Lactoferrin is an iron binding protein involved in a large spectrum of biological actions including antimicrobial actions. Lactoferrin plays a central role in ferrokinetics: it binds free iron with ...great affinity limiting the amount of ions available for microorganism's metabolism. Its role in the host defence mechanisms consists in bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects; moreover it inhibits the proliferation of other microbes such as fungi and viruses. Lactoferrin is also involved in the modulation of immune system and recent studies indicate that lactoferrin directly modulates both production and function of neutrophils and monocytes.
We present our experience in the treatment of 18 patients affected by gastrointestinal stromal tumours (GIST) from January 1988 to march 2002. The ratio M.F was of 2:1 and the median age of 68.6 ...years. In 13 patients the tumours were located in the stomach while in 5 patients in the jejunum ileum area. In 7 patients the neoplasms were malignant. All the patients were operated and in 11 patients a partial gastric resection was carried out. 2 patients had a total gastrectomy and 5 had a small bowel resection. The diagnostic and therapeutic options and the uncertain prognosis of these neoplasms are discussed.
Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) is a heterogeneous group of autosomal recessive childhood cholestasis of hepatocellular origin. PFIC 1, also known as Byler disease, was first ...described in Amish kindred. It is characterized by cholestasis often arising in the neonatal period and it leads to death due to liver failure. PFIC 1, like Benign Recurrent Intrahepatic Cholestasis (BRIC) which is the benign form of the same disease, recognizes mutations in the ATP8B1 gene. PFIC 2 disease is clinically similar to PFIC 1 but it has a different gene mutation causing a defect in the Bile Salt Export Pump (BSEP), exclusively expressed in the liver and involved in the canalicular secretion of bile acids. PFIC 3 usually appears later in life and it has a higher risk of portal hypertension, gastrointestinal bleeding and liver failure. This particular form of disease (the only one with high serum values of g-glutamil transpeptidase), is associated to a genetic defect in the class III multidrug resistance protein (MDR). External biliary diversion and ursodeoxycholic acid therapy, should be considered as the initial therapy in these patients, even if liver transplantation still seems to be the only solution for most patients.
This case is a report of a male, 52 year old, heavy smoker, with a history of about 10 years of alcohol abuse (he quitted in 1993), gastric resection for ulcer (Billroth II 1970), hypoparathyroidism ...and macroamylasemia, died for undiagnosed pancreatic carcinoma revealed at necroscopy. The only clinical evidence of carcinoma were pulmonary metastasis and paraneoplastic syndrome characterized from hyponatriemia due to inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone and elevation of seric calcium caused by parathyroid hormone related protein. In patients without endocrine abnormalities, such unusual paraneoplastic syndrome could cause hypercalcemia, but in our patient, the increased calcemia did not reach abnormal levels due to the previous hypoparathyroidism. At present time, there are no clinical reports of parathyroid related protein secretion by pancreatic carcinoma and therefore, it could speculate that this modification together with ectopic secretion of antidiuretic hormone, represent a peculiar evidence of otherwise unknown and undetectable pancreatic carcinoma.
Conclusion: We here present a novel genome-wide candidate for PDAC risk (TERT-rs2736100), a completely new signal (NAF1-rs7675998) that approaches the genome-wide threshold and we propose short ...telomeres as strong risk factor for pancreatic cancer that could be used for risk stratification in the general population or in high risk individuals.
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