• Nutritional Sciences
• /
• 제7권2호
• /
• pp.76-82
• /
• 2004

Pine needles are known as a traditional medicine and their ingestion has been shown to be beneficial to human beings. Following induction of the neoplastic process in rats by azoxymethane (AOM), we determined the effects of pine needle supplementation on colon carcinogenesis and on antioxidant systems in the blood and liver. Five week old male Fisher 344 rats were injected with AOM (15 mg/kg) once a week for two weeks. After the second injection, 18 rats were randomly assigned into two groups and were fed a casein-based high-fat diet (120 g fat and 1 g cholesterol/kg diet) with or without pine needle powder (10%w/w). After 6 weeks, rats receiving pine needle powder showed a 40% lower incidence of the number of colonic preneoplastic lesions (aberrant crypts) and a 52% lower incidence of aberrant crypt foci (p<0.01). A significantly elevated level of erythrocyte catalase activity was observed in the pine needle supplemented group (17.4$\pm$1.1 vs. 24.5$\pm$1.5, p<0.01). Pine needle supplementation also increased liver glutathione peroxidase activity (7.5$\pm$0.6 vs. 14.6$\pm$0.6, p<0.01). Other antioxidant parameters such as erythrocyte glutathione peroxidase, liver catalase activity, and plasma total antioxidant potential (TRAP), showed no statistical differences between the two groups. Our data demonstrate that pine needle supplementation improves the antioxidant system and suppresses the formation of colonic preneoplastic lesions in AOM-treated rats. This result provides additional insights into the chemo-preventative properties of pine needles.

• 대한약리학회지
• /
• 제8권1호
• /
• pp.15-25
• /
• 1972

Korean aconitum (Aconitum koreanum R. Raymond) as one of the botanical crude drugs which pertain to helleboraceae has been extensively applied in Chinese medicine during the past decades. It has been particularly used in immortal tonic among the folk remedies in China, however, its general uses comprehend diuresis, cardiotonic, analgesia, neuralgia, gout and, furthermore, even neoplastic effect. The components of aconitum have been acknowledged as aconitine, mesaconitine, hypaconitine, aconine and so on. The main ingredient, aconitine has the advantage of causing the atrial fibrillation, but, its pharmacological research has not been fully elucidated. Although there are many reports with regard to the pharmacological effects on the motility of several animal hearts, their conclusions have not been regretfully coincided yet. The authors hereby paid attention to this point of view and made experiment to examine the relationship between the alcohol extract of Korean aconitum and the motility of the isolated clam heart, making the use of several drugs related to the heart such as serotonin, acetylcholine, pilocarpine, physostigmine, barium chloride, procaine and quinidine. The cardiac movement of the isolated clam (Meretrix lusoria) heart in the standard sea water solution was recorded with the electric kymograph according to the Magnus method. The results of the experiment are as follows. 1. The motility of the isolated clam heart represents the tendency of gradual inhibition in proportion to the concentration of AK-A $10^{-4}$, $5{\times}10^{-4}$, and $10^{-3}$. 2. The cardiac inhibitory effect of AK-A $10^{-3}$ antagonizes the motility of the isolated clam heart pretreated with serotonin $10^{-6}$. 3. The cardiac inhibitory effect of AK-A $10^{-3}$ antagonizes the systolic state appealed by barium chloride $10^{-3}$. 4. The systolic state caused by quinidine $10^{-4}$ is not inhibited by AK-A $10^{-3}$.

• 한국임상수의학회지
• /
• 제28권1호
• /
• pp.154-158
• /
• 2011

A 8-year-old female Shih-tzu dog (weighting 4.5 kg) with history of both hindlimb lameness and cervical mass was presented to Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Gyeongsang National University. In physical examination, ataxia, kyphosis, back pain and cervical mass were identified. Marked periosteal new bone formation of the fourth lumbar vertebra and soft tissue opacity mass of cervical region were observed in survey radiographs. Transverse computed tomography (CT) scan obtained at the lumbar and cervical lesions shown a well defined multilobulated bony mass and partially destructive lytic lesions the fourth lumbar vertebral body and a enlarged retropharyngeal lymph node with heterogeneous contrast enhancement and moderately enhancing left tonsillar mass. Neoplastic squamous epithelium which have developed vessel and lymphocyte infiltration in surrounding tissue were confirmed based on histopathologic examination. Based on the diagnostic findings the dog was diagnosed as a cervical lymph node metastases of tonsillar squamous cell carcinoma.

