Biomedical subjects

P Ekström

Publications and source records attributed to P Ekström.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Rhopalia are integrated parts of the central nervous system in box jellyfish.

In cubomedusae, the central nervous system (CNS) is found both in the bell (the ring nerve) and in the four eye-bearing sensory structures (the rhopalia). The ring nerve and the rhopalia are connected via the rhopalial stalks and examination of the structure of the rhopalial stalks therefore becomes important when trying to comprehend visual processing. In the present study, the rhopalial stalk of the cubomedusae Tripedalia cystophora has been examined by light microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and electrophysiology. A major part of the ring nerve is shown to continue into the stalk and to contact the rhopalial neuropil directly. Ultrastructural analysis of synapse distribution in the rhopalial stalk has failed to show any clustering, which indicates that integration of the visual input is probably spread throughout the CNS. Together, the results indicate that cubomedusae have one coherent CNS including the rhopalia. Additionally, a novel gastrodermal nerve has been found in the stalk; this nerve is not involved in visual processing but is likely to be mechanosensory and part of a proprioceptory system.

Animals↗

PubMed2006

Bilaterally symmetrical rhopalial nervous system of the box jellyfish Tripedalia cystophora.

Cubomedusae, or box jellyfish, have the most elaborate visual system of all cnidarians. They have 24 eyes of four morphological types, distributed on four sensory structures called rhopalia. Box jellyfish also display complex, probably visually guided behaviors such as obstacle avoidance and fast directional swimming. Here we describe the strikingly complex and partially bilaterally symmetrical nervous system found in each rhopalium of the box jellyfish, Tripedalia cystophora, and present the rhopalial neuroanatomy in an atlas-like series of drawings. Discrete populations of neurons and commissures connecting the left and the right side along with two populations of nonneuronal cells were visualized using several different histochemical staining techniques and electron microscopy. The number of rhopalial nerve cells and their overall arrangement indicates that visual processing and integration at least partly happen within the rhopalia. The larger of the two nonneuronal cell populations comprises approximately 2,000 likely undifferentiated cells and may support a rapid cell turnover in the rhopalial nervous system.

Animals↗

PubMed2005

Decreased glutathione transferase levels in rd1/rd1 mouse retina: replenishment protects photoreceptors in retinal explants.

Currently much attention is focused on glutathione S transferase (GST)-induced suppression of apoptosis. The objective of our studies was therefore to see if GST isoenzymes rescue photoreceptors in retinal explants from rd1/rd1 mice, in which photoreceptors degenerate rapidly. Eyes from C3H rd1/rd1 and +/+ mice were collected at various time points between postnatal day (PN) 2 and PN28. Localization and content of alpha-GST and mu-GST was investigated by immunofluorescence and semi-quantitative Western blot analysis, respectively. In addition, PN2 and PN7 retinal explants were cultured till PN28, during which they were treated with 10 ng/ml alpha-GST or mu-GST. The spatiotemporal expression of both GST isoforms was closely similar: early presence in ganglion cell layer after which staining became restricted to Muller cells (particularly in the endfeet) and horizontal cell fibers in both rd1/rd1 and +/+. Doublets of alpha-GST and mu-GST were detected by Western blot analysis. Densitometry of these bands indicated steady reduction of alpha-GST content in rd1/rd1 retina starting from the second postnatal week. When alpha-GST and mu-GST were added exogenously to rd1/rd1 explants, photoreceptor rescue was produced that was more prominent in PN2 than in PN7 explants and more effective by alpha-GST than mu-GST. We propose that alpha-GST neuroprotection is mediated by reduction of tissue oxidative stress.

Animals↗

PubMed2004

Search for extraterrestrial point sources of neutrinos with AMANDA-II.

We present the results of a search for point sources of high-energy neutrinos in the northern hemisphere using AMANDA-II data collected in the year 2000. Included are flux limits on several active-galactic-nuclei blazars, microquasars, magnetars, and other candidate neutrino sources. A search for excesses above a random background of cosmic-ray-induced atmospheric neutrinos and misreconstructed downgoing cosmic-ray muons reveals no statistically significant neutrino point sources. We show that AMANDA-II has achieved the sensitivity required to probe known TeV gamma-ray sources such as the blazar Markarian 501 in its 1997 flaring state at a level where neutrino and gamma-ray fluxes are equal.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Limits on diffuse fluxes of high energy extraterrestrial neutrinos with the AMANDA-B10 detector.

