Introduction: Plant galls are insect-induced tumor-like growths of plant tissue which nourish and protect developing gall former larvae (1). Gall inducers are typically host specific (2). The morphology of galls produced is unique to each gall former species and reflects the expression of both insect and host plant genomes (3). For each species of gall inducer, gall size at maturity varies wide...

Van Alphen and Vet (1986) refer to the work of Arthur E. Weis (1983) on a torymid wasp that attacks a gall midge on goldenrod. This system seems to be quite well-studied, particularly, but not exclusively, by Weis. Van Alphen and Vet point out that the parasitoids tend to attack about the same proportion of hosts in patches (galls) with varying numbers of hosts. This has implications for the fo...

BACKGROUND Hyperinsulinaemia has been associated with many common diseases in developed countries, such as ischaemic heart disease and colon cancer. Gall stones are also very prevalent in these countries but little is known about the association between insulin and gall stones. AIMS To study the relationships between insulin and the incidence of gall stones in a sample of the general populati...

To evaluate whether the extent of postprandial gall bladder emptying is correlated with gall bladder fasting volume, gall bladder motility was studied in 56 patients with cholesterol gall stone and 19 control patients. Gall bladder volumes were determined sonographically, while cholecystokinin plasma values were measured radioimmunologically. Twenty three per cent of gall stone patients were cl...

The increased prevalence of gall stones in Crohn's disease is thought to be related to depletion of the bile salt pool due either to terminal ileal disease or after ileal resection. This study was designed to examine whether this hypothesis is correct and explore alternative explanations. Two hundred and fifty one randomly selected patients (156 females, 95 males, mean age 45 years) were interv...

Gall bladder motor function is impaired in some patients with diabetes. It has been suggested that the abnormalities of gall bladder motility are confined to those patients with autonomic neuropathy. Erythromycin, a motilin receptor agonist, causes gall bladder contraction in both normal subjects and patients with gall stones with impaired gall bladder emptying. The effect of erythromycin on ga...

Gall bladder is more likely to perforate in cases of obstruction leading to raised intra luminal tension. Non obstructive cholecystitis is unlikely to result in perforation. Perforation complicating acute acalculus cholecystitis is often seen in association with acute infections like pneumonia, viral influenza, and in particular with typhoid where the causative organism Salmonella typhii multip...

Background—Nitric oxide is a major neurotransmitter in non-adrenergic, noncholinergic (NANC) pathways. NANC inhibitory innervation has been shown in human gall bladder muscle in vitro; the role of nitric oxide in human gall bladder emptying however is undefined. Aims—To study the eVect of glyceryl trinitrate, a nitric oxide donor, on gall bladder emptying in healthy subjects using a randomised,...

Purpose: Objective of the study was to find out if there is any relation of number, size and type of gall stones and patient’s lipid profile with the occurrence of gall bladder carcinoma (GBC) as presence of gall stones is considered to be the most important risk factor for gall bladder cancer. Methods: 200 specimens of post-cholecystectomy gallbladder were studied. The number, size and type of...

The actual activity of ionised calcium (Ca2+) in gall bladder bile determined with an ion-selective electrode was significantly higher in patients with gall stone disease (n = 15) than in patients without gall stones (n = 10) (0.43 mmol/kg v 0.31 mmol/kg; p < 0.05). No change in the Ca2+ activity in any of the gall bladder bile samples was observed during equilibration with CO2. During titratio...