Nearly 400 hundred years ago, Frances Gliesson first de­scribed a sphincter structure at the distal end of the common bile duct where it enters the duodenum, but it was not until 1889, when Rugero Oddi described its anatomy and physiology in detail, that the function of this structure and its role in the control of [...]

D-GalN administration is a model of hepatotoxicity used ex­tensively in experimental studies. D-GalN depletes the intra- cellular uracil nucleotides in hepatocytes that lead to inhibition of RNA and protein synthesis. D-GalN increases serum transaminase levels, hepatic necrosis and coma. In the present study and in another, D-GalN induced liver injury and increased TNF-a concentration in [...]

Effect of PGE1 and D-GalN on serum ALT activity: Thenormal range of ALT activity in rat serum is 18 to 20 U/L (20). In the present study, D-GalN infusion induced a signifi­cant increase 5 and 10 mins after treatment in ALT (29+1.5 and 43±1.2 U/L, respectively) activity compared with the control group (23+0.3 and 27±2.7 [...]

Reagents: All chemicals were obtained from Sigma Chemi­cal Co (St Louis, Missouri). D-GalN was obtained from Sigma Chemical Co. PGE1 (alprostadil) was purchased from The Upjohn Co (Kalamazoo, Michigan). Antigen and polyclonal antibody obtained from Genzyme Diagnostics (Cambridge, Massachusetts) were used for quantification of TNF-a and IL-1a by ELISA. Nitrate reductase and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) [...]

TNF-a but not IL-1a is correlated with PGE1-dependent protection against acute D-galactosamine-induced liver injury Experimental studies have shown that prostaglandins have protective properties against different models of liver injury. Prostaglandin E (PGE) reduces liver toxicity in­duced by D-galactosamine (D-GalN), thioacetamide, aflatoxin B1, carbon tetrachloride, bile duct ligature, fat-enriched and choline-deficient diet, viral hepati­tis and complement-mediated [...]

A substantial body of knowledge regarding the performance of QUS techniques has been gathered. To date, evidence supports the use of QUS for the assessment of fracture risk. Addi­tional clinical applications of QUS, as the assessment of rates of changes for monitoring disease progression or response to treatment, require further investigation. Moreover, QUS tech­nology has [...]

Although considerable effort has been made to characterize the relationship between QUS and BMD measurement of the same skeletal site, from a clinical point of view, the most impor­tant issue regarding QUS is its ability to predict fracture risk. There is ample evidence documenting the ability of calcaneal QUS to predict osteoporotic fracture risk both [...]