Immunopathological and Modulatory Effects of Cag A+ Genotype on Gastric Mucosa, Inflammatory Response, Pepsinogens, and Gastrin-17 Secretion in Iraqi Patients infected with H. pylori

Mucin 1 and interleukin-11 protein expression and inflammatory reactions in the intestinal mucosa of necrotizing enterocolitis children after surgery

BACKGROUND

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) of the newborn is a frequently occurring clinical disease in infants. The mortality rate of NEC in premature infants is as high as 50%, and the morbidity rate is on the rise. NEC has already caused serious impacts on newborn survival and poses serious threats to both children and families.

AIM

To investigate the expression and significance of mucin 1 (MUC1) and interleukin-11 (IL-11) in the intestinal mucosa of infants with neonatal NEC after surgery.

METHODS

Forty-eight postoperative intestinal mucosal specimens from children with NEC (NEC group) and twenty-two intestinal mucosal specimens from children with congenital intestinal atresia (control group) were collected in our hospital. Immunohistochemical staining and Western blot analysis were used to examine the protein expression of MUC-1 and IL-11 in the two groups. The serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and IL-1β in the two groups were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the relationship between MUC-1 and IL-11 protein expression and serum TNF-α and IL-1β levels was analyzed by the linear correlation method.

RESULTS

The protein expression of MUC-1 and IL-11 in the NEC group was significantly lower than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The levels of serum TNF-α and IL-1β in the NEC group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The protein expression of MUC-1 and IL-11 in the NEC group negatively correlated with serum TNF-α and IL-1β levels (P < 0.05). There was a significant negative correlation between the protein expression of MUC-1 and IL-11 and the levels of serum TNF-α and IL-1β in the NEC group.

CONCLUSION

The protein expression of MUC1 and IL-11 in the intestinal mucosa of children with NEC is significantly downregulated after surgery. This downregulation may be involved in the pathogenesis of this disease and has a certain correlation with inflammatory response factors in children with NEC.

Protective Effect of Ultraviolet C Irradiation on the Gastric Mucosa of Rats with Chronic Gastritis Induced by Physicochemical Stimulations

Background

Chronic gastritis (CG) is a common digestive disease with the highest morbidity among multiple digestive diseases, which seriously lowers the life quality of patients. The pathological alternations of gastric mucosa, and its possible mechanisms have been the focus of CG-related researches. Accumulative basic and clinical evidence has confirmed that ultraviolet C (UVC) is effective in relieving superficial acute infective inflammation, skin and mucous membrane injuries, and ulcers, and promoting wound healing.

Objective

This study was aimed at investigating the protective effects of UVC on gastric mucosal injury in rats stimulated with physicochemical irritants like ethanol and exploring the mechanisms underlying the protection by UVC against gastric mucosal injury and CG.

Methods

Fifty Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups, including Group A (normal), Group B (model), Group C (omeprazole treatment), Group D (intragastric UVC irradiation for 24 s × 2 yields), and Group E (intragastric UVC irradiation for 48 s × 2 yields). Rats in Groups B-E were made CG model by physicochemical stimulations. All rats were sacrificed one week after the 22-week experiment, and gastric tissues were harvested. Histopathological examinations were performed. The activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase as well as the contents of reduced glutathione and malondialdehyde in gastric mucosal tissues were detected. Serum interleukin-6, interleukin-1beta, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, pepsin, and gastrin were measured.

Results

Results showed that physiochemical irritants like ethanol could be used for easily establishing a rat CG model that shared similar pathological features with human CG. Intragastric UVC irradiation could promote the repair of gastric mucosa and improve the atrophy of gastric mucosa by inhibiting the inflammatory factors, increasing the levels of pepsin and gastrin, decreasing the expression of lipid peroxide, and enhancing the activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase and the levels of reduced glutathione. UVC irradiation for 48 s × 2 yields showed the strongest protective effect.

Conclusion

UVC irradiation could inhibit the inflammatory factors, activate the antioxidative system, and enhance the secretion of pepsin and gastrin, which promoted the repair of injured gastric mucosa and improved gastric mucosa atrophy.

Serum Gastrin Predicts Hydrogen-Producing Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth in Patients With Abdominal Surgery: A Prospective Study

OBJECTIVES

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) might be associated with a history of abdominal surgery. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence of SIBO and to investigate serum gastrin and pepsinogen as predictors of SIBO in patients with a history of hysterectomy, gastrectomy, or cholecystectomy.

METHODS

This prospective study surveyed 146 patients with a history of hysterectomy, gastrectomy, or cholecystectomy, and 30 healthy controls, who underwent a hydrogen (H2)-methane (CH4) glucose breath test (GBT) for SIBO. Serum pepsinogen I and II and gastrin levels were reviewed.

