• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.2151-2157
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• 2016

Scabraside D, a sulfated triterpene glycoside, was extracted from the sea cucumber Holothuria scabra. It shows anti-proliferation in many of cancer cell lines, but the function and mechanisms of action of scabraside D in human cholangiocarcinoma (HuCCA) have not previously determined. In this study, we investigated the activity of scabraside D on HuCCA cell apoptosis, lymphangiogenesis and metastasis in a nude mouse model. Scabraside D induced signs of apoptosis, such as cell shrinkage, nuclear condensation, nuclear fragmentation and DNA fragmentation on TUNEL assays, while effectively decreasing expression of BCl-2 but increasing caspase-3 gene level expression. Immunohistochemistry revealed that scabraside D significantly reduced lymphatic vessel density (LVD). Moreover, scabraside D treatment significantly decreased VEGF-C, MMP-9 and uPA gene expression, which play important roles in the lymphangiogenesis and invasion of cancer cells in metastasis processes. Quantitative real-time PCR showed that scabraside D significantly decreased iNOS and STAT-3 gene expression. This study demonstrated that scabraside D plays a role in activation of HuCCA tumor apoptosis and inhibition of lymphangiogenesis, invasion and metastasis through decreasing BCl-2, MMP-9, uPA and VEGF-C and increasing caspase-3 expression by suppression of iNOS and STAT-3 expression. Therefore, scabraside D could be a promising candidate for cholangiocarcinoma treatment.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.164-171
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• 2018

Background: In recent years, the interest in health and safety in the workplace has increased. Agriculture is one of the human work activities with the highest risk indexes. Studies on risk perception of agricultural workers are often referred to as specific risk factors (especially pesticides), but the risk perception plays an important role in preventing every kind of accident and occupational disease. Methods: The aim of this research is to test a new method for understanding the relation between risk perception among farmers and the main risk factors to which they are exposed. A secondary aim is to investigate the influence of training in risk perception in agriculture. The data collection was realized using a questionnaire designed to investigate the risk perception; the questionnaire was given to a sample of 119 agricultural workers in central Italy. Through the use of the "principal components analysis" it was possible to highlight and verify the latent dimensions underlying the collected data in comparison with scales of attitudes. Results: Results show that the highest percentage of strong negative attitude is among the people who have worked for more years, while farmers who have worked for fewer years have a marked positive attitude. Conclusion: The analysis of the questionnaires through the synthetic index method (Rizzi index) showed that agricultural workers involved, in particular the elderly workers, have a negative attitude towards safety; workers are hostile to safety measures if they have not attended special training courses.