Ann Clin Lab Sci

Menetriers disease presenting with iron deficiency anemia.

Year 1998
Wilkerson ML. Meschter SC. Brown RE.
Division of Laboratory Medicine, PennState Geisinger Health System, Danville 17822-0131, USA.
Menetrier's disease (MD) or polyadenomes en nappe is a form of hypertrophic gastropathy occurring primarily in middle-aged males. Patients generally present clinically with dyspepsia and, on occasion, with hypoproteinemic edema and anemia. The latter feature, when combined with the radiographic appearance of the stomach in MD, can lend to confusion with carcinoma and malignant lymphoma. To illustrate this diagnostic problem, a case is reported of a 41-year-old female who initially presented to her family physician with symptoms of easy fatigue and dyspnea on exertion and signs of pallor and ankle edema. Pertinent laboratory findings included a hemoglobin of 2.8 g/dL, hematocrit of 10.3 percent, mean corpuscular volume of 63.4 mu 3, a serum albumin of 2.7 g/dL, and heme positive stools. Endoscopic examination revealed a circumferential polypoid mass involving the cardia and fundus of the stomach with relative sparing of the antrum. A CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis showed a large mass in the stomach which the radiologists and gastroenterologists believed probably represented a lymphoma or gastric carcinoma. A total gastrectomy specimen exhibited features of MD. Routine bright-field microscopy and immunohistochemical reactivity for transforming growth factor-alpha confirmed the diagnosis of MD. Moreover, ulceration of the tips of some of the hypertrophied gastric folds provided an explantation for the iron deficiency anemia. Awareness that MD may present with anemia will help in the differential diagnosis with lymphoma and carcinoma.

Gastrointestinal pathology in sickle cell disease.

Year 1998
Krauss JS. Freant LJ. Lee JR.
Medical College of Georgia, Augusta 30912, USA.
The literature was reviewed to investigate the existence of unique gastrointestinal (GI) pathological lesions in sickle-cell disease (SCD). Chole- and choledocholithiasis have long been recognized, but bilirubin gallstones can occur in any chronic hemolytic anemia. Acute pancreatitis has been reported as a possible ischemic consequence of sickling. It is unclear if the hepatic lesions of SCD differ from those of any chronically transfused population. Hepatic failure has been associated with massive sickling and hyperviscous bile ("sludge") has been linked to SCD. Elevated 5'-nucleotidase in the presence of elevated aminotransferase may suggest both hepatic and biliary tree involvement in a subgroup of patients with SCD. Low levels of the hepatically produced coagulation inhibitors, Protein S and Protein C, have been identified in SCD, but their precise relation to thrombosis in this instance remains unclear. Finally, a syndrome of intracanalicular cholestasis, sinusoidal dilation. Kupffer cell hyperplasia, and erythrophagocytosis has been linked to SCD. It has been suggested that the use of exchange transfusion prior to liver biopsy in this group of pediatric SCD patients may mask the pathophysiological role of sickled red blood cells in hepatic dysfunction. With the exception of some of the situations cited, it is concluded that most GI lesions in SCD are common to a heavily transfused population with chronic hemolytic anemia.

Adverse effects of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on the gastrointestinal system.

Year 1998
Fosslien E.
Department of Pathology, University of Illinois at Chicago, College of Medicine, Chicago 60612, USA.
Two enzymes, cyclo-oxygenase (COX) and 5-lipoxygenase, act upon arachidonic acids to produce prostaglandins and leukotrienes. Inhibition of COX-2 by non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) lowers synthesis of proinflammatory prostaglandins and produces analgesia. COX-2 is highly inducible by endotoxin, IL-1, hypoxia, epidermal growth factor (EGF), benzo[a]pyrene, and transforming growth factor beta 1(TGF-beta 1). COX-1 in constitutively expressed. Conventional NSAIDs also inhibit the synthesis of cytoprotective prostaglandins by COX-1 in the gastrointestinal tract. Surplus arachidonic acids accumulate and enhance the generation of leukotrienes via the lipoxygenase pathway inducing neutrophil adhesion to endothelium and vasoconstriction. The NSAIDs harboring a carboxyl group also inhibit oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) lowering adenosine-triphosphate (ATP) generation leading to loss of mucosal cell tight junctions and increased mucosal permeability. Administration of NSAIDs that do not interfere with OXPHOS, and concomitant use of prostaglandin analogues to restore cytoprotection reduces complications of NSAID use. However, no NSAID that lacks potential for serious gastrointestinal toxicity is currently available. Selective inhibitors of COX-2 and 5-lipoxygenase are newer, promising drugs. Surprisingly, COX-2 null mice are able to mount an inflammatory response, suffering however, from kidney dysfunction and a shortened life span. Results of clinical studies on the long-term use of NSAID drugs such as selective inhibitors are still pending.