Autoimmune pancreatitis: CT and MR characteristics

OBJECTIVE: Our goal was to elucidate the CT and MR imaging characteristics in patients with autoimmune pancreatitis, which is a reversible chronic pancreatitis with an autoimmune cause. CONCLUSION: On CT and MR imaging, a capsulelike rim, which is thought to correspond to an inflammatory process involving peripancreatic tissues, appears to be a characteristic finding of autoimmune pancreatitis. Also, diffuse pancreatic enlargement along with hypointensity on T1-weighted MR images and delayed enhancement on dynamic CT and MR studies are other features of this disorder.     

Role of bile acids in duodenal migrating motor complexes in dogs

Previous studies have suggested that enterohepatic circulation of bile acids is essential for regular cycling of duodenal migrating motor complexes (MMCs). The present study was an attempt to clarify the role of bile acids in the enterohepatic circulation system in initiating duodenal MMCs. Seven dogs underwent total external biliary diversion that resulted in the loss of MMCs originating from the duodenum. Sodium ursodeoxycholate (6 mg/kg/hr) was then given either through the portal vein or a peripheral vein, and motility of the gastrointestinal tract was serially recorded. When sodium ursodeoxycholate was given either through the portal vein or a peripheral vein during external biliary diversion, duodenal MMCs restarted. The cyclic change in plasma motilin levels during an MMC cycle as induced by sodium ursodeoxycholate was almost the same as in a normal MMC cycle. Total bile acid concentration in the portal vein changed cyclically with MMC cycles when bile flow was intact but did not change cyclically with MMC cycles restarted by intravenous bile salt infusion. Bile acid stimulation of putative receptors existing between the portal vein and intrahepatic bile ducts may be involved in initiating normal duodenal MMC cycles.     

The value of colour Doppler ultrasonography for small bowel involvement of adult Henoch-Sch?nlein purpura

Three patients presented with a non-thrombocytopenic purpuric rash on their upper and lower limbs, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and arthralgia. Grey scale ultrasound showed abnormally thickened walls of the small bowel. Colour Doppler showed blood flow signals in the diseased bowel wall in all patients. Subsequent barium and endoscopic studies showed oedematous bowel loops with petechial lesions. Biopsy from the purpuric rash of the skin demonstrated vasculitis of subdermal small vessels. The clinical diagnosis of Henoch-Sch?nlein purpura was made in each case. This paper describes the efficacy of grey scale and colour Doppler ultrasonography in the assessment of the small bowel involvement of Henoch-Sch?nlein purpura.     

Quadriceps atrophy after partial resection of the patellar tendon: an experimental study in a rat model

Quadriceps muscle atrophy of rats was examined after resection of the central third (group 1) or the lateral two thirds (group 2) of the patellar tendon, the tensor fascia lata (group 3), or the medial hamstring (group 4). The quadriceps atrophied in groups 1 and 2, and more so in group 2, but there was no atrophy in groups 3 or 4. Thus, after an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction procedure using the patellar tendon, resection of the patellar tendon itself leads to quadriceps atrophy and the extent of atrophy is related to the resected width.     

Structure Optimization of the Toxic Conformation Model of Amyloid β42 by Intramolecular Disulfide Bond Formation

Amyloid β (Aβ) oligomers play a critical role in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease. Recently, we reported that a conformation-restricted Aβ42 with an intramolecular disulfide bond through cysteine residues at positions 17/28 formed stable oligomers with potent cytotoxicity. To further optimize this compound as a toxic conformer model, we synthesized three analogues with a combination of cysteine and homocysteine at positions 17/28. The analogues with Cys-Cys, Cys-homoCys, or homoCys-Cys, but not the homoCys-homoCys analogue, exhibited potent cytotoxicity against SH-SY5Y and THP-1 cells even at 10 nM. In contrast, the cytotoxicity of conformation-restricted analogues at positions 16/29 or 18/27 was significantly weaker than that of wild-type Aβ42. Furthermore, thioflavin-T assay, non-denaturing gel electrophoresis, and morphological studies suggested that the majority of these conformation-restricted analogues exists in an oligomeric state in cell culture medium, indicating that the toxic conformation of Aβ42, rather than the oligomeric state, is essential to induce cytotoxicity.     

Retrieval of Aerosol Extinction in the Lower Troposphere Based on UV MAX-DOAS Measurements

Multi Axis Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) has been utilized in recent years as a means of deriving vertical profiles of aerosol and trace gases; however, this new technique requires further validation because few studies have investigated its capability. In this study, vertical distributions of aerosol extinction coefficients (AECs) in the lower troposphere were retrieved by applying a recently developed aerosol-retrieval algorithm to O₄ slant column densities (SCDs) measured at a UV wavelength (356 nm) using the MAX-DOAS technique. The MAX-DOAS measurements were conducted at the Korea Global Atmosphere Watch Observatory (KGAWO) located off the west coast of Korea during a period of seven cloudless days in May and June 2005. The AECs measured by UV MAX-DOAS varied from 0.05 to 0.73 km^?1 in the 0–1 km layer and from 0.01 to 0.20 km^?1 in the 1–2 km layer. The AECs for the 1–2 km layer from UV MAX-DOAS are in agreement with lidar data within about 60%. Our results demonstrate the ability of MAX-DOAS as a remote sensing technique for surface aerosol measurements.