Apoptosis in Helicobacter pylori gastritis is related to cagA status

BACKGROUND: Helicobacter pylori infection increases gastric epithelial cell apoptosis; however, the influence of cagA status is still controversial. We aimed to investigate if cagA status is related to apoptosis in H. pylori gastritis at different anatomic sites of the gastric mucosa. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We studied by immunohistochemistry (streptavidin-biotin method) pro-apoptotic (Bax and Bak) and antiapoptotic (Bcl-2 and Bcl-x) proteins expression, scored from 0 to 4, in gastric biopsies, at the antrum (lesser and greater curvatures), incisura, and corpus (greater curvature) from 50 patients with H. pylori gastritis (22 males, 28 females, median age 40 years) and eight non-infected patients (6 males, median age 39.6 years). H. pylori and cagA status were determined by polymerase chain reaction. RESULTS: Apoptotic proteins were expressed in a granular pattern, in the cytoplasm of foveolar cells; Bax and Bak expression was higher than Bcl-2 and Bcl-x in most cases and was significantly higher in patients infected by cagA-positive strains than in those infected by cagA-negative strains (p = .001). Bak expression was higher at the lesser curvature (antrum and incisura) than in the other regions (p = .002) and was correlated with atrophy. Anti-apoptotic proteins were significantly more expressed at the antral lesser curvature than in the other regions of the stomach (Bcl-2: p = .02; Bcl-x: p < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Infection with cagA-positive strains is significantly associated with overexpression of pro-apoptotic proteins in the gastric mucosa, mainly at the antral lesser curvature, which may have a role on atrophy development. Anti-apoptotic proteins were also overexpressed at the lesser curvature, which may occur to keep epithelial cell turnover or might be related to malignant transformation.     

Age-dependent increases of calcium and phosphorus in human epiglottal cartilage

To elucidate compositional changes of the elastic cartilage with aging, the authors investigated age-related changes of elements in the epiglottal cartilages by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. After the ordinary dissection by medical students at Chiang Mai University was finished, the epiglottises were resected from the subjects. The epiglottal cartilages were isolated and the element contents were determined. The subjects consisted of 11 men and 14 women, ranging in age from 39 to 92 yr old. It was found that although the extent of accumulation of calcium and phosphorus was slight, calcium and phosphorus increased progressively in the epiglottal cartilages with aging. In contrast, sulfur, magnesium, zinc, iron and sodium did not change significantly in them. Regarding the relationships among elements, it was found that there were significant correlations among calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and sodium in the epiglottal cartilages, with one exception between calcium and sodium contents. In comparison between men and women, no significant differences were found in the predominant elements such as calcium, sulfur, and phosphorus in the epiglottal cartilages.     

Increases of calcium and magnesium and decreases of phosphorus and iron with aging in human uterine tubes

To elucidate compositional changes of the uterine tube by aging, the authors studied age-related changes of elements in human uterine tubes by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. The uterine tubes were resected postmortem or surgically removed from patients with uterine myoma. It was found that the contents of calcium and magnesium increased progressively with aging in uterine tubes, whereas the contents of phosphorus and iron decreased gradually with aging. The sulfur content of uterine tubes remained constant and independent of aging. Regarding relationships between elements, significant relationships were found between calcium and magnesium contents, between phosphorus and iron contents, between phosphorus and sulfur contents, and between phosphorus and sodium contents in human uterine tubes.     

Relationships among element contents in the medial meniscus

To elucidate compositional changes of elements in the meniscus with aging, the authors investigated the relationships among elements in the medial meniscus by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. The subjects consisted of 16 men and 7 women, ranging in age from 65 to 93 yr. In the left medial meniscus, extremely significant correlations were found both between calcium and phosphorus contents and between sulfur and magnesium contents, whereas significant correlations were found between calcium and either iron or zinc contents, between phosphorus and either iron or zinc contents, and between iron and zinc contents. On the other hand, in the right medial meniscus, there were only an extremely significant correlation between calcium and phosphorus contents and a significant correlation between sulfur and magnesium contents. The common finding between the left and right medial menisci was an extremely significant correlation between calcium and phosphorus contents and a significant correlation between sulfur and magnesium contents.     

