Until today, the puzzling spectrum of midgut "malrotations" is commonly explained by an "impaired" process of rotation of the midgut. However, a closer look at the literature reveals that the description of this "process of rotation" is rather schematic and is aimed more at explaining pathological findings, while detailed proper embryological investigations are still rare. Despite recent trials...

A 35 kDa midgut polypeptide of rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides was isolated for the first time by immunoaffinity chromatography using immunoglobulin ligands from rabbits immunized with 35 kDa midgut polypeptide. An experimental immunization study was conducted on 12 New Zealand white rabbits using affinity purified 35 kDa midgut antigen (Aff RhGM 35 kDa Ag) with Freund’s adjuvant. The humoral im...

Allatostatins of the YXFGLamide group were discovered in cockroaches through their capacity to inhibit juvenile hormone biosynthesis. Here, we assess the occurrence of preproallatostatin (preproAST) mRNA in the brain and midgut of adult females of the cockroach Blattella germanica, and estimate brain and midgut preproAST mRNA levels during the first reproductive cycle. Reverse transcription pol...

Glycans are involved in many biological phenomena, including signal transduction, cell adhesion, immune response or differentiation. Although a few papers have reported on the role of glycans in the development and proper functioning of the insect midgut, no data are available regarding the localization of the glycan structures on the surface of the cells in the gut of insects. In this paper, w...

Midgut volvulus is a rare complication of pregnancy with high morbidity and mortality rates. Clinical diagnosis may be difficult in pregnant women. Ionizing radiation imaging modalities are not advised. Ultrasonography (US) is safer but sometimes is unable to reveal the characteristic whirlpool sign of midgut volvulus. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contributed to confirm diagnosis in our cas...

rare condition, except for cases of a dilated paraumbilical vein caused by portal hypertension, (1). Also, a midgut malrotation is rare in adulthood with a reported incidence of 0.2% (3). Midgut malrotation is usually an isolated abnormality, but it can be associated with congenital heart disease or situs problems (4). But, to our knowledge, there are no reports of associations of both abnormal...

Symptomatic intestinal malrotation first presenting in the adults is rare. Midgut volvulus is the most common complication of malrotation in the adults. Because of more differential diagnosis, Computed Tomography (CT) scan can play an important role in the evaluation of patients with this abnormality. The whirl pattern around the superior mesenteric artery found on CT scan in patients with midg...

abdomenal distress in adults (1). Midgut volvulus is mostly related to intestinal malrotation, and it is rarely associated with postoperative adhesions and a bulky diet after fasting (2). Although acquired jejunoileal diverticula are uncommon and asymptomatic in the majority of patients, the association of midgut volvulus and a large small-bowel diverticulum has been mentioned only in a radiolo...

Insect galectins are associated with embryonic development or immunity against pathogens. Here, we show that they can be exploited by parasites for survival in their insect hosts. PpGalec, a tandem repeat galectin expressed in the midgut of the sandfly Phlebotomus papatasi, is used by Leishmania major as a receptor for mediating specific binding to the insect midgut, an event crucial for parasi...

Larvae of Manduca sexta were fed on tobacco leaves or synthetic diets with differing potassium content. For all diets tested, midgut lumen K+ activity coefficients were low, and midgut lumen K+ activities, K+ concentrations and pH values were as closely regulated as in blood. The transmidgut electrochemical potential difference for potassium based on activities was lower than had previously bee...