In order to clarify the role of histamine in the neuro-humoral excitatory mechanism in the stomach, the effect of cepharanthine (an inhibitory agent of histamine release from mast cells) on excitatory response of gastric movement and increase in gastric mucosal histamine content caused by nerve stimulation (vagus and splanchnic nerves) or administration of tetragastrin were investigated in dogs...

Diamine oxidase (DAO; EC 1.4.3.6) is an enzyme found in high activity in the mature cells of the upper villus of rat small intestinal mucosa and in very much lower activity in all other tissues in the nonpregnant rat. This study was designed to determine whether a provocative test for increasing the level of plasma DAO activity by heparin administration could be used to monitor the extent and s...

Malnutrition can take a variety of forms, such as protein–energy malnutrition, and deficiencies of micronutrients, such as iron, iodine, and vitamin A. Among various forms of nutritional deficiencies in children, iron deficiency is the most common form that subsequently results in iron deficiency anemia (IDA). Consequences of IDA are serious and include reduced school performance, decreased gro...

BACKGROUND The development of mucosal vaccines is crucial to efficiently control infectious agents for which mucosae are the primary site of entry. Major drawbacks of these protective strategies are the lack of effective mucosal adjuvant. Synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides that contain several unmethylated cytosine-guanine dinucleotide (CpG-ODN) motifs are now recognized as promising adjuvants dis...