Age-related changes of elements in human thoracic ducts and azygos veins and relationships among elements

To elucidate compositional changes of the thoracic duct with aging, the authors investigated age-related changes of elements in the thoracic ducts in comparison with the azygos veins. The subjects consisted of 22 men and 1 woman, ranging in age from 65 to 95 yr. After ordinary dissection, the thoracic ducts and azygos veins were resected from the subjects and element contents were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. It was found that calcium appeared to increase in the thoracic duct with aging, but the other elements, such as phosphorus, sulfur, magnesium, iron, zinc, and sodium, did not change significantly with aging. In the azygos vein, both calcium and sulfur increased significantly with aging. Regarding the relationship among elements, extremely significant direct correlations were found among calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, and magnesium in the thoracic ducts, except for phosphorus and magnesium contents with a very significant direct correlation. In the azygos veins, significant direct correlations were found between calcium and sulfur contents and between sulfur and magnesium contents. However, no significant correlations were found among calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium in the azygos veins. These results revealed that with regard to the relationship among calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium, the thoracic duct was similar to the arteries, but not to the azygos vein.     

The myoarchitectonics of the human gastric cardia]

Anatomical investigations of the muscular layer of the cardia in corpses of adults (30-70 years of age) have shown the presence in the cardia of a 25-35 mm long sphincter disposed at an angle to the horizontal plane. Its formation proceeds with the participation of both the esophageal musculature (circular layer) and gastric musculature (gastro-esophageal fibers of the oblique muscular layer). As a whole, myo-architectonics of the cardia is dependent on the character of interrelation of the muscular layers of the esophagus and stomach which is responsible for the opening and closure of the gastro-esophageal junction.     

Accumulation of elements in the arteries and cardiac valves of Thai with aging

To elucidate whether the extent of element accumulation in the arteries and cardiac valves with aging was different between different races, the authors investigated the accumulation of elements in the arteries and cardiac valves of the Thai with aging and the relationships among elements in the cardiac valves. After ordinary dissection at Chiang Mai University was finished, 16 arteries and 4 cardiac valves were resected and element contents were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. In the 16 arteries, the average content of calcium was the highest in the site of the abdominal aorta ramifying into the common iliac arteries, and it decreased in the order internal iliac, coronary, abdominal aorta, common iliac, external iliac, superior mesenteric, inferior mesenteric, thoracic aorta, brachial, radial, common carotid, subclavian, ulnar, axillary, renal, and internal thoracic arteries. The average contents of phosphorus and magnesium in respective arteries were parallel with the average contents of calcium, except for the coronary artery. In comparison with the arteries of the Japanese, the trend of calcium accumulation in the arteries of the Thai was almost similar to that in the arteries of the Japanese, except for the coronary artery and thoracic aorta. The calcium accumulation in the coronary artery was much higher in the Thai than in the Japanese, whereas that in the thoracic aorta was lower in the Thai than in the Japanese. Regarding elements in the cardiac valves, the calcium content increased remarkably in the seventies in the aortic valve and in the nineties in the pulmonary valve, but it hardly increased in both the mitral and tricuspid valves with aging. The average content of calcium was the highest in the aortic valve, and it decreased in the order pulmonary, tricuspid, and mitral valves. Regarding the relationship among elements in the aortic valves, it was found that there were extremely significant direct correlations among the contents of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium, whereas there were significant direct correlations between zinc and either calcium or phosphorus contents. Although significant correlations were found between sulfur and the other element contents in the aortic valves of the Japanese, no significant correlations were found between them in the aortic valves of the Thai. In the mitral valves, extremely or very significant direct correlations were found among the contents of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and sulfur, with some exceptions that there were no significant correlations between phosphorus and either magnesium or sulfur contents. In addition, no significant correlation was found in the calcium content between the aortic valve and coronary artery in the same individuals.     

Arterial supply to the stomach of indigenous dog (Canis familiaris) in Bangladesh.

