Small Bowel and Plasma Gastrin Rhythms in Cats

The purpose of this experiment was to study the possible role of the gastric antrum and small bowel in the rhythm(s) of plasma gastrin. The cat was used as the laboratory animal. Three groups of cats were provided with a gastric fistula for the study of gastric acid and plasma gastrin rhythms. The first group (N = 7) served as controls. A second group (N = 3) was antrectomized and later subjected to a 80% small bowel resection. Gastric acid secretions were collected every 30 min from 0800 to 2400. Blood samples for determination of gastrin were drawn every 2hr from 0800 to 2400. In control animals a circadian (i.e.<24hr) and 3 ultradian (i.e.<24 hr) rhythms were detected for acid output. In the antrectomized cats, circadian and ultradian rhythms were documented. After small bowel resection circadian and ultradian rhythms in gastric acid secretion were observed. For plasma gastrin, circadian and ultradian rhythms were found in the control cats. In the antrectomized cats no rhythms were observed. After small bowel resection an ultradian rhythm reappeared in these antrectomized cats. Removal of the antrum in the cat induces disappearance of circadian and ultradian rhythms of plasma gastrin but fails to modify the acid rhythms. Small bowel resection results in the reappearance of an ultradian rhythm for plasma gastrin and a shift in acrophase for the circadian rhythm in acid secretion.     

Antiulcerogenic potential of Strychnos potatorum Linn seeds on Aspirin plus pyloric ligation-induced ulcers in experimental rats

Strychnos potatorum (Fam: Loganiaceae) Linn seeds are useful in the treatment of gastropathy in Indian traditional system of medicine. The present study describes the antiulcerogenic potential of S. potatorum Linn seeds on aspirin plus pyloric ligation (Aspirin+PL)-induced gastric ulcer model to substantiate its folklore claim. The seed powder (SPP) and aqueous extract of the seeds (SPE) at two doses 100 and 200 mg/kg, p.o. prevented ulcer formation by decreasing acid secretory activity and increasing the mucin activity in rats. The antiulcerogenic potential was further confirmed by the histopathological studies of stomach mucosa. The results indicate that SPP and SPE exhibit antiulcerogenic activity by both antisecretory and mucoprotective actions. The mucoprotective action of SPP and SPE may be due to the presence of polysaccharides in seeds. The antiulcerogenic potential of SPP and SPE was compared with the standard antiulcer drug, ranitidine.     

Differences of urease activity and expression of associated genes according to gastric topography

Background: We hypothesize that pH difference between acid‐secreting corpus and non‐secreting antrum might influence the activity of H. pylori’s urease and/or related genes. We therefore measured urease activity and the expression of amiE whose encoded protein that hydrolyzes short‐chain amides to produce ammonia. Materials and Methods: Fifty‐four patients were recruited into this study. Each gastroscopic biopsy specimen collected from the antrum and body of each patient was immediately used to measure urease activity using serial changes of urease activity (ammonia levels) during 60 minutes. Probe specific for amiE was labeled with a biotin nick‐translation kit and was used to detect expression of these genes (mRNA) in fresh‐frozen gastroscopic biopsy specimens using fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH). Results: Urease activity at 60 minutes from the gastric antrum and body of all patients infected with H. pylori was 399.5 ± 490.5 and 837.9 ± 1038.9 μg/dL, respectively (p = .004). Urease activity in the antrum was correlated with H. pylori density. Urease activity or H. pylori density in the antrum was significantly correlated with chronic active inflammation; in contrast, this correlation was not found in the gastric body. The expression level of amiE was 1.5 times higher (p < .05) in the gastric body compared with the antrum. Conclusion: Topographically, the urease activity in body was much higher than in antrum. The expression level of amiE was higher in the gastric body compared with the antrum.     

Ontogeny of lipase expression in winter flounder

The partial sequencing of two lipases from winter flounder Pseudopleuronectes americanus , one most closely related to gastric, lingual and lysosomal acid lipase from other vertebrates and one most closely related to bile salt-activated lipase, is reported. Biochemical analyses of enzymatic activity demonstrated the greater contribution made by bile salt-activated lipase relative to neutral bile salt-independent lipase. Using molecular techniques, the tissue-specific expression of bile salt-activated lipase in pancreatic tissue and acid triacylglycerol lipase in a wide variety of organs was demonstrated. Furthermore, the developmental expression of these types of lipase in larval fish was established.     

Experimentally induced granule release in the endocrine cells of dog pyloric antrum

Summary The basal-granulated cells of the dog pyloric antrum were observed under the electron microscope.At least four types of cells were identified: D-like cells, G cells, third type cells, and EC cells. The cells reach regularly the mucosal surface with a cytoplasmic process provided with microvilli and occasionally with a single cilium.Thirty and forty-five minutes after administration of 0.1 N hydrochloric acid into the stomach by oral catheterization, an emiocytotic release of the basal granules occurs frequently in the D-like cells. The cells in control animals did not show this change.This result is the first evidence of the internal secretion of the gastro-enteric basal-granulated cells. The granule release in the D-like cells in response to the acidification of the mucosal surface indicates that this type of cell may produce a hormone inhibiting the acid secretion of the stomach, such as secretin.This paper is dedicated to Prof. W. Bargmann on the occasion of his 65th birthday.     

尖顶羊肚菌菌丝体水提液对实验型胃溃疡的作用

研究尖顶羊肚菌菌丝体水提液对4种实验型胃溃疡模型的治疗作用。以大鼠幽门结扎致胃溃疡为模型,测定各组胃粘膜损伤指数、胃液分泌量和胃酸浓度;以大鼠乙酸烧灼、小鼠乙醇致胃粘膜损伤和小鼠水浸应激胃溃疡为模型,分别测定溃疡面积。结果表明尖顶羊肚菌菌丝体水提液可以不同程度抑制胃酸的分泌,减少胃液量,减少溃疡面积,促进溃疡面积的愈合,因此尖顶羊肚菌菌丝体水提液具有抗实验型胃溃疡的作用。     

Aquaporins in gametogenesis of vertebrate animals

A review of the data on the presence, localization, and supposed role of aquaporin water channels in oocytes of Xenopus laevis, oogenesis and maturation of teleosts Sparus auratus and Oncorhynchus mykiss, oogenesis and oocyte maturation of rats and mice, and spermatogenesis of several mammalians.     

Gastrin and the ultrastructure of G cells after stimulation with acetylcholine

The effect of intragastric administration of acetylcholine on serum and antral gastrin concentrations of rats has been examined using a radioimmunoassay and quantitative electron microscopy. Exposure of the stomach of rats, previously fasted for 24h, to 2% acetylcholine for either 0.5 or 2h resulted in a significant 4--5 fold increase in serum gastrin concentrations to levels similar to those found in fed animals. Such treatment produced no detectable change in antral gastrin concentration or in the number or electron density of secretory granules in the G cells. This lack of detectable change in the G cells was not unexpected since our calculations suggest that less than 10% of the total gastrin stored in the antrum is released over 2h as a result of the stimulation with acetylcholine. The proportion of electron-lucent secretory granules was, however, markedly increased by prolonged fixation in aldehydes. The increase was similar in both ACh stimulated and control animals. These results indicate that the ultrastructural appearance of G cell secretory granules in influenced far more by the conditions of fixation than by the release of gastrin. They therefore cast considerable doubt on the hypothesis that gastrin is released by molecular dispersion from the granules.