The effects of short-term lansoprazole therapy on Helicobacter pylori infection and antral gastritis in duodenal ulcer patients.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Lansoprazole is a new potent proton pump inhibitor that exhibits activity against Helicobacter pylori in vitro. This study endeavored to determine the effects of 4 wk of lansoprazole therapy upon H. pylori infection and antral gastritis in duodenal ulcer patients and to determine the relationship of the gastritis with Helicobacter infection and with ulcer activity. METHODS: Satisfactory antral biopsies were obtained from 119 duodenal ulcer patients before and after 4 wk of therapy with lansoprazole, ranitidine, or placebo. Sections were scored blindly for degree of active and chronic inflammation and extent of H. pylori infection. RESULTS: Four weeks of lansoprazole (30 mg daily) or ranitidine (300 mg daily) therapy produced a significant decrease in H. pylori infection. The reduction of H. pylori infection, but not ulcer healing per se, correlated with the decrease in active and chronic antral inflammation. Reduction of H. pylori infection, however, did not improve the good ulcer-healing rates already achieved at 4 wk by potent acid inhibition. CONCLUSIONS: Lansoprazole exhibits activity against H. pylori in vivo. Short-term improvement in antral gastritis is affected by reduction of H. pylori infection but not by ulcer healing.

Estrogen receptor assay in polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma and adenoid cystic carcinoma of salivary gland origin. An immunohistochemical study.

An apparent relationship between breast cancer and salivary gland cancer has been observed, and there is one report in the literature that describes estrogen receptors in normal salivary gland and salivary gland cancers. With the use of a monoclonal antibody against estrogen receptor protein and the avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase procedure, we were unable to demonstrate estrogen receptors in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded sections of either polymorphous low-grade adenocarcinoma or adenoid cystic carcinoma of salivary gland origin.

Effect of blood flow reversal in liver autotransplants upon the site of hepatocyte regeneration.

We studied the role of the direction of intrahepatic blood flow upon the location of hepatocyte formation in regenerating liver. Single liver lobes in the dog were autotransplanted to the region of the neck with the blood supply reestablished in a manner to perfuse the hepatic lobule from portal tract to central vein or, in a reverse direction, from central vein to portal tract. Partial resection of the nontransplanted liver was later performed to induce regeneration in the grafts by humoral means. Tritiated thymidine was administered, and radioautographs were prepared from excised graft and nontransplanted liver. In the "straight" blood flow grafts, as well as in all nontransplanted livers, labeled hepatocytes indicating DNA synthesis were found predominantly in the vicinity of the portal tracts. In the "reverse" blood flow grafts, labeled hepatocytes were more prevalent about the central veins. Thus, the localization of hepatocyte formation in the lobule during active liver regeneration cannot be attributed to an inherently greater capacity of periportal liver cells to divide but is probably related to their preferential exposure to blood constituent changes (humoral mechanisms). Hepatocyte regeneration in the presence of abnormal directional circulation might lead to lobular disorganization resulting in consequent biochemical aberrations despite the formation of new cells.