In Vivo Healing Effects of Ankaferd Blood Stopper on the Residual Pancreatic Tissue in a Swine Model of Distal Pancreatectomy

The aim of this study was to determine whether intraoperative Ankaferd blood stopper (ABS) application into the pancreatic channel and to the pancreatic remnant surface following distal pancreatectomy can or cannot prevent postoperative pancreatic fistula formation. Three pigs underwent distal pancreatectomy under general anesthesia. In two of the pigs, 0.5 ml of ABS was applied to the stump surface area after adding 0.5 ml of ABS into the pancreatic channel. The remaining one animal served as the control. The pigs were sacrificed on the seventh postoperative day for autopsy. The pancreatic remnants from the animals were then taken for histopathological analyses. It was observed that the oral intake had been broken and abdominal distention had developed in the control pig following on the third postoperative day. However, no significant clinical changes were observed in the ABS-applied pigs. In the autopsy, it was found that the control pig had generalized peritonitis with pancreatic necrosis. On the other hand, the ABS-applied pigs had either macroscopically and microscopically normal pancreatic tissue architecture with an occluded Wirsung duct at the pancreatic stump. It was concluded that application of ABS on the transected surface and into the pancreatic channel could prevent pancreatic fistula formation and improve wound healing in the residual pancreatic tissue following distal pancreatectomy.     

The Clinical Significance of Salivary Amylase in Duodenal Aspirates in Evaluation of Exocrine Pancreas Function

Salivary and pancreatic amylases in duodenal aspirates were quantitated in 419 consecutive tests performed on 378 patients suspected of having insufficiency of the exocrine pancreatic function. Salivary amylase was detected in samples from 31% of the tests. However, the amount of salivary amylase was sufficient to cause a misinterpretation in 13 tests only. Five of these tests originated from patients with a history of surgery for peptic ulcer disease. This group of patients tended to have large amounts of salivary amylase in the duodenal aspirates. In the unoperated patients (n = 336) 200 tests yielded values for the total amylase concentration above the lower level of the reference interval, and only in 8 of these tests (4%) did correction for salivary amylase change the results to values below the reference interval. It it concluded that quantitation of isoamylase activity in duodenal samples is unlikely to be of significant value in patients without a history of surgery for peptic ulcer disease.     

Time-related Enzyme Concentrations in Duodenal Aspirates after Ingestion of a Test Meal

The concentration of trypsin, pancreatic iso-amylase, phospholipase, and lipase were determined in intestinal content during the first two hours of digestion of a test meal. In normal subjects the concentration curves for all enzymes displayed a typical biphasic pattern. In patients with chronic pancreatic disease, the typical variations of the enzyme concentrations were markedly diminished. In patients with celiac disease, the initial peak of the trypsin and phospholipase activities seemed to be delayed, and in patients operated upon with a Polya gastric resection the concentrations of trypsin and phospholipase increased gradually. In these two disorders the lipase concentration curve was of quite a different, uncharacteristic pattern. It is suggested that the concentration curves of the enzymes reflect pancreatic secretion. Furthermore, the secretion of lipase in celiac disease and following gastric resection seems to be ‘non-parallel’. Owing to a fairly considerable variation in the values from different individuals, it seems reasonable to conclude that in clinical practice determination of enzyme concentration curves after a test meal probably does not improve the reliability of the conventional Lundh test.     

长期食入浸酒精食品对雄性灰兔胰腺的损害

目的长期食入浸酒精食品对雄性灰兔胰腺的损害。方法 20只灰兔随机分为试验组（食用浸酒精饲料）和对照组（均衡饲料）分别喂养90d后,检查和血糖（BS）、淀粉酶（AMS）和脂肪酶（LPS）计算胰腺湿/干比重,观察胰腺组织的病理变化。结果试验组血糖较对照组明显升高（P〈0.05）,淀粉酶和脂肪酶较对照组明显升高（P〈0.05〉;试验组胰腺湿/干比重较对照组升高（P〈0.05）;胰腺水肿、出血、炎症浸润较对照组重,病理评分更高（P〈0.05）。结论长期使用酒精饲料对灰兔的胰腺的叠加损害作用加强,后果更严重。     

Capillary electrophoresis as a screening tool for alpha amylase inhibitors in plant extracts

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) method was developed for screening plant extract for potential alpha amylase (AA) inhibitory activity. The method was validated against a well established UV method. Overall, the proposed method was shown able to detect plants with significant alpha amylase inhibitory activity but not those with rather clinically insignificant activities. Fifty plant species were screened using both the proposed CE method and the UV method and seven plant species were found to possess significant AA inhibitory activities. Two plant species were proved to have alpha amylase inhibitory activity for the first time.     

