Cases of acute pancreatitis induced by organophosphate intoxication are encountered occasionally in clinics, but very few of them develop into severe pancreas necrosis and irreversible pancreatic function impairment. Here, we report a 47-year-old female organophosphate poisoning case after ingestion of massive insecticides; she was considered to have total necrosis and function failure of the pancreas via serum amylase test, glucose level test, and CT imaging. The patient exhibited no relief under the regular medicine treatment, which included sandostatin, antibiotics, intravenous atropine, and pralidoxime methiodide. She received percutaneous catheterization and drainage of pancreatic zone to expel hazardous necrotic waste, also by which the pathogenic evidence was obtained and the antibiotics were adjusted subsequently. The patient recovered gradually, was discharged after 2 weeks, and was prescribed with oral pancreatin capsules before meals and hypodermic insulin at meals and bedtime to compensate the impaired pancreatic function.
Acute Disease ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; therapeutic use ; Catheterization ; Female ; Humans ; Insecticides ; poisoning ; Middle Aged ; Organophosphate Poisoning ; Pancreas ; diagnostic imaging ; pathology ; Pancreatin ; therapeutic use ; Pancreatitis ; chemically induced ; diagnostic imaging ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Intrapancreatic accessory spleen (IPAS) is a benign anomaly of splenic embryology and a rare cause of pancreatic pseudotumour. Here, we report a case of a 70-year-old Malay lady whose IPAS was discovered incidentally during her surveillance computed tomography for her underlying left lower lung fibrosis. Radiologically, the lesion mimicked a neuroendocrine pancreatic tumour and was only diagnosed pathologically as IPAS after surgery. In conclusion, recognising IPAS as a differential for enhancing pancreatic mass allows us to exhaust all non-invasive diagnostic means to diagnose this benign lesion. It will allow the patient to avoid unnecessary surgery and its accompanying complications.
Spleen ; Splenectomy ; Pancrelipase

The Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rat is a spontaneous type 2 diabetic animal model, which is characterized by a progressive loss of beta islet cells with fibrosis. In the present study, the hypoglycemic effect of asiatic acid (AA) in GK rats was examined. GK rats receiving AA at a daily dose of 25 mg·kg(-1) for four weeks showed a significant reduction in blood glucose levels. Age-matched normal Wistar rats were given 0.5% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC-Na) solution for the same periods and used as control. Compared to the normal Wistar rats, GK rats treated with AA showed improvement in insulin resistance partially through decreasing glucose level (P < 0.01) and insulin level (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the results of immunohistochemistry indicate that AA treatment reduced islet fibrosis in GK rats. Fibronectin, a key protein related to islet fibrosis, was over-expressed in GK rats, which was reversed significantly by AA treatment (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that AA has a beneficial effect on lowering blood glucose levels in GK rats and improves fibrosis of islets in diabetes, which may play a role in the prevention of islets dysfunction.
Animals ; Blood Glucose ; metabolism ; Centella ; chemistry ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Disease Models, Animal ; Fibronectins ; metabolism ; Fibrosis ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Hyperglycemia ; drug therapy ; pathology ; Insulin ; blood ; Insulin Resistance ; Islets of Langerhans ; drug effects ; pathology ; Male ; Pancreatic Diseases ; metabolism ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Pentacyclic Triterpenes ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Phytotherapy ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Rats, Inbred Strains

OBJECTIVETo study the metabolic changes of pancreatic extracts from insulin-resistant rats induced by fructose feeding using nuclear magnetic resonance ¹H spectroscopy (¹H NMR).

METHODSSixteen Wistar rats were divided equally into control group and model group and given water and 10% fructose water for 8 weeks, respectively. The pancreatic tissues were then obtained for H NMR spectra analysis and principal component analysis (PCA).

RESULTSCompared with the control rats, the rats in the model group showed significantly increased creatine, betaine/TMAO, taurine, glycine and myo-inositol and decreased levels of lipids, lactate, glutamate, choline and GPC/PC.

CONCLUSION¹H NMR and pattern recognition can define the metabolic characteristics of the pancreatic tissue extracts from insulin-resistant rats and provide reliable metabolic evidence for studying the mechanisms of insulin resistance at the molecular level.

Animals ; Fructose ; Insulin Resistance ; Metabolomics ; Pancreatic Extracts ; chemistry ; Principal Component Analysis ; Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) on the function of alveolar polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) in severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) rats complicated with lung injury (LI).

