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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Occupational and industrial toxin exposures and the gastrointestinal tract. Gastrointestinal Toxicology Subcommittee of the American College of Gastroenterology Patient Care Committee.

The subcommittee on Gastrointestinal Toxicology of the Patient Care Committee of the American College of Gastroenterology has reviewed potential effects of exposures to occupational and industrial hazards on the gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas. This review is presented to 1) share clinical data concerning gastrointestinal toxicology, 2) emphasize the paucity of available information to the practicing clinician, and 3) stimulate basic research interest in this field.

Digestive System Diseases↗
PubMed1991

Neuromuscular disease of the gastrointestinal tract.

Gastrointestinal motility is the function of gastrointestinal smooth muscle. It is controlled by both the intrinsic and extrinsic nerves of the gastrointestinal tract and, to a lesser degree, the gastrointestinal hormones. Therefore, any abnormality of the above factors, theoretically, can cause gastrointestinal dysmotility. In a clinical situation, commonly seen is gastrointestinal dysmotility caused by either smooth muscle or intrinsic and extrinsic nerves dysfunction. Diseases that cause smooth muscle dysfunction include familial visceral myopathies, nonfamilial visceral myopathies, collagen disease, muscular dystrophies, amyloidosis, thyroid disease, and so on. Diseases that cause enteric nerve dysfunction include familial visceral neuropathies, nonfamilial visceral neuropathies, diabetes mellitus, Chagas' disease, ganglioneuromatosis of the intestine, visceral neuropathy of carcinomatosis, Parkinson's disease, and so on. The patients with neuromuscular disease of the gastrointestinal tract have a wide range of clinical manifestations regardless of the underlying cause. At one end of the spectrum, the patients may be asymptomatic, and at the other end of the spectrum, the patients may have functional obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract. Plain abdominal x-rays, upper gastrointestinal (UGI) and small bowel x-rays, enteroclysis, barium enema, and manometric studies are useful for the work-up of these patients. Enteroclysis is especially helpful in ruling out mechanical obstruction of the small intestine in patients with chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction. Treatment is mainly symptomatic and supportive. There is no effective drug to improve gastrointestinal motility. Surgery may be helpful in selected cases of severe gastrointestinal dysmotility.

Gastrointestinal Diseases↗
PubMed2001

Imaging of the gastrointestinal tract.

Gastrointestinal imaging has undergone immense and profound changes since the days when radiologists had only plain abdominal radiography, barium studies and cholecystography to offer as a means of investigating the gastrointestinal tract. Advances in technology have made huge differences in the ways and means of investigating the various pathologies afflicting the gastrointestinal tract. Ultrasound provides assessment of the solid organs and the intestine without the use of ionizing radiation. Computed tomography (CT) provides unparalleled imaging of congenital, inflammatory, traumatic and neoplastic processes, providing information on the solid organs and tubular structures, including the vasculature. Information is provided to aid immediate management or to stage lesions for subsequent or combined therapies. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) gives unprecedented multiplanar images and soft tissue resolution. There is still a place for plain radiography and barium studies but this is decreasing as technology advances.(c) 2001 Prous Science. All rights reserved.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2007

Infective disorders of the gastrointestinal tract.

Gastrointestinal infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Infectious organisms are often recovered by microbiological methods, but surgical pathologists may play a very valuable role in diagnosis. This review will focus on infective disorders of the gastrointestinal tract with an emphasis on enterocolitides caused by food- and water-borne pathogens. Diagnostic histological features of selected enteric infections will be emphasized, including those that mimic other inflammatory conditions of the gut (such as ischaemia or idiopathic inflammatory bowel disease), along with available diagnostic methods that can aid in diagnosis.

Colitis, Ischemic↗
PubMed1995

Three-phase abdominal scintigraphy in lupus vasculitis of the gastrointestinal tract.

Gastrointestinal vasculitis is a recognized but frequently misdiagnosed complication of systemic lupus erythematosus. The authors investigated the usefulness of three-phase Tc-99m pyrophosphate abdominal scintigraphy for identifying areas of vasculitis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus who have gastrointestinal symptoms (diarrhea or abdominal pain). Among patients with gastrointestinal symptoms, 62 of 82 (75%) patients showed positive scan results, suggesting gastrointestinal vasculitis. Among patients without gastrointestinal symptoms, 6 of 43 (13%) patients showed positive scan results. Although three-phase Tc-99m pyrophosphate abdominal scintigraphy cannot provide a definite diagnosis of vasculitis of the gastrointestinal tract, it is a noninvasive and convenient method for suggesting and monitoring gastrointestinal vasculitis.

Abdomen↗
PubMed1990

Graft-versus-host disease of the gastrointestinal tract.

