Autoimmune pancreatitis successfully treated with ursodeoxycholic acid.

A 51-year-old woman with autoimmune pancreatitis is reported in whom treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) was beneficial. Complaining of epigastric discomfort, she presented with liver dysfunction of the cholestatic type, and diabetes mellitus. Pancreatic imaging revealed a diffuse swelling of the body, an irregular narrowing of the main pancreatic duct, and a terminal stricture of the common bile duct. Histologically, the biopsied pancreas was replaced by fibrous tissue with a small amount of mononuclear cell infiltration. She had anti-carbonic anhydrase-II antibody and anti-lactoferrin antibody. After treatment with UDCA, her liver dysfunction and diabetes mellitus improved and the pancreas size was reduced. Steroid therapy is usually indicated for this disorder, but UDCA may be given as an alternative choice.

The expression of anamorsin in diffuse large B cell lymphoma: possible prognostic biomarker for low IPI patients.

Anamorsin is a cell-death-defying factor, which was originally isolated as a molecule that conferred resistance to apoptosis induced by growth factor starvation. In order to evaluate anamorsin expression levels in malignant lymphoma, we immunostained paraffin-embedded sections with anti-anamorsin monoclonal antibodies. About 40% (89/234) of sections from patients with diffuse large B cell lymphoma (DLBCL) showed strong anamorsin expression. Comparing the level of anamorsin expression in DLBCL patients with their clinical features (i.e., overall survival rate, International Prognostic Index (IPI) parameters, and treatment response) revealed no significant correlation between anamorsin expression levels and these clinical features. However, anamorsin expression in DLBCL patients with a low IPI was shown to be an unfavorable biomarker, especially in the patients who received chemotherapy without rituximab. It is suggested that anamorsin might play some roles in the abnormal growth of DLBCL.