We analyzed

the association of H. pylori infection and histological changes with gastric cancer using logistic regression analysis. Results:  The H. pylori infection rate was significantly higher in young cancer patients than their siblings (odds ratio [OR] = 2.42, P = 0.001) or control participants (OR = 3.60, P < 0.001). In H. pylori-infected subjects, corpus gastritis and premalignant changes of the corpus lesser curvature (LCv) were also more prevalent in patients than in siblings or controls. In terms of the antrum, intestinal metaplasia was more prevalent in H. pylori-infected patients than in siblings or controls, while atrophy was not affected. Siblings also had a higher H. pylori infection rate (OR = 1.60, P = 0.046) and higher prevalence of intestinal metaplasia at the corpus LCv (OR = 2.88, P = 0.027) than control participants. Conclusions:  Even in young adults, H. pylori infection is a risk factor for gastric http://www.selleckchem.com/products/ABT-263.html cancer. Young adults with histological findings including corpus predominant gastritis, corpus atrophy, or intestinal metaplasia are at increased risk. Since young siblings share risk factors, screening and treatment should be ATM inhibitor considered for these family members. “
“The zonation

of liver functions across the hepatic acinus from the periportal region (zone 1) to the pericentral region (zone 3) is marked by patterns of gene expression, enzyme activity, and redox state.1, 2 The hepatic lineage starts within the stem cell compartment, the canals of Hering located periportally, progresses through the midacinar region, and terminates with mature polyploid hepatocytes in the pericentral zone.3 Clues to the mechanisms governing the maturational process and the functional see more differentiation across the hepatic lobule are highlighted in the recent discovery of a metabolic pathway underlying the control of embryonic stem cell (ESC) fate by Yanes et al.4 These authors found that experimentally maintained high levels of unsaturated molecules perpetuatd ESC pluripotency, whereas a downstream

increase of oxidized metabolites and pro-oxidative substrates promoted differentiation, highlighting the metabolome relevance on stem cell biology. The higher activity of redox enzymes found in the pericentral zone, and the metabolic adaptation to the pericentral lower oxygen concentration related to increased NADH/NAD and NADPH/NADP ratios,1, 2 could be in tight connection with a gradient of molecular saturation through the hepatic lobule, being the highly unsaturated molecules predominant in the periportal zone. The human hepatic stem cell differentiation and maturational lineage organization could be regulated and maintained by the gradient of saturation of small molecules (oxidized and polyunsaturated) along the zones of the acinus, depending primarily on an oxygen gradient metabolic adaptation. Dezso et al.5 have proposed a model of progenitor cell-driven liver regenerative growth.