An alteration of the intestinal barrier is considered to represent an early step in pathogenesis of Crohn’s disease. The integrity of intestinal barrier function is guaranteed among other factors by enterocyte tight junction (TJ) proteins. Clinical and experimental data indicate the tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) to be the major responsible for these defects. In the present study we investigat...

OBJECTIVE Recent research suggests that oats do not harm intestinal villi in adults with coeliac disease. As the immunological effects of oats have not been examined in detail, it was decided to compare the immunological responses of a gluten free diet including oats with those of a conventional gluten free diet. DESIGN A randomised controlled intervention study over 6-12 months. SUBJECTS F...

P glycoprotein and multidrug resistance-associated protein 2 (Mrp2), ATP-dependent membrane transporters, exist in a variety of normal tissues and play important roles in the disposition of various drugs. The present study seeks to clarify the contribution of P glycoprotein and/or Mrp2 to the disposition of azithromycin in rats. The disappearance of azithromycin from plasma after intravenous ad...

Salmonella enterica serotype Senftenberg (S. Senftenberg) has recently become more frequent in poultry flocks. Moreover some strains have been implicated in severe clinical cases. To explain the causes of this emergence in farm animals, 134 S. Senftenberg isolates from hatcheries, poultry farms and human clinical cases were analyzed. Persistent and non-persistent strains were identified in chic...

An alteration of the intestinal barrier is considered to represent an early step in pathogenesis of Crohn's disease. The integrity of intestinal barrier function is guaranteed among other factors by enterocyte tight junction (TJ) proteins. Clinical and experimental data indicate the TNF-alpha to be the major responsible factor for these defects. In the present study we investigated the very ear...

To estimate hepatic uptake of chylomicron remnants in humans, chylomicrons and intestinal very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) were endogenously labeled with retinyl esters, harvested by plasmapheresis, and pulse-injected into the donor 44 hr after plasmapheresis. Plasma decay of retinyl palmitate was measured in eight healthy volunteers. Retinyl palmitate plasma disappearance obeyed an apparen...

1. Studies were performed to investigate the metabolic fate of dipeptides when administered intravenously in rats. Glycyl-leucine, glycylglycine or glycylsarcosine was injected into the jugular vein. The plasma disappearance rate after the peak plasma concentrations was most rapid for glycyl-leucine and least rapid for glycylsarcosine. 2. During urine collection for 40 min, trace amounts of gly...

Proximal and distal small intestinal segments of the rat were perfused in situ at two different rates with isotonic solutions containing glucose in concentrations ranging from 25 to 600 mg/100 ml. Absorption was measured as glucose disappearance rate from the lumen. Glucose absorption had not previously been studied at intraluminal concentrations above and below blood glucose. Absorption was mo...

The role of bacterial, dietary and intestinal phytases (EC 3.1.3.8) in the hydrolysis of phytate was investigated in the golden hamster and rat by assaying phytase in the small intestine and by measuring the disappearance of phytate from the stomach and large intestine, using chromium oxide as an insoluble solid-phase marker. It was confirmed that an active phytase was present in the proximal t...

INTRODUCTION Dermatomyositis is an autoimmune disease characterized by proximal myopathy, cutaneous Gottron papules and heliotrope rash; intestinal involvement associated to acute vasculitis is less common but could be a life-threatening condition. METHODS A 21-year-old woman, affected by dermatomyositis, presented to our attention with a three-day story of severe abdominal pain, no bowel mov...