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Objectives Methods Results Conclusions The endoscopic pressure study integrated system (EPSIS) represents an innovative approach for evaluating lower esophageal sphincter function by monitoring intragastric pressure using diagnostic gastroscopes. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and validity of employing ultrathin gastroscopes for EPSIS.A retrospective analysis was conducted on a database of consecutive patients who underwent EPSIS using both ultrathin and regular gastroscopes between September 2021 and October 2023. The study compared EPSIS parameters between the two gastroscope types to evaluate the correlation of key metrics.Thirty patients underwent EPSIS with both ultrathin and regular gastroscopes. Significant positive correlations were observed in the pressure waveform: maximum intragastric pressure (mmHg) (ρ = 0.82, P < 0.001) and intragastric pressure gradient (mmHg/s) (ρ = 0.80, P < 0.001) when comparing the two gastroscopes. Maximum intragastric pressure (15.5 [5.3–20.3] vs. 18.5 [3.4–21.6], P < 0.001) and pressure gradient (0.16 [0.013–0.41] vs. 0.24 [0.0039–1.13], P < 0.001), (median [range]) were significantly lower with ultrathin gastroscopes.This study establishes that EPSIS parameters obtained with an ultrathin gastroscope exhibit a significant correlation with those obtained using a regular gastroscope, with each EPSIS parameter consistently lower. These findings support the viability of EPSIS for ultrathin gastroscopy and highlight its potential as a diagnostic tool for assessing lower esophageal sphincter function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatic enzyme induction, an inherent defense system against xenobiotics, is known to simultaneously affect endocrine system functions in mammals under specific conditions, particularly thyroid hormone (TH) regulation. While this phenomenon has been studied extensively, the pathway leading to this indirect thyroid effect in mammals has unclear applicability to amphibians, despite the importance of amphibian species in assessing thyroid-disruptive chemicals. Here, we investigated the effects of three well-known mammalian enzyme inducers-β-naphthoflavone (BNF), pregnenolone carbonitrile (PCN), and sodium phenobarbital (NaPB)-on the gene expression of phase-I and phase-II metabolizing enzymes in Xenopus laevis tadpoles. Waterborne exposure to BNF and PCN significantly induced the expression of both phase-I (cytochrome P450, CYP) and phase-II enzymes (UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, UGT and sulfotransferase, SULT), but in different patterns, while NaPB exposure induced CYP2B expression without affecting phase-II enzymes in tadpoles, in contrast to mammals. Furthermore, an ex vivo hepatic enzyme activity assay confirmed that BNF treatment significantly increased phase-II metabolic activity (glucuronidation and sulfation) toward TH. These results suggest the potential for certain mammalian enzyme inducers to influence TH clearance in X. laevis tadpoles. Our findings provide insights into the profiles of xenosensing activity and enzyme induction in amphibians, which can facilitate a better understanding of the mechanisms of indirect effects on the thyroid system via hepatic enzyme induction in nonmammalian species., (© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Introduction: Superficial non-ampullary duodenal epithelial tumors (SNADETs) include low-grade adenoma (LGA) and high-grade adenoma or carcinoma (HGA/Ca) and are classified into two different epithelial subtypes, gastric-type (G-type) and intestinal-type (I-type). We attempted to distinguish them by endoscopic characteristics including magnifying endoscopy with narrow-band imaging (M-NBI)., Methods: Various endoscopic and M-NBI findings of 286 SNADETs were retrospectively reviewed and compared between G- and I-types and histological grades. M-NBI findings were divided into four patterns based on the following vascular patterns; absent, network, intrastructural vascular (ISV), and unclassified. Lesions displaying a single pattern were classified as mono-pattern and those displaying multiple patterns as mixed-pattern. Lesions showing CDX2 positivity were categorized as I-types and those showing MUC5AC or MUC6 positivity were categorized as G-types based on immunohistochemistry., Results: Among 286 lesions, 23 (8%) were G-type and 243 (85%) were I-type. More G-type lesions were located oral to papilla (91.3 vs. 45.6%, p &lt; 0.001), and had protruding morphology compared to those of I-types (65.2 vs. 14.4%, p &lt; 0.001). The major M-NBI pattern was ISV in G-type (78.2 vs. 26.3%, p &lt; 0.001), and absent for I-type (0 vs. 34.5%, p = 0.003). Three endoscopic characteristics; location oral to papilla, protruding morphology, and major M-NBI pattern (ISV) were independent predictors for G-type. Mixed-pattern was more common in HGA/Ca than LGA for I-type (77.0 vs. 58.8%, p = 0.01); however, there was no difference for those in G-type., Conclusion: Endoscopic findings including M-NBI are useful to differentiate epithelial subtypes., (© 2024 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.)