BACKGROUNDS/AIMS: Stem cell therapies for liver disease are being studied by many researchers worldwide, but scientific evidence to demonstrate the endocrinologic effects of implanted cells is insufficient, and it is unknown whether implanted cells can function as liver cells. Achieving angiogenesis, arguably the most important characteristic of the liver, is known to be quite difficult, and no practical attempts have been made to achieve this outcome. We carried out this study to observe the possibility of angiogenesis of implanted bio-artificial liver using scaffolds. METHODS: This study used adipose tissue-derived stem cells that were collected from adult patients with liver diseases with conditions similar to the liver parenchyma. Specifically, microfilaments were used to create an artificial membrane and maintain the structure of an artificial organ. After scratching the stomach surface of severe combined immunocompromised (SCID) mice (n=4), artificial scaffolds with adipose tissue-derived stem cells and type I collagen were implanted. Expression levels of angiogenesis markers including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), CD34, and CD105 were immunohistochemically assessed after 30 days. RESULTS: Grossly, the artificial scaffolds showed adhesion to the stomach and surrounding organs; however, there was no evidence of angiogenesis within the scaffolds; and VEGF, CD34, and CD105 expressions were not detected after 30 days. CONCLUSIONS: Although implantation of cells into artificial scaffolds did not facilitate angiogenesis, the artificial scaffolds made with type I collagen helped maintain implanted cells, and surrounding tissue reactions were rare. Our findings indicate that type I collagen artificial scaffolds can be considered as a possible implantable biomaterial.
Actin Cytoskeleton ; Adult ; Animals ; Artificial Organs ; Biocompatible Materials ; Collagen Type I* ; Humans ; Liver Diseases ; Liver* ; Membranes, Artificial ; Mice ; Stem Cells* ; Stomach ; Tissue Scaffolds ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

Collagenous colitis is an uncommon condition charaeterized clinically by diarrhea and weight loss and histologically by thickening of the subepithelial collagen band with chromic inflammation. Laboratory tests of blood, urine and stool, and colonscopic findings are usually normal. The etiology of collagenous colitis is unknown. We report a case of collagenous colitis improved after treatment with sulfasalazine with review of literatures.
Colitis, Collagenous* ; Collagen* ; Diarrhea ; Inflammation ; Sulfasalazine ; Weight Loss

No abstract available.
Endoscopy* ; Esophageal Motility Disorders*

Prirnary sclerosing cholangitis, a chronic progressive cholestatic hepatobiliary disorder of unknown etiology, is characterized by inflammation, scarring and obliteration of bile duct leading to biliary cirrhosis and liver failure. Because histologic finding has only a limited role in the diagnosis, the gold standard for establishing the diagnosis is cholangiographic demonstration of typical diffuse biliary stricutre or beading. The natural history is extremely variable. We report two cases of primary sclerosing cholangitis diagnosed by repeated endoscopic retrograde cholangiographies. They were followed up for 7 and 2 years, respectively.
Bile Ducts ; Cholangiography ; Cholangitis, Sclerosing* ; Cicatrix ; Diagnosis ; Inflammation ; Liver Cirrhosis, Biliary ; Liver Failure ; Natural History

No abstract available.
Butterflies

No abstract available.

Quantification of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons is essential for the preclinical study of Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, manual analysis of immunohistochemical (IHC) images is labor-intensive and has less reproducibility due to the lack of objectivity. Therefore, several automated methods of IHC image analysis have been proposed, although they have limitations of low accuracy and difficulties in practical use. Here, we developed a convolutional neural network-based machine learning algorithm for TH+ cell counting. The developed analytical tool showed higher accuracy than the conventional methods and could be used under diverse experimental conditions of image staining intensity, brightness, and contrast. Our automated cell detection algorithm is available for free and has an intelligible graphical user interface for cell counting to assist practical applications. Overall, we expect that the proposed TH+ cell counting tool will promote preclinical PD research by saving time and enabling objective analysis of IHC images.

Small bowel tumors are very rare and generally malignant. As a result of the anatomical location and nonspecific manifestations of small bowel tumors, they are very difficult to diagnose. Balloon-assisted enteroscopy is a relatively noninvasive method compared to surgical resection, and allows for real-time observation, tissue confirmation with biopsy, and interventional procedures. Here, we report the case of a 69-year-old woman with a small bowel metastatic carcinoma observed with double balloon enteroscopy (DBE). She had a history of multiple cancers including ovarian cancer, bladder cancer, and breast cancer. The antegrade DBE procedure was performed before surgery for biopsy tissue confirmation. The patient underwent small bowel resection, and the final diagnosis was the same as that determined by preoperative biopsy. The final diagnosis was metastatic small bowel cancer originating from a cancer of the breast. This is the first detailed report of the preoperative diagnosis of small intestinal metastatic breast cancer by DBE.
Aged ; Biopsy ; Breast Neoplasms ; Diagnosis ; Double-Balloon Enteroscopy* ; Female ; Humans ; Ovarian Neoplasms ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms

Deposition of amyloid in ststemic amyloidosis may cause widespread dysfunction of the entire gastrointestinal tract, Intestinal pseudoobstruction is an uncommon but well-recognized complication of systemic amyloidosis, and its prognosis is poor and conventional treatment is ineffective. We report a case of intestinal pseudoobstruction secondary to systemic amyloidosis diagnosed by endoscopic mucosal biopsy in a patient with multiple myeloma.
Amyloid ; Amyloidosis* ; Biopsy ; Gastrointestinal Tract ; Humans ; Intestinal Pseudo-Obstruction* ; Multiple Myeloma ; Prognosis

Many patients of gastroenterology clinics complain symptoms requiring colonic investigations. Radiological examinations may fail to detect early inflammatory bowel diseases and small neoplasms or polyps. And therefore colonoscopies are performed in preference to barium enema. Recently several reports raised a question regarding whether biopsy is necessary in a macroscopically normal colon. To determine what proportion of apparently normal colons is histologically abnormal, to measure the thickness of subepithelial basement membrane(SEBM) in normal colons, and to see whether the thiekness varies according to the different areas of the large bowel we prospectively analyzed 100 consecutive subjects with normal laboratory findings and normal mucosa on colonoscopy. Significant histologic abnormalities were not detected in all 100 cases. Thickness of SEBM (mean+SD) was 1.6+0.4 um at hepatic flexure, 1.6+0.4um at splenic flexure and 1.7+0.4 pm at sigmoid colon. The SEBM was significantly thicker at the sigmoid colon than at the hepatic flexure. Range of thickness of normal SEBM was 0.8 to 2.5 pm(mean+2SD). Maximum thickness of SEBM was 3 pm. The result of this study suggests that doing colonoscopic biopsies in all normal colons do not seem to be essential in Koreans yet.
Barium ; Biopsy* ; Colon ; Colon, Sigmoid ; Colon, Transverse ; Colonoscopy* ; Enema ; Gastroenterology ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Mucous Membrane ; Polyps ; Prospective Studies