Gastrointestinal tract disease (GIT) is relatively common following bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Infections, particularly with viral agents, are similar to those affecting any immunosuppressed transplant recipient. However, two unique aspects of BMT are (a) cytotoxic damage caused by the chemotherapy and irradiation used to eradicate the patient's native marrow and (b) gastrointestinal involvement with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). GVHD may affect any portion of the GIT; therefore, both upper and lower GIT biopsies may provide diagnostic information not evident in biopsy from a single site. The upper GI tract has a higher yield of positive biopsy specimens, but it is more difficult to biopsy. The basic histopathological feature of acute GIT GVHD, which occurs in the first 100 days posttransplant, is necrosis of individual cells in the regenerating compartment of the mucosa. Severe disease may lead to loss of crypts and eventual sloughing of the mucosa. The histology of acute GVHD may be simulated by cytoreductive agents and viral infections, particularly with cytomegalovirus (CMV). Therefore, an absolute biopsy diagnosis of acute GVHD cannot be made in the first 21 days posttransplant or in any mucosa containing CMV inclusions. The GIT is less often involved in chronic than in acute GVHD. The basic pathology of chronic GIT GVHD is fibrosis of the submucosa and subserosa. Therefore, mucosal biopsy is of limited usefulness in the diagnosis of chronic GVHD.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1981

[Mastocytosis and the gastrointestinal tract].

Gastrointestinal symptoms frequently occur in patients with systemic mastocytosis. The gastrointestinal tract, liver, and spleen may be involved in this disease. In addition to investigations of our own in patients with mastocytosis, gastroenterologica manifestations from the literature are reviewed.

Digestive System↗
PubMed1998

Diabetes and the gastrointestinal tract.

Gastrointestinal motility disorders are common in patients with diabetes. The entire gastrointestinal tract may be involved from the esophagus to the anal sphincter. Before instituting therapy, people with diabetes first require a careful diagnostic evaluation. Treatment includes tight glucose control and the use of antiemetics and prokinetic agents.

Diabetes Complications↗
PubMed1989

[Hormonal changes in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract].

Gastrointestinal hormones and regulatory peptides of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) influence many digestive functions and therefore it is essential in diseases of the GIT to search also for changes of GIT hormones in plasma or for an altered response of the target organ to hormonal abnormalities. An unequivocal physiological function is known so far only in gastrin, cholecystokinin, secretin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, motilin, somatostatin, glucagon and pancreatic polypeptide. The authors analyzes therefore different nosological unites, or clinical syndromes associated with excessive production of gastrin, vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, glucagon and somatostatin. He discusses also the syndrome of malignant carcinoid caused by excessive formation of serotonin in the enterochromaffin cells of the GIT which by its symptoms can imitate some apudomas of the GIT.

Gastrointestinal Diseases↗
PubMed1986

Foreign bodies of the gastrointestinal tract.

Gastrointestinal foreign bodies are a common occurrence in most emergency room settings and should be dealt with in an organized manner to bring about their retrieval expeditiously. Approximately 1500 to 1600 persons in the United States die from ingestion or placement of foreign bodies every year. This study of foreign bodies of the gastrointestinal tract reports an 8-year span in which 60 cases were compiled from a 540-bed private, inner city hospital. The average hospital stay was 3.2 days. Foreign bodies were retained in the esophagus in 68.3 per cent of patients, in the stomach in 11.6 per cent, and in the colon or rectum in 13.3 per cent. In 3.3 per cent the object passed spontaneously, and in 3.3 per cent it resulted in perforation.

Digestive System↗
PubMed2006

An update on autonomic neuropathy affecting the gastrointestinal tract.

Gastrointestinal symptoms and disordered gut motility occur frequently in the diabetic population and are generally regarded as manifestations of gastrointestinal "autonomic dysfunction," although the relationships between both symptoms and dysmotility with abnormal cardiovascular autonomic function are weak. It is now recognized that the blood glucose concentration is both a determinant of and determined by gastrointestinal function. An improved definition of the underlying pathophysiology should facilitate the development of therapies that are targeted more effectively.

Animals↗
PubMed2005

Transmural gradient of leukocyte-endothelial interaction in the rat gastrointestinal tract.

Gastrointestinal injury usually starts in the superficial mucosa. We investigated whether leukocyte-endothelial interactions were greater in the gastrointestinal mucosa than the submucosa and muscularis in control tissue and after upregulation of adhesion molecules with endotoxin and after chemical insult with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Inactin-anesthetized rats were given either endotoxin, flurbiprofen, or nitric oxide (NO)-flurbiprofen, after which ICAM-1 and P-selectin expression was measured with the dual-label antibody technique. Leukocyte-endothelial interactions in the different gastric layers were assessed after endotoxin using intravital microscopy. Endotoxin caused a two- to threefold increase in ICAM-1 expression in the stomach and duodenum. There was, however, a gradient in expression across the gut wall with the level of expression in the superficial mucosa (per g) being only 10-25% of that in the deeper layers in both control and endotoxin-treated animals. Constituitive expression of P-selectin in control animals was barely detectable. Endotoxin caused a modest increase in mucosal P-selectin but a very significant increase in the deeper layers. Flurbiprofen caused a slight upregulation of ICAM-1 in the gastric mucosa and duodenum, whereas NO-flurbiprofen had no affect on expression. Intravital microscopy revealed no adhesion and virtually no leukocyte rolling in the vessels of the gastric mucosa despite endotoxin treatment. There was, however, some adhesion and significant leukocyte rolling in the submucosa and muscularis. Thus the superficial gastric and duodenal mucosal microcirculations have a much lower density of ICAM-1 and P-selectin and less leukocyte-endothelial interactions than occurs in the deeper layers of the gut wall even during stimulated upregulation with endotoxin.