Arterial supply to the stomach of dogs indigenous to Bangladesh was investigated by using latex. The hepatic, left gastric and splenic arteries sent their major branches to the stomach. The cranial and caudal branches of the left gastric artery supplied the lesser curvature of the stomach. The right gastric, and right and left gastroepiploic arteries also sent their branches to both the lesser and greater curvatures. Six or seven short gastric arteries from the splenic artery supplied the greater curvature. Anastomoses between the left and right gastric, between the left and right gastroepiploic, and between short gastric arteries and left gastric arteries were observed.     

Simultaneous accumulation of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium in various human arteries

To elucidate compositional changes of the arteries with aging, the authors investigated the relationships among average contents of calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, and magnesium in the arteries by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. The arteries used were the thoracic and abdominal aortas, coronary, common carotid, anterior, middle and posterior cerebral, vertebral, basilar, internal thoracic, axillary, radial, truncus celiacus, common, internal and external iliac, femoral, popliteal, and umbilical arteries. It was found that high correlations were found between the average contents of calcium and phosphorus, between the average contents of calcium and magnesium, and between the average contents of phosphorus and magnesium in the arteries, but not between the average contents of sulfur and the other elements. These correlations revealed that as the content of calcium and phosphorus increased in the arteries, the magnesium content increased simultaneously in the arteries, but the sulfur content did not. It is likely that magnesium forms compounds with phosphorus in the arteries.     

The sites of origin of gastric cancers and ulcers in relation to mucosal junctions and the lesser curvature

A histological mapping procedure was used to study 32 stomachs bearing small cancers and 23 stomachs bearing ulcers. Over 80 per cent of gastric cancers and peptic ulcers occurred within 2 cm of both a mucosal junction and the lesser curvature. They showed slight differences in their longitudinal relationship to the pyloric junction. There were differential characteristics between the groups of cancers arising at each of the three mucosal junctions. Cancers at the pylorus and cardia were more common in males (M:F--2.6:1) and were predominantly well differentiated, whereas those from the intermediate zone were more common in females (M:F--1:1.8) with a relatively higher proportion of undifferentiated cancers. These and other features suggest that gastric cancers should be subdivided according to the junction of origin.     

Finite element modelling of the common carotid artery in the elderly with physiological intimal thickening using layer-specific stress-released geometries and nonlinear elastic properties

To investigate the mechanical effects of tissue responses, such as remodelling, in the arteries of the elderly, it is important to evaluate stress in the intimal layer. In this study, we investigated a novel technique to evaluate the effect of layer-specific characteristics on stress in the arterial wall in an elderly subject. We used finite element analysis of a segment of carotid artery with intimal thickening, incorporating stress-released geometries and the stress–strain relationships for three separate wall layers. We correlated the stress–strain relationships and local curvatures of the layers with the stress on the arterial wall under physiological loading. The simulation results show that both the stress–strain relationship and the local curvature of the innermost stress-released layer influence the circumferential stress and its radial gradient. This indicates that intimal stress is influenced significantly by location-dependent intimal remodelling. However, further investigation is needed before conclusive inferences can be drawn.     

Compositional changes of the aortic valve similar to the artery with aging

To elucidate compositional changes of the cardiac valves with aging, the authors investigated the relationships among element contents in the aortic valves, in which the accumulation of calcium and phosphorus was the highest. The subjects consisted of 10 men and 14 women, ranging in age from 65 to 102 yr. Extremely significant direct correlations were found among the contents of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, and zinc in the aortic valves. In contrast, significant inverse correlations were found between the contents of sulfur and the other elements, such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and sodium. It should be noted that these correlations present in the aortic valves were very similar to those in the arteries, especially those in the thoracic aortas. The changes of the mass ratios of Mg/Ca and Mg/P in the aortic valves were similar to those in the thoracic aortas. As calcium and phosphorus increased in the aortic valve, the mass ratios Mg/Ca and Mg/P decreased reversely in the aortic valve. These results suggest that the compositional change of the aortic valve is very similar to that of the thoracic aorta.     

