Induction of synthesis of the rat cystatin S protein by the submandibular gland during the acute phase of experimental Chagas disease

Rats experimentally infected with Trypanosoma cruzi Y strain exhibited hypertrophy of the submandibular gland at 18 days after infection.SDS-PAGE of infected rats saliva revealed the presence of an additional band with an apparent molecular weight of about 13KDa. Electrophoresis of protein salivaand immunochemical analysis with antibody against rat cystatin S confirmed that the protein was identical to that induced by beta adrenergic stimulation

Percutaneous transhepatic cholecystoscopy and biliary endoscopic lithotripsy.

We have been developing procedures for percutaneous transhepatic cholecystoscopy (PTCCS) through the sinus tract of percutaneous transhepatic cholecystostomy since 1981, and have used this method on 67 patients with gall bladder diseases. We also performed biliary endoscopic lithotripsy with PTCCS and percutaneous transhepatic cholangioscopy (PTCS) using a Nd-YAG laser or electrohydraulic shock wave lithotripter to non-operatively treat 83 patients with cholangiolithiasis, 11 with cholecystolithiasis, and four with cholecysto-choledocholithiasis. The present paper reports the PTCCS procedures and their usefulness for the precise diagnosis of early carcinoma of the gall bladder, and the usefulness and safety of biliary endoscopic lithotripsy techniques.