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Cureus Jun 2022Human intestinal spirochetosis (HIS) is a condition where spirochetes, a group of spiral-shaped bacteria, attach to the apical membrane of the human colorectal...
Human intestinal spirochetosis (HIS) is a condition where spirochetes, a group of spiral-shaped bacteria, attach to the apical membrane of the human colorectal epithelium. Although most findings of HIS are simply incidental discoveries found during screening colonoscopies, the ability to mimic the presentation of inflammatory bowel diseases should prompt consideration of this condition as part of a working differential diagnosis. Herein, we present the case of a 57-year-old bisexual, African American male with a medical history of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) on antiretroviral therapy (ART) with an undetectable viral load that presented for an elective, outpatient colonoscopy after experiencing four months of intermittent bloating and hematochezia. Histologic examination of colonic biopsies confirmed a diagnosis of HIS. The nonspecific clinical presentation in the setting of well-controlled HIV makes HIS a formidable diagnostic challenge that requires increased awareness.
PubMed: 35812607
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.25756 -
Journal of the Korean Society of... Jun 2011Large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas of the colon are rare and represent only a small percentage of all colonic endocrine tumors. Here, we report a case of a colonic...
Large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas of the colon are rare and represent only a small percentage of all colonic endocrine tumors. Here, we report a case of a colonic large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas concurrent with a colonic adenocarcinoma. A 70-year-old man presented with acute abdominal pain. A spiral computed tomography scan of the abdomen revealed eccentric wall thickening on the ascending colon. An explorative laparotomy and a right hemicolectomy were performed. Grossly, two separated masses were observed in the proximal ascending colon. One was a 7.4 × 5.1 cm ulcerative fungating lesion, and the other was a 2.8 × 1.9 cm polypoid lesion. Microscopically, the ulcerative fungating lesion showed a well-differentiated neuroendocrine morphology with necrosis and increased mitosis. Most of the tumor cells had large, vesicular nuclei with eosinophilic nucleoli, variable amounts of eosinophilic cytoplasm, and immunoreactivity for chromogranin A and synaptophysin. The polypoid lesion was a well-differentiated adenocarcinoma that had invaded the submucosa. We diagnosed these lesions as a concurrent large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma and an adenocarcinoma of the ascending colon.
PubMed: 21829772
DOI: 10.3393/jksc.2011.27.3.157 -
Anatomical Record (Hoboken, N.J. : 2007) Nov 2018The gastrointestinal tract of the alpaca (Vicugna pacos) is most efficiently adapted to its habitat at high altitudes. Alpacas, just like ruminants, feed on hardly...
The gastrointestinal tract of the alpaca (Vicugna pacos) is most efficiently adapted to its habitat at high altitudes. Alpacas, just like ruminants, feed on hardly digestible forage. However, it has been demonstrated that the anatomy of the camelid digestive tract has developed independently of ruminants and not in homology to them. Despite a long history of domestication and an increasing number of animals worldwide, little research has been done on the intestinal anatomy of alpacas. The purpose of this study was to describe the anatomical features of the alpaca's intestines and to explain anatomical peculiarities in the context of evolutionary function and morphology. Another goal of this study was the demonstration of weaknesses of the intestinal anatomy predisposing alpacas to certain clinical presentations. Six animals were used for dissection. The basic structure of the intestines was comparable to that in ruminants. However, a number of characteristic peculiarities were found in alpacas, like the duodenal ampulla and the proximal and distal loop of the ascending colon. The jejunum and ileum, unlike those of ruminants, had their own mesentery largely separated from the ascending mesocolon. The main blood supply was provided by the cranial and caudal mesenteric artery. The particular lymph nodes were located along the branches of these two arteries. The spiral colon seemed to play a major role in intestinal digestion and water resorption. The size of the distal fermentation chamber allows the presumption that alpacas belong to the group of animals practicing a fractionated fermentation in the proximal and distal fermentation chambers. Anat Rec, 301:1840-1851, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Topics: Adaptation, Physiological; Animals; Camelids, New World; Ecosystem; Feeding Behavior; Female; Intestines; Male
PubMed: 30288956
DOI: 10.1002/ar.23863 -
Veterinary Sciences Oct 2018Shiga toxin-producing , like O157:H7, are important human and animal pathogens. Naturally-acquired O157:H7 infections occur in numerous species but, particularly,...