Animals↗
PubMed1985

[Two cases of spontaneous fistula between urinary tract and gastrointestinal tract].

This is a report of two cases of a fistula between the urinary and gastrointestinal tracts. One case was a 56-year-old female patient with a right pyeloduodenal fistula, and the other was a 38-year-old female with a left ureterodescending colon fistula. The chief complaint was right lumbago in the first case, and fever and left lumbago in the second case. Both cases were diagnosed by retrograde pyelography. In both cases, the ailing kidney appeared to be non-functioning, and the former was operated by nephrectomy, fistulectomy, and duodenectomy in the cuneate form, while the latter was operated by nephrectomy and fistulectomy. The cause of the formation of the fistula was considered to be chronic pyelonephritis accompanied by renal stones in the first case, and rupture of the colon diverticulitis in the second case. Postoperative prognosis was satisfactory in both cases.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Guanylyl cyclase C is a marker of intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia, and adenocarcinoma of the gastrointestinal tract.

Gastrointestinal (GI) tumors continue to be major causes of cancer-related mortality, in part, reflecting metastases that escape detection by histopathology. Moreover, although approximately 10% of carcinomas arise from unknown locations, these tumors frequently originate in the GI tract. Guanylyl cyclase C (GC-C) is a receptor selectively expressed by intestinal epithelial cells whose persistent expression by colorectal carcinomas and ectopic expression by adenocarcinomas of the upper GI tract suggest its use as a marker for GI malignancies. Here, expression of GC-C protein, identified by immunohistochemistry, was examined in tissues and tumors arising from the human GI tract. Guanylyl cyclase C protein was expressed by epithelial cells from the duodenum to the rectum, but not by those in normal esophagus and stomach. Expression was retained in tubular adenomas, inflammatory bowel disease, premalignant lesions, and in primary and metastatic adenocarcinomas from the colon, including metastases to lymph nodes and liver. Moreover, GC-C was ectopically expressed in all cases of dysplasia and adenocarcinomas arising from intestinal metaplasia in esophagus and stomach. Thus, GC-C appears to be an immunohistochemical marker for identifying adenocarcinomas of unknown origin, metastases in patients undergoing staging for GI adenocarcinomas, and intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia, and tumors arising therein in the upper GI tract.

Adenocarcinoma↗
PubMed2004

RELMbeta/FIZZ2 is a goblet cell-specific immune-effector molecule in the gastrointestinal tract.

Gastrointestinal (GI) nematode infections are an important public health and economic concern. Experimental studies have shown that resistance to infection requires CD4(+) T helper type 2 (Th2) cytokine responses characterized by the production of IL-4 and IL-13. However, despite >30 years of research, it is unclear how the immune system mediates the expulsion of worms from the GI tract. Here, we demonstrate that a recently described intestinal goblet cell-specific protein, RELMbeta/FIZZ2, is induced after exposure to three phylogenetically distinct GI nematode pathogens. Maximal expression of RELMbeta was coincident with the production of Th2 cytokines and host protective immunity, whereas production of the Th1 cytokine, IFN-gamma, inhibited RELMbeta expression and led to chronic infection. Furthermore, whereas induction of RELMbeta was equivalent in nematode-infected wild-type and IL-4-deficient mice, IL-4 receptor-deficient mice showed minimal RELMbeta induction and developed persistent infections, demonstrating a direct role for IL-13 in optimal expression of RELMbeta. Finally, we show that RELMbeta binds to components of the nematode chemosensory apparatus and inhibits chemotaxic function of a parasitic nematode in vitro. Together, these results suggest that intestinal goblet cell-derived RELMbeta may be a novel Th2 cytokine-induced immune-effector molecule in resistance to GI nematode infection.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[The aging gastrointestinal tract--diseases of the gastrointestinal tract in old age].

Gastrointestinal symptoms in geriatric patients are not necessarily due to disorders of the gut or even consequence of aging. The high capacity in regard to motoric phenomena, secretion and absorption prevents deficiency syndromes. The spectrum of geriatric gastrointestinal diseases does not differ from the one seen in the normal population except of the increasing rate of malignancies. Multimorbidity and consecutive polypragmasy may be responsible for iatrogenic disorders of the gastrointestinal tract.

Aged↗
PubMed1978

Fiber in the gastrointestinal tract.

It has long been recognized that fruit, vegetables, and cereal fiber alter bowel function. The right colon can be regarded as a fermenter and an absorbing organ, and the left colon is for continence. A rationale for the use of fiber based on physical chemical properties is discussed. On this basis, the use of coarse wheat bran, apples, oranges, and carrots is recommended to treat diverticular disease, spastic colon, and constipation.

Cellulose↗