No abstract

The effects of Arctium lappa L. (root) on anti-inflammatory and free radical scavenger activity were investigated. Subcutaneous administration of A. lappa crude extract significantly decreased carrageenan-induced rat paw edema. When simultaneously treated with CCl4, it produced pronounced activities against CCl4-induced acute liver damage. The free radical scavenging activity of its crude extract was also examined by means of an electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometer. The IC50 of A. lappa extract on superoxide and hydroxyl radical scavenger activity was 2.06 mg/ml and 11.8 mg/ml, respectively. These findings suggest that Arctium lappa possess free radical scavenging activity. The inhibitory effects on carrageenan-induced paw edema and CCl4-induced hepatotoxicity could be due to the scavenging effect of A. lappa.

This study showed that setting sorafenib as adjuvant therapy for HCC to prevent early recurrence after hepatic resection could be a potential indication. The cumulative recurrence-free survival rate also demonstrated the preventive effectiveness of sorafenib.

Background:The purpose of this study was to detect postoperative persistent circulating tumour cells (CTCs) in stages II and III colon cancer patients undergoing curative resection and so identify a subgroup of patients who are at high risk for early relapse.Methods:Four mRNA molecular markers including human telomerase reverse transcriptase, cytokeratin-19, cytokeratin-20, and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) mRNA were used to detect CTCs in 141 stages II and III colon cancer patients undergoing curative resection to determine the significance of CTCs in postoperative early relapse.Results:Out of 141 patients, postoperative early relapse and non-early relapse/no relapse was found in 48 (34.0%) patients and 93 (66.0%) patients, respectively. Univariately, postoperative early relapse was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (P=0.025), vascular invasion (P=0.002), perineural invasion (P=0.001), laparoscopic surgery (P=0.019), high postoperative serum CEA levels (P=0.001), and presence of persistent postoperative CTCs (P<0.001). Using a multivariate proportional hazards regression analysis, the presence of perineural invasion (P=0.034; HR, 1.974; 95% CI: 1.290–3.861), high postoperative serum CEA levels (P=0.020; HR, 2.377; 95% CI: 1.273–4.255), and the presence of persistent postoperative CTCs (P<0.001; HR, 11.035; 95% CI: 4.396–32.190), were demonstrated to be independent predictors for postoperative early relapse. Furthermore, the presence of persistent postoperative CTCs was strongly correlated with a poorer disease-free and overall survival (both P<0.001).Conclusions:This study suggests that molecular detection of persistent postoperative CTCs is a prognostic predictor of early relapse in UICC stage II/III colon cancer patients, and thus could help to define patients with this tumour entity for an enhanced follow-up and therapeutic program.

The superoxide scavenging effects of fifteen coumarins were tested on the xanthine-xanthine oxidase-cytochrome C system. The results showed that fraxetin(10) displayed the strongest activity, and its percent inhibition at 100, 10 and 1 muM were 100, 100 and 53.13% respectively. Esculetin(4) showed the second strongest activity resulting in percent inhibition at 100 and 10 muM were 87.16 and 52.38% respectively. Both fraxetin(10) and esculetin(4) have been isolated from the plant, Fraxinus bungeana DC (Oleaceae) which has been used in folk medicine as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory medicine. It seems that two phenolic hydroxy groups in the ortho position in the molecule of coumarins play an important role in scavenging activity.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:Evidence from prospective studies is consistent in showing an inverse association between dietary fibre intake and risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD), but whether dietary fibre from various food sources differ in their effect on IHD risk is less clear. The objective of this study was to assess the associations of total and food sources of dietary fibre with IHD mortality in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition-Heart study. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Participants were 306 331 men and women from eight European countries. Dietary fibre intake was assessed using centre or country-specific diet questionnaires and calibrated using a 24-h diet recall. RESULTS: After an average follow-up of 11.5 years, there were 2381 IHD deaths among participants without cardiovascular disease at baseline. The calibrated intake of dietary fibre was inversely related with IHD mortality; each 10 g/day was associated with a 15% lower risk (relative risk (RR) 0.85; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.73-0.99, P ¼ 0.031). There was no difference in the associations of the individual food sources of dietary fibre with the risk of IHD mortality; RR for each 5 g/day higher cereal fibre intake was 0.91 (CI: 0.82-1.01), RR for each 2.5 g/day fruit fibre intake was 0.94 (CI: 0.88-1.01) and RR for each 2.5 g/day vegetable fibre intake was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.76-1.07). CONCLUSION: A higher consumption of dietary fibre is associated with a lower risk of fatal IHD with no clear difference in the association with IHD for fibre from cereals, fruits or vegetables.

The genetic polymorphisms of ERCC1 and XRCC1 may be useful in predicting clinical outcome in Taiwanese mCRC patients treated with FOLFOX-4. However, further prospective studies will be needed for the potential clinical implication.

Aim: The present study aimed to investigate the regulation and involvement of miR-221 in the differentiation of human adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hASCs). The relationships between miR-221 and pro-inflammatory markers and adipokines were also explored. Methods: Eight adipose tissues were obtained from four obese (mean body mass index (BMI) =31.7 kg/m²) and four lean (mean BMI= 21.5 kg/m²) women. hASCs were induced to differentiate, and the related gene expression were measured in the hASC-differentiated adipocytes using real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR). Results: During adipogenesis, miR-221 was significantly down-regulated; furthermore, miR-221 levels were lower in hASC-differentiated