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Amygdalin (vitamin B 17 ; previously called laetrile) is one of many nitrilosides, which are natural cyanide-containing substances abundant in the seeds of prunasin family, plant such as apricots, almonds, peaches, apples, and other rosaceous plants. Among the prunasins, Armeniacae semen has been used for the treatment of asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, leprosy, colorectal cancer, leucoderma, and pain. [1][2][3] Amygdalin is composed of two molecules of glucose, one of benzaldehyde, which induces an analgesic action, and one of hydrocyanic acid, which is an anti-neoplastic compound. Apart from the above indications, amygdalin has been used to treat cancers and relieve pain. [4][5][6] In particular, D-amygdalin (D-mandelonitrile-b-D-gentiobioside) is known to exhibit selective killing effect on cancer cells. 7)Prostate cancer is one of the most common non-skin cancers in men. This malignant tumor most often arises in the outer part of the prostate, and as the tumor grows it metastasizes to the tissues around the prostate or into the seminal vesicles. 8)Apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death, occurs in several pathological situations in multicellular organisms and constitutes part of a common mechanism of cell replacement, tissue remodeling, and removal of damaged cells. Apoptosis is a complex process characterized by cell shrinkage, chromatin condensation, internucleosomal DNA fragmentation, and formation of "apoptotic bodies." 9) Two important groups of proteins involved in apoptotic cell death are the members of the Bcl-2 family 10) and a class of cysteine proteases known as caspases.11) The Bcl-2 family can be classified into two functionally distinct groups: antiapoptotic proteins and pro-apoptotic proteins. Bcl-2, an antiapoptotic protein, is known to regulate apoptotic pathways and protects against cell death. Bax, a pro-apoptotic protein of that family, is expressed abundantly and selectively during apoptosis and promotes cell death. Increasing the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax has commonly been used to determine the induction of apoptosis in several tissues.12) The caspases are aspartate-specific cysteine proteases that have emerged as the central executioner of apoptosis. Among the caspases, activation of caspase-3 is regarded as primary mechanism of apoptosis. 11,13) Caspase-3 can be activated through cytosolic release of cytochrome c by Bax protein. 14)Numerous studies have documented that induction of apoptosis is a very important mechanism in the spontaneous regression of tumors and in the development of anti-tumor agents.15) Apoptosis of tumor cells contributes to the tumor reduction and promotes tumor regression.16) Moreover, anticancer drugs are known to induce apoptosis of tumor cells by damaging their DNA, inhibiting DNA synthesis, depleting intracellular nucleotide pool, and disrupting mitotic apparatus. 17,18) In the present study, we prepared the aqueous extract of the amygdalin from Armeniacae semen and investigated whether this extract induces apoptotic cell death in human DU145 and LNCaP p...

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The first experimental study is presented of a corrugated wall device that uses wakefields to remove a linear energy correlation in a relativistic electron beam (a "dechirper"). Time-resolved measurements of both longitudinal and transverse wakefields of the device are presented and compared with simulations. This study demonstrates the feasibility to employ a dechirper for precise control of the beam phase space in the next generation of free-electron-lasers.

Abstract:The construction of Pohang Accelerator Laboratory X-ray Free-Electron Laser (PAL-XFEL), a 0