Shiga toxin-producing , like O157:H7, are important human and animal pathogens. Naturally-acquired O157:H7 infections occur in numerous species but, particularly, cattle have been identified as a significant reservoir for human cases. O157:H7 are isolated from a number of domestic and wild animals, including rodents that share a living space with cattle. These Shiga toxin-producing O157:H7 strains can be highly virulent in humans, but little is known about the sequelae of interspecies transfer. In a group of neonatal calves, we determined the differences in colonization patterns and lesions associated with infection using either a wildlife or bovine O157:H7 strain. In calves challenged with the wildlife O157:H7 strain, the large (descending) colon was solely colonized, which differed substantially from the calves inoculated with the bovine O157:H7 strain, where the spiral colon was the principal target of infection. This study also demonstrated that while both interspecies- and intraspecies-derived O157:H7 can infect young calves, the distribution and severity differs.
PubMed: 30326606
DOI: 10.3390/vetsci5040088 -
Infection and Immunity Oct 1971Anaerobic bacteria can be detected at population levels of 10(11) organisms per g of cecum or colon in adult mice from four different colonies widely spaced in the...
Anaerobic bacteria can be detected at population levels of 10(11) organisms per g of cecum or colon in adult mice from four different colonies widely spaced in the United States. Most of these microorganisms are oxygen-intolerant fusiform-shaped bacteria. At least one type of these tapered, rod-shaped bacteria can be seen in layers in the epithelial mucin in frozen-section histological preparations of the large bowels of mice. In addition, such microorganisms can be seen within 0.5 mum of the epithelium in ultrathin sections of colon or cecum examined in an electron microscope. These fusiform-shaped bacteria predominate in the mucin layers. However, spiral-shaped microorganisms can be found as well near the mucosal epithelia in ultrathin sections of colon. Also, such organisms can be seen in negatively-stained preparations of washings of the colonic mucosal epithelia examined in an electron microscope. At least three types of spiral-shaped organisms, including both spiral-shaped bacteria and spirochetes, can be found in preparations from mice from three of the four colonies. Such spiral-shaped microorganisms can be detected at population levels as great as 10(9) organisms per g of cecum or colon in anaerobic cultures of the large bowels of mice from all four colonies. One anaerobic spiral bacterium was isolated in pure culture. This particular organism was found by immunofluorescence to be intermingled with the fusiform-shaped bacteria in the mucin on the mucosal epithelium in the mouse large bowel.
Topics: Anaerobiosis; Animals; Cecum; Clostridium; Colon; Epithelium; Eubacterium; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Fusobacterium; Germ-Free Life; Intestinal Mucosa; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Mice, Inbred Strains; Microscopy, Electron
PubMed: 4949504
DOI: 10.1128/iai.4.4.492-502.1971 -
American Journal of Physiology. Cell... Nov 2006Cochlear endolymph has a highly positive potential of approximately +80 mV known as the endocochlear potential (EP). The EP is essential for hearing and is maintained by...
Cochlear endolymph has a highly positive potential of approximately +80 mV known as the endocochlear potential (EP). The EP is essential for hearing and is maintained by K(+) circulation from perilymph to endolymph through the cochlear lateral wall. Various K(+) transport apparatuses such as the Na(+),K(+)-ATPase, the Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl(-) cotransporter, and the K(+) channels Kir4.1 and KCNQ1/KCNE1 are expressed in the lateral wall and are known to play indispensable roles in cochlear K(+) circulation. The gastric type of the H(+),K(+)-ATPase was also shown to be expressed in the cochlear lateral wall (Lecain E, Robert JC, Thomas A, and Tran Ba Huy P. Hear Res 149: 147-154, 2000), but its functional role has not been well studied. In this study we examined the precise localization of H(+),K(+)-ATPase in the cochlea and its involvement in formation of EP. RT-PCR analysis showed that the cochlea expressed mRNAs of gastric alpha(1)-, but not colonic alpha(2)-, and beta-subunits of H(+),K(+)-ATPase. Immunolabeling of an antibody specific to the alpha(1) subunit was detected in type II, IV, and V fibrocytes distributed in the spiral ligament of the lateral wall and in the spiral limbus. Strong immunoreactivity was also found in the stria vascularis. Immunoelectron microscopic examination exhibited that the H(+),K(+)-ATPase was localized exclusively at the basolateral site of strial marginal cells. Application of Sch-28080, a specific inhibitor of gastric H(+),K(+)-ATPase, to the spiral ligament as well as to the stria vascularis caused prominent reduction of EP. These results may imply that the H(+),K(+)-ATPase in the cochlear lateral wall is crucial for K(+) circulation and thus plays a critical role in generation of EP.
