Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0000737 (abdominal pain)
 31,184 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Campylobacter pylori, a suspected agent of gastritis and peptic ulceration, rapidly hydrolyzes urea. Because urease serves as the basis of detection of the organism in gastric biopsies and may represent an important virulence factor, biochemical characteristics of the enzyme were determined. C. pylori was isolated from antral biopsies from 10 patients with complaints of abdominal pain or history of peptic ulcer disease. All isolates were urease positive, with an average rate of hydrolysis by cell lysates being 36 +/- 28 mumol of NH3 per min per mg of protein, more than twice that of Proteus mirabilis and 10 times that of other urinary tract isolates. The enzyme had an apparent molecular weight of 625,000 +/- 15,000 by column chromatography, an isoelectric point of 5.9, a Km of 0.8 +/- 0.1 mM urea, an optimal temperature of 45 degrees C, and an optimal pH of 8.2. Ten isolates tested produced ureases with identical electrophoretic mobilities on nondenaturing 5% polyacrylamide activity gels. Acetohydroxamic acid (100 micrograms/ml), hydroxyurea (85 micrograms/ml), flurofamide (0.05 micrograms/ml), and EDTA (8 mM) inhibited enzyme activity by 50%. Cell lysates retained 50% of initial urease activity after 6 days and 40% activity after 18 days when stored at 4 degrees C in 20 mM sodium phosphate, pH 6.8. At -70 degrees C for 18 days, 1 mM EDTA or 15% glycerol preserved 40 or 34%, respectively, of initial activity. The urease of C. pylori appears to be biochemically unique from the enzymes of other common urease-producing species.
 ...
PMID:Characterization of urease from Campylobacter pylori. 338 8

A case with multiple liver abscess accompanied by massive portal venous gas is reported. A 61-yr-old male was admitted because of left lower abdominal pain, fever, and diarrhea. Abdominal x-ray examination demonstrated multiple branching lucencies in the liver. Computed tomography revealed multiple liver abscesses and massive gas in the portal system as well as a thickened wall of the sigmoid colon. Enema study using contrast medium revealed a perforation of the sigmoid colon with diverticulitis. The outcome was favorable after sigmoid colectomy in addition to intensive treatment with antibiotics. Bacteroides fragilis, which produces gas (H2 and NH3) by fermentation, was isolated not only from the resected specimen but also from blood samples. Although the presence of portal venous gas is a sign of poor prognosis in patients with intestinal infectious diseases, the sensitive detection of hepatic portal venous gas by computed tomography and the appropriate treatment may improve the patient's prognosis.
 ...
PMID:A successfully treated case of multiple liver abscesses accompanied by portal venous gas. 893 31

Rifaximin has been reported to be effective for the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy (HE) in Europe. However, it is unknown whether Rifaximin is effective for the treatment of HE in Koreans, therefore we conducted a open-label prospective randomized study to evaluate the efficacy of rifaximin versus lactulose in Korean patients. Fifty-four patients with liver cirrhosis and hepatic encephalopathy were enrolled. Thirty-two patients were randomized to receive rifaximin and 22 to receive lactulose both over a 7-day periods. Before and at the end of treatment, gradation of blood ammonia, flapping tremor, mental status, number connection test (NCT) were performed and estimation of HE indexes determined. Both rifaximin and lactulose were effective in the majority of patients (84.4% and 95.4%, respectively, p = 0.315). Blood NH3, flapping tremor, mental status, and NCT was significantly improved by rifaximin and lactulose, and the post- treatment levels of these measures were similar for the rifaximin and lactulose-treated groups, as was the HE index (rifaximin group (10.0 --> 4.2, p = 0.000); lactulose group (11.3 --> 5.0, p = 0.000)). One patient treated with rifaximin complained of abdominal pain, which was easily controlled. There was no episode of renal function impairment in either treatment group. Rifaximin proved to be as safe and as effective as lactulose for the treatment of Korean patients with hepatic encephalopathy.
 ...
PMID:Comparison of rifaximin and lactulose for the treatment of hepatic encephalopathy: a prospective randomized study. 1598 13