Keratinocyte growth factor enhances glutathione redox state in rat intestinal mucosa during nutritional repletion.

Malnutrition decreases tissue levels of glutathione (GSH), a major endogenous antioxidant that detoxifies reactive oxygen species and promotes cell growth. This study determined the effects of the gut trophic peptide keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) on intestinal mucosal GSH concentrations and redox state in malnourished rats. Adult rats were food-deprived for 3 d, then consumed food ad libitum or 25% of ad libitum intake for 3 d with daily intraperitoneal administration of saline or KGF (5 mg.kg-1.d-1). Mucosal GSH and glutathione disulfide (GSSG) concentrations, crypt depth and total mucosal height were measured in the jejunum, ileum and colon. In the 25% of ad libitum-refed, saline-treated group, mucosal GSH was lower in all gut tissues (42% in jejunum, 38% in ileum, and 57% in colon), and the GSH/GSSG ratio was lower in the jejunum and ileum compared to that in the ad libitum-refed controls. KGF treatment with ad libitum refeeding increased GSH/GSSG in the jejunum, ileum and colon. Furthermore, in 25% of ad libitum refeeding, KGF normalized jejunal, ileal and colonic mucosal GSH content and significantly increased the mucosal GSH/GSSG ratio relative to rats treated with saline. Increased crypt depth and total mucosal height induced by KGF and feeding could be explained in part by increased mucosal GSH content. KGF treatment improved gut mucosal glutathione redox state in malnourished, refed rats. These data provide evidence that gut trophic hormones and food intake may independently support gut mucosal glutathione antioxidant capacity during nutritional repletion.

Gut-trophic effects of keratinocyte growth factor in rat small intestine and colon during enteral refeeding.

BACKGROUND: Keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) induces proliferation of gut epithelium in rat models, but KGF-nutrient interactions have not been studied. An experimental model of fasting-induced gut atrophy followed by different levels of enteral refeeding was used to investigate the influence of nutrient availability on the gut-trophic effects of exogenous KGF. METHODS: After a 3-day fast, rats were enterally refed either ad libitum or at 25% of ad libitum intake for 3 subsequent days. Either intraperitoneal KGF (5 mg/kg/d) or saline was given in each dietary regimen. Wet weight, DNA, and protein content were measured as indices of full-thickness cellularity in duodenum, jejunum, ileum, and colon. Villus height in small bowel segments and crypt depth in all gut tissues were measured as specific indices of mucosal growth. RESULTS: Refeeding at 25% of ad libitum intake significantly decreased full-thickness cellularity and mucosal growth indices in duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. In the colon, only protein content fell significantly and crypt depth was maintained. KGF administration during 25% refeeding did not alter full-thickness indices in any small bowel segment or affect jejunal mucosal growth. In contrast, KGF normalized duodenal villus height (p < .01) and duodenal and ileal crypt depth (p < .05) only in the 25%-refed model. KGF significantly increased ileal villus height in both ad libitum and 25%-refed rats (by 43% and 48%, respectively, p < .05) and markedly increased colonic cellularity and mucosal crypt depth with both levels of refeeding (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS: Rat small bowel growth is more sensitive than colon to the level of enteral refeeding after a 3-day fast. KGF administration does not affect jejunal growth, but specifically prevents atrophy of duodenal and ileal mucosa during hypocaloric, hyponitrogenous refeeding. In ileum and colon, some KGF-mediated growth responses are independent of the level of enteral refeeding. Thus gut-trophic effects of KGF and KGF interactions with the level of nutrient intake are tissue-specific.

[Rhinosporidiosis: a study of 33 cases diagnosed using biopsies at the Central Hospital of Maputo, since 1944 through 1986]. / Rinosporidiosis: estudio de 33 casos diagnosticados por biopsias en el Hospital Central de Maputo, desde 1944 hasta 1986.

A statistical review of the archives of the Laboratory of Pathologic Anatomy of Maputo Central Hospital is made with the view to determine the frequency of occurrence of rhinosporidiosis in biopsies in the years 1944-86. Diagnosis was made based on the specific microscopic picture shown by the lesions induced by Rhinosporidium seeberi. Of 91,000 reports only 33 cases of the disease were found, which accounts for 0.036% of the total biopsies made in the department. Tissular examinations showed that lesions always appear as polypoid masses lined with hyperplastic epithelium, with an intense inflammatory reaction involving the sporangia, which in slides appear as double-membrane spheres with the occasional rupture-freed spores. It was found that in the series studied the disease appeared most frequently in the period ranging from 10 to 19 years of age, with no sex prevalence. General statistics indicate that the greatest damage was found in bulbar conjunctiva and that location in nostrils was the most frequently found in the age group with the youngest people.

[Oral leukoplakia. Current concepts and analysis of the term in the Spanish language]. / Leucoplaquia bucal. Conceptos actuales y análisis del término en la lengua Española.

The purpose of this paper is to carry out an analysis of the term leukoplakia since its introduction in 1877 and to expose the most accepted concepts and present classification within specialists. For this purpose attention will be paid to definitions established in the international seminary developed in Malmö City, Sweden, in June 1983. A group of observations on present status of research and diagnostic methods and its limitations to pre-establish when a lesion of this type is going to evolve toward malignancy, is included. An important part of this paper is devoted to the linguistic analysis of leukoplakia and leukoplasia expressions. An extensive argumentation demonstrating the systematic impropriety in the Spanish Language of translating the English term "leukoplakia as leukoplasia, is presented. There is in Spanish the accurate translation, given by the expression leukoplakia, which is not only the adequate one for the exactness of its translation but also the one more conceptually adjusted to contemporary definition universally accepted, that is to say, a white plaque. Finally, a comment on importance of incorporates to our language the exact translation of scientific words, not only to fit it to present science, but also to a better fulfillment of its function in allowing the communication within Latin American researches themselves and with the world scientific community, is exposed.