
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Stress, defined as an acute threat to homeostasis, evokes an adaptive or allostatic response and can have both a short- and long-term influence on the function of the gastrointestinal tract. The enteric nervous system is connected bidirectionally to the brain by parasympathetic and sympathetic pathways forming the brain-gut axis. The neural network of the brain, which generates the stress response, is called the central stress circuitry and includes the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, amygdala and periaqueductal gray. ⋯ Stress also leads to increased susceptibility to colonic inflammation, which can be adaptively transferred among rats by sensitized CD4(+) lymphocytes. The association between stress and various gastrointestinal diseases, including functional bowel disorders, inflammatory bowel disease, peptic ulcer disease and gastroesophageal reflux disease, is being actively investigated. Attention to the close relation between the brain and gut has opened many therapeutic avenues for the future.
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J. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. · Feb 2005
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyRapid diagnosis of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis with leukocyte esterase reagent strips in a European and in an American center.
Timely diagnosis and treatment of spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) are essential to survival. The purpose of the present paper was to evaluate leukocyte esterase reagent strips (Nephur-Test and MultistixSG10) in the bedside diagnosis of SBP. ⋯ Leukocyte esterase reagent strips may provide a rapid bedside diagnosis of SBP.
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J. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. · Feb 2005
Comparative StudyGenetic association of vitamin D receptor polymorphisms with autoimmune hepatitis and primary biliary cirrhosis in the Chinese.
Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) and primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) are two autoimmune diseases of unknown etiology. Genetic factors appear to be involved in the pathogenesis of both diseases. Vitamin D has been shown to exert multiple immunomodulatory effects, which acts through its own receptor (VDR). Polymorphisms of VDR had been implicated in several autoimmune diseases. In the present study, the association between Chinese patients with AIH, PBC and the polymorphisms in exon 2, intron 8 and exon 9 of vitamin D receptor genes was studied. ⋯ It is suggested that there is a genetic link of VDR polymorphisms to autoimmune liver diseases such as AIH and PBC in Chinese patients. Further studies are needed to elucidate the mechanisms by which VDR polymorphisms contribute to the lose of immune tolerance in autoimmune diseases.