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This study investigated whether ulcer prevention would be greater with the combined use of an acid-inhibiting agent, ranitidine, given together with a mucosal-protective agent, sucralphate. Duodenal ulcers were induced in rats with the secretagogues pentagastrin and bethanechol. Subtherapeutic doses of ranitidine (5 mg/kg/6 hours) and sucralphate (50 mg/6 hour) yielded an ulcer index of 4.0 and 4.1 respectively, not significantly different from the control (untreated) ulcer index of 4.3. Therapeutic doses of ranitidine (20 mg/kg) and sucralphate (200 mg/animal) gave an ulcer index of 0.4 and 0.5 respectively. Subtherapeutic doses of ranitidine and sucralphate given in combination yielded an ulcer index of 0.7. Thus, subtherapeutic doses of ranitidine and sucralphate given in combination had a synergistic effect equal to therapeutic doses of each of these drugs given alone. The therapeutic implications of combined acid inhibiting drugs with mucosal protective drugs is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Therapeutic interventions after spinal cord injury (SCI) routinely are designed to address multiple aspects of the primary and/or secondary damage that occurs. Exercise has a demonstrated efficacy for post-SCI complications such as cardiovascular dysfunction, neuropathic pain, and chronic inflammation, yet there is little understanding of the mechanisms by which improvements might result from this non-invasive approach. Here we review several of our observations of molecular and cellular changes within the injured spinal cord following acute or delayed exercise regimens that illustrate the potential for positive effects on neuroprotection and rehabilitation. Further, we provide new information about the role of exercise in promoting the regeneration of spinal axons into peripheral nerve grafts (PNGs) placed immediately or 6 weeks after injury. Acute and chronically injured propriospinal neurons within the lumbar spinal cord displayed the greatest propensity for enhanced regeneration after exercise, which correlates with the direct sensory input to this region from exercised hindlimb muscles. Future studies will extend these observations by testing whether exercise will boost the regenerative effort of axons to extend beyond the graft, interact with intraspinal targets, and establish functional connections across a lesion.

The aim of this review was to examine the range of combat injuries with particular reference to those of the head and neck. We evaluated 10 retrospective studies selected from the period 1982-2005 that covered war injuries from Vietnam, Lebanon, Slovenia, Croatia, Iraq, Somalia, and Afghanistan. We found differences in the causes of injuries. Injuries from fragments were more common during the 90s than during the Vietnam War, where shooting injuries predominated. Injuries to the trunk were reduced in conflicts from 1991 onwards as military personal armour systems including protective vests were used. However, the mortality of wounded soldiers in all conflicts was consistently between 10% and 14%. There was a high incidence of injuries to the head and neck (up to 40%) though they affected only 12% of the body surface area. Though the data from the different military conflicts are not totally comparable, there are trends in the type of injuries and mortality, which may lead to changes in existing systems of medical care.

Objectives: Gastric carcinoma is the world's second most common cancer. Recent studies suggest an association between Helicobacter pylori and gastric carcinoma. The aim of this study was to address the effects of H. pylori infection on gastric antrum mucosal cell proliferation., Methods: Forty patients undergoing upper endoscopy for standard indications were included in the study. A rapid urease test was used to determine the presence of H. pylori. Epithelial cell proliferation was determined by immunohistochemical techniques utilizing monoclonal antibody to bromodeoxyuridine., Results: There were no significant differences in the number of labeled cells and in the proliferation fraction (p > 0.1) when patients with H. pylori were compared with those without, and when those over the age of 50 were compared to those under 50. The presence of ulcers similarly had no effect (p > 0.1)., Conclusion: Helicobacter pylori infection does not increase gastric antrum mucosal cell proliferation.

Single random samples of urine were collected from 50 control subjects; 27 patients with chronic pancreatitis; 19 with acute pancreatitis; 6 with acute on chronic pancreatitis; five in the recovery phase of acute attack; four patients with pseudocysts. Salivary (S) and pancreatic (P) amylase values were measured by cellulose acetate electrophoresis. The P amylase values always exceeded those of S amylase in the control specimens. In acute pancreatitis, both the lower and upper levels of total and P amylase were considerably higher than in the controls, and these high values tended to return to normal during the recovery phase of acute pancreatitis. The S amylase values were often very low or undetectable during the acute phase. Values for P amylase exceeded control values in patients with pseudocysts even in the presence of chronic pancreatitis. In chronic calcific pancreatitis, S amylase was higher than P amylase. We conclude that P amylase is always greater than S amylase in normal urine specimens, and a change in this pattern may be helpful in diagnosing various forms of pancreatitis.

54 healthy female Lebistes reticulatus and 11 Xiphophorus helleri of various age groups were injected with 3H-thymidin. The duration of the radio-active test was one hour. By means of autoradiograms of serial sections of the brain, the post-natal persistence of matrical zones was demonstrated in the telencephalon, diencephalon, mesencephalon, cerebellum and in the medulla oblongata. The age-dependency of the 3H-thymidin index produced the same results in all matrical zones: high values in young animals, followed by a steep decrease and a steady state in older animals. In 30 other laboratory animals (Lebistes reticulatus-Teleostei), out of which 15 were juvenile and 15 were adult females, a unilateral lesion of the central tectum was effected. On the 5th, 7th, 8th, 15th, and 25th days following operation the animals were given a single injection of 3H-thymidin (absolute activity 10 muCi/g body weight; duration of the radio-active test: one hour). Labelled meningeal cells were observed in the traumatic region. In the course of regeneration there takes place a migration of cells into the puncture channel. No labelled cells were observed in the tissues adjacent to the lesion nor in the cell column. The proliferation of cells takes place in the matrical zones. By determining the 3H-thymidin index we were able to show that the proliferation activity is being increased. In the matrical zones of the non-operated tectum opticum too, the number of DNA synthesizing cells is increased.

The effects of the cholecystokinin receptor antagonist L-364,718 was studied in a model of mild pancreatitis induced in mice by repeated injections of the secretagogue caerulein and in a lethal form of pancreatitis induced by feeding mice an ethionine-supplemented choline-deficient diet. L-364,718 prevented the caerulein-induced rise in serum amylase and pancreatic weight in a dose-dependent manner, the most effective dose being 0.1 mg/kg body wt. L-364,718 also prevented the caerulein-induced pancreatic inflammation as seen by light microscopy. L-364,718 offered no protective effects as determined by changes in serum amylase, pancreatic weight, histology, or mortality in the ethionine-supplemented choline-deficient diet model.

We examined the ability of sucralfate to prevent secretagogue induced duodenal ulcer in the rat. Sucralfate was administered orally in dosage schedules of 50 mg, 100 mg or 200 mg before and at 3 and 6 hr after commencing a 24 hr continuous infusion of pentagastrin and bethanechol. The animals were sacrificed at 24 hr and the number and severity of ulcers was scored. Ulcers developed in all 9 control rats, in 8 of 9 on the 50 mg dose, in 4 of 9 on the 100 mg dose, and in only 1 of 9 on the 200 mg dose of sucralfate. We conclude that sucralfate prevents the formation of secretagogue induced duodenal ulcer in the rat.