Data from the AMANDA-B10 detector taken during the austral winter of 1997 have been searched for a diffuse flux of high energy extraterrestrial muon neutrinos. This search yielded no excess events above those expected from background atmospheric neutrinos, leading to upper limits on the extraterrestrial neutrino flux measured at the earth. For an assumed E-2 spectrum, a 90% classical confidence level upper limit has been placed at a level E2Phi(E)=8.4 x 10(-7) cm(-2) s(-1) sr(-1) GeV (for a predominant neutrino energy range 6-1000 TeV), which is the most restrictive bound placed by any neutrino detector. Some specific predicted model spectra are excluded. Interpreting these limits in terms of the flux from a cosmological distributions of sources requires the incorporation of neutrino oscillations, typically weakening the limits by a factor of 2.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2003

Do Japanese and Swedish peptic ulcer patients respond differently to Helicobacter pylori eradication therapies and what are their histological features?

BACKGROUND: As a consequence of gastric histological differences, Japanese and Swedish peptic ulcer (PU) patients may respond differently to Helicobacter pylori eradication therapies. METHODS: The study was single-blind and compared four eradication therapies in Japanese and Swedish patients with healed gastric (GU) or duodenal (DU) ulcer. Swedish patients received either (a) omeprazole+clarithromycin (OC, where O = 20 mg, C = 500 mg) for 2 weeks, or triple therapy with (b) omeprazole + amoxicillin + clarithromycin (OAC-L where O = 20mg, A = 1 g, C = 250 mg); (c) OAC-H (where O = 20 mg, A-1 g, C-500 mg); or (d) omeprazole + metronidazole + clarithromycin (OMC, where O = 20 mg, M = 400 mg, C = 250 mg) for 1 week. Antibiotic doses were weight-adjusted downwards in Japanese patients. H. pylori was assessed using the urea breath test (UBT), histology and culture pre-entry, with UBT being repeated 4 and 8 weeks after stopping treatment. Histology and culture were repeated if the UBT was positive post-therapy. RESULTS: Recruitment included 120 patients from Japan (43 GU, 61 DU, 16 GU+DU) and 120 from Sweden (119 DU, 1 GU+DU). There were 26 exclusions from a FAS analysis due to H. pylori negativity (14), no drug administration (7) or no data after visit 1 (5). Eradication rates (FAS) from Japan were (a) 63%, (b) 93%, (c) 96% or (d) 96%, and for Sweden (a) 92%, (b) 86%, (c) 93% or (d) 96%. Dual therapy was less effective in patients with gastric atrophy associated with GU disease. Tolerability was good in all treatment groups, with no serious adverse events. CONCLUSION: Triple therapies were safe and effective for H. pylori eradication in Japanese and Swedish peptic ulcer patients. Dual therapy was significantly less effective in the Japanese patients, half of whom had a history of GU and more abnormal histology than in the Swedish patients, all of whom had DU.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Comparison of gastric histology among Swedish and Japanese patients with peptic ulcer and Helicobacter pylori infection.

BACKGROUND: The natural course of Helicobacter pylori gastritis may vary between different ethnic groups. Gastric histopathology and the occurrence of H. pylori organisms in the stomach were investigated in healed duodenal (DU) and gastric (GU) ulcer patients recruited in Sweden (S) and Japan (J) in an identical trial. METHODS: In 203 patients (JGU = 39, JDU = 55, SDU = 109), various morphological gastritis variables and H. pylori were assessed from biopsy specimens obtained using a specific sampling protocol and interpreted according to guidelines of the updated Sydney grading system. RESULTS: The ratio of GU:DU was observed to be very different between the recruited Japanese (39:55) and Swedish (0:109) patients. A comparison of data from SDU and JDU showed that the prevalence of H. pylori infection and the antral predominant gastritis demonstrated by both SDU and JDU were essentially identical. A comparison of data from JDU and JGU demonstrated a greater prevalence of H. pylori infection in the antrum, but not corpus, of JDU compared to JGU patients. The prevalence of atrophy and intestinal metaplasia was higher in both the antrum and corpus of JGU compared to JDU in all patients. CONCLUSIONS: The site specified biopsy methodology and standardized interpretation criteria utilized in this study clearly show that the histotopographic profile of Swedish and Japanese DU patients is essentially the same.

