Lupus enteritis masquerading as Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND: Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease which can affect multiple organs, resulting in significant mortality and morbidity. Lupus enteritis is one of the rare complications of SLE, defined as vasculitis of the intestinal tract, with supportive biopsy findings and/or image. However, lupus enteritis is seldom confirmed on histology or image and the changes of intestinal mucosa are nonspecific. Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract which affects any part of the gastrointestinal tract. The diagnosis of CD is confirmed by clinical evaluation and a combination of endoscopic, histology, radiology, and/or biochemical investigations. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we report a rare case of a 71-years-old Chinese male has been diagnosed with lupus enteritis which similar to CD in the aspects of endoscopic, histology, and radiology. So far, there are no relevant cases reported. CONCLUSIONS: The endoscopic appearance of lupus enteritis is nonspecific, on the basis of our case, the features of lupus enteritis can be described as spacious, clean and no moss ulcers which discontinuous involved all gastrointestinal tract.

[Effect of banxia xiexin decoction on gastric antral interstitial cells of Cajal and stem cell factor in diabetic rats].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of Banxia Xiexin Decoction (BXD) on expression of the interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs) and stem cell factor (SCF) in the antrum of rats with diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: Totally sixty healthy male SD rats were randomly divided into the control group, the model group, the BXD group, and the Western medicine group (WM, treated by domperidone), 15 in each group. Diabetic rat models were established by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ, 55 mg/kg). Those in the BXD group were perfused with BXD at the daily dose of 5.4 g/kg. An equal volume of distilled water was given by gastrogavage to those in the WM group and the control group for 8 successive weeks. The body weight and blood glucose of all rats were detected, and the gastric residual rates were detected with semisolid nutrient paste by gastrogavage. The expression of positive ICCs and SCF were observed by immunohistochemical method and quantified image analyzer. RESULTS: Compared with the control group,the body weight reduced, blood glucose and gastric residual rates increased, and the mean optical density of positive ICCs and SCF significantly decreased in the model group (P < 0.05). Compared with the model group,symptoms such as polydipsia, polyphagia, polyuria were relieved, spirits improved, the body weight and mean optical densities of positive ICCs and SCF significantly increased (P < 0.05), and gastric residual rates significantly decreased in the BXD group and the WM group (P < 0.05). The blood glucose significantly decreased (P < 0.05) in the BXD group. The mean optical density of positive ICCs was higher in the BXD group than in the WM group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: BXD could promote the expression of positive ICCs and SCF. It could improve the gastric motility in DM rats by partially inverting abnormal changes of gastric antral ICCs and SCF.

The effect of TRAIL on the expression of multidrug resistant genes MDR1, LRP and GST-π in drug-resistant gastric cancer cell SGC7901/VCR.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate the effect of tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis inducing ligand(TRAIL) on the expression of multidrug resistant genes MDR1, LRP and GST-n in drug-resistant gastric cancer cell strain SGC7901/VCR, and discuss a potential mechanism that reverses the multidrug resistance of gastric cancer with TRAIL as the target point. METHODOLOGY: SGC7901/VCR cell strain was treated over 48 h with TRAIL (50, 100, 200 and 400ig/L, respectively). The expression ofMDR1, LRP, GST-r mRNA in different groups of gastric cell strains was tested by RT-PCR and the expression of P-gp, LRP and GST-n by ELISA. RESULTS: Under the action of TRAIL of different concentrations, different degrees of inhibition were observed in the expression of the mRNA and protein, and the difference from the reference group was statistically significant(p<0.01). Except for the insignificant inhibition degree of mRNA and protein in MDR1, LRP and GST-nr as compared between the 400lg/L and the 2001ig/L group(p>0.05), the differences between other groups were all statistically significant (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: As preliminarily estimated from the results of the study, TRAILis negatively correlated with drug-resistant genes. It is possible that TRAIL increases the apoptosis and growth inhibition of chemotherapy drug tumor cells by reducing the expression of drug-resistant genes MDR1, LRP and GST-Tt, thereby participating in the reversion of the multidrug resistance of gastric cancer

[Lumbar interspinous non-fusion techniques: comparison between Coflex™ and Wallis].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the short-term clinical outcome of non-fusion techniques using interspinous implantation Coflex(TM) and Wallis treatment in patients with lumbar spine degenerative diseases. METHODS: Forty-one cases of lumbar stenosis, 18 of lumbar disc herniation, and 34 of lumbar stenosis with lumbar disc herniation were evaluated. Among the 43 cases receiving Coflex(TM) implantation, 41 had operations in one segment and 2 in 2 segments. In the other 50 cases with Wallis implantation, 47 had fixation of 1 segment and 3 had 2 segments fixed. JOA Score, Oswestry Disable Index (ODI) and VAS were used to evaluate the short-term clinical results. RESULTS: The average operating time was 64.55 min in Coflex(TM) implantation with an average blood loss of 81.82 ml. The average operating time was 82.71 min in Wallis implantation, which caused an average blood loss of 89.66 ml. Significant improvements in the JOA Score, ODI and VAS were noted after the operations. CONCLUSION: The two interspinous non-fusion techniques, Coflex and Wallis, produce good short-term clinical outcome in the treatment of lumbar spine degenerative diseases.

[Application of lumbar-pelvic fixation in lumbosacral reconstruction after resection of sacral tumors].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the short-term clinical results of a new approach of lumbar-pelvic fixation for lumbosacral reconstruction after resection of sacral tumors. METHODS: Fifteen patients with sacral tumors underwent lumbar-pelvic fixation using TSRH-3D, CDH-M8 or ISOLA with iliac screws. The lumbosacral stability was evaluated according to the X-ray result to assess the feasibility and therapeutic effect of this approach. RESULTS: X-ray showed that high lumbosacral stability was achieved in all the 15 cases after the operation, and satisfactory therapeutic effect was obtained. CONCLUSION: Lumbar-pelvic fixation with iliac screw is feasible for lumbosacral reconstruction after resection of the sacral tumors, which provides strong internal fixation and produce good clinical outcomes.