Henrik Reintoft Christensen

Collagen structural organization of healing colonic anastomoses and the effect of growth hormone treatment.

PURPOSE: This experimental study was designed to investigate the collagen fibrils of colonic anastomoses in rats and to compare normal healing with rats treated with biosynthetic growth hormone (bGH). METHODS: The healing zone of left colonic anastomoses was studied at days 2, 4, and 6 after surgery by means of scanning electron microscopy. RESULTS: After four days of healing a normal anastomosis was filled with loosely packed and unorganized collagen fibrils, which were organized into collagen fibers after six days. Compared with normal anastomoses, rats treated with bGH showed a more organized healing, characterized by a dense structure of a new-formed collagen framework of fibrils and immature collagen fibers after four days and with bundles of new collagen fibers after six days. CONCLUSIONS: Healing colonic anastomoses are characterized by new-formed collagen fibrils at postoperative day 4, and bGH seems to stimulate structural organization of the anastomotic collagen fibrils into fibers.

Growth hormone increases the bursting strength of colonic anastomoses

The effect of growth hormone on the bursting strength of left colonic anastomoses was investigated experimentally. Seventy-two 3 month-old female rats were randomized into two groups receiving daily injection of either saline (controls) or 2.0 mg biosynthetic human growth hormone per kg body weight per day. All injections were started 7 days before a left colonic resection and anastomosis, and continued until sacrifice at the 2nd, 4th or 6th post-operative day. The bursting strength of the anastomoses was tested in anaesthetized, living rats. The bursting pressure and the bursting wall tension of the growth hormone treated animals were increased two-fold on the second post-operative day (2p<0.005) and three-fold on the fourth post-operative day (2p<0.05), compared with controls. There was no difference in the bursting pressure or the bursting wall tension on the sixth postoperative day. The mass of the resected segment was incresed by the pre-operative growth hormone treatment, whereas the hydroxyproline content was unchanged. In conclusion, treatment with biosynthetic human growth hormone increases the strength of colonic anastomoses in the early phases of healing.

Effect of experimental diabetes and growth hormone administration on the strength of colonic anastomoses in rats.

The influence of growth hormone (GH; 2 mg/kg/day) administration on the mechanical breaking strength of colonic anastomoses in diabetic rats has been investigated on the day of operation (suture binding capacity) and after 4 and 7 days of healing. In diabetic rats, the suture binding capacity was decreased by 26% in both ultimate load and relative failure energy. After 4 days of healing, no difference was observed between control and diabetic animals. After 7 days, relative failure energy in the diabetic animals was reduced by 33%. GH administration to diabetic animals did not alter strength during the first week of healing. We found an increased circumference (33%) and defatted dry weight (22%) of the colon in diabetic rats. In conclusion, diabetes impairs the suture-binding capacity of the colon in rats, while there is only little influence on healing in the following week. GH administration could not influence the strength of colonic anastomoses in diabetic animals.

Religion and the Media: Continuity, Complexity, and Mediatization

This chapter begins with a presentation of the particular features of the Nordic media systems and their transformations since 1980. The following analyzes three forms of mediatized religion: journalism on religion (in major newspapers), religion in popular media (popular magazines and films), and religious media (religious programs in the public service broadcasting and the Internet presentations by the Nordic majority churches). The conclusions show no simple pattern of a decline or resurgence of the visibility of religion in the media. This chapter also asks what the media do to religion (mediatization theory), and concludes that the media genre has a profound impact on the representation of religion, which results in a complex pattern of increased diversity of topics and perspectives.

Religion on the Political Agenda

This chapter asks whether the growing religious diversity has implied a shift in the role of religion in Nordic political opinions and debates. The analysis shows continued links between individual religiosity and political party preferences, although people in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden have become more tolerant toward religious minorities. In political party platforms, Christianity and the majority churches are still used as references to national identity. There is a growing invocation of religion in parliamentary debates. Especially issues that are related to Islam and human rights have increased. Religion has become more diversified and contested in Nordic politics since the 1980s. The findings suggest a politicization of religion in a process of renegotiating social and cultural identities and values.