Adult↗

PubMed2002

Effect of profound acid suppression in functional dyspepsia: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Functional dyspepsia (FD) is defined as persistent or recurrent pain/discomfort centred in the upper abdomen, where no structural explanation for the symptoms is found. The role of drug treatment remains controversial. The aim in this study was to evaluate the effect of omeprazole 20 mg twice daily (b.i.d) and to test methods for symptom assessment. METHODS: 197 patients fulfilling the criteria for FD were randomly allocated to double-blind treatment with omeprazole 20 mg b.i.d (n = 100) or placebo (n = 97) for 14 days. Patients with a known gastrointestinal disorder or with main symptoms indicating gastro-oesophageal reflux disease or irritable bowel syndrome were excluded. Helicobacter pylori testing and 24-h intra-oesophageal 24-h pH-metry were performed before randomization. The patients recorded dyspeptic symptoms on diary cards. RESULTS: A stringent endpoint, 'complete symptom relief on the last day of treatment', was the primary efficacy variable. For the APT cohort, this was achieved in 29.0% and 17.7% on omeprazole and placebo, respectively (95% CI of difference (11.3%): -0.4%-23.0%, P = 0.057). Similar figures in the PP cohort were 31.0% and 15.5%, respectively (95% Cl of difference (15.5%): 3.2%-27.7%, P = 0.018). The benefit of omeprazole in the PP cohort was confirmed by secondary endpoints such as, no dyspeptic symptoms on the last 2 days of treatment and overall treatment response. H. pylori status and the level of oesophageal acid exposure did not significantly influence the response to therapy. CONCLUSION: A subset of patients with FD will respond to therapy with omeprazole.

Adult↗

PubMed2001

Ventricular proliferation zones in the brain of an adult teleost fish and their relation to neuromeres and migration (secondary matrix) zones.

Zones containing actively dividing cells (proliferation zones: PZs), in the brain of adult three-spined sticklebacks, were identified by autoradiographic detection of (3)H-thymidine and immunocytochemical detection of the thymidine analogue 5'-bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU), singly or in combination, and by immunocytochemical detection of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) by monoclonal antibodies. The PZs are associated with boundaries between adult brain regions, as well as with defined morphofunctional subdivisions. PZs are located at the border between the telencephalon and diencephalon, and at the border between the mesencephalon and the rhombencephalon. In the midbrain, the PZ follows the dorsomedial, caudal, and ventrolateral aspects of each tectal hemisphere, extending over the caudal aspect of the torus semicircularis to the nucleus lateralis valvulae. In the hindbrain, the major PZ apparently represents the persisting embryonic secondary matrix layer of the developing cerebellum. In the forebrain, the PZs are associated with the ventricular zones of the olfactory bulbs and ventral telencephalic area ("subpallium"), dorsal telencephalic area ("pallium"), preoptic region, ventral thalamus, dorsal thalamus, epithalamus, pretectum, posterior tuberculum, and the hypothalamus. The diencephalic PZs are parcellated according to a neuromeric organisation (a synencephalic, a posterior, and an anterior parencephalic neuromere: p1, p2, and p3). The PZs of the secondary prosencephalon (telencephalon and hypothalamus) thus would belong to neuromeres p4-6, but do not form an immediately recognised serial pattern. The prosencephalic PZs correlate well with parts of embryonic migration areas as defined by Bergquist and Källén ([1954] J. Comp. Neurol. 100:627-659), morphogenetic fields from which postmitotic neurones migrate to their final destination.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Observation of high-energy neutrinos using Cerenkov detectors embedded deep in Antarctic ice.