RESULTS

GBT positivity (+) was significantly higher in patients with histories of abdominal surgery than that in in controls (37.6% vs 13.3%, P < 0.01). Among GBT+ patients, 36.0% (18/50), 96.2% (25/26), and 17.1% (12/70) were in the hysterectomy, gastrectomy, and cholecystectomy groups, respectively. Among the GBT subtypes, 43.6% (24/55), 10.9% (6/55), and 45.5% (25/55) of patients were in the GBT(H2)+, GBT(CH4)+, and GBT(mixed)+ groups, respectively. The gastrectomy group had significantly more GBT+ or GBT(H2)+ patients than the other surgical groups. Gastrin levels were higher in GBT(H2)+ patients and lower in GBT(CH4)+ patients than those in GBT- patients. Previous gastrectomy and elevated gastrin levels were independent predictive factors of GBT(H2)+.

DISCUSSION

SIBO is not uncommon in patients with histories of abdominal surgeries, but it is more common in patients who have undergone gastrectomy. Serum gastrin level could be a serologic predictor of H2-producing SIBO. The relationship between serum gastrin and SIBO requires further research.

The panoramic picture of pepsinogen gene family with pan-cancer

Background

It is well known that pepsinogen (PGs), as an important precursor of pepsin performing digestive function, has a good correlation with the occurrence and development of gastric cancer and it is also known that ectopic PGs expression is related to the prognosis of some cancers. However, the panoramic picture of pepsinogen gene family in human cancer is not clear. This study focused on elucidating the expression profile, activated pathway, immune cells infiltration, mutation, and copy number variation of PGs and their potential role in human cancer.

Method

Based on the next generation sequence data from TCGA, Oncomine, and CCLE, the molecular changes and clinical correlation of PGs in 33 tumor types were analyzed systematically by R language, including the expression, mutation, and copy number variation of PGs and their correlation with cancer‐related signal transduction pathway, immune cell infiltration, and prognostic potential in different cancers.

Results

PGs expression profiles appear different in 33 tumors. The transcriptional expression of PGs was detected in 16 of all 33 tumors. PGC was highly expressed in cholangiocarcinoma, colon adenocarcinoma, rectum adenocarcinoma, uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma, bladder urothelial carcinoma and breast cancer, while decreased in stomach adenocarcinoma, kidney renal clear cell carcinoma, prostate adenocarcinoma, lung squamous cell carcinoma, and esophageal carcinoma. PGA3, PGA4, and PGA5 were expressed in most normal tissues, but decreased in cancer tissues. PGs expression was significantly related to the activation or inhibition of many signal transduction pathways, in which PGC and PGA5 are more likely to be associated with cancer‐related pathways. PGC participated in 33 regulatory network pathways in pan‐cancer, mainly distributed in stomach adenocarcinoma, esophageal carcinoma, and lung squamous cell carcinoma, respectively. PGC and PGA3 expression were significantly correlated with immune cell infiltration. The results of survival analysis showed that different PGs expression play significantly different prognostic roles in different cancers. PGC was correlated with poor survival in brain lower grade glioma, skin cutaneous melanoma, and higher survival in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma, acute myeloid leukemia, mesothelioma, and uveal melanoma. PGA4 was only associated with higher survival in kidney renal clear cell carcinoma. Genetic variation analysis showed that PGC gene often mutated in uterine corpus endometrial carcinoma and stomach adenocarcinoma had extensive copy number amplification in various tumor types. PGC expression was upregulated with the increase of copy number in cholangiocarcinoma, esophageal carcinoma, and kidney renal papillary cell carcinoma, while in stomach adenocarcinoma, PGC was upregulated regardless of whether the copy number was increased or decreased.

Conclusions

PGs was expressed unevenly in a variety of cancer tissues and was related to many carcinogenic pathways and involved in the immune regulation. PGC participated in 33 regulatory pathways in human cancer. Different PGs expression play significantly different prognostic roles in different cancers. The variation of copy number of PGC gene could affect the PGC expression. These findings suggested that PGs, especially PGC have characteristic of broad‐spectrum expression in multiple cancers rather than being confined to the gastric mucosa, which may made PGs be useful biomarkers for prediction/diagnosis/prognosis and effective targets for treatment in human cancer.

Diagnostic value of serum pepsinogen in gastric diseases

Serum pepsinogen can reflect the functional status of the gastric mucosa. The pathological changes of the gastric mucosa include chronic gastritis, gastric ulcer, atrophic gastritis, and gastric cancer, and the relationship between serum pepsinogen and gastric cancer/atrophic gastritis is the most prominent. Since the detection of serum pepsinogen is simple, inexpensive, time-saving, highly sensitive, and highly specific, it has attracted great attention from scholars and is regarded as "serological biopsy". In this paper, we discuss the value of serum pepsinogen in the diagnosis of gastric diseases.