Topics: Animals; Cochlea; Cochlear Microphonic Potentials; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; H(+)-K(+)-Exchanging ATPase; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Models, Biological; Omeprazole; Perfusion; Perilymph; Protein Subunits; Protein Transport; Proton Pump Inhibitors; RNA, Messenger; Stomach; Stria Vascularis
PubMed: 16822945
DOI: 10.1152/ajpcell.00266.2006 -
American Journal of Veterinary Research Jan 2006To investigate the distribution of mRNA coding for 7 subtypes of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors (5-HTRs) in the intestines of healthy dairy cows and dairy cows with cecal... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the distribution of mRNA coding for 7 subtypes of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors (5-HTRs) in the intestines of healthy dairy cows and dairy cows with cecal dilatation-dislocation (CDD).
SAMPLE POPULATION
Full-thickness intestinal wall biopsy specimens were obtained from the ileum, cecum, proximal loop of the ascending colon, and external loop of the spiral colon (ELSC) of 15 cows with CDD (group 1) and 15 healthy dairy cows allocated to 2 control groups (specimens collected during routine laparotomy [group 2] or after cows were slaughtered [group 3]).
PROCEDURE
Amounts of mRNA coding for 7 subtypes of 5-HTRs (5-HT1A, 5-HT1B, 5-HT1D, 5-HT1F, 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, and 5-HT4) were measured by quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-PCR assay. Results were expressed as the percentage of mRNA expression of a housekeeping gene.
RESULTS
Expression of mRNA coding for 5-HTR1B, 5-HTR2B, and 5-HTR4 was significantly lower in cows with CDD than in healthy cows. For 5-HTR2B and 5-HTR4, significant differences between cows with CDD and control cows were most pronounced for the ELSC. Expression of mRNA for 5-HTR1D, 5-HTR1F, and 5-HTR2A was extremely low in all groups, and mRNA for 5-HTR1A was not detected.
CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Relative concentrations of mRNA coding for 5-HTR1B, 5-HT2B, and 5-HTR4 were significantly lower in the intestines of cows with CDD than in the intestines of healthy dairy cows, especially for 5-HT2B and 5-HTR4 in the ELSC. This supports the hypothesis that serotonergic mechanisms, primarily in the spiral colon, are implicated in the pathogenesis of CDD.
Topics: Analysis of Variance; Animals; Cattle; Cattle Diseases; Cecal Diseases; Dilatation, Pathologic; Female; Genetic Variation; Intestinal Mucosa; Intestines; Protein Isoforms; RNA, Messenger; Receptors, Serotonin; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
PubMed: 16426218
DOI: 10.2460/ajvr.67.1.95 -
American Journal of Veterinary Research Jan 2015To analyze the transit time from various locations in the intestines of cows with cecal dilatation-dislocation (CDD), healthy control cows, and cows with left...
Assessment of the excretion time of electronic capsules placed in the intestinal lumen of cows with cecal dilatation-dislocation, healthy control cows, and cows with left displacement of the abomasum.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze the transit time from various locations in the intestines of cows with cecal dilatation-dislocation (CDD), healthy control cows, and cows with left displacement of the abomasum (LDA).
ANIMALS
15 cows with naturally occurring CDD (group 1), 14 healthy control cows (group 2), and 18 cows with LDA (group 3).
PROCEDURES
5 electronic transmitters were encased in capsules and placed in the lumen of the ileum, cecum, proximal portion of the colon, and 2 locations in the spiral colon (colon 1 and colon 2) and used to measure the transit time (ie, time between placement in the lumen and excretion of the capsules from the rectum). Excretion time of the capsules from each intestinal segment was compared among groups.
RESULTS
Cows recovered well from surgery, except for 1 cow with relapse of CDD 4 days after surgery and 2 cows with incisional infection. High variability in capsule excretion times was observed for all examined intestinal segments in all groups. Significant differences were detected for the excretion time from the colon (greater in cows with CDD than in healthy control cows) and cecum (less in cows with LDA than in cows of the other 2 groups).
CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
The technique developed to measure excretion time of capsules from bovine intestines was safe and reliable; however, the large variability observed for all intestinal segments and all groups would appear to be a limitation for its use in assessment of intestinal transit time of cattle in future studies.
Topics: Abomasum; Animals; Capsules; Case-Control Studies; Cattle; Cattle Diseases; Cecal Diseases; Dairying; Dilatation, Pathologic; Female; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 25535662
DOI: 10.2460/ajvr.76.1.60 -
The British Journal of Radiology Aug 2012To determine the role of abdominal CT in assessment of severity and prognosis of patients with acute gastrointestinal (GI) graft-vs-host disease (GVHD).
