Cadmium is known to exert toxic effects on multiple organs, including the testes. To determine if α-Tocopherol, an antioxidant, could protect testicular tissues and spermatogenesis from the toxic effects of cadmium, six-week old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized to receive cadmium at doses of 0 (control), 1, 2, 4 or 8 mg/kg by the intraperitoneal route (Group A) or α-tocopherol for 5 days before being challenged with cadmium (Group B) in an identical dose-dependent manner. When both groups received cadmium at 1 mg/kg, there were no changes in testicular histology relative to controls. When Group A received cadmium at 2 mg/kg, undifferentiated spermatids and dead Sertoli cells increased in the seminiferous tubules while interstitial cells decreased and inflammatory cells increased in the interstitial tissues. On flow cytometric analysis, the numbers of elongated spermatids (M1) and round spermatids (M2) decreased while 2c stage cells (M3, diploid) increased. In contrast, when Group B received cadmium at 2 mg/kg, the histological insults were reduced and the distribution of the germ cell population remained comparable to controls. However, α-tocopherol had no protective effects with higher cadmium doses of 4 and 8 mg/kg. These findings indicate that α-tocopherol treatment can protect testicular tissue and preserve spermatogenesis from the detrimental effects of cadmium but its effectiveness is dependent on the dose of cadmium exposed.

New brush polymers with various numbers of bristle ends incorporating phosphorylcholine (PC) moieties are synthesized. The polymers are thermally stable up to 175 °C and form good‐quality films with conventional spin‐, roll‐, and dip‐coating, and subsequent drying processes. Interestingly, all these brush polymers, as a PC‐containing polymer, demonstrate a stable molecular multi‐bilayer structure in thin films that arise due to the efficient self‐assembly of the bristles for temperatures <55 °C and PC‐rich surfaces, and therefore successfully mimic natural cell‐membrane surfaces. These brush‐polymer films exhibit excellent water wettability and water sorption whilst retaining the remarkable molecular multi‐bilayer structure, and thus have hydrophilic surfaces. These novel multi‐bilayer structured films repel fibrinogen molecules and platelets from their surfaces but also have bactericidal effects on bacteria. Moreover, the brush‐polymer films are found to provide comfortable surface environments for the successful anchoring and growth of HEp‐2 cells, and to exhibit excellent biocompatibility in mice. These newly developed brush polymers are suitable for use in biomedical applications including medical devices and biosensors that require biocompatibility and the reduced possibility of post‐operative infection.

In this study we investigated bacterial and cell adhesion to poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) films, that had been synthesized by the copolymerization of carbon dioxide (a global warming chemical) with propylene oxide. We also assessed the biocompatibility and biodegradability of the films in vivo, and their oxidative degradation in vitro. The bacteria adhered to the smooth, hydrophobic PPC surface after 4 h incubation. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterococcus faecalis had the highest levels of adhesion, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus had the lowest levels, and Staphylococcus epidermidis was intermediate. In contrast, there was no adhesion of human cells (cell line HEp-2) to the PPC films, due to the hydrophobicity and dimensional instability of the surface. On the other hand, the PPC films exhibited good biocompatibility in the mouse subcutaneous environment. Moreover, contrary to expectation the PPC films degraded in the mouse subcutaneous environment. This is the first experimental confirmation that PPC can undergo surface erosion biodegradation in vivo. The observed biodegradability of PPC may have resulted from enzymatic hydrolysis and oxidative degradation processes. In contrast, the PPC films showed resistance to oxidative degradation in vitro. Overall, PPC revealed high affinity to bioorganisms and also good biodegradability.

We measured cell proliferation and apoptosis in the antral epithelial cells of Helicobacter pylori-infected and H. pylori-uninfected persons, and examined these processes in relation to diagnosis and the histologic parameters of inflammation to investigate their role in cellular turnover in diseases of the upper gastrointestinal tract. The subjects were: 25 patients with antral gastric cancers, 20 with antral gastric ulcers, 18 with duodenal ulcers, and 28 with chronic gastritis, and 4 subjects with normal gastric mucosa. Seventy-two subjects were infected with H. pylori, and 23 subjects, including the 4 with normal gastric mucosa, were uninfected. H. pylori infection was associated with increased apoptosis and cell proliferation in the gastric mucosa, which correlated with the degree of acute inflammation and the density of H. pylori, and these latter two factors correlated with each other. Intestinal metaplasia and glandular atrophy were significantly higher in gastric cancers and gastric ulcers than in duodenal ulcers. Cell proliferation was significantly lower in gastric cancers than in gastric ulcers, but the apoptotic count did not show a significant difference between these diseases. This decreased proliferation in the adjacent mucosa in gastric cancers compared with findings in the other diseases is thought to be closely related to the relatively decreased acute inflammation, which may, partly, contribute to glandular atrophy in the adjacent mucosa of gastric cancer.

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are powerful chemopreventive agents in various cancers. They act by inhibiting cyclooxygenase (COX) activity, or through other mechanisms. NSAID-activated gene (NAG-1) has antitumorigenic and pro-apoptotic activities, but the mechanisms of NAG-1-induced apoptosis are poorly understood. Here we examined whether NAG-1 expression is induced in gastric cancer cells treated with NSAIDs, and the effect of NAG-1 expression on cell death. NAG-1 cDNA was transfected into SNU601 cells, and the relation between the ectopic expression of NAG-1 and death receptor-4 (DR-4) and DR-5 levels was studied. We found that NAG-1 expression was strongly induced in SNU601 cells, which lack endogenous COX-2, by sulindac sulfide, and that this was closely related with increased apoptosis and decreased cell viability. Moreover, temporal expressions of DR-4 and DR-5 induced by sulindac sulfide were similar to that of NAG-1. Most SNU601 cells transfected with NAG-1 cDNA did not survive during expansion. Forced NAG-1 expression significantly induced apoptosis and DR-4 and DR-5 expression. We conclude that NAG-1 expression is closely related to DR-4 and DR-5 induction, which could provide a mechanistic basis for the apoptotic effect of COX inhibitors in gastric cancer cells.