The main purpose of this study was to further investigate the effects of vagotomy on gastric lesi... more The main purpose of this study was to further investigate the effects of vagotomy on gastric lesion development. In contrast to the usual subdiaphragmal vagotomy, a different vagotomy at the level of the trigonum caroticum was used both alone and in combination with pylorus ligation (done immediately after vagal transection). The animals were killed 15 min, 30 min, 1 h and 6 h following vagotomy. No damaging effects of sham-vagotomy, or obvious negative effects of cervical vagotomy were noted. Prominent lesions appeared after 1 h in rats subjected to cervical vagotomy and significantly increased lesions in the early period of pylorus ligation were noted. No further aggravation in pylorus ligated rats (even an apparent amelioration at 1-h interval) and no lesions in rats with cervical vagotomy in the latter period could be explained in terms of a lack of reactivity due to exhaustion preceding fatal outcome. Consistent with this, the rats subjected to cervical vagotomy died shortly after the 6-h period.
The possibility that the stomach, affected by general stress, might initiate a counter-response h... more The possibility that the stomach, affected by general stress, might initiate a counter-response has not until recently been considered in theories of stress. We suggest that the stomach, as the most sensitive part of the gastrointestinal tract and the largest neuroendocrine organ in the body, is crucial for the initiation of a full stress response against all noxious stress pathology. The end result would be a strong protection of all organs invaded by 'stress'. Consistent with this assumption, this coping response is best explained in terms of 'organoprotection'. Endogenous organoprotectors (eg prostaglandins, somatostatin, dopamine) are proposed as mediators. Such an endogenous counteraction could even be afforded by their suitable application. A new gastric juice peptide, M(r) 40,000, named BPC, was recently isolated. Herein, a 15 amino acid fragment (BPC 157), thought to be essential for its activity, has been fully characterized and investigated. As has been demonstrated for many organoprotective agents using different models of various tissue lesions, despite the poorly understood final mechanism, practically all organ systems appear to benefit from BPC activity. These effects have been achieved in many species using very low dosages (mostly microgram and ng/kg range) after ip, ig, and intramucosal (local) application. The effect was apparent already after one application. Long lasting activity was also demonstrated. BPC was highly effective when applied simultaneously with noxious agents or in already pathological, as well as chronical, conditions. Therefore, it seems that BPC treatment does not share any of the so far known limitations for 'conventional organoprotectors'. No influence on different basal parameters and no toxicity were observed. These findings provide a breakthrough in stress theory. BPC, as a possible endogenous free radical scavenger and organoprotection mediator, could be a useful prototype of a new class of drugs, organoprotective agents.
Among other higher brain functions such as consciousness and learning, general anesthesia also af... more Among other higher brain functions such as consciousness and learning, general anesthesia also affects memory. A number of information retrieval tests are performed to determine the effects of drugs on explicit memory. In this study, we investigated the recognition of words before and after general anesthesia in subjects having and not having received anesthesia on one or more occasions before the present one. The study included 51 patients, ASA physical status I or II, median age 50, at least high-school graduates, without head trauma, known psychiatric or memory disorder, and taking no psychoactive medication. A standardized anesthesia technique, a single surgical procedure and a defined study-test interval were used. We designed our own test as a combination of story recall test and brief word learning test, both widely used in psychological and psychiatric examination. There was no significant difference in word recognition before and after general anesthesia in either patient group. Many studies indicate that anesthesia and surgery are associated with cognitive impairment lasting for 33 months in 10%-14% of elderly patients. We hypothesized that general anesthetics can cause prolonged cognitive alterations. Study results showed that previous anesthesia in addition to the current one had no significant influence on the word recognition test.
The main purpose of this study was to further investigate the effects of vagotomy on gastric lesi... more The main purpose of this study was to further investigate the effects of vagotomy on gastric lesion development. In contrast to the usual subdiaphragmal vagotomy, a different vagotomy at the level of the trigonum caroticum was used both alone and in combination with pylorus ligation (done immediately after vagal transection). The animals were killed 15 min, 30 min, 1 h and 6 h following vagotomy. No damaging effects of sham-vagotomy, or obvious negative effects of cervical vagotomy were noted. Prominent lesions appeared after 1 h in rats subjected to cervical vagotomy and significantly increased lesions in the early period of pylorus ligation were noted. No further aggravation in pylorus ligated rats (even an apparent amelioration at 1-h interval) and no lesions in rats with cervical vagotomy in the latter period could be explained in terms of a lack of reactivity due to exhaustion preceding fatal outcome. Consistent with this, the rats subjected to cervical vagotomy died shortly after the 6-h period.
The possibility that the stomach, affected by general stress, might initiate a counter-response h... more The possibility that the stomach, affected by general stress, might initiate a counter-response has not until recently been considered in theories of stress. We suggest that the stomach, as the most sensitive part of the gastrointestinal tract and the largest neuroendocrine organ in the body, is crucial for the initiation of a full stress response against all noxious stress pathology. The end result would be a strong protection of all organs invaded by 'stress'. Consistent with this assumption, this coping response is best explained in terms of 'organoprotection'. Endogenous organoprotectors (eg prostaglandins, somatostatin, dopamine) are proposed as mediators. Such an endogenous counteraction could even be afforded by their suitable application. A new gastric juice peptide, M(r) 40,000, named BPC, was recently isolated. Herein, a 15 amino acid fragment (BPC 157), thought to be essential for its activity, has been fully characterized and investigated. As has been demonstrated for many organoprotective agents using different models of various tissue lesions, despite the poorly understood final mechanism, practically all organ systems appear to benefit from BPC activity. These effects have been achieved in many species using very low dosages (mostly microgram and ng/kg range) after ip, ig, and intramucosal (local) application. The effect was apparent already after one application. Long lasting activity was also demonstrated. BPC was highly effective when applied simultaneously with noxious agents or in already pathological, as well as chronical, conditions. Therefore, it seems that BPC treatment does not share any of the so far known limitations for 'conventional organoprotectors'. No influence on different basal parameters and no toxicity were observed. These findings provide a breakthrough in stress theory. BPC, as a possible endogenous free radical scavenger and organoprotection mediator, could be a useful prototype of a new class of drugs, organoprotective agents.
Among other higher brain functions such as consciousness and learning, general anesthesia also af... more Among other higher brain functions such as consciousness and learning, general anesthesia also affects memory. A number of information retrieval tests are performed to determine the effects of drugs on explicit memory. In this study, we investigated the recognition of words before and after general anesthesia in subjects having and not having received anesthesia on one or more occasions before the present one. The study included 51 patients, ASA physical status I or II, median age 50, at least high-school graduates, without head trauma, known psychiatric or memory disorder, and taking no psychoactive medication. A standardized anesthesia technique, a single surgical procedure and a defined study-test interval were used. We designed our own test as a combination of story recall test and brief word learning test, both widely used in psychological and psychiatric examination. There was no significant difference in word recognition before and after general anesthesia in either patient group. Many studies indicate that anesthesia and surgery are associated with cognitive impairment lasting for 33 months in 10%-14% of elderly patients. We hypothesized that general anesthetics can cause prolonged cognitive alterations. Study results showed that previous anesthesia in addition to the current one had no significant influence on the word recognition test.
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