Preventing baker's asthma: an alternative strategy

BACKGROUND: Although baker's asthma has attracted considerable research interest over the last 30 years, success in its prevention has been slow to achieve. This paper describes the results of an alternative preventive strategy, based on an observation that the excess of sensitization in bread bakers is largely due to IgE-mediated allergy to fungal amylase, contained in bread improvers. The practical application of the strategy has been to limit bread improver exposures to <1 mg/m3 [8 h time-weighted average (TWA)], whilst exposures to all other ingredients, including flour, have been limited to <10 mg/m3 (8 h TWA). METHOD: The paper describes the findings of in-house respiratory health surveillance and dust sampling programmes, from a UK food company whose primary interests are milling and baking, over the period following the introduction of the strategy to target the reduction in bread improver exposure. RESULTS: Over the 10 year period of surveillance, the incidence of symptomatic sensitization in the bread baking sector (2240 per million employees per annum) was greater than for the other flour-using groups (330 per million employees per annum), despite broadly similar total inhalable dust exposures. There was an overall reduction in the incidence of new cases of symptomatic sensitization, from 2085 per million employees per year in the first 5 years of the surveillance programme, to 405 per million employees per year in the subsequent 5 years. CONCLUSION: The strategy of targeting bread improver exposure is an effective approach for the prevention of new cases of symptomatic sensitization in bread bakeries.     

Acute pancreatitis coincident with valproate use: a critical review

PURPOSE: Acute pancreatitis has been associated with a number of medications, including valproate (VPA). Valproate-coincident pancreatitis is uncommon and is usually associated with other risk factors; however, the United States Food and Drug Administration has issued a box warning for risk of acute pancreatitis with VPA products. We reviewed cases of pancreatitis in VPA-treated patients from the clinical database of VPA/divalproex trials and compared the incidence of elevated amylase levels between VPA- and placebo-treated patients. METHODS: Report rates of acute pancreatitis coincident with VPA use in 34 clinical trials were calculated. Incidence rates of amylase elevations above the normal range in three clinical placebo-controlled migraine trials were compared between VPA- and placebo-treated patients. RESULTS: Among 3,007 VPA-treated patients in 34 clinical trials, two reports of pancreatitis were considered by investigators to be probably related to VPA. Both patients recovered. Similar rates of amylase elevations were observed in VPA- (5.9%) and placebo-treated (6.1%) patients in the three migraine headache trials. CONCLUSIONS: VPA-coincident acute pancreatitis is uncommon and idiosyncratic. Checking amylase levels in the absence of other clinical signs and symptoms provides little value for predicting pancreatitis. Physicians should be guided by clinical symptoms of pancreatitis to identify cases.     

Ca2+ dependence of the release of noradrenaline during nerve degeneration in the parotid gland

Summary Amylase secretion in vitro was used as an indication of the degeneration activity of sympathetically denervated parotid glands. Seventeen and a half hours after sympathetic denervation, slices of parotid gland released amylase into the incubation medium at a rate higher than that observed for non-denervated glands. The time course of amylase release from denervated glands followed a bellshaped pattern similar to that observed in other denervated structures. Lowering extracellular Ca²⁺ to 0.25 mmol/l diminished significantly the release of amylase. Low Ca²⁺ however, did not decrease the amylase release in response to added noradrenaline.These results indicate that Ca²⁺ is required for the release of noradrenaline from degenerating nerve endings.     

Salivary alpha amylase and cortisol responses to different stress tasks: Impact of sex

Neuro-endocrine markers such as salivary alpha amylase (sAA) and cortisol (CORT) play an important role in establishing human responses to stressful events. Whereas sAA levels reflect sympathetic system activity, salivary cortisol appears to be a valid measure for HPA axis activity. Although many studies looked at either sAA or CORT responses in reaction to stress, work still has to be done to look at the way these systems interact, especially when both systems are activated. Additionally, sex effects in CORT responses have been investigated relatively often, but possible sex differences in sAA levels and responses, or the way both systems interact has not been the focus of sufficient studies to yield a univocal conclusion. In this study we presented a group of healthy participants (n=80) with two mildly stressful tasks, consisting of an aversive picture rating task and a cold pressor stress (CPS) task. The second task was compared with a control task. We expected a rise in sAA level in response to the first task and sAA as well as CORT responses on the second task and explored the interaction between the two responses. Results indicate that sAA is indeed a sensitive marker in both psychologically and physically induced arousal paradigms, whereas a cortisol response was only observed in the CPS task. Men had higher sAA levels than women during the complete course of the study, but men and women were comparable in their responsivity to the tasks. No strong correlations between sAA and CORT responses were found.