METHODSForty-eight adult SD rats were randomly divided into three groups, i.e., the sham-operation group, the SAP group, and the GBE treatment group, 16 in each group. The SAP model was successfully induced by retrograde injection of 5% sodium taurocholate solution into the biliopancreatic duct. Rats in the sham-operation group only received flipping of the duodenum. Those in the GBE treatment group received GBE intervention based on SAP model. Equal volume of normal saline was given to rats in the sham-operation group and the SAP group. Rats were sacrificed at 6 and 12 h after operation respectively. The lung tissue was sampled to evaluate the LI score. The wet/dry ratio (W/D) of lung tissues was detected. The activity of myeloperoxidase (MPO) was measured. Alveolar PMN was harvested by bronchoalveolar lavage. The content of neutrophil elastase (NE) in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was measured by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay (ELISA). The percentage of CD11b/CD18 double positive PMN was detected using flow cytometry. The expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) and NE protein in the lung tissue was detected by Western blot.

RESULTSCompared with the sham-operation group, significant pathologic lesion occurred in the lung tissue of rats in the SAP group; the pathologic LI score, lung tissue W/D ratio, MPO, and NE content in BALF significantly increased, the expression of ICAM-1 and NE in the lung tissue was obviously up-regulated, and the percentage of CD11b/CD18 double positive PMN significantly increased (P < 0.01). Compared with the SAP group, pathological lesion of the lung tissue was obviously attenuated, and the above indices were all significantly declined in the GBE treatment group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSExpression of ICAM-1 in the lung tissue and the percentage of D11b/ CD18 double positive PMN were up-regulated in SAP rats complicated with LI, resulting in the adherence of PMN to pulmonary vascular endothelial cells, and then activating PMN to release NE and aggravate LI. GBE could alleviate LI through down-regulating the expression ICAM-1 and CD11b/CD18, and hindering the adherence and activation of PMN to pulmonary vascular endothelial cells.

Animals ; Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid ; cytology ; Ginkgo biloba ; chemistry ; Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 ; metabolism ; Lung Injury ; drug therapy ; etiology ; metabolism ; Neutrophils ; metabolism ; Pancreatic Elastase ; metabolism ; Pancreatitis ; complications ; drug therapy ; metabolism ; Plant Extracts ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

This study aims to observe different factors which affected the bionic enzymatic hydrolysis of icariin into baohuoside I and to optimize the reaction conditions in order to provide research foundation for building a novel bionic enzymolysis drug delivery system. To simulate the environment in vivo, 37 degrees C was set as the temperature and artificial intestinal juice and gastric juice were selected as the buffer solutions. Taking the conversion of baohuoside I as index, the effects of the kinds of enzyme, enzyme activity, substrate concentration, reaction time, pancreatin in artificial intestinal juice and surfactant on the conversion of baohuoside I were investigated. The results showed that cellulase, beta-glucosidase and snailase were all inactive in artificial gastric juice and no baohuoside I generated. Pancreatin in artificial intestinal juice couldn't significantly influence the activity of beta-glucosidase or snailase (P > 0.05), but noticeably decrease the activity of cellulase (P < 0.05). In artificial intestinal juice, the conversion of baohuoside I was highest by using beta-glucosidase, and the optimum reaction conditions were determined as follows: enzyme activity 10 U x mL(-1), substrate concentration 1 mg x mL(-1), 3 g x L(-1) rhamnolipid and reaction time 3 h. Under this condition, the conversion of baohuoside I was 99.8%.
Animals ; Cellulase ; chemistry ; Flavonoids ; biosynthesis ; metabolism ; Hydrolases ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; Hydrolysis ; Pancreatin ; chemistry ; Snails ; enzymology ; Surface-Active Agents ; chemistry ; beta-Glucosidase ; chemistry

In this study, the natural biological inducer, rat regenerating pancreatic extract (RPE), was used to induce human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) into insulin-secreting cells. We excised 60% of rat pancreas in order to stimulate pancreatic regeneration. RPE was extracted and used to induce hAMSCs at a final concentration of 20 microg/mL. The experiment methods used were as follows: morphological-identification, dithizone staining, immumofluorescence analysis, reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) and insulin secretion stimulated by high glucose. The results show that the cell morphology of passge3 hAMSCs changed significantly after the induction of RPE, resulting in cluster shape after induction for 15 days. Dithizone staining showed that there were scarlet cell masses in RPE-treated culture. Immumofluorescence analysis indicated that induced cells were insulin-positive expression. RT-PCR showed the positive expression of human islet-related genes Pdx1 and insulin in the induced cells. The result of insulin secretion stimulated by high glucose indicated that insulin increasingly secreted and then kept stable with prolongation of high glucose stimulation. In conclusion, hAMSCs had the potential to differentiate into insulin-secreting cells induced by RPE in vitro.
Amnion ; cytology ; Animals ; Cell Differentiation ; physiology ; Cells, Cultured ; Humans ; Insulin-Secreting Cells ; cytology ; Mesenchymal Stromal Cells ; cytology ; Pancreas ; physiology ; surgery ; Pancreatic Extracts ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Regeneration

BACKGROUNDHuman embryonic stem cells have prospective uses in regenerative medicine and drug screening. Every human embryonic stem cell line has its own genetic background, which determines its specific ability for differentiation as well as susceptibility to drugs. It is necessary to compile many human embryonic stem cell lines with various backgrounds for future clinical use, especially in China due to its large population. This study contributes to isolating new Chinese human embryonic stem cell lines with clarified directly differentiation ability.

