Motor evacuatory disorders of the digestive tract in the early periods after stomach operations (1. Motor evacuatory disorders of the stomach)

The method of telemetry was used for studying the motor function of the stomach in 60 patients with ulcer disease before operation and in 48 patients at early terms after truncal vagotomy or resection of the stomach. An analysis of 318 cases of similar operations on the stomach was also made. The states of normo-, hypo- and adynamia were documented. A pronounced inhibition of motility of the stomach and its stump were noted during 14 and more days after vagotomy and resection. Under conditions of hypo- and adynamia the evacuatory function was maintained by the positive gastrointestinal gradient of the basal pressure and the peristaltic "pump" effect of the small intestine. The early light motor evacuatory disorders are always of the functional character and disappear by the 5th day after operation. The evacuatory disorders of the moderate and grave degree were functional in 7 from 9 patients after vagotomy and in 9 from 17 patients after resection of the stomach.     

Effect of a number of sulfur-containing radioprotective agents on the evacuatory function of the stomach in mice

Tests staged on mongrel albino mice demonstrated that sulphur-containing radioprotectors used in doses two orders below those exercising a radioprotective action with their peroral administration are apt to significantly modify the evacuative function of the stomach. This properties of the sulphur-containing radioprotectors depends upon their chemical structure. A particularly strong influence on the evacuative function of the stomach in mice exerts cystamine dichlorohydrate, aminoalkylamino-alkylthiophosphates and mercaptoamidines. This property is less pronounced in cystaphos and cysteamine chlorhydrate. The least effect on the delayed evacuation was found in cysteamine bitartrate and in the disodium salt-4, 4(1)-trithiobis (butane-sulphonate). These data allow it to explain the specificity of the toxic and radioprotective action produced by diverse drugs with their peroral administration.     

Ischemic ulcer of stomach and duodenum: an unusual cause of a common disease

Ischemia is a rare cause of gastric and duodenal ulcers. For the present study clinical and anatomo-pathologic data from cases published so far and from twelve own patients with ischemic ulcers have been investigated. Histopathology leads to the diagnosis of an ischemic cause with great accuracy. Our results show that ischemic ulcers occur often at gastric sites unusual for a peptic ulcer, and in some cases they look macroscopically different from peptic ulcers. The most common symptom was severe gastrointestinal bleeding. Pain, typical for peptic ulcers, has only rarely been noted by patients. Lethal courses were usually due to gastrointestinal bleeding resistant to therapy. Resection of the involved gastric or duodenal segment or surgical or angiologic reconstruction of the vessels respectively are promising therapeutic means. Without therapeutic intervention very different courses have been observed, ranging from spontaneous healing to fatal gastrointestinal bleeding. The benefit of inhibitors of acid secretion is so far unclear.     

Morphologic and morphogenetic features of stomach ulcer

Literature data are reviewed concerning morphological and morphogenetic features of stomach ulcer, vascular alterations in both the ulcer zone and other regions of the stomach. Stages in ulcer formation, its healing and prognostic criteria are described. Further study of ulcerogenesis regarding histotopographic features of different regions of gastro-intestinal tract is recommended.     

Phlegmon of the stomach simulating a perforated ulcer

A new family of cytochrome P450 enzymes, CYP26, has been cloned and characterized in zebra fish, human, and mouse tissues. CYP26 displays specificity toward retinoic acid and it may function as an important regulator or differentiation and a possible modulator of disease states by controlling retinoid concentration and homeostasis.     

Abnormal progression of a liquid meal through the stomach and small intestine in patients with Chagas' disease

This study describes the abnormal pattern of gastrointestinal progression of a liquid meal in patients with the digestive form of chronic Chagas' disease. This condition is known as a natural model of intramural denervation of the gut. Sixteen patients with clinical and radiographic evidence of esophageal and/or colonic involvement and 18 healthy volunteers were studied. Orocecal transit time after the ingestion of a 10% lactulose solution (180 ml) tagged with 99mtechnetium was measured by a conventional H2 breath technique. Gastric emptying and the arrival of the front of the meal to regions of interest corresponding to proximal and distal areas of the small intestine were assessed by abdominal scintigraphy. Orocecal transit time was significantly greater (P < 0.05) in Chagas' disease patients (N = 13) than in control subjects (N = 18) (mean +/- SD: 100.7 +/- 48.7 min vs 62.9 +/- 18.2 min). Half-time for gastric emptying of liquids in chagasic patients (N = 9) was significantly lower (P < 0.01) than in controls (N = 7) (9.7 +/- 2.7 min vs 26.4 +/- 3.4 min). The time of arrival of the liquid meal to the proximal small intestine was also significantly shorter (P < 0.02) in patients than in controls (5.6 +/- 3.7 vs 11.4 +/- 5.5 min), but there was no difference between the two groups concerning the time the meal first arrived to the distal small intestine (15.0 +/- 11.0 min vs 23.5 +/- 11.4 min, P > 0.05). These results indicate that patients with Chagas' disease have a combination of exceedingly rapid gastric emptying and abnormally delayed transit of liquids through the more distal segments of the small bowel.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Motor function of the proximal stomach and visceral perception in gastro-oesophageal reflux disease

