The word ‘pacemaker’ prompts us to imagine ‘heart beats’ and also an ‘electric cardiogram’. However, spontaneous electrical activity occurs in numerous tissues and organs in the autonomic nervous system, such as in the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts, trachea, uterus, lymph ducts, etc. (Takaki et al, 2010). Recent studies have revealed that special interstitial cells in these tissues and or...

We report a rare case of secondary gastroparesis due to gastroptosis in an 11-year-old female child. The patient complained for bulking mass in the left lower quadrate presented a week ago, which was mimicking a large abdominal hernia. The laboratory and radiological exams revealed an excessive gastroptosis associated with gastroparesis. Gastroparesis is defined as an inhibition of the gastric ...

Helicobacter pylori is a major risk factor for gastritis, ulcers and gastric cancer. This study was aimed to determine the antimicrobial activity of the stem bark of Bridelia. micrantha on H. pylori isolated in South Africa. Extracts and clarithromycin were tested against 31 clinical strains, including a standard strain (NCTC 11638) of H. pylori, by measuring the diameters of the corresponding ...

The distribution of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), the probable pacemakers in gastrointestinal motility, was investigated using an antigenic marker of gastric ICC known as C-Kit. Antiserum raised against the general neuronal marker protein gene peptide 9.5 (PGP) as well as the nitrergic neuronal marker neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) were used to investigate the distribution of gastri...

Epidemiological studies have evidenced that natural dietary products can prevent or manage gastric cancer. Neptunia oleracea, an aquatic vegetable and edible plant, has been reported to anti-cancer properties. In this study, N. oleracea extract’s suppression of cancer cells was investigated on in vitro experimental model. We found ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extract inhibited cell proliferation at IC...

Gut mesodermal tissues originate from the splanchnopleural mesenchyme. However, the embryonic gastrointestinal coelomic epithelium gives rise to mesenchymal cells, whose significance and fate are little known. Our aim was to investigate the contribution of coelomic epithelium-derived cells to the intestinal development. We have used the transgenic mouse model mWt1/IRES/GFP-Cre (Wt1(cre)) crosse...

In this study, food distribution in the stomach and gastric antral motor activity in patients with longstanding diabetes have been evaluated. With use of a standard gastric emptying test with an acquisition protocol and a refined Fourier algorithm to analyze the data, antral contractions have been characterized and gastric motility parameters were correlated to gastric retention in 20 diabetic ...