METHODSDonated embryos that exceeded clinical use in our in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) center were collected to establish human embryonic stem cells lines with informed consent. The classic growth factors of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and recombinant human leukaemia inhibitory factor (hLIF) for culturing embryonic stem cells were used to capture the stem cells from the plated embryos. Mechanical and enzymetic methods were used to propagate the newly established human embryonic stem cells line. The new cell line was checked for pluripotent characteristics with detecting the expression of stemness genes and observing spontaneous differentiation both in vitro and in vivo. Finally similar step-wise protocols from definitive endoderm to target specific cells were used to check the cell line's ability to directly differentiate into pancreatic and hepatic cells.

RESULTSWe generated a new Chinese human embryonic stem cells line, CH1. This cell line showed the same characteristics as other reported Chinese human embryonic stem cells lines: normal morphology, karyotype and pluripotency in vitro and in vivo. The CH1 cells could be directly differentiated towards pancreatic and hepatic cells with equal efficiency compared to the H1 cell line.

CONCLUSIONSThis newly established Chinese cell line, CH1, which is pluripotent and has high potential to differentiate into pancreatic and hepatic cells, will provide a useful tool for embryo development research, along with clinical treatments for diabetes and some hepatic diseases.

Cell Differentiation ; physiology ; Cell Line ; Embryonic Stem Cells ; cytology ; Hepatocytes ; cytology ; metabolism ; Humans ; Karyotyping ; Pancrelipase ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

Pancreaticoduodenectomy is the treatment of choice for adult periampullary lesions. However there has been no studies on the clinical outcomes of pancreaticoduodenectomy in children. To evaluate the clinical outcomes, records of 13 patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy, from 1989 to 2009, at Seoul National University Children's Hospital were reviewed. Mean follow up period was 83 (2-204) months, the male to female ratio was 1:3.3, and the mean age was 11 (2-14) years. Ten patients underwent PPPD and 3 patients had Whipple's operation. The postoperative diagnosis included solid pseudopapillary tumor (9), cavernous hemangioma (1), pseudocyst (1), benign cyst (1), pancreatic disruption (1). Two patients developed postoperative adhesive ileus and among them one patient required operative intervention. Four patients required pancreatin supplementation due to steatorrhea and other gastrointestinal symptoms. There were no postoperative mortality during the follow up period and no evidence of recurrence in SPT patients. This study demonstrates that the pancreaticoduodenectomy procedure in children is not only feasible but also safe, with no mortality and an acceptable complication rate.
Adhesives ; Adult ; Child ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Hemangioma, Cavernous ; Humans ; Ileus ; Male ; Pancreaticoduodenectomy ; Pancreatin ; Recurrence ; Steatorrhea

Porcine pancreatic extracts (PPE), which are widely used as a digestive drug in Korea, are composed of alpha-amylase and lipase. Such enzymes are commonly described as occupational allergens. This is the first report of occupational rhinitis caused by PPE developing into occupational asthma in a hospital nurse. She showed strong positive response in the skin prick test (SPT) (5+, wheal ratio of allergen to histamine) and had a high serum-specific IgE level to PPE, but showed a negative response in the methacholine bronchial challenge test (MBT). She had been exposed to PPE intermittently with intermittent medications for rhinitis. Two years later, she presented with rhinitis and additional asthmatic symptoms. In contrast to her first visit, she showed a positive response in the MBT, and developed bronchoconstriction in the PPE-bronchial provocation test (BPT). These findings suggest that inhalation of PPE powder can induce IgE-mediated occupational rhinitis in a hospital setting, which will develop into occupational asthma if avoidance is not complete.
Adult ; Animals ; Asthma/*diagnosis/etiology ; Bronchial Provocation Tests ; Female ; Gastrointestinal Agents/adverse effects ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin E/metabolism ; Methacholine Chloride/pharmacology ; Occupational Diseases/*diagnosis/etiology ; Pancreatic Extracts/*adverse effects ; Powders ; Rhinitis/*diagnosis/etiology ; Skin Tests ; Swine