Submucosal fat accumulation in Crohn’s disease: evaluation with sonography

( Tomás Ripollés ),( María Jesús Martínez-pérez ),( José María Paredes ),( José Vizuete ),( Gregorio Martin ),( Lidia Navarro ) 대한장연구학회 2023 Intestinal Research Vol.21 No.3

Background/Aims: The study objective is to investigate the ultrasound features that allow suspecting the presence of submucosal fat deposition, called the fat halo sign (FHS), in the intestinal wall of patients with Crohn’s disease. Methods: Computed tomography (CT) examinations over a period of 10 years were reviewed for the presence of the FHS in the bowel wall. A measurement of less than -10 Hounsfield units was regarded as indicative of fat. We included only patients who had undergone ultrasound examinations 3 months before or after CT. The study cohort group comprised 68 patients. Wall and submucosal thickness were measured on longitudinal ultrasound sections. A receiver operating characteristic curve was constructed to determine the best cutoff of ultrasound submucosal wall thickness value for predicting FHS in the bowel wall determined on CT. Results: The FHS was present in 22 patients (31%) on CT. There were significant differences between submucosal thickness of patients with FHS and patients without FHS (4.19 mm vs. 2.41 mm). From the receiver operating characteristic curve, a threshold value of 3.1 mm of submucosal thickness had the best sensitivity and specificity to suspect FHS (95.5% and 89.1%, respectively; area under the curve, 0.962), with an odds ratio of 172. All of 16 patients with a submucosal thickness >3.9 mm had FHS. Conclusions: FHS in patients with Crohn’s disease can be suspected on ultrasound in cases with marked thickening of the submucosa layer. In these cases, the activity of the disease should be measured by other parameters such as the color Doppler. (Intest Res 2023;21:385-391)

Intestinal ultrasonography and fecal calprotectin for monitoring inflammation of ileal Crohn’s disease: two complementary tests

José María Paredes,Tomás Ripollés,Ángela Algarra,Rafael Diaz,Nadia Moreno,Patricia Latorre,María Jesús Martínez,Pilar Llopis,Antonio López,Eduardo Moreno-Osset 대한장연구학회 2022 Intestinal Research Vol.20 No.3

Background/Aims: Tight control of inflammation and adjustment of treatment if activity persists is the current strategy for the management of Crohn’s disease (CD). The usefulness of fecal calprotectin (FC) in isolated involvement of the small intestine in CD is controversial. To assess the usefulness of FC to determine the inflammatory activity detected by intestinal ultrasonography (IUS) in ileal CD. Methods: Patients with exclusively ileal involvement CD who underwent IUS and an FC were prospectively included. Simple ultrasound index was used to determine inflammatory activity. The usual statistical tests for comparison of diagnostic techniques were used. Results: One hundred and five patients were included, IUS showed inflammatory activity in 59% of patients and complications in 18.1%. FC showed a significant correlation with IUS in the weak range (Spearman coefficient <i>r</i>=0.502; <i>P</i><0.001); the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.79 (95% confidence interval, 0.70–0.88; <i>P</i><0.001). The FC value that best reflected the activity in IUS was 100 μg/g with sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of 73.0%, 71.4%, 79.3% and 63.8%, respectively. There were no differences in FC concentration between patients with or without transmural complications. The addition of serum C-reactive protein to FC did not improve the ability to assess IUS activity.Conclusions: FC has a significant correlation with IUS to monitor ileal CD activity. This correlation is weak and it does not allow assessing the presence of CD complications. Both tests should be used in conjunction for tight control of ileal CD. More studies on noninvasive tests in this location are needed.

Accuracy of the 2008 Simplified Criteria for the Diagnosis of Autoimmune Hepatitis in Children

José Vicente Arcos-Machancoses,Cristina Molera Busoms,Ecaterina Julio Tatis,María Victoria Bovo,Jesús Quintero Bernabeu,Javier Juampérez Goñi,Vanessa Crujeiras Martínez,Javier Martin de Carpi 대한소아소화기영양학회 2018 Pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology & nutrition Vol.21 No.2

Purpose: Classical criteria for diagnosis of autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) are intended as research tool and are difficult to apply at patient’s bedside. We aimed to study the accuracy of simplified criteria and the concordance with the expert diagnosis based on the original criteria.Methods: A cohort of children under study for liver disorder was selected through consecutive sampling to obtain the prevalence of AIH within the group of differential diagnoses. AIH was defined, based on classical criteria, through committee review of medical reports. Validity indicators of the simplified criteria were obtained in an intention to diag-nose approach. Optimal cut-off and the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were calculated. Results: Out of 212 cases reviewed, 47.2% were AIH. For the optimal cut-off (6 points), the simplified criteria showed a sensitivity of 72.0% and a specificity of 96.4%, with a 94.7% positive and a 79.4% negative predictive value. The area under the ROC curve was 94.3%. There was a good agreement in the pre-treatment concordance between the classical and the simplified criteria (kappa index, 0.775). Conclusion: Simplified criteria provide a moderate sensitivity for the diagnosis of AIH, but may help in indicating treatment in cases under suspicion with 6 or more points.

