Acute suppurative oesophagitis with fever and cough: A case report

BACKGROUND

Suppurative oesophagitis is a diffuse inflammation of the oesophagus characterized by suppurative exudate or pus formation. Suppurative infections can affect any part of the gastrointestinal tract, most commonly the stomach, with inflammation involving the entire gastric cavity. However, cases extending beyond the cardia or pylorus and involving the oesophagus, small intestine, and colon are rare. Usually such cases are discovered during surgery or autopsy.

CASE SUMMARY

We report a rare case of acute suppurative oesophagitis. A 57-year-old man presented at the Emergency Department of our hospital with fever and productive cough. The patient had a significant history of lower oesophageal mucosal frostbite. He was successfully diagnosed and treated with repeated gastroscopy, appropriate antibiotics, and innovative symptomatic treatment.

CONCLUSION

Early diagnosis and appropriate treatment of acute suppurative oesophagitis are critical. Nutritional support, postural drainage, and other symptomatic treatments must be considered.

Upregulation of microRNA-140-3p inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition, invasion, and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma through inactivation of the MAPK signaling pathway by targeting GRN

Invasion and metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) results in poor prognosis. Human intervention in these pathological processes may benefit the treatment of HCC. The aim of the present study is to elucidate the mechanism of miR-140-3p affecting epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), invasion, and metastasis in HCC. Microarray analysis was performed for differentially expressed genes screening. The target relationship between miR-140-3p and GRN was analyzed. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) against granulin (GRN) was synthesized. EMT markers were detected, and invasion and migration were evaluated in HCC cells introduced with a miR-140-3p inhibitor or mimic, or siRNA against GRN. A mechanistic investigation was conducted for the determination of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway-related genes and EMT markers (E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and Vimentin). GRN was highlighted as an upregulated gene in HCC. GRN was a target gene of miR-140-3p. Elevation of miR-140-3p or inhibition of GRN restrained the EMT process and suppressed the HCC cell migration and invasion. HCC cells treated with the miR-140-3p mimic or siRNA-GRN exhibited decreased GRN expression and downregulated the expressions of the MAPK signaling pathway-related genes, N-cadherin, and Vimentin but upregulated the expression of E-cadherin. GRN silencing can reverse the activation of the MAPK signaling pathway and induction of EMT mediated by miR-140-3p inhibition. Taken together, the results show that miR-140-3p confers suppression of the MAPK signaling pathway by targeting GRN, thus inhibiting EMT, invasion, and metastasis in HCC.