Pineal gland function is required for colon antipreneoplastic effects of physical exercise in rats.

Light-at-night exposure enhances the risk of cancer. Colon cancer is among the most dangerous tumors affecting humankind. Physical exercise has shown positive effects against colon cancer. Here, we investigated whether pineal gland modulates antipreneoplastic effects of physical exercise in the colon. Surgical and non-surgical pineal impairments were performed to clarify the relationship between the pineal gland activity and manifestation of colonic preneoplastic lesions. Next, a progressive swimming training was applied in rats exposed or not to either non-surgical pineal impairment or carcinogen treatment for 10 weeks. Both surgical and non-surgical pineal impairments increased the development of colon preneoplasia. It was further found that impairing the pineal gland function, higher rates of DNA damage were induced in colonic epithelial and enteric glial cells. Physical exercise acted positively against preneoplasia, whereas impairing the pineal function with constant light exposure disrupts its positive effects on the development of preneoplastic lesions in the colon. This was yet related to increased DNA damage in glial cells and enteric neuronal activation aside from serum melatonin levels. Our findings suggest that protective effects of physical exercise against colon cancer are dependent on the pineal gland activity.

Malignant hyperthermia in a liver transplant patient: a case report.

Malignant hyperthermia is an autosomal dominant disorder with incomplete penetrance and variable expression. This syndrome is characterized by a hypermetabolic response to all commonly used inhalational anesthetics and depolarizing muscle relaxants. It can happen during or after the anesthesia. We describe a case of malignant hyperthermia during orthotopic liver transplantation. Our patient was a 48-year-old man, born in Brazil but with European ascendance, who developed malignant hyperthermia associated with the use of isoflurane. He was treated with dantrolene, which caused hepatic graft dysfunction. It is important that transplant teams be able to recognize and treat this complication.

Evaluation of hepatic function after orthotopic liver transplantation: a comparative study using Belzer and Collins solutions.

Belzer and Collins are solutions used in liver transplantation. The purpose of this study was to compare liver function after utilization of two different schemes of graft preservation using both solutions. Between December 2004 and September 2005, 43 liver transplantations were performed. Twenty-three of these used 2 L of Collins solution and 2 L of Belzer solution as the preservation solution. The others used three L of Collins and 1 L of Belzer solution as the preservation solution. The cold ischemia time of both groups was similar. We analyzed liver function using the serum ALT, AST, bilirubin and international normalized ratio. On the first day after the transplantation, the level of international normalized ratio of the group of patients that used 1 L of Belzer was significantly higher than the other group (P<.05). The levels of ALT, AST, and bilirubin were not different on day 7 after transplantation. We concluded that using only 1 L of Belzer solution is as efficient with the advantage that it is less expensive.