High Estradiol Differentially Affects the Expression of the Glucose Transporter Type 4 in Pelvic Floor Muscles of Rats

María de los Ángeles Carrasco-Ruiz,Laura G. Hernández-Aragón,Jesús Ramsés Chávez-Ríos,Jorge Rodríguez-Antolín,Pablo Pacheco,Margarita Martínez-Gómez,Estela Cuevas-Romero,Francisco Castelán 대한배뇨장애요실금학회 2018 International Neurourology Journal Vol.22 No.3

Purpose: To characterize the relationship between serum estradiol levels and the expression of glucose transporter type 4 (Glut4) in the pubococcygeus and iliococcygeus muscles in female rats. Methods: The muscles were excised from virgin rats during the metestrus and proestrus stages of the estrous cycle, and from sham and ovariectomized rats implanted with empty or estradiol benzoate–filled capsules. The expression of estrogen receptors (ERs) was inspected in the muscles at metestrus and proestrus. Relative Glut4 expression, glycogen content, and serum glucose levels were measured. Appropriate statistical tests were done to identify significant differences (P≤0.05). Results: The pubococcygeus and iliococcygeus muscles expressed ERα and ERβ. Glut4 expression and glycogen content in the pubococcygeus muscle were higher at proestrus than at metestrus. No significant changes were observed in the iliococcygeus muscle. In ovariectomized rats, the administration of estradiol benzoate increased Glut4 expression and glycogen content in the pubococcygeus muscle alone. Conclusions: High serum estradiol levels increased Glut4 expression and glycogen content in the pubococcygeus muscle, but not in the iliococcygeus muscle.

Comparative Study of Olive Oil Mill Wastewater Treatment Using Free and Immobilized Coriolopsis polyzona and Pycnoporus coccineus

Mohamed Neifar,Atef Jaouani,María Jesús Martínez,Michel J. Penninckx 한국미생물학회 2012 The journal of microbiology Vol.50 No.5

The efficiency of the two white-rot fungi Pycnoporus coccineus and Coriolopsis polyzona in the Olive Oil Mill Wastewater (OOMW) treatment was investigated. Both fungi were active in the decolourisation and COD removal of OOMW at 50 g/L COD, but only the first fungus remains effective on the crude effluent (COD=100 g/L). Moreover P. coccineus was less affected by oxygen supplementation and exhibited a high tolerance to agitation in comparison to C. polyzona. However, it required a nitrogen supplementation to obtain faster and higher COD removal. To overcome the negative effect of agitation on fungi growth and efficiency, immobilisation of C. polyzona and P. coccineus in polyurethane foam was applied. The immobilized system showed better COD decreases during three consecutive batches without remarkable loss of performances. The results obtained in this study suggested that immobilized C. polyzona and especially immobilized P. coccineus might be applicable to a large scale for the removal colour and COD of OOMW.

Ion Currents Induced by ATP and Angiotensin II in Cultured Follicular Cells of Xenopus laevis

Marcelino Montiel-Herrera,Ana María Zaske,Jesús García-Colunga,Ataúlfo Martínez-Torres,Ricardo Miledi 한국분자세포생물학회 2011 Molecules and cells Vol.32 No.5

Xenopus laevis oocytes are commonly used to study the biophysical and pharmacological properties of foreign ion channels and receptors, but little is known about those endogenously expressed in their enveloping layer of follicular cells (FCs). Whole-cell recordings and the perforated patch-clamp technique in cultured FCs held at -60mV revealed that ATP (20-250 μM) generates inward currents of 465 ± 93 pA (mean ± standard error) in ∼60% of the FCs studied, whereas outward currents of 317 ± 100 pA were found in ∼5% of the cells. The net effect of ATP on the FCs was to activate both mono- and biphasic inward currents,with an associated increase in membrane chloride conductance. Two-microelectrode voltage-clamp recordings of nude oocytes held at -60 mV disclosed that ATP elicited biphasic inward currents, corresponding to the well-known Fin and Sin-like currents. ATP receptor antagonists like suramin, TNP-ATP, and RB2 did not inhibit any of these responses. On the other hand, when using wholecell recordings, 1 μM Ang II yielded smooth inward currents of 157 ± 45 pA in ∼16% of the FC held at -60 mV. The net Ang II response, mediated by the activation of the AT1receptor, was a chloride current inhibited by 10 nM ZD7155. This study will help to better understand the roles of ATP and Ang II receptors in the physiology of X. laevis oocytes.

Cupriavidus and Burkholderia Species Associated with Agricultural Plants that Grow in Alkaline Soils

Paulina Estrada-de los Santos,Nora Belinda Vacaseydel-Aceves,Lourdes Martínez-Aguilar,María Antonia Cruz-Hernández,Alberto Mendoza-Herrera,Jesús Caballero-Mellado 한국미생물학회 2011 The journal of microbiology Vol.49 No.6

The presence of Burkholderia, Cupriavidus, and Ralstonia species in northeastern Mexico was investigated. An analysis of the root surrounding soil from different agricultural plants led to the isolation of Burkholderia and Cupriavidus species but no Ralstonia strains. Most Cupriavidus species were unknown and grouped into two clusters according to ARDRA profiles. The 16S rRNA sequence analysis showed that the Cupriavidus isolates were highly related among them and with different Cupriavidus species with validated names. However, SDS-PAGE profiles were distinct among the different ARDRA profiles and to other Cupriavidus species examined, suggesting new species in the genus. This shows that Cupriavidus is more widely associated with plants than previously appreciated. The BCC isolate was 99% similar to B. cenocepacia by recA sequence analysis. Additionally, most Cupriavidus strains from the two largest groups grew on media containing up to 0.1 mg/ml of copper, 10.0 mg/ml arsenic and 1.0 mg/ml zinc. Burkholderia strains grew on media containing up to 10.0 mg/ml zinc, 5.0 mg/ml arsenic and 0.1 mg/ml copper.