PurposeThis study aimed to determine the prevalence of immediate-type food allergy (FA) among schoolchildren in Korea.MethodsA nationwide, cross-sectional study was performed in September 2015. A stratified random sample of 50,000 participants was selected from children and adolescents aged 6-7 years (n=17,500), 9-10 years (n=17,500), 12-13 years (n=7,500), and 15-16 years (n=7,500). Parents were asked to complete a questionnaire on the detailed history of immediate-type FA.ResultsA total of 32,001 (64.0%) responded to the questionnaire survey, and 29,842 children (59.7%) were analyzed after adjusting for missing data. The number of the cases in each age group was 9,671 (6-7 years), 9,756 (9-10 years), 5,169 (12-13 years), and 5,246 (15-16 years). The prevalence of lifetime perceived FA was 15.82%. The prevalence of current immediate-type FA was 4.06% in total, with 3.15% in 6- to 7-year-olds, 4.51% in 9- to 10-year-olds, 4.01% in 12- to 13-year-olds, and 4.49% in 15- to 16-year-olds. Among individual food items, peanut (0.22%) was the most frequent causative food, followed by hen's egg (0.21%), cow's milk (0.18%), and buckwheat (0.13%). Among the food groups, fruits (1.41%), crustaceans (0.84%), tree nuts (0.32%), and fish (0.32%) were the most common offending foods. The prevalence of food-induced anaphylaxis was 0.97%. The most frequent causative food of anaphylaxis was peanut (0.08%), followed by cow's milk (0.07%), buckwheat (0.06%), and hen's egg (0.06%), while fruits (0.28%), crustaceans (0.18%), tree nuts (0.12%), and fish (0.09%) were the most commonly responsible food groups.ConclusionsThe prevalence of current immediate-type FA and food-induced anaphylaxis in Korean schoolchildren in 2015 was 4.06% and 0.97%, respectively. Peanuts, cow's milk, hen's egg, fruits, crustaceans, and tree nuts are common allergens.

Armeniacae semen is the seed of Prunus armeniaca L. var. ansu MAXIM, which has been classified into Rosaceae. Armeniacae semen is known to have many therapeutic effects such as relieving fever, stopping cough, quenching thirst, and so on. In traditional oriental medicine, Armeniacae semen has been used for the treatment of asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, constipation, nausea, leprosy, and leucoderma.1,2) Armeniacae semen is divided into the outer husk and an inner part that contains glycoside, amygdaline, starch, and fatty acids. Among them, amygdalin is abundant in the seeds of the Prunus genus almond, apricots, and other rosaceous plants. Amygdalin is also known as vitamain B17, which had been used for the treatment of cancers, and vitamain B17 has been named as laetrile.3) It has been reported that amygdalin is effective for the relief of the pain of cancer patients. 4,5) Pain is first response to injury or infection. Injury and infection activates the immune system to produce an inflammatory responses.6) Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) initiates a number of major cellular responses that play vital roles in the pathogenesis of inflammatory responses. LPS stimulates the production of inflammatory mediators such as nitric oxide (NO), tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a), interleukins, prostaglandin E 2 (PGE 2 ), and leukotrienes. 7,8) Moreover, LPS enhances the pain response to various somatic stimuli. 9,10) PGE 2 is a key inflammatory mediator and an increased level of PGE 2 mediates the cardinal features of inflammation such as pain, edema, and fever.11,12) PGE 2 is converted from arachidonic acid by cyclooxygenase (COX). There are two isoforms of COX: COX-1 and COX-2. While COX-1 is a constitutively expressed form in normal physiologic functions, COX-2 is expressed only in response to such inflammatory signals such as cytokines and bacterial endotoxin, LPS. COX-2 produces large amount of PGE 2 that induces inflammation. 13,14) NO is synthesized from L-arginine by nitric oxide synthase (NOS). NO plays an important role in the regulation of many physiological processes.15) There are three distinct isoforms of NOS: neuronal NOS (nNOS), inducible NOS (iNOS), and endothelial NOS (eNOS). Of these, iNOS is an important enzyme involved in the regulation of inflammation.16) It was reported that LPS upregulates iNOS expression in macrophages 17) and microglial cells. 18)In the present study, the effect of Armeniacae semen extract on the LPS-stimulated expression of COX-1, COX-2, and iNOS in mouse BV2 microglial cells was investigated using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blot, PGE 2 immunoassay, and NO detection. MATERIALS AND METHODSCell Culture Mouse BV2 microglial cells were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM; Gibco BRL, Grand Island, NY, U.S.A.) supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum (FBS; Gibco BRL) at 37°C in 5% CO 2 -95% O 2 in a humidified cell incubator. The cells were plated ont...