Neutrinos are elementary particles that carry no electric charge and have little mass. As they interact only weakly with other particles, they can penetrate enormous amounts of matter, and therefore have the potential to directly convey astrophysical information from the edge of the Universe and from deep inside the most cataclysmic high-energy regions. The neutrino's great penetrating power, however, also makes this particle difficult to detect. Underground detectors have observed low-energy neutrinos from the Sun and a nearby supernova, as well as neutrinos generated in the Earth's atmosphere. But the very low fluxes of high-energy neutrinos from cosmic sources can be observed only by much larger, expandable detectors in, for example, deep water or ice. Here we report the detection of upwardly propagating atmospheric neutrinos by the ice-based Antarctic muon and neutrino detector array (AMANDA). These results establish a technology with which to build a kilometre-scale neutrino observatory necessary for astrophysical observations.

Journal Article↗

PubMed2001

Expression of pineal ultraviolet- and green-like opsins in the pineal organ and retina of teleosts.

In teleostean bony fishes, studies on the adults of various species have shown that pineal photoreceptors are maximally sensitive to short- and middle-wavelength light, possibly utilising both rod-like and pineal-specific opsins. Until recently, however, very little was known about the pineal opsins present in embryonic and larval teleosts and their relationships to opsins expressed by retinal photoreceptors. Our immunocytochemical studies have revealed that, in Atlantic halibut, herring and cod, pineal photoreceptors express principal phototransduction molecules during embryonic life before they appear in retinal photoreceptors. In cDNA from embryonic and adult halibut, we identified two partial opsin gene sequences, HPO1 and HPO4, with highest homology to teleost green and ultraviolet cone opsins (72-83% and 71-83% amino acid identity, respectively). In halibut, these opsins are expressed in the pineal organ of embryos and appear in the retina of larvae. Our recent in situ hybridisation studies with RNA probes for HPO1 and HPO4 demonstrate the presence of green-like opsin mRNAs in the pineal organ and the retina of herring, cod, turbot, haddock, Atlantic salmon, zebrafish and three species of cichlid, and of ultraviolet opsins in the retinas of zebrafish, Atlantic salmon, turbot and the three cichlid species. We conclude that the halibut pineal organ appears to have the potential for both ultraviolet and green photosensitivity from the embryonic stage and that the retina may acquire the same potential during the larval stages. In the other teleosts studied, although both pineal and retinal photoreceptors seem to utilise a green-like opsin from the larval stage, ultraviolet photoreception appears to be restricted to the retina.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Morphological evidence for the existence of nitric oxide and carbon monoxide pathways in the rat islets of Langerhans: an immunocytochemical and confocal microscopical study.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: To map the cellular location of inducible and constitutive nitric oxide synthase and haem oxygenase in rat islets to clarify the morphological background to putative nitric oxide and carbon monoxide pathways. METHODS: Immunocytochemistry and confocal microscopy. RESULTS: After treatment with endotoxin, immunoreactivity for inducible nitric oxide synthase was expressed in a large number of islet cells, most of which were insulin-immunoreactive beta cells and in single glucagon-immunoreactive and pancreatic polypeptide-immunoreactive cells. Somatostatin-immunoreactive cells lacked immunoreactivity for inducible nitric oxide synthase. In untreated rats, immunoreactivity for constitutive nitric oxide synthase occurred in the majority of insulin-immunoreactive and glucagon-immunoreactive cells, in most pancreatic polypeptide-immunoreactive and somatostatin-immunoreactive cells and in islet nerves. Similarly, immunoreactivity for constitutive haem oxygenase was detected in all four types of islet cells. Endotoxin treatment did not change the pattern of immunoreactivity for constitutive and inducible haem oxygenase. After treatment with alloxan, insulin-immunoreactivity was observed only in single islet cells, being almost devoid of immunoreactivity for constitutive nitric oxide synthase and haem oxygenase. CONCLUSION/INTERPRETATION: In vivo endotoxin-induced expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase in insulin-producing and in scattered glucagon-producing and pancreatic polypeptide-producing cells strengthens previous suggestions of a pathophysiological role for inducible nitric oxide synthase in the development of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. The presence of constitutive nitric oxide synthase and haem oxygenase in all four types of islet cells, together with recent functional data of ours support roles for nitric oxide and carbon monoxide as intracellular, paracrine or neurocrine modulators of islet hormone secretion.

Animals↗

PubMed1999

Heme oxygenase and carbon monoxide: regulatory roles in islet hormone release: a biochemical, immunohistochemical, and confocal microscopic study.