Oxytocin (OT) is present in the mammalian testis and has been shown to play a role in the modulation of seminiferous tubule contractility and steroidogenesis. However, stage-specific effects of the peptide have not been previously investigated. In this study, computer-assisted analysis and time-lapse videomicrography were used to investigate basal contractility and the response to OT of seminiferous tubules at specific stages of the spermatogenic cycle. Adult rat testes were placed in fresh oxygenated DMEM F12 medium, decapsulated, and the tubules gently teased apart. Stages were identified by transillumination and a 10 mm section of tubule at each of stages IV-V, VII-VIII and XIII-I was placed in a microslide chamber and perifused with medium. After a control period of 3 h, OT (2 nM) was given for 1 h, followed by another control period of 1 h. The experiment was repeated using tubules from different rats and data were analysed to give arbitrary units of tubule contractility. Contractility was observed in all the tubules studied and the contractile activity was shown to vary depending on the stage of the spermatogenic cycle. Mean basal contractility at stages VII-VIII, the time when sperm are shed from the epithelium, was significantly lower than that at stages IV-V and XIII-I. The response of the tubules to OT was also stage-dependent, with the peptide producing the largest increases in contractile activity at stages VII-VIII and having no effect at stages IV-V. We postulate that these stage-specific differences in basal and OT-stimulated contractility may be important in co-ordinating the movement of developing germ cells towards the lumen of the seminiferous epithelium and in the process of spermiation.     

慢性阻塞性肺疾病稳定期脏虚与肺功能关系的临床观察

目的 探讨慢性阻塞性肺疾病(COPD)稳定期的中医脏虚证候与肺功能第1秒用力呼气容积占用力肺活量比值(FEV1/FVC)、第1秒用力呼气容积实测值占预计值百分比(FEV1%)及严重程度分级的关系.方法 将95例符合诊断标准的COPD稳定期患者按照证候表现分为单肺虚(25例)、两脏虚(肺脾两虚15例、肺肾两虚18例)、三脏虚(肺脾肾虚37例)3组,以中医证型为导向,同步检测肺功能,观察该证型与肺功能的相关关系.结果 3组FEV1/FVC及FEV1%之间的差别具有显著性的意义(P<0.001),单肺虚组指标高于两脏虚组和三脏虚组(均P<0.001),两脏虚组指标高于三脏虚组(均P<0.001).3组在CODP严重程度分级中的分布差别亦具有显著性的意义(P<0.001),单肺虚组轻于两脏虚组、三脏虚组(P<0.01,P<0.001),两脏虚组轻于三脏虚组(P<0.01).结论 CIOPD稳定期以肺脾肾虚为本,涉及脏腑从肺及脾,由脾及肾,且受累脏腑及病变程度亦随着FEV1/FVC及FEV1%预计值的下降、COPD分级降低而逐渐增多、加重,故应强调早期综合治疗.     

Relationship between blood pressure and renal function

RENAL DAMAGE CAUSED BY HYPERTENSION: Renal vasoconstriction seems to be a key factor in the origin of arterial hypertension and accounts for the decrease in renal blood flow commonly observed in patients with hypertension. An inverse correlation has been found between renal blood flow and clinic blood pressure levels in established hypertension. Other features of renal damage attributable to high blood pressure have also been correlated with clinic blood pressure levels. Microalbuminuria is a good example of an alteration in renal function that depends in part on blood pressure levels. EFFECTS OF ANTIHYPERTENSIVE AGENTS: Antihypertensive agents can prevent or ameliorate renal vascular damage secondary to arterial hypertension, including renal failure. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring is an excellent method of studying blood pressure levels in relation to end-organ damage and the blood pressure response to antihypertensive agents. Preliminary studies using this technique indicate that changes in renal function are closely correlated with the average daily blood pressure in arterial hypertension. CONCLUSIONS: Further studies are needed on the mechanisms of renal deterioration and on how to preserve renal function in arterial hypertension.