Epithelial Mucus Production Research Articles

Mucin Content in Gallbladderswith Brown Pigment Stones orCombination Stones with a Brown Periphery

Background/Aims: Gallbladder mucus itself has been recognized to play an important role in gallstone development. Despite the diverse mechanisms of stone induction and the differences in stone composition, there is a quantitative increase in the epithelial mucus production period before stone formation. As brown pigment stones are found frequently in gallstone disease, we conducted a study on gallbladders with brown pigment stones or combination stones with a brown periphery to evaluate the mucin content in the gallbladder epithelium in comparison to gallbladders with cholesterol stones and those without stones. Methods: Gallbladder specimens were fixed in 10% formalin immediately after cholecystectomy and then embedded in paraffin. The specimens were sectioned for periodic acid-Schiff-alcian blue (PAS-AB, pH 2.5) double stain to evaluate the intra-epithelial mucin content. The PAS-AB index was calculated as a proportion of the PAS-AB-positive mucin area to the total epithelial area, using a computerized image analyzer. Results: Evaluation of the PAS-AB index on the lining epithelia of gallbladders showed that it was 32.43 ± 9.96% in gallbladders with brown stones, which is significantly (p < 0.001) higher than in gallbladders with cholesterol stones (15.63 ± 6.75%) and gallbladders without stones (9.55 ± 4.77%). Conclusion: The results show that gallbladders with brown stones contain more abundant mucin than gallbladders with cholesterol stones or those without stones. They also suggest that the gallbladder epithelium per se might play a more important role in stone formation in those with brown stones than in those with cholesterol stones.

マクロライドと気道防御機能 マクロライドと粘液分泌

In the present study, we examined the in vivo and in vitro effects of erythromycin (EM) on epithelial mucus production. We produced hypertrophic and metaplastic changes of goblet cells in rat nasal epithelium by the intranasal instillation of endotoxin. The in vivo effects of EM on epithelial mucus production were studied using this animal model. Intraperitoneal injection of EM (100 mg/kg body weight × 8 days), ampicillin (ABPC, 200 mg/kg body weight × 8 days), and cefalotin (CET, 200 mg/kg body weight × 8 days) inhibited epithelial mucus production induced after 7 days of endotoxin instillation. EM had a greater inhibitory effect than ABPC or CET.The in vivo effects of EM on epithelial mucus secretion were studied using cultured human nasal epithelial cells. Mucus secretion was quantitatively measured by the monoclonal antibody HCS18, which specifically reacts with mucin-like materials in human epithelial goblet cells. The spontaneous mucus secretion from cultured epithelial cells did not change after incubation with 10-4 to 10-6 M EM, 10-4 M ABPC, or 10-4 M CET.These results indicate that EM has a greater inhibitory effect on endotoxin-induced epithelial mucus production than ABPC or CET, and that this effect is not caused by the direct action of EM on epithelial secretory cells.

Gastric epithelial cell turnover, mucus production, and healing of gastric ulcers with carbenoxolone.

Nineteen healthy subjects were studied and 17 patients with gastric ulcer before and after ulcer healing with carbenoxolone. Gastric deoxytibonucleic acid (DNA) loss was measured as an index of epithelial cell turnover, and N-acetylneuraminic acid (NANA) content of gastric juice as an index of mucus secretion. In normal subjects there was a negative correlation (p less that 0-025) between gastric DNA loss and NANA secretion; the lower the cell turnover the higher the NANA production. In gastric ulcer patients DNA loss or turnover was significantly (p less than 0-01) higher than normal, and fell significantly (p less than 0-01) after four weeks' treatment with carbenoxolone when 16 of the 17 ulcers had healed. At the same time NANA output increased significantly (p less than 0-01). It is suggested that patients with gastric ulcer lose cells at a high rate, a state of affairs which is returned towards normal by carbenoxolone, thus allowing the epithelial cells to mature within the mucosa and produce more mucus.

Cysts of the vagina: Classification and clinical correlations.

The clinical and morphologic features, as well as the classification, of surgically excised cysts of the vagina were reviewed. Sixty-four cysts were available for study. Classification was principally along developmental grounds, based on histologic and histochemical features of cyst epithelium. Detection of epithelial mucus production reduced significantly the incidence of Gartner's duct (mesonephric) cysts, indicating that this is an uncommon lesion. Cysts of mullerian origin, lined mainly by endocervical and occasionally by fallopian tubal epithelium, comprised one-third of the cases. Inclusion cysts of surface mucosa constituted the most common, but usually a clinically insignificant, type of vaginal cyst. Dilation of paraurethral glands and ducts could not adequately explain all the several cysts lined by urothelium. These lesions were difficult to distinguish on clinical grounds, alone, although mullerian cysts were nor symptomatic, due to their greater size.