UNLABELLED Esophago-pharyngeal regurgitation is implicated in various otolaryngologic and respiratory disorders. The pathophysiological mechanisms causing regurgitation are still largely unknown. AIM To determine the principal mechanisms behind esophago-pharyngeal regurgitation. METHODS We studied 11 patients with extra-esophageal GORD symptoms in whom esophago-pharyngeal acid regurgitation...

Pharyngeal delay is a significant swallowing disorder often resulting in aspiration. It is suspected that pharyngeal delay originates from sensory impairment, but a direct demonstration of a link between oral sensation and pharyngeal delay is lacking. In this study involving six patients with complaints of dysphagia, taste sensation of the oral tongue was measured and subsequently related to sw...

Owing to its high degree of complexity and plasticity, the cichlid pharyngeal jaw apparatus has often been described as a key evolutionary innovation. The majority of studies investigating pharyngeal muscle behavior and function have done so in the context of feeding. Analysis of enzyme activities (citrate synthase, 3-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase and L-lactate dehydrogenase) of pharyngeal musc...

To build complex organs, embryos have evolved mechanisms that integrate the development of cells unrelated to one another by cell type or ancestry. Here we show that the pha-4 locus establishes organ identity for the Caenorhabditis elegans pharynx. In pha-4 mutants, pharyngeal cells are transformed into ectoderm. Conversely, ectopic pha-4 expression produces excess pharyngeal cells. pha-4 encod...

Background Significantly higher pharyngeal shedding of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is observed during HIV infection. Increased EBV shedding in pharynx is not affected even during highly active antiretroviral theyrapy (HAART). EBV positive monocyte populations have been shown to carry EBV to pharyngeal mucosa. Human cytokine profiles are often altered to facilitate herpes virus infection. Thus phar...

their downstream targets in the lamprey head. In jawed vertebrates, Edn signaling patterns the pharyngeal skeleton and positions the jaw joint through the action of target genes such as Hand, Bapx, Chordin, Gdf5, Gsc, Dlx, and Barx. We find gnathostome-like expression of Edns and most Edn target genes in the lamprey head, indicating that Ednmediated pharyngeal skeleton patterning predates the e...