• 대한수의학회지
• /
• 제26권1호
• /
• pp.117-124
• /
• 1986

The present study was undertaken to evaluate rosette formation and NK activity of splenic lymphocytes in 3-methylcholanthrene (MCA) treated mice. Mice were sensitized iv with 0.1ml of 1% sheep red blood cell (SRBC) suspension were treated with a single ip injection of olive oil alone or with different doses of MCA in oil at various time before or after sensitization, and were challenged at 4 days after SRBC. Rosette formation and NK activity of splenic lymphocytes were measured at 24 hours after challenge. Erythrocyte(E) rosette formation of splenic lymphocytes was significantly depressed in mouse treated with large dose of MCA (5~50mg) regardless of injecting time. But, there was no difference in the response between the treated with small dose of MCA (0.5mg). Whereas erythrocyte-antibody(EA) rosette or erythrocyte-antibody-complement(EAC) rosette forming cells were significantly depressed by MCA. Under small dose of MCA (0.5mg), any difference of NK activity was not observed in all course of injecting time. But, under large dose of MCA, the activity was markedly inhibited to about half the values seen in control and this suppression was transient, resulting that the normal level was reached again 19 days after MCA. These results, which conform with the predictions of immunosuppression hypothesis, suggest that MCA inhibits immunological responses including NK activity and thereby allows the outgrowth of antigenic neoplastic cells.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• /
• 제29권5호
• /
• pp.293-297
• /
• 2003

Florid cemento-osseous dysplasia (FCOD) is a benign, non-neoplastic lesion characterized by multiple sclerosing masses only within jawbones. It is frequently confused with chronic diffuse sclerosing osteomyelitis (CDSO) in previous literatures. In our study, two cases of FCOD were examined to know the characteristics of their calcifying tissues. The first case was non-infected, while the second case was severely infected, displaying the typical features of CDSO in clinico-radiologic findings. The infected FCOD case showed a lot of bacterial colonies in the main lesion with relatively rare inflammatory reaction. The globular cementum-like materials of FCOD showed woven bone pattern and was positive for Alcian blue stain, and also positive for the antibodies of ameloblastin, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) -2 and -4. On the other hands, in the immunostains of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) -3, -9, -10, and $TNF-{\alpha}$, macrophage infiltrated in the FCOD lesion was rarely observed. These data suggest that the cementum-like materials of FCOD contain various matrix proteins, and that the cementum-like materials are relevant to the overgrowth of the bacterial colonies by inhibition of the regional inflammatory reactions.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제15권21호
• /
• pp.9049-9058
• /
• 2014

Casticin (3', 5-dihydroxy-3, 4', 6, 7-tetramethoxyflavone) is an active compound isolated from roots, stems, leaves, fruits and seeds of a variety of plants. It is well known for its pharmacological properties and has been utilized as an anti-hyperprolactinemia, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, neuroprotetective, analgesic and immunomodulatory agent. Recently, the anticancer activity of casticin has been extensively investigated. The resulkts showed that it exerts protective potential by targeting apoptosis, considered important for cancer therapies. In this article, our aim was to review the pharmacological and therapeutic applications of casticin with specific emphasis on its anticancer functions and related molecular mechanisms. Chemotherapeutic effects are dependent on multiple molecular pathways, which may provide a new perspective of casticin as a candidate anti-neoplastic drug. This review suggests that additional studies and preclinical trials are required to determine specific intracellular sites of action and derivative targets in order to fully understand the mechanisms of its antitumor activity and validate this compound as a medicinal agent for the prevention and treatment of various cancers.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제16권7호
• /
• pp.2939-2946
• /
• 2015

Many of the anti-cancer agents currently used have an origin in natural sources including plants. Aloe vera is one such plant being studied extensively for its diverse health benefits, including cancer prevention. In this study, the cytotoxic potential of Aloe vera crude extract (ACE) alone or in combination with cisplatin in human breast (MCF-7) and cervical (HeLa) cancer cells was studied by cell viability assay, nuclear morphological examination and cell cycle analysis. Effects were correlated with modulation of expression of genes involved in cell cycle regulation, apoptosis and drug metabolism by RT-PCR. Exposure of cells to ACE resulted in considerable loss of cell viability in a dose- and time-dependent fashion, which was found to be mediated by through the apoptotic pathway as evidenced by changes in the nuclear morphology and the distribution of cells in the different phases of the cell cycle. Interestingly, ACE did not have any significant cytotoxicity towards normal cells, thus placing it in the category of safe chemopreventive agent. Further, the effects were correlated with the downregulation of cyclin D1, CYP 1A1, CYP 1A2 and increased expression of bax and p21 in MCF-7 and HeLa cells. In addition, low dose combination of ACE and cisplatin showed a combination index less than 1, indicating synergistic growth inhibition compared to the agents applied individually. In conclusion, these results signify that Aloe vera may be an effective anti-neoplastic agent to inhibit cancer cell growth and increase the therapeutic efficacy of conventional drugs like cispolatin. Thus promoting the development of plant-derived therapeutic agents appears warranted for novel cancer treatment strategies.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제16권7호
• /
• pp.3043-3050
• /
• 2015

