An experimental model of hemolysis-induced acute pancreatitis

The literature indicates that acute pancreatitis is a complication of massive hemolysis with a prevalence of about 20%. We describe an experimental model of hemolysis-induced acute pancreatitis. Hemolytic anemia was induced in rats by a single ip injection of 60 mg/kg of 20 mg/ml acetylphenylhydrazine (APH) in 20% (v/v) ethanol on the first experimental day (day 0). One hundred and fifty Wistar albino rats weighing 180-200 g were divided into three groups of 50 animals each: groups 1, 2 and 3 were injected ip with APH, 20% ethanol, and physiological saline, respectively. Ten rats from each group were sacrificed on study days 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Serum amylase, lipase levels and pancreatic tissue tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and platelet-activating factor (PAF) contents were determined and a histological examination of the pancreas was performed. No hemolysis or pancreatitis was observed in any of the rats in groups 2 and 3. In group 1, massive hemolysis was observed in 35 (70%) of 50 rats, moderate hemolysis in seven (14%), and no hemolysis in eight (16%). Thirty-three of 35 (94.2%) rats with massive hemolysis had hyperamylasemia, and 29 of these rats (82.8%) had histologically proven pancreatitis. The most severe pancreatitis occurred on day 3, as demonstrated by histology. Tissue TNF-alpha and PAF levels were statistically higher in group 1 than in groups 2 and 3. Acute massive hemolysis induced acute pancreatitis, as indicated by histology, in almost 80% of cases. Hemolysis may induce acute pancreatitis by triggering the release of proinflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokines.

Functional dyspepsia: relationship between clinical subgroups and Helicobacter pylori status in Western Turkey

The etiology of functional dyspepsia is not known. The objective of the present study was to determine the characteristics of functional dyspepsia in Western Turkey. We divided 900 patients with functional dyspepsia into three subgroups according to symptoms: ulcer-like (UL), 321 (35.6%), motility disorder-like (ML), 281 (31.2%), and the combination (C) of these symptoms, 298 (33.1%). All patients were submitted to endoscopic evaluation, with two biopsies taken from the cardia and corpus, and four from the antrum of the stomach. All biopsy samples were studied for Helicobacter pylori (Hp) density, chronic inflammation, activity, intestinal metaplasia, atrophy, and the presence of lymphoid aggregates by histological examination. One antral biopsy was used for the rapid urease test. Tissue cagA status was determined by PCR from an antral biopsy specimen by a random sampling method. We also determined the serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) and gastrin by the same method. Data were analyzed statistically by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and by analysis of variance. Hp and cagA positivity was significantly higher in the UL subgroup than in the others. The patients in the ML subgroup had the lowest Hp and cagA positivity and Hp density. The ML subgroup also showed the lowest level of Hp-induced inflammation among all subgroups. The serum levels of TNF-alpha and gastrin did not reveal any difference between groups. Our findings show a poor association of Hp with the ML subgroup of functional dyspepsia, but a stronger association with the UL and C subgroups.

Heat-induced changes in nuclear-associated proteins in normal and thermotolerant HeLa cells

In the present study we used one-dimensional 7-10% gradient SDS polyacrylamide gels to resolve the proteins associated with nuclei isolated from normal and heat-shocked cells. By analyzing the relative optical density of 27-30 polypeptide bands as a function of the duration of the heat shock or the time of incubation after heating, we were able to observe the following regarding heat-induced alterations in nuclear protein binding. Various proteins show an increased nuclear association in terms of their nuclear protein content, but the kinetics of this association is not identical for individual proteins. Moreover, the changes in these associations are differentially affected in nuclei from thermotolerant cells. This type of analysis demonstrates the possibility that the cellular effects of hyperthermia could be correlated with the altered binding and/or increased presence of specific proteins associated with the nucleus in heated cells.

Heat-shock-induced changes in nuclear protein and cell killing in thermotolerant HeLa cells

The correlation between the protein content of nuclei and heat-induced cell killing was determined for HeLa cells with various levels of thermotolerance. Thermotolerance was induced by heating cells at 45 degrees C for 15 or 30 min and then incubating them at 37 degrees C for 5 or 24 h. This procedure resulted in four different levels of thermotolerance requiring up to 5 h of heat at 45 degrees C to kill more than 90% of the most resistant cells. Upon exposure to 45 degrees C, the increase in the protein content of isolated nuclei was proportionally less for thermotolerant cells. The difference between the initial increase in nuclear protein content for normal and thermotolerant cells was relatively small for shorter heating times but became clearly evident for longer heating exposures. The correlations between cell killing and nuclear protein content were not statistically different from controls for any of the various levels of thermotolerance. The correlation was measured over survival levels below 0.1 in thermotolerant cells. Because thermotolerant HeLa cells are very resistant to heat, previous studies had not tested the correlation to survival levels below a half-decade of cell killing. These results should resolve some of the conflicting observations reported in the literature and are consistent with the suggestion that heat-induced changes in binding of nuclear protein play a key role in the lethal effects of hyperthermia.