BACKGROUND The use of medium-chain triglycerides in diets is limited by the frequent occurrence of diarrhea or crampy abdominal pain. Because these symptoms may result from an accelerated transit time induced by medium-chain triglycerides, we investigated the effect of equimolar amounts of long-chain triglycerides and medium-chain triglycerides on small-bowel transit time in 10 healthy subjects...

In primates, the retinal ganglion cells that project to the magnocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus have distinctive responses to light, and one of these has been identified morphologically as the parasol ganglion cell. To investigate their synaptic connections, we injected parasol cells with Neurobiotin in lightly fixed baboon retinas. The five ON-center cells we analyzed by ele...

We have studied the Ca leak pathways in the endoplasmic reticulum of pancreatic acinar cells by directly measuring Ca in the endoplasmic reticulum ([Ca ]ER). Cytosolic Ca 2 ([Ca ]C) was clamped to the resting level by a BAPTA-Ca mixture. Administration of cholecystokinin within the physiological concentration range caused a graded decrease of [Ca ]ER, and the rate of Ca release generated by 10 ...

Loperamide, a peripherally acting opiate receptor agonist with antidiarrheal action, inhibits ileal and colonic motor function. It was determined whether loperamide also affects gallbladder emptying and pancreatic enzyme secretion in humans. Plasma cholecystokinin (radioimmunoassay), gallbladder volume (ultrasonography), and intraduodenal bilirubin and amylase output (spot sampling) were measur...

Replacement of dietary fat by sucrose polyester reduces fat intake. However, little is known about the effects of sucrose polyester on gastrointestinal function. To investigate the effect on gastric acid secretion and on release of cholecystokinin into plasma, we perfused eight healthy male volunteers intraduodenally with sucrose polyester, digestible fat, or saline on separate days in random o...

The brain-gut hormones, gastrin and cholecystokinin, have a trophic effect on the gastrointestinal mucosa in vivo and promote the growth of several neoplastic cell lines. In this study, cholecystokinin-B/gastrin receptor has been demonstrated to provide a novel molecular marker for the diagnosis of small cell lung cancer by using biopsy specimens. Physiological expression of the receptor mRNA i...

G protein-coupled receptors represent the largest family of receptors and the major target of current drug development efforts. Understanding of the mechanisms of ligand binding and activation of these receptors remains limited, despite recent advances in structural determination of family members. This work focuses on the use of photoaffinity labeling and molecular modeling to elucidate the st...

Sex hormones including estrogens affect brain areas involved in mood and cognition in addition to directly controlling reproduction and reproductive behavior. We studied the effect of pregnancy and puerperium on the concentrations of cholecystokinin (CCK), neuropeptide Y (NPY), substance P (SP) and galanin in tissue extracts from the rat striatum, frontal cortex and the hippocampal formation by...

The effect of vagotomy on gallbladder function was investigated in a clinical and experimental study. In the clinical study both the size of the gallbladder and its capacity to respond to cholecystokinin were evaluated radiologically before and after vagotomy. In studies in the rabbit, both the immediate effect of vagotomy on the gallbladder and the effect of varying doses of cholecystokinin on...