Interferon therapy for cirrhotic patients with chronic hepatitis C, especially those in whom the infection had been cured, inhibited the development of hepatocellular carcinoma and improved survival.

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Appropriate long-term drinking of red wine is associated with a reduced risk for lifestyle-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, making resveratrol, a constituent of grapes and various other plants, an attractive compound to be studied. Historically, resveratrol has been identified as a phytoalexin, antioxidant, cyclooxygenase (COX) inhibitor, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) activator, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) inducer, silent mating type information regulation 2 homolog 1 (SIRT1) activator, and more. Despite scepticism concerning the biological availability of resveratrol, a growing body of in vivo evidence indicates that resveratrol has protective effects in several stress and disease models. Here, we provide a review of the studies on resveratrol, especially with respect to COX, PPAR, and eNOS activities, and discuss its potential for promoting human health.

The human platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor gene exists as a single copy on chromosome 1. We identified two 5'-noncoding exons, each of which has distinct transcriptional initiation sites. These exons are alternatively spliced to a common splice acceptor site on a third exon that contains the total open reading frame to yield two different species of functional mRNA (Transcript 1 and 2). Transcript 1 has consensus sequences for transcription factor NF-KB and Sp-1, and the Initiator (mr) sequence. homologous to the murine terminal deoxynucleotidyltransferase gene. Transcript 2 also contains consensus sequences for transcription factor AP-1, AP-2, and Sp-1. Transcripts 1 and 2 were both detected in heart, lung, spleen, and kidney, whereas only Transcript 1 was found in peripheral leukocytes, a differentiated human eosinophilic cell line (EoL-1 cells), and brain. Existence of distinct promoters was thus suggested to play a role in the regulatory control of PAF receptor gene expression in different human tissues and cells.