Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0042961 (volvulus)
 4,305 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In the present study, the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (AChE) from filarial parasites was identified in sera from humans infected with Onchocerca volvulus as well as in Mastomys natalensis infected with Brugia pahangi. The enzyme was present in immune complexes precipitated with cold 4% polyethylene glycol. The infected sera showed 3-4 times more AChE activity than did normal sera, and enzyme activity could be demonstrated in 5% polyacrylamide gels by specific staining. The enzyme from infected serum showed 3 times more activity when acetylthiocholine was used as the substrate as compared with butyrylthiocholine, whereas the enzyme activity present in normal serum was low and did not show this substrate specificity. Immunoprecipitation assays confirmed the presence of anti-AChE antibodies in the infected serum. The enzyme was further analysed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunoblotting with rabbit antibodies to B. malayi AChE. Immunoblotting of the B. pahangi-infected serum revealed two closely located bands at about 200 kDa and one 95-kDa band, whereas in O. volvulus-infected serum, only one specific band was observed at about 200 kDa. The identification of parasite AChE may be particularly useful for diagnosis of the disease or for the study of the involvement of this enzyme in the host-parasite relationship.
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PMID:Identification of circulating parasite acetylcholinesterase in human and rodent filariasis. 148 Jun 4

The syndrome of degenerative leiomyopathy causing intestinal obstruction clinically manifests in young indigenous African children as massive megacolon without aganglionosis. Eighteen children have been seen over a 16 year period from a localized geographic area. There were 10 males and 8 females having a mean age of 9.5 years at presentation and a mean duration of symptoms of 4.3 years. The youngest was 6 months old. All had progressive abdominal distension and infrequent stooling but 11 had intermittent diarrhoea and 9 had colicky abdominal pain. Gross gaseous distension of the large bowel with extension into small intestine occurred in 9 and this extended into stomach and oesophagus in 4. Biopsy of the dilated, thin walled bowel showed smooth muscle degeneration and necrosis with replacement by fibrous tissue. Neuronal cells of Auerbach's plexus tend to be displaced into the circular layer of smooth muscle with mild inflammatory changes. Some small arteries show medial fibrosis with subintimal fibroblastic proliferation. Acetylcholinesterase and immunohistochemical staining with neural and muscle markers are within normal limits. One child died while 14 have been maintained on prokinetic agents, low residue diets, laxatives and enemas. Nine children have required surgical intervention of whom 4 had volvulus and 3 adhesive bowel obstruction. Degenerative leiomyopathy is a distinctive entity with classical clinical and histological features. The aetiology is still obscure.
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PMID:Degenerative leiomyopathy in African children: a review of current perspectives. 822 9