We utilized the Cre-LoxP system to establish erbB2 conditional mutant mice in order to investigate the role of erbB2 in postnatal development of the enteric nervous system. The erbB2/nestin-Cre conditional mutants exhibit retarded growth, distended colons, and premature death, resembling human Hirschsprung's disease. Enteric neurons and glia are present at birth in the colon of erbB2/nestin-Cre...

Intestinal bacteria aid host health and limit bacterial pathogen colonization. However, the influence of bacteria on enteric viruses is largely unknown. We depleted the intestinal microbiota of mice with antibiotics before inoculation with poliovirus, an enteric virus. Antibiotic-treated mice were less susceptible to poliovirus disease and supported minimal viral replication in the intestine. E...

Isolates from Campylobacter jejuni-infected patients were collected and fresh poultry meat from retail sources was sampled during the same time period and within the same geographical area. The patients were interviewed about exposure to known risk factors, and a significant correlation between the presence of a poultry subtype in patients and the consumption of fresh poultry meat was observed.

The gut and the brain communicate bidirectionally through anatomic and humoral pathways, establishing what is known as the gut-brain axis. Therefore, interventions affecting one system will impact on the other, giving the opportunity to investigate and develop future therapeutic strategies that target both systems. Alterations in the gut-brain axis may arise as a consequence of changes in micro...

A campylobacteriosis outbreak investigation provides relevant examples of how two web-based technologies were used in an outbreak setting and potential reasons for their usefulness. A web forum aided in outbreak detection and provided contextual insights for hypothesis generation and questionnaire development. An online questionnaire achieved a high response rate and enabled rapid preliminary d...

Chitosan with excellent biodegradable and biocompatible characteristics has received attention as an oral drug delivery vehicle for controlled-release formulations. In this study an enteric-coated capsule containing theophylline-chitosan beads based on 23 factorial designs was prepared as a colon drug delivery system. The theophylline-chitosan gel beads were formulated by adding the drug-contai...

conclusions thirty-three bacterial strains; 10 strains of e. coli, 10 strains of s. flexneri, 3 strains s. sonnei, 2 strains of s. serovar newport, and 7 strains of p. aeruginosa, were isolated and identified from nile water and ground water in sohag governorate. the prevalence of enteric bacteria in water sources in studying area was considerable. no clear or distinct correlation could be conc...

Neuregulin 1 (NRG1) is suggested to promote the survival and maintenance of the enteric nervous system (ENS). As deficiency in its corresponding receptor signaling complex ERBB2/ERBB3 leads to postnatal colonic hypo/aganglionosis we assessed the distributional and expressional pattern of the NRG1-ERBB2/ERBB3 system in the human colon and explored the neurotrophic capacity of NRG1 on cultured en...

BACKGROUND/AIMS Functional gastrointestinal disorders are those in which no abnormal metabolic or physical processes, which can account for the symptoms, can be identified. The irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a significant functional disorder, which affects 10-20 percent of the population worldwide. Predominant symptoms of IBS are abnormal defecation associated with abdominal pain, both of wh...