Tadashi Ohara

Enhanced plasma ghrelin levels in patients with functional dyspepsia: ENHANCED PLASMA GHRELIN LEVELS IN FUNCTIONAL DYSPEPSIA

Ghrelin, growth‐hormone‐releasing peptide, has been reported to accelerate food intake and gastrointestinal motility.

Laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer with carcinomatous ascites after S1 plus cisplatin chemotherapy: a case report.

A 29-year-old man with a type 4 tumor, in the lower third of the stomach, and carcinomatous ascites was diagnosed by aspiration cytology of the ascitic fluid. Curative resection was considered impossible, and S1 (120 mg/d) and cisplatin (90 mg/d) were given for 21 days in 1 course. The cancer lesion showed marked remission (partial response), and the ascites completely disappeared after the fourth course. Twenty-five days after completion of the S1 treatment, laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy was performed. Histopathological examination showed no remnant cancer cells in the resected specimen and no lymph node metastases. The tumor was replaced with fibrosis having a granulomatous change. The patients postoperative course was uneventful. The patient was continued with S1 monotherapy after surgery, and no signs of recurrence or metastases have been seen on any examination 12 months after the surgery.

Evaluation of the role of Helicobacter pylori as a promoter of gastric cancer from the viewpoint of structural chromosomal aberration: H. PYLORI INFECTION AND STRUCTURAL CHROMOSOMAL ABERRATION

To examine whether Helicobacter pylori induces structural chromosomal aberrations, such as loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and microsatellite instability (MSI) in the infected gastric mucosa.

Changes of Hepatic Microcirculation in Acute Cholestasis

The hepatic blood flow decreases with the decrease of blood cell velocity in the sinusoids and portal blood flow in acute cholestasis. This microcirculatory change precedes the biochemical and histological changes in the liver.

Duodenal Blood Flow in Acute Portal Hypertension

Male Wister rats fasted overnight were anesthetized with 50 mg/kg sodium pentobarbital i.p. A fine vinyl tube and polyethylene tube were utilized to make a small circle around the portal vein at the porta hepatis for partial ligation of the portal vein. The pressure was increased in a stepwise manner from the control up to +5 cmH2O, +10 cmH2O, +15 cmH2O, and +20 cmH2O. The aimed pressure (±10%) was maintained for 2 min at each level. Duodenal blood flow, 1–3 cm anal to the pyloric ring, was measured from the mucosal side with a laser-Doppler flowmeter (ALF 2100, Advance, Japan). An in vivo

Role of perforin and granzyme B of cytotoxic T lymphocyte in the onset of peptic ulcer formation

Attention has been focused on apoptosis in terms of its involvement in the pathogenesis of various diseases including hepatitis, graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), and multiple sclerosis [1–3]. Some pathways are known to be implicated in cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL)-mediated apoptotic induction: perforin/granzyme pathway (based on granules stored in cytoplasmic azurophile granules of CTLs), Fas/Fas ligand (FasL), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)/TNF receptor (TNFR), or TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) pathways based on type II transmembrane proteins belonging to the TNF family expressed on the cell surface. Among them, the perforin/granzyme and Fas/FasL pathways are considered the two major routes of apoptosis. The aim of this study is to investigate whether apoptosis associated with peptic ulcer formation may occur via either or both of these two pathways.