Carbon monoxide (CO) has been suggested as a novel messenger molecule in the brain. We now report on the cellular localization and hormone secretory function of a CO-producing constitutive heme oxygenase (HO-2) in mouse islets. Islet homogenates produced large amounts of CO which were suppressed dose-dependently by the HO inhibitor zincprotoporphyrin-IX (ZnPP-IX). We also show, for the first time, that glucose markedly stimulates the HO activity (CO production) in intact islets. A further potentiation was induced by the HO substrate hemin. Western blot showed that islet tissue expressed HO-2, and confocal microscopy revealed that HO-2 resided in insulin, glucagon, somatostatin, and pancreatic polypeptide cells. ZnPP-IX dose-dependently inhibited, whereas hemin enhanced, both insulin and glucagon secretion from glucose-stimulated islets. Stimulation or inhibition of CO production was accompanied by corresponding changes in islet cGMP levels. Exogenously applied CO stimulated insulin and glucagon release from isolated islets, whereas exogenous nitric oxide (NO) inhibited insulin and stimulated glucagon release. Islets stimulated by glucose or L-arginine displayed a marked increase in their NO-synthase (NOS) activity. Such an increase was suppressed by hemin, conceivably because NOS activity was inhibited by hemin-derived CO. Consequently, hemin enhanced L-arginine-induced insulin secretion. Insulin release stimulated by either hemin-derived CO or exogenous CO was strongly inhibited by the guanylate cyclase inhibitor ODQ, but it was unaffected by ZnPP-IX. Glucagon release induced by CO (but not by hemin) was inhibited by ODQ and partly inhibited by ZnPP-IX. We propose that the islets of Langerhans are equipped with a heme oxygenase-carbon monoxide pathway, which constitutes a novel regulatory system of physiological importance for the stimulation of insulin and glucagon release. This pathway is stimulated by glucose, is at least partly dependent on the cGMP system, and displays interaction with islet NOS activity.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

GABA and GABA-transporter (GAT-1) immunoreactivities in the retina of the salmon (Salmo salar L.).

Putative GABAergic elements in the retina of the Atlantic salmon have been identified by immunohistochemistry, utilising polyclonal antisera against gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and the GABA transporter GAT-1. Cell types immunoreactive (ir) for GABA comprise horizontal cells, amacrine cells, displaced amacrine cells in the ganglion cell layer, displaced amacrine cells in the inner plexiform layer (interstitial cells), and Müller cells. In addition, a GABA-immunonegative type of interstitial cell was also identified. In the inner plexiform layer, GABAir fibres were organised in sublayers that were strikingly similar to the sublayering of GAT-1ir fibres. GAT-1ir cell bodies comprise amacrine cells and displaced amacrine cells that may represent a subpopulation of the GABAir ones. In view of the very similar sublayering of GABAir and GAT-ir fibres in the IPL we suggest that a similar type of GABA transporter, that can be recognised with antibodies against rat GAT-1, is present at least in the dendrites of all GABAir amacrine cells but is not expressed in the cell bodies of all GABAir cells.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Use of explant cultures of peripheral nerves of adult vertebrates to study axonal regeneration in vitro.

Explanted preparations of peripheral nerves with attached dorsal root ganglia of adult mammals and amphibia survive for several days in serum-free medium and can be used to study axonal regeneration in vitro. This review outlines the methods which we routinely use and how they may be applied to study different aspects of axonal regeneration. When the peripheral nerves are crushed in vitro, axons regenerate through the crush site into the distal stump within 1 day (mouse) or 3 days (frog). The outgrowth distance of the leading sensory axons can be determined with the use of a simple method based on axonal transport of labelled proteins. A compartmentalised system permits selective application of drugs and other agents to either ganglia or peripheral nerve containing the regenerating axons and has been used to study selected aspects of regeneration including influence of non-neuronal cells, retrograde signalling, axonal release of proteins during regeneration and the role of phospholipase A2 activity. Explanted preparations may also be cultured in a layer of extracellular matrix material (matrigel), in which spontaneous outgrowth of a large number of naked axons from the cut ends of nerves starts within 1 day and continues for several days. This provides an opportunity to study the direct effects of different agents on axonal elongation. Preparations cultured in collagen gels show sparse spontaneous axonal growth, but this can be increased by addition of certain growth factors. The phenotype of the regenerating axons can be studied using immunohistochemical methods.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Effects of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor on axonal growth and apoptosis in adult mammalian sensory neurons in vitro.

