Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0000727 (acute abdomen)
 3,084 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Vitamin C is a key antioxidant in human blood plasma and hence could influence the outcome of conditions such as acute pancreatitis in which oxidative stress apparently plays a pivotal role. The concentrations of vitamin C and its immediately bioavailable form, ascorbic acid, in fasting plasma samples from 30 healthy volunteers were compared with those in admission samples from 29 consecutive patients with acute pancreatitis and 27 patients with other acute abdominal crises. Median (range) levels of vitamin C and ascorbic acid, respectively, were 15 (6.3-19) and 12 (4.5-18) micrograms/ml in the control group, 2.8 (0.3-10) and < 0.5 (< 0.5-6.0) micrograms/ml in patients with acute pancreatitis, and 3.7 (0.6-15) and 2.3 (< 0.5-15) micrograms/ml in those with other acute abdominal problems. Admission plasma samples showed equally low vitamin C levels in both groups of patients (P < 0.001 versus controls), but those from patients with acute pancreatitis were further characterized by a disproportionate reduction in ascorbic acid, such that the concentration of ascorbic acid and its ratio to vitamin C were both significantly lower than in samples from patients with an acute abdomen (P < 0.005 and P < 0.001 respectively). It is concluded that the stress of an acute intra-abdominal crisis is accompanied by a non-specific decrease in the plasma level of vitamin C. In acute pancreatitis early and profound oxidative stress compounds this problem by denaturing the available vitamin. There may be a case for the judicious parenteral administration of ascorbic acid to patients with acute pancreatitis to boost plasma antioxidant defence.
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PMID:Vitamin C status in patients with acute pancreatitis. 833 Jan 66

Brown bowel syndrome is a rare condition characterized by deposition of lipofuscin in the smooth muscle cells of the gastrointestinal tract. The number of reported cases is small, but all are associated with malabsorptive states. Despite these small numbers, there is considerable evidence that vitamin E deficiency is important etiologically. We report here the case of a severely malnourished [body mass index 11.7 kg/m (2): normal range 20-25 kg/m (2)] 31-yr-old black male with a longstanding history of alcohol abuse, who was on anti-tuberculosis therapy. The patient presented with an acute abdomen and was found, at operation, to have a mid-ileal intussusception. Histological examination of the resected specimen demonstrated lipofuscin accumulation consistent with brown bowel syndrome, but no tumor. Subsequent investigations revealed no significant quantities of vitamin E in the blood and pancreatic steatorrhea. However, deficiency of other fat-soluble (vitamin A and D) and water-soluble vitamins (vitamin C and thiamine) also were detected. This report supports the association of brown bowel syndrome with vitamin E deficiency but cannot exclude the compounding effects of protein calorie malnutrition, multiple vitamin deficiencies, and chronic alcohol toxicity.
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PMID:Small bowel intussusception and brown bowel syndrome in association with severe malnutrition. 867 14