The tumor microenvironment (TME) includes numerous non-neoplastic cells such as leukocytes and fibroblasts that surround the neoplasm and influence its growth. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) and cancerassociated fibroblasts (CAFs) are documented as key players in facilitating cancer appearance and progression. Alteration of the macrophage (CD68, CD163) and fibroblast (${\alpha}-SMA$, FSP-1) cells in Opisthorchis viverrini (Ov) -induced cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) was here assessed using liver tissues from an established hamster model and from 43 human cases using immunohistochemistry. We further investigated whether M2-activated TAMs influence CCA cell migration ability by wound healing assay and Western blot analysis. Macrophages and fibroblasts change their phenotypes to M2-TAMs (CD68+, CD163+) and CAFs (${\alpha}-SMA+$, FSP-1+), respectively in the early stages of carcinogenesis. Interestingly, a high density of the M2-TAMs CCA in patients is significantly associated with the presence of extrahepatic metastases (p=0.021). Similarly, CD163+ CCA cells are correlated with metastases (p=0.002), and they may be representative of an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) with increased metastatic activity. We further showed that M2-TAM conditioned medium can induce CCA cell migration as well as increase N-cadherin expression (mesenchymal marker). The present work revealed that significant TME changes occur at an early stage of Ov-induced carcinogenesis and that M2-TAMs are key factors contributing to CCA metastasis, possibly via EMT processes.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제16권7호
• /
• pp.2777-2783
• /
• 2015

Background: Nestin is associated with neoplastic transformation. However, the mechanisms by which nestin contributes regarding invasion and malignancy of gastric adenocarcinoma (GAC) remain unknown. Recent studies have shown that the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is important in invasion and migration of cancer cells. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the expression of nestin and its correlation with EMT-related proteins in GAC. Materials and Methods: The expression of nestin and EMT-related proteins was examined in GAC specimens and cell lines by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Clinicopathological features and survival outcomes were retrospectively analyzed. Results: Positive nestin immunostaining was most obviously detected in the cytoplasm, nucleus or both cytoplasm and nucleus of tumor cells in 19.2% (24/125) of GAC tissues, which was significantly higher than that in normal gastric mucosa tissues (1.7%, 1/60) (p=0.001). Nestin expression was closely related to several clinicopathological factors and EMT-related proteins (E-cadherin, vimentin and Snail) and displayed a poor prognosis. Interestingly, simultaneous cytoplasmic and nuclear nestin expression correlated with EMT-related proteins (E-cadherin, vimentin and Snail) (p<0.05) and lymph node metastasis (p=0.041) and a shorter survival time (p<0.05), but this was not the case with cytoplasmic or nuclear nestin expression. Conclusions: Nestin, particularly expression in both cytoplasm and nucleus, might be involved in regulating EMT and malignant progression in GAC, with potential as an unfavorable indicator in tumor diagnosis and a target for clinical therapy.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• 제16권7호
• /
• pp.2923-2928
• /
• 2015

Background: Gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) has been stated as an Indian disease, with the highest number of cases being reported from certain districts of northeast India, which has an ethnically distinct population. Unfortunately there are no scientific reports on the underlying molecular mechanisms associated with the pathogenesis of the disease from this region. Aim: The present study evaluated the role of differential expression of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) in the development of gall bladder anomalies. Materials and Methods: Blood and tissue samples were collected from patients undergoing routine surgical resection for clinically proven cases of gallbladder disease {cholelithiasis (CL, n=50), cholecystitis (CS, n=40) and GBC (n=30) along with adjacent histopathologically proved non-neoplastic controls (n=15)} with informed consent. Whole blood was also collected from age and sex matched healthy controls (n=25) for comparative analysis. Differential hTERT mRNA expression was evaluated by semi-quantitative rt-PCR and real-time PCR based analysis using ${\beta}$-actin as an internal control. Evaluation of differential hTERT protein expression was studied by Western blot analysis and immunoflourescence. Statistical analysis for differential expression and co-relation was performed by SPSSv13.0 software. Results: Gallbladder anomalies were mostly prevalent in females. The hTERT mRNA and protein expression increased gradiently from normal