Age-related changes of elements in human ureter

To elucidate changes of the ureter with aging, the authors investigated age-related changes of element contents in human ureters. The subjects consisted of seven men and seven women, ranging in age from 61 to 97 yr. The contents of calcium, sulfur, and iron in the ureters increased progressively with aging, whereas the contents of phosphorus and magnesium did not increase with aging. Significant relationships were found both between calcium and sulfur contents and between calcium and iron contents in the ureters, but not between calcium and either phosphorus or magnesium contents. It was noteworthy that a significant relationship was also found between sulfur and iron contents in the ureters. It remains uncertain whether calcium forms a compound with sulfur or iron in aged human ureters or not.     

Relationships among element contents in the internal jugular vein similar to the arteries

To elucidate compositional changes of the veins with aging, the authors investigated the relationships among element contents in the internal jugular veins, in which a higher accumulation of calcium and phosphorus occurred with aging. The subjects consisted of 15 men and 10 women, ranging in age from 40 to 98 yr. The element contents of the internal jugular veins were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. It was found that there were extremely significant direct correlations among the contents of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and sodium in the internal jugular vein. In addition, very significant direct correlations were also found both between zinc and either iron or silicon contents and between sulfur and iron contents in the vein. As calcium and phosphorus increased in the internal jugular vein, the mass ratios of Mg/Ca and Mg/P decreased gradually in the vein, whereas the mass ratio of Ca/P hardly decreased. These results indicated that with regard to both the relationships among the contents of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium and the changes of the mass ratios of Mg/Ca and Mg/P, the internal jugular vein was very similar to the arteries.     

Relationships among element contents in the intimal, middle, and external tunicae of the thoracic aorta

To examine an accumulation of elements within the arteries with aging, the authors investigated the element contents in the intimal, middle, and external tunicae of the thoracic aorta. The subjects consisted of six men and four women, ranging in age from 57 to 99 yr. The wall of the thoracic aorta was separated into the intimal, middle, and external tunicae by scrubbing the wall of the thoracic aorta with an edge of slide glass and the element contents were determined by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. It was found that there were significant relationships among calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sulfur, and sodium in both the intimal and middle tunicae of the aorta, but not in the external tunica. These results revealed that no significant differences were found in element compositions of deposits between the intimal and middle tunicae.     

Age-related changes of elements in the human articular disk of the temporomandibular joint

To elucidate compositional changes of the articular disk (AD) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) by aging, elements of the ADs resected from 18 cadavers were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic-emission spectrometry. It was found that calcium contents of ADs in TMJs increased progressively with aging, whereas the sulfur contents of the ADs decreased slightly with aging. Regarding the content of phosphorus, the contents increased progressively with aging. The study revealed that age-related changes of calcium contents in the ADs of TMJs were similar to those in women’s pubic symphyses, but not those in intervertebral disks and menisci.     

Accumulation of calcium and phosphorus accompanied by inevitable accumulation of magnesium in human arteries

To examine whether there were differences between races in regard to the relationships among element contents in the arteries, the authors investigated the relationships among the average contents of calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, and magnesium in the 18 kinds of the Thai artery. After ordinary dissection by medical students at Chiang Mai University was finished, the thoracic and abdominal aortas, ramifying site of the abdominal aorta into the common iliac arteries, coronary, common carotid, internal thoracic, subclavian, axillary, brachial, radial, superior and inferior mesenteric, renal, common iliac, internal iliac, and external iliac arteries were resected from the subjects who consisted of 12 men and 3 women, ranging in age from 39 to 84 yr. The femoral and posterior tibial arteries were resected from the subjects, consisting of 15 men and 5 women, ranging in age from 25 to 88 yr. The element content of the arteries was analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry. It was found that there were extremely significant direct correlations among the average contents of calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium in the 18 kinds of the Thai artery, but no significant correlations were found between the average contents of sulfur and elements, such as calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium. These results were in agreement with those of the Japanese arteries. Therefore, it was suggested that there was no significant difference between the arteries of the Thai and the Japanese in the relationships among calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, and magnesium.     

