Lithospermum erythrorhizon has long been used as a traditional oriental medicine. In this study, the acute and 28-day subacute oral dose toxicity studies of hexane extracts of the roots of L. erythrorhizon (LEH) were performed in Sprague-Dawley rats. In the acute toxicity study, LEH was administered once orally to 5 male and 5 female rats at dose levels of 500, 1,000, and 2,000 mg/kg. Mortality, clinical signs, and body weight changes were monitored for 14 days. Salivation, soft stool, soiled perineal region, compound-colored stool, chromaturia and a decrease in body weight were observed in the extract-treated groups, and no deaths occurred during the study. Therefore, the approximate lethal dose (ALD) of LEH in male and female rats was higher than 2,000 mg/kg. In the subacute toxicity study, LEH was administered orally to male and female rats for 28 days at dose levels of 25, 100, and 400 mg/kg/day. There was no LEH-related toxic effect in the body weight, food consumption, ophthalmology, hematology, clinical chemistry and organ weights. Compound-colored (black) stool, chromaturia and increased protein, ketone bodies, bilirubin and occult blood in urine were observed in the male and female rats treated with the test substance. In addition, the necropsy revealed dark red discoloration of the kidneys, and the histopathological examination showed presence of red brown pigment or increased hyaline droplets in the renal tubules of the renal cortex. However, there were no test substance-related toxic effects in the hematology and clinical chemistry, and no morphological changes were observed in the histopathological examination of the kidneys. Therefore, it was determined that there was no significant toxicity because the changes observed were caused by the intrinsic color of the test substance. These results suggest that the no-observed-adverse-effect Level (NOAEL) of LEH is greater than 400 mg/kg/day in both sexes.

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Background: Human papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is often associated with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT); their coexistence improves PTC prognosis. Osteopontin, a secreted glycoprotein, plays a role in cell survival, immunity, and tumor progression, its expression being associated with a poor prognosis and metastasis in several malignancies. Osteopontin overexpression correlates with aggressive clinicopathological features in PTC. Lymph node metastases and large tumor size positively correlate with osteopontin positivity. This study aimed to: (1) confirm osteopontin overexpression in human PTC samples; (2) compare osteopontin expression levels in PTC cases with and without HT; and (3) identify correlations between tumor aggressiveness and osteopontin expression levels. Materials and Methods: Plasma osteopontin was assessed in 45 patients with PTC, 22 patients with PTC and HT, and 24 healthy controls by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Thyroid tissue osteopontin mRNA and protein levels were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Western blotting, respectively. Results: Plasma osteopontin levels were significantly higher in PTC patients than in healthy controls. Plasma osteopontin, tissue osteopontin mRNA, and tissue osteopontin protein levels were significantly lower in patients with PTC and HT than in those with PTC alone. In advanced disease stage cases, osteopontin mRNA and protein expression levels were lower in patients with PTC and HT than in those with PTC alone. However, the osteopontin expression level was not significantly associated with the TNM stage. Conclusions: Plasma osteopontin, tissue osteopontin mRNA, and tissue osteopontin protein levels were significantly lower in patients with PTC and HT than in those with PTC alone, suggesting that HT attenuates PTC aggressiveness through negative regulation of osteopontin expression.

This study was conducted to develop healthy foods or natural preservatives with garlic (Allium sativum L.), ginger (Zingiber officinale R.) and onion (Allium cepa L.). The polyphenol contents of garlic, ginger and onion juice were analyzed, and they were tested for antioxidative and antibacterial activities. Their antioxidative activities were investigated in terms of their electron donating activity (EDA), SOD-like activity and nitrite scavenging ablity (NSA). Their antibacterial activities were tested against four kinds of pathogenic bacteria (L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, E. coli O157:H7, and Sal. typhimurium). The yields of the garlic, ginger and onion juice were 28.2, 24.3 and 38.3 percent, and their total polyphenol contents were 1,254, 1,523 and 412 mg/100 mL, respectively. The EDAs of the garlic and ginger juice ranged from 95 to 98 percent and over 90 percent in the 40 percent diluted solution. Their SOD-like activities were 64 and 67 percent, repectively. Onion juice had lower activities in EDAs and SOD-like activity than those of garlic and ginger juice. The NSAs of the garlic, ginger and onion juice were 56.5, 52.4 and 50.2 percent, respectively. The garlic juices showed antibacterial activity against four kinds of pathogenic bacteria (L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, E. coli O157:H7 and Sal. typhimurium) and the highest such activity against Sal. typhimurium. From all the results of the experiments, it can be concluded that garlic, ginger, onion can be used as a natural preservatives and can help develope healthy foods because of their antibacterial and antioxidative activities and abundunt polyphenols.

Massive deposits of fat around heart are seen in overweight persons and are associated with coronary artery disease. Investigators have focused on the clinical significance of epicardial fat with respect to metabolic effects such as insulin resistance and inflammation, but the mechanical effects, such as constriction, have been largely ignored. We present an unusual case of a 59-year-old woman with obesity and diabetes mellitus who had been undergoing peritoneal dialysis due to end-stage renal disease, and who developed constrictive pericarditis, possibly secondary to extensive epicardial fatty accumulation.