BACKGROUND: The current WHO classification proposed high-grade biliary intraepithelial neoplasm (BilIN) and intracholecystic papillary neoplasm (ICPN) as precursors of the gallbladder carcinoma (GBC). Herein, conventional GBCs (cGBCs) were pathologically examined with respect to these two precursors.
METHODS: Forty-seven cases of GBC with grossly visible invasions were collected from Fukui Saiseikai Hospital. The association of two precursors was analyzed referring to pathologic features of cGBCs and post-operative survival.
RESULTS: 20 cGBCa (42.6%) were associated with either of two precursors in the surrounding mucosa: high-grade BilIN in 15 cases (31.9%) or ICPN in 5 cases (10.6%). Association of precursors was not related to gross types of and histological differentiation of cGBC. cGBCs without precursors showed frequent vascular/perineural invasion and lymph node metastasis, though cGBCs with and without precursors presented a similar post-operative survival. High-grade BilIN and ICPN associated with cGBCs showed more complicated cytoarchitectural features compared with those with no or focal invasion.
CONCLUSIONS: More than 40% of cGBCs were associated with high-grade BilIN or ICPN, and the former was a frequent precursor. cGBCs without precursors showed aggressive pathologic features. Clinical detection of these precursors may make early treatment of cGBCs possible.

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of cholesterol gallstones is high in Western populations, while pigment gallstones are common in Asian populations. Dietary factors are suggested to be associated with gallstone risk, but their relationship with gallstone type has not been evaluated. This study investigated the association between diet and risk of cholesterol gallstone or pigment gallstone in a Korean population whose dietary pattern and type of gallstone were changed during the last 30 years.
METHODS: Patients with cholesterol (n = 40) and pigment (n = 59) gallstones were recruited after laparoscopic cholecystectomy and were compared with those of age- and sex-matched controls without gallstones (n = 99). Dietary intakes were assessed by trained dietitians using a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals to examine the associations between diet and risk for type of gallstones adjusted by potential confounders.
RESULTS: Patients with cholesterol gallstone consumed more lipid, animal lipid, beef, pork, and fried food than those with pigment gallstones and control, while patients with pigment gallstone consumed more carbohydrate and noodles than patients with cholesterol gallstone and control. In multinomial logistic regression analysis using control as reference group, dietary pattern with high consumption of beef, pork, and fried food was associated with risk of cholesterol gallstones, while there was no association between the risk of pigment gallstone and dietary pattern. In addition, control consumed more alcohol than patients with cholesterol and pigment gallstones.
CONCLUSIONS: The present study suggested consumption of fat from meat and fried foods increased the risk of cholesterol gallstone, and intake of carbohydrate from noodles increased the risk of pigment gallstone.

Bilin chromophores and bilirubin are involved in relevant biological functions such as light perception in plants and as protective agents against Alzheimer and other diseases. Despite their extensive use, a deep rationalization of the main factors controlling the thermal and photochemical properties has not been performed yet, which in turn hampers further applications of these versatile molecules. In an effort to understand those factors and allow control of the relevant properties, a combined experimental and computational study has been carried out for diverse model systems to understand the interconversion between Z and E isomers. In this study, we have demonstrated the crucial role of steric hindrance and hydrogen-bond interactions in thermal stability and the ability to control them by designing novel compounds. We also determined several photochemical properties and studied the photodynamics of two model systems in more detail, observing a fast relaxation of the excited state shorter than 2 ps in both cases. Finally, the computational study allowed us to rationalize the experimental evidence.

The geometric relaxation following light absorption of the biliverdin, phycocyanobilin and phytochromobilin tetrapyrrole chromophores of bacterial, cyanobacterial and plant phytochromes has been investigated using density functional theory methods. Considering stereoisomers relevant for both red-absorbing Pr and far-red-absorbing Pfr forms of the photoreceptor, it is found that the initial excited-state evolution is dominated by torsional motion at the C10-C11 bond. This holds true for all three chromophores and irrespective of which configuration the chromophores adopt. This finding suggests that the photochromic cycling of phytochromes between their Pr and Pfr forms, which is known to be governed by Z/E photoisomerizations at the C15-C16 bond, relies on interactions between the chromophore and the protein to prevent photoisomerizations at C10-C11. Further, it is found that the uneven distribution of positive charge between the pyrrole rings is a major factor for the photochemical reactivity of the C10-C11 bond.

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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relations between the formation of pigment gallstone and the function of the intestinal mucosal barrier, as well as the underlying mechanism.
METHODS: Eighty guinea pigs were randomly divided into three groups in which they were respectively given normal diet, gallstone-causing diet, and gallstone-formation diet with a supplementary intestinal mucosal protection compound known as glutamine. The model of pigment gallstone was established after 8 weeks of dietary administration. Indices about the function of the intestinal mucosal barrier and bacterial translocation were measured. Clinical cases were divided into three groups: control, cholesterol gallstone, and pigment gallstone, where the levels of plasma diamine oxidase (DAO), plasma endotoxin and the excretion rates of technetium 99m-diethylene triamine pentaacetic acid (99mTC-DTPA) in the urine of each group were measured.
RESULTS: In the pigment gallstone group, the level of plasma DAO and endotoxin, the excretory ratio of lactulose and mannitol in urine, the bacterial translocation ratio in the celiac lymph nodes and the activities of beta-glucuronidase increased comparing to the control group. The gallstone-formation rate for the intestinal mucosal protection group (GLN) decreased, and other indices, except the activity of beta-glucuronidase, were all lower than that of gallstone-formation group. In the clinical experiment, the levels of plasma DAO and endotoxin, as well as the excretory rate of 99mTC-DTPA in urine were higher in the patients with gallstones than that in the control group.
CONCLUSIONS: The formation of pigment gallstone was related to the abnormal function of the intestinal mucosal barrier. The abnormality in the function of the intestinal mucosal barrier probably induced the formation of gallstone by a bacterial translocation mechanism.

Stereoselective recognition of bilirubin and biliverdin by poly(L-lysine) (PLL), poly(D-lysine) (PDL), and poly(L-arginine) (PLA) and their micelles with dodecanoate ions (C(12)) at different pH has been studied using a combination of vibrational and electronic circular dichroism. Biliverdin has been found to be more sensitive to pH in its complexes with the polypeptides. In acidic media in the complexes with PLL-C(12) and PDL-C(12) the conformation becomes more closed than the characteristic one found at physiological pH. Partial flattening and chiral self-association of bilirubin molecules takes place at higher concentrations with PLL and PDL. For both pigments, inversions of the ECD signals are observed in the systems with PLA at pH > or = 8.5. This study was carried out in order to clarify the role of Lys and Arg residues in pigment binding to serum albumin. The circular dichroism spectra obtained for bilirubin bound to different mammalian serum albumins have been compared with the homology within the IIA principal ligand-binding structural domains. Analysis suggests that the chiroptical properties of the pigment in the complexes with serum albumins depend on the location of Lys and/or Arg at positions 222 and 199 in the binding site.