In the present study, we observed that miniature pig SCNT blastocysts possessed a lower total
number of nuclei and a lower percentage of POU5F1-positive cells than those possessed by in vitro fertilized (IVF) blastocysts. To overcome these problems, we evaluated the applicability of aggregating miniature pig SCNT embryos at the four-cell stage. We showed that (i) aggregation of two or three miniature pig SCNT embryos at the four-cell stage improves the total number of nuclei and the percentage of POU5F1-positive cells in blastocysts, and (ii) IVF blastocysts with low cell numbers induced by the removal of two blastomeres at the four-cell stage did not exhibit a decrease in the percentage of POU5F1-positive cells. These results suggest that the aggregation of miniature pig SCNT embryos at the four-cell stage can be a useful technique for improving the quality of miniature pig SCNT blastocysts and indicating CP-690550 that improvement in the percentage of POU5F1-positive cells in aggregated SCNT embryos is not simply the consequence of increased cell numbers.”
“Objective: To study bone mineral content (BMC), bone mineral
density (BMD), vitamin D status, and bone mineral variables in patients with chronic nonalcoholic pancreatitis and to determine the relationship between pancreatic dysfunction and these variables.
Methods: Thirty-one eligible nonalcoholic men with proven chronic pancreatitis and 35 male control subjects were studied. Biochemical click here data, variables of malabsorption, and BMD of the lumbar spine were evaluated.
Results: In patients with chronic pancreatitis, the mean body mass index (BMI) was 18.46 kg/m(2) and the median 25-hydroxyvitamin .D value was 15.5 (range, 5.0 to 52.0) ng/mL. A T-score of less than -2.5 was found in a higher proportion of study patients (9 of 31, 29%) than of control subjects (3 of 35, 9%). BMI correlated significantly with BMC (r = 0.426; P = .017). There was an inverse correlation between stool fat and BMC (r = -0.47; P = .03) in patients with chronic pancreatitis and steatorrhea. There was no significant correlation
between serum C188-9 molecular weight 25-hydroxyvitamin D or biochemical variables and BMD. Patients with steatorrhea had a significantly lower BMC than did those without steatorrhea, and this difference could not be accounted for by differences in BMI, presence of diabetes, or hypovitaminosis D.
Conclusion: Pancreatic osteodystrophy is a novel entity consisting of osteopenia, osteoporosis, and osteomalacia in patients with chronic pancreatitis. The inverse correlation between stool fat and BMC in patients with chronic pancreatitis, the strong positive correlation between BMI and BMC, and the lack of difference in BMC between subjects with vitamin D sufficiency and those with vitamin D deficiency suggest that long-standing malabsorption with attendant chronic undernutrition is the major factor contributing to the changes in BMC.