Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.2.1.108 (lactase)
 2,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Giardia lamblia has a cosmopolitan distribution. The organism exists in two stages--the trophozoite and the cystic stage. Infected children may have acute or chronic diarrhea, crampy abdominal pain, anorexia, malasorption and poor weight gain and may be misdiagnosed as celiac disease. Infection may be selflimited or chronic even over years. Diagnosis is usually made by finding the characteristic cyst in stool specimens or by duodenal aspiration. Histological sections and impression smears (AMENT) of intestinal mucosa biopsies have been proved to be the most reliable method for detecting giardiasis. Evaluation of impression smears for parasites is easier and quicker than examining serial sections of biopsies. Out of 175 selected patients with intestinal complaints which were undergone small intestinal biopsy 11 were infected with giardia lamblia (6.2%). All infected children were symptomatic, malabsorption could be demonstrated in 5/8, lactase levels were reduced in most children. Examination of duodenal aspirates, stool specimens and histological sections (routine histology) alone would not have been diagnostic in every case. Evaluation of impression smears proved to be a reliable method in detecting giardia lamblia infection and is recommended whenever an intestinal biopsy is performed.
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PMID:[The value of the "impression smear" in detecting giardia lamblia infection (author's transl)]. 64 94

Twenty-two calves between one and 20 days old were infected orally or by contact with cryptosporidia. Calves were maintained as either specific pathogen free, colostrum fed or sucking and were inoculated with either a bacteria free or a contaminated cryptosporidium preparation. Enteritis was characterised by depression, anorexia and diarrhoea and cryptosporidium oocysts were excreted during the clinical course of the illness. In the initial stages of the disease, cryptosporidium infestation was found throughout the small intestine; in the later stage the large intestine was also affected. Villous atrophy and fusion was present at small intestinal sites infected with cryptosporidia and lactase levels were depressed. No lesions were seen in infected large intestinal mucosa. Although the incubation period was longest (five to seven days) in calves infected by contact, there were few differences in the clinical course of disease or the pathological findings between any of the infected calves.
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PMID:Experimental cryptosporidiosis in calves: clinical manifestations and pathological findings. 622 May 9

Patients with chemotherapy-induced gastrointestinal mucositis suffer from anorexia, diarrhea, and stomach pain, often causing weight loss and malnutrition. When the intestinal function during mucositis would be known, a rational feeding strategy might improve the nutritional state, accelerate recuperation, and increase survival of mucositis patients. We developed a methotrexate (MTX)-induced mucositis rat model to study nutrient digestion and absorption. To determine lactose digestion and absorption of its derivative glucose during mucositis, we injected Wistar rats intravenously with MTX (60 mg/kg) or 0.9% NaCl (controls). Four days later, we orally administered trace amounts of [1-(13)C]lactose and [U-(13)C]glucose and quantified the appearance of labeled glucose in the blood for 3 h. Finally, we determined plasma citrulline level and harvested the small intestine to assess histology, myeloperoxidase level, glycohydrolase activity, immunohistochemical protein, and mRNA expression. MTX-treated rats showed profound villus atrophy and epithelial damage. During the experimental period, the absorption of lactose-derived [1-(13)C]glucose was 4.2-fold decreased in MTX-treated rats compared with controls (P < 0.01). Lactose-derived [1-(13)C]glucose absorption correlated strongly with villus length (rho = 0.86, P < 0.001) and with plasma citrulline level (rho = 0.81, P < 0.001). MTX treatment decreased jejunal lactase activity (19.5-fold, P < 0.01) and immunohistochemical protein and mRNA expression (39.7-fold, P < 0.01) compared with controls. Interestingly, MTX treatment did not affect the absorption of [U-(13)C]glucose during the experimental period. We conclude that lactose digestion is severely decreased during mucositis while glucose absorption is still intact, when supplied in trace amounts. Plasma citrulline level might be a useful objective, noninvasive marker for lactose maldigestion during mucositis in clinic.
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PMID:Lactose maldigestion during methotrexate-induced gastrointestinal mucositis in a rat model. 2108 38