OBJECTIVE
To determine the role of abdominal CT in assessment of severity and prognosis of patients with acute gastrointestinal (GI) graft-vs-host disease (GVHD).
METHODS
During 2000-2004, 41 patients with a clinical diagnosis of acute GI-GVHD were evaluated. CTs were examined for intestinal and extra-intestinal abnormalities, and correlated with clinical staging and outcome.
RESULTS
20 patients had GVHD clinical Stage I-II and 21 had Stage III-IV. 39 (95%) had abnormal CT appearances. The most consistent finding was bowel wall thickening: small (n=14, 34%) or large (n=5, 12%) bowel, or both (n=20, 49%). Other manifestations included bowel dilatation (n=7, 17%), mucosal enhancement (n=6, 15%) and gastric wall thickening (n=9, 38%). Extra-intestinal findings included mesenteric stranding (n=25, 61%), ascites (n=17, 41%), biliary abnormalities (n=12, 29%) and urinary excretion of orally administered gastrografin (n=12, 44%). Diffuse small-bowel thickening and any involvement of the large bowel were associated with severe clinical presentation. Diffuse small-bowel disease correlated with poor prognosis. 8 of 21 patients responded to therapy, compared with 15 of 20 patients with other patterns (p=0.02), and the cumulative incidence of GVHD-related death was 62% and 24%, respectively (p=0.01). Overall survival was not significantly different between patients with diffuse small-bowel disease and patients with other patterns (p=0.31). Colonic disease correlated with severity of GVHD (p=0.04), but not with response to therapy or prognosis (p=0.45).
CONCLUSION
GVHD often presented with abdominal CT abnormalities. Diffuse small-bowel disease was associated with poor therapeutic response. CT may play a role in supporting clinical diagnosis of GI GVHD and determining prognosis.
Topics: Abdominal Pain; Acute Disease; Adult; Contrast Media; Diarrhea; Diatrizoate Meglumine; Female; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Graft vs Host Disease; Hematologic Neoplasms; Humans; Immunosuppressive Agents; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Male; Middle Aged; Nausea; Prognosis; Retrospective Studies; Stem Cell Transplantation; Tomography, Spiral Computed; Transplantation, Homologous
PubMed: 22128129
DOI: 10.1259/bjr/60038597 -
American Journal of Veterinary Research Aug 2004To describe the distribution of mRNA that codes for 8 subtypes of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors (5-HTRs) in the digestive tract of dairy cows. (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study
OBJECTIVE
To describe the distribution of mRNA that codes for 8 subtypes of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptors (5-HTRs) in the digestive tract of dairy cows.
SAMPLE POPULATION
Fresh full-thickness wall specimens from the abomasum (fundus, corpus, and antrum), ileum, cecum, proximal loop of ascending colon, and 4 locations of the spiral colon collected from 10 healthy cows at slaughter.
PROCEDURE
Concentrations of mRNA that code for 5-HTR subtypes (5-HTR1A. 5-HTR1B, 5-HTR1D, 5-HTR1F, 5-HTR2A, 5-HTR2B, 5-HTR2C, and 5-HTR4) in the bovine digestive tract were measured by use of a quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay. Results were reported in relation to mRNA expression of the housekeeping gene glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH).
RESULTS
Mean relative mRNA concentrations for 5-HTR were low (range, 0% to 1.32% of GAPDH), and mRNA that codes for 5-HTR1A was not detected. In the abomasum, mRNA expression was highest for 5-HTR1B and 5-HTR2B, followed by subtypes 1F 2A, 1D, and 4, whereas 5-HTR2C was not detected. In intestinal samples, concentrations of subtypes 1B, 2B, and 4 were highest, followed by 1D, 1F, 2A, and 2C. Relative concentrations of mRNA that code for 5-HTR2A were significantly higher in the abomasum than the intestines, but lower for 5-HTR2B, 5-HTR2C, and 5-HTR4.
CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE
Relative concentrations of mRNA that code for 5-HTRs differ among locations in the gastrointestinal tract of cattle. Understanding differences in the distribution of 5-HTRs in healthy cattle and cattle with gastrointestinal tract disease may lead to improved therapeutic approaches for abomasal and cecal motility disorders.
Topics: Analysis of Variance; Animals; Cattle; DNA, Complementary; Female; Gastrointestinal Tract; Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenases; RNA, Messenger; Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT1; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
PubMed: 15334851
DOI: 10.2460/ajvr.2004.65.1151