Subject(s)
Disease Outbreaks , Food Contamination/statistics & numerical data , Fragaria/virology , Hepatitis A Virus, Human/isolation & purification , Hepatitis A/epidemiology , Seafood/virology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Case-Control Studies , Child , Child, Preschool , Disease Notification , Female , Hepatitis A/transmission , Hepatitis A/virology , Hepatitis A Virus, Human/genetics , Humans , Incidence , Italy/epidemiology , Male , Middle Aged , Multivariate Analysis , Polymerase Chain Reaction/methods , RNA, Viral/genetics , Retrospective Studies , Sequence Analysis, DNA , Young AdultABSTRACT
Dyspeptic patients (n = 12) with endoscopic signs of chronic gastritis were treated orally for 28 days with a new gel formulation of sucralfate at a dose of 1 g twice daily. Before and after treatment, gastric blood flow was assessed during endoscopy by means of laser Doppler flowmetry. The sucralfate gel promoted a significant increase (P < 0.001) in blood perfusion in all patients, restoring normal levels of gastric microcirculation. The results are consistent with observations in animals, suggesting that the mechanisms responsible for the gastroprotective and therapeutic properties of sucralfate include enhancement of mucosal blood flow.
Subject(s)
Gastritis/drug therapy , Stomach/blood supply , Sucralfate/pharmacology , Chemistry, Pharmaceutical , Gastritis/physiopathology , Gels , Humans , Italy , Microcirculation/drug effectsABSTRACT
Erosive duodenitis is a clinical entity whose pathogenesis is still obscure. Acid secretion is mostly normal, while the possible role of vascular factors has been suggested. We measured mucosal blood flow by means of laser Doppler velocimetry during endoscopy in the duodenal bulb of 10 subjects with erosive duodenitis, 10 duodenal ulcer patients, and 10 healthy controls. Duodenal blood flow in erosive duodenitis was significantly reduced (p < 0.001) compared with controls, whereas no changes were detected in duodenal ulcer. Reassessment of mucosal blood flow after a 6-week treatment with ranitidine failed to show any increase in the perfusion values even in patients with endoscopic healing. Our results suggest that impaired mucosal blood flow is a primary factor in the pathogenesis of chronic duodenal erosions.