Increases of calcium and magnesium and decrease of iron in human posterior longitudinal ligaments of the cervical spine with aging

To elucidate compositional changes of ligaments with aging, the authors investigated age-related changes of elements in the posterior longitudinal ligaments (PLLs) by inductively coupled plasma—atomic emission spectrometry. After the ordinary dissection, PLLs were resected from the subjects ranging in age from 65 to 95 yr. The PLLs of the cervical spine were resected between the fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae, the PLLs of the thoracic spine between the fifth and seventh thoracic vertebrae, and the PLLs of the lumbar spine between the second and third lumbar vertebrae. Calcium and magnesium increased progressively with aging in the PLLs of the cervical spine, but they did not increase with aging in the PLLs of the thoracic and lumbar spine. In contrast, iron decreased gradually with aging in the PLLs of the cervical spine. Regarding the relationships among elements, significant correlations were found among the contents of calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and sodium in the PLLs of the cervical spine.     

Differences in accumulation of elements in human cardiac valves

To elucidate changes of human cardiac valves with aging, the authors determined age-related changes of element contents in the four human cardiac valves by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry and attempted to examine the relationships in the element contents among the four cardiac valves. The subjects consisted of 10 men and 15 women, ranging in age from 65 to 102 yr. The accumulation of calcium and phosphorus was the highest in the aortic valve, and decreased in the order mitral, pulmonary, and tricuspid valves. The contents of calcium and phosphorus in the aortic valves corresponded to about 12 and 19 times the amounts of those in the tricuspid valves, in which the contents were very low. The contents of calcium and phosphorus in the aortic valves were about 2.5-fold the amounts of those in the mitral valves. An examination was attempted to determine whether or not there were relationships in element contents among the four cardiac valves. As for the aortic and mitral valves, there were no relationships in the contents of calcium and phosphorus between them, but there were relationships in the contents of sulfur and magnesium between them. Three out of 24 cases contained high contents of calcium and phosphorus in both the mitral and aortic valves, whereas 16 out of 24 cases contained high contents of calcium and phosphorus in the aortic valves alone, without the high contents in the mitral valves. Likewise, there were no relationships in the element contents, such as calcium, phosphorus, sulfur, and magnesium, between the mitral and pulmonary valves or between the mitral and tricuspid valves. It is suggested that the accumulation of calcium and phosphorus in the cardiac valve occurs independent of the other cardiac valves.     

Differential distribution of transforming growth factor-alpha immunohistochemistry within whole gastric mucosa in rats

Transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-alpha) plays an important role in both proliferation and differentiation of mucosal cells at the gastrointestinal level, including stomach, where it is constitutively produced. This study evaluated the immunohistochemical distribution of TGF-alpha within whole gastric mucosa in rats, through the examination of seriate sections. Each stomach was opened along the greater curvature, pinned upon a cork plate, fixed in formalin and cut in 2-mm parallel strips which were sequentially superimposed on a glass slide. Sections were immunostained for TGF-alpha and pictures were taken from three areas: greater and lesser curvature; mucosa lying between the two curvatures. The sections were graded on the basis of the intensity of TGF-alpha staining, which was scored as follows: 0) no staining; 1) weakly positive; 2) intensely positive. The percent number of immunopositive cells and a mean intensity were calculated. Gastric mucosa showed a marked immunopositivity to TGF-alpha, mainly in parietal cells whose cytoplasm displayed moderate to intense staining. Positive cells (and the mean intensity) of total mucosa were 15.7+/-6.1% (1.13+/-0.42). However, they were not uniformly distributed, being 26.3+/-1.9% (1.67+/-0.24) in the mucosa lying between the two curvatures, 12.4+/-2.5% (1.52+/-0.22) along the lesser curvature and 8.3+/-2.1% (0.31+/-0.17) along the greater curvature. These results show that parietal cells of rat gastric mucosa exhibit immunoreactivity to TGF-alpha. Considering the gastroprotective effects of this factor, its non-homogeneous distribution within different areas may be of importance in understanding the lesion pattern of gastric damage after the administration of noxious agents.