The effects of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor on axonal outgrowth and apoptosis were studied in vitro using explanted dorsal root ganglia-peripheral nerve preparations of adult mice. In gels of matrigel or collagen type 1, glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor increased both the numbers and lengths of axons growing out of explanted preparations, although less effectively than nerve growth factor. Stimulation of axonal outgrowth by glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor was unaffected by K252a, a protein kinase inhibitor which blocks the effects of nerve growth factor and other neurotrophins acting through trk receptors. To determine the phenotype of the axons responding to glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, preparations were stained using antibodies to trkA, calcitonin gene-related peptide, 200,000 mol. wt phosphorylated neurofilaments (monoclonal antibody RT97) and the lectin Bandeiraea simplicifolia 1B4. RT97 recognizes large diameter neurons whilst 1B4 labels small diameter neurons which broadly do not express neurotrophin receptors. In preparations cultured with glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, significant increases in the numbers of outgrowing axons labelled with RT97 and 1B4 were observed but the numbers of calcitonin gene-related peptide-positive axons were not significantly increased and their staining intensity was generally faint. In separate preparations it was found that in the presence of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, the majority of the 1B4 labelled axons were trkA negative, indicating that this factor can stimulate axonal growth in this population of neurons which do not respond to the neurotrophins. Spontaneous apoptosis in neurons and satellite cells occurs in explanted preparations of the type used in the present investigations, but in cryostat sections of preparations cultured in the presence of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor, the incidence of apoptosis was lower than in control preparations which had been cultured in the absence of this factor. This suggests that glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor may promote survival of some adult sensory neurons in vitro.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Lansoprazole and omeprazole in the prevention of relapse of reflux oesophagitis: a long-term comparative study.

BACKGROUND: Proton pump inhibitors are superior to H2-receptor antagonists in the prevention of relapse of oesophagitis, but few data directly compare the relative efficacies of lansoprazole and omeprazole in preventing oesophagitis relapse over a prolonged period. METHODS: Patients with healed Grade II, III or IV oesophagitis were treated with lansoprazole 30 mg o.d. or omeprazole 20 mg o.d. for 48 weeks. Endoscopy and symptom assessment were performed after 12. 24 and 48 weeks of treatment and an additional symptom assessment 36 weeks after starting treatment. RESULTS: Intention-to-treat analysis included 248 patients (lansoprazole n = 126, omeprazole n = 122). Comparison of time to endoscopic and/or symptomatic relapse revealed no difference between the treatments. There was no significant difference between treatments with respect to the proportion of patients in whom endoscopic and/or symptomatic relapse was reported (lansoprazole 12/126 (9.5%), omeprazole 11/122 (9.0%)). No difference between the treatments in either the number or severity of adverse events was reported. CONCLUSIONS: Continuous treatment with either lansoprazole 30 mg or omeprazole 20 mg is effective in preventing the relapse of oesophagitis over a 48-week period in a majority of patients. Both treatments exhibit a similar side-effect profile.

2-Pyridinylmethylsulfinylbenzimidazoles↗

PubMed1998

Non-gastric effects of H. pylori infection: a literature review with respect to non gastric diseases which might be associated with H. pylori infection.

Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is the most common cause of peptic ulcers, and is considered as carcinogenic with respect to gastric cancer and MALT lymphoma. The role of H. pylori in other gastroduodenal diseases like atrophic gastritis and functional dyspepsia has been investigated in hundreds of works, but little is done about what role H. pylori may play in non gastric diseases. Gastro-esophageal reflux disease does not seem to be related to H. pylori but Barrett's esophagus might be. Inflammatory bowel diseases tend to be reverse correlated with H. pylori. In coronary heart disease some studies have shown a connection, others not. Diabetes is not likely to be H. pylori-associated and nor do liver diseases with exception for cirrhosis, where a correlation is possible. Respiratory diseases are little examined but bronchiectasis might have a correlation with H. pylori. A small series of children, who had died in sudden infant death, showed a high rate of H. pylori infection.

Helicobacter Infections↗