In the pre-experimental period of a clinical trial, an apparently clinically healthy sheep fitted with ruminal and abomasal cannulas showed changes in the reticular contraction pattern visualized in M-mode ultrasonogram. Radiographic examination revealed a blunt metal screw in its reticulum. By the time change in the reticular motility through the ultrasound examination was detected, the animal...

Chronic atrophic gastritis, which is thought to be a high risk for gastric cancer, can be diagnosed by serum pepsinogen levels. We compared the usefulness of the measurement of pepsinogen levels and indirect photofluorography as indicators of gastric cancer in a mass screening involving 5,620 Japanese subjects (mean age: 60.1 years old; male : female = 2,268 : 3,352) in 1991 and 1992. Subjects ...

In this issue, Ikeda et al1 reported on the predictive ability of the combination of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) antibody and serum pepsinogen (sPG), known as the ABC method, for gastric cancer occurrence in a long-term prospective study. The Hisayama Study is known for its long follow-up period and high rates of medical examinations, autopsies, and follow-up. The most important finding in ...

BACKGROUND Gastric cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer in Japan. In 2004, there were 50 562 deaths from gastric cancer; they accounted for 15.8% of the total number of cancer deaths. Since 1983, under the Health Service Law for the Aged, gastric cancer screening has been conducted nationwide for all residents aged 40 years and over. METHODS On the basis of the standardized method...

Previous studies have shown that diazoacetyl-DL-norleutine methyl ester inactivates pepsin, that Cu(I1) greatly facilitates the reaction, and that in the presence of Cu(I1) substitution occurs specifically at the carboxyl group of an aspartic acid residue in the enzyme. The present experiments were designed to establish the reasons for the speed and specificity of the reaction and the role of t...

BACKGROUND Despite an increasing preference of consumers for beef produced from more extensive pasture-based production systems and potential human health benefits from the consumption of such beef, data regarding the health status of animals raised on pasture are limited. The objective of this study was to characterise specific aspects of the bovine peripheral and the gastrointestinal muscosal...

Effects of increased MP supply on the degree of periparturient relaxation of immunity (PPRI) in sheep may be dependent on quality of supplied MP. Here we tested the hypothesis that additional MP supply from rations based on xylose-treated soybean meal would be more effective than from rations based on faba beans in reducing the degree of PPRI, as indicated by nematode egg excretion. Twenty-four...

A total of 206 residents (76 males and 130 females) of a rural area of Hokkaido, Japan, attending a health check in August, 1997, were studied to assess the relationship between serum carotenoids and atrophic gastritis (AG). Of the participants, 91 had AG as indicated by their serum levels of pepsinogen I and pepsinogen II. Logistic regression analysis, after adjusting for gender and age, revea...

The article by Levanon et al (2011) reports that expression of the transcription factor Runx3 is undetectable in gastrointestinal (GIT) epithelium. These results contradict our results, particularly those in Li et al (2002), which indicate that Runx3 is strongly expressed and functions as tumour suppressor in GIT. Here, I aim to clarify the issues by summarizing the findings associated with thi...

The gastric mucus is an important factor in the gastric mucosal protection from acid, pepsin and various reagents (alcohol, aspirin, etc.). MUC5AC is the mucin secreted from surface mucous cells, and belongs to the gel-forming mucin. We examined the regulation of rat MUC5AC (rMUC5AC) mRNA by glucocorticoid in vivo and in vitro, comparing it with that of pepsinogen (Pg) mRNA. By adrenal gland re...