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Indian childhood cirrhosis is a chronic liver disease of childhood characterised by cirrhosis of the liver associated with the deposition of copper in the liver. It primarily affects children of 1–3 years of age and has a genetic predisposition. It had a very high case fatality in the past, but has eventually become preventable, treatable and is now rare.

It remains part of differential diagnosis of Wilsons disease,

The collecting duct system of the kidney consists of a series of tubules and ducts that physically connect nephrons to a minor calyx or directly to the renal pelvis. The collecting duct system is the last part of nephron and participates in electrolyte and fluid balance through reabsorption and excretion, processes regulated by the hormones aldosterone and vasopressin (antidiuretic hormone).

There are several components of the collecting duct system, including the connecting tubules, cortical collecting ducts, and medullary collecting ducts.

INFO: Full form for ICC is Integrated Commissioning Consortium in Medical category
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Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) are interstitial cells found in the gastrointestinal tract. There are different types of ICC with different functions. ICC and another type of interstitial cell, known as platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (PDGFRα) cells, are electrically coupled to smooth muscle cells via gap junctions, that work together as an SIP functional syncytium. Myenteric interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC-MY) serve as pacemaker cells that generate the bioelectrical events known as slow waves. Slow waves conduct to smooth muscle cells and cause phasic contractions.

The picture to the right shows an isolated Interstitial cell of Cajal from the Myenteric plexus of the mouse small intestine grown in a primary cell culture. This cell type can be characterized morphologically as having a small cell body often triangular or stellate-shaped with several long processes branching out into secondary and tertiary extensions - these processes often contact smooth muscle cells. They have contractile behaviour in both the cell body and the extended processes.

Intramuscular Interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC-IM) are involved in mediating responses to neurotransmission. All ICC in the gastrointestinal tract express calcium-activated chloride channels encoded by the gene ANO1. These channels are activated by release of calcium in ICC and are important for both the pacemaker activity of ICC and their responses to neurotransmitters. A recent review noted that carbachol increases ICC activity through this channel. ANO1-knockout mice fail to produce slow waves and ANO1 channel inhibitors block slow waves.

ICC are also thought to be present in other types of smooth muscle tissues. But with few exceptions the function of these cells is not well understood and currently an area of active research.

These cells are derived from mesoderm.

INFO: Full form for ICC is Internal Conversion Coefficient in Medical category
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INFO: Full form for ICC is Intensive Coronary Care in Medical category
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INFO: Full form for ICC is Incident Command Center in Medical category
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INFO: Full form for EWS is Early Warning Score in Medical category
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The International Neuromodulation Society (INS) is a non-profit group of clinicians, scientists and engineers dedicated to the scientific development and awareness of neuromodulation – the alteration of nerve activity through the delivery of electromagnetic stimulation or chemical agents to targeted sites of the body. Neuromodulation is a burgeoning field – analysts predicted a 27 percent annual growth rate through 2012. Founded in 1989 and based in San Francisco, CA, the INS educates and promotes the field through meetings, its bimonthly, peer-reviewed journal Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface and chapter websites.

Neuromodulation: Technology at the Neural Interface is the official publication of the INS. The peer-reviewed journal aims to advance the basic and clinical science of the field of neuromodulation. Published 8 times per year, the journal is MEDLINE-indexed.

Insulin (, from Latin insula, 'island') is a peptide hormone produced by beta cells of the pancreatic islets; it is considered to be the main anabolic hormone of the body. It regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and protein by promoting the absorption of glucose from the blood into liver, fat and skeletal muscle cells. In these tissues the absorbed glucose is converted into either glycogen via glycogenesis or fats (triglycerides) via lipogenesis, or, in the case of the liver, into both. Glucose production and secretion by the liver is strongly inhibited by high concentrations of insulin in the blood. Circulating insulin also affects the synthesis of proteins in a wide variety of tissues. It is therefore an anabolic hormone, promoting the conversion of small molecules in the blood into large molecules inside the cells. Low insulin levels in the blood have the opposite effect by promoting widespread catabolism, especially of reserve body fat.

Beta cells are sensitive to blood sugar levels so that they secrete insulin into the blood in response to high level of glucose; and inhibit secretion of insulin when glucose levels are low. Insulin enhances glucose uptake and metabolism in the cells, thereby reducing blood sugar level. Their neighboring alpha cells, by taking their cues from the beta cells, secrete glucagon into the blood in the opposite manner: increased secretion when blood glucose is low, and decreased secretion when glucose concentrations are high. Glucagon increases blood glucose level by stimulating glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis in the liver. The secretion of insulin and glucagon into the blood in response to the blood glucose concentration is the primary mechanism of glucose homeostasis.

Decreased or absent insulin activity results in diabetes mellitus, a condition of high blood sugar level (hyperglycaemia). There are two types of the disease. In diabetes mellitus type 1, the beta cells are destroyed by an autoimmune reaction so that insulin can no longer be synthesized or be secreted into the blood. In diabetes mellitus type 2, the destruction of beta cells is less pronounced than in type 1, and is not due to an autoimmune process. Instead, there is an accumulation of amyloid in the pancreatic islets, which likely disrupts their anatomy and physiology. The pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes is not well understood but reduced population of islet beta-cells, reduced secretory function of islet beta-cells that survive, and peripheral tissue insulin resistance are known to be involved. Type 2 diabetes is characterized by increased glucagon secretion which is unaffected by, and unresponsive to the concentration of blood glucose. But insulin is still secreted into the blood in response to the blood glucose. As a result, glucose accumulates in the blood.

The human insulin protein is composed of 51 amino acids, and has a molecular mass of 5808 Da. It is a heterodimer of an A-chain and a B-chain, which are linked together by disulfide bonds. Insulin's structure varies slightly between species of animals. Insulin from animal sources differs somewhat in effectiveness (in carbohydrate metabolism effects) from human insulin because of these variations. Porcine insulin is especially close to the human version, and was widely used to treat type 1 diabetics before human insulin could be produced in large quantities by recombinant DNA technologies.

Insulin was the first peptide hormone discovered. Frederick Banting and Charles Herbert Best, working in the laboratory of J. J. R. Macleod at the University of Toronto, were the first to isolate insulin from dog pancreas in 1921. Frederick Sanger sequenced the amino acid structure in 1951, which made insulin the first protein to be fully sequenced. The crystal structure of insulin in the solid state was determined by Dorothy Hodgkin in 1969. Insulin is also the first protein to be chemically synthesised and produced by DNA recombinant technology. It is on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines, the most important medications needed in a basic health system.