Publications (2)11.07 Total impact
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Article: Epidemiology, risk factors, and the promotion of pancreatic cancer: role of the stellate cell.
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ABSTRACT: There are approximately 277,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer and 266,000 deaths from pancreatic cancer annually, indicating a mortality rate of 96% of the cases diagnosed. Because of the ineffectiveness of therapies, a major emphasis needs to be placed on prevention. This paper reviews the epidemiology and risk factors for pancreatic cancer, and uses this information to propose plausible research directions for determining the biological mechanisms mediating the effects of risk factors on the promotion of pancreatic cancer, with a focus on the pancreatic stellate cell.Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology 03/2012; 27 Suppl 2:127-34. · 2.87 Impact Factor -
Article: The crucial role of early mitochondrial injury in L-lysine-induced acute pancreatitis.
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ABSTRACT: AIMS: Large doses of intraperitoneally injected basic amino acids, L-arginine, or L-ornithine, induce acute pancreatitis in rodents, although the mechanisms mediating pancreatic toxicity remain unknown. Another basic amino acid, L-lysine, was also shown to cause pancreatic acinar cell injury. The aim of the study was to get insight into the mechanisms through which L-lysine damages the rat exocrine pancreas, in particular to characterize the kinetics of L-lysine-induced mitochondrial injury, as well as the pathologic responses (including alteration of antioxidant systems) characteristic of acute pancreatitis. RESULTS: We showed that intraperitoneal administration of 2 g/kg L-lysine induced severe acute necrotizing pancreatitis. L-lysine administration caused early pancreatic mitochondrial damage that preceded the activation of trypsinogen and the proinflammatory transcription factor nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), which are commonly thought to play an important role in the development of acute pancreatitis. Our data demonstrate that L-lysine impairs adenosine triphosphate synthase activity of isolated pancreatic, but not liver, mitochondria. INNOVATION AND CONCLUSION: Taken together, early mitochondrial injury caused by large doses of L-lysine may lead to the development of acute pancreatitis independently of pancreatic trypsinogen and NF-κB activation.Antioxidants & Redox Signaling 06/2011; 15(10):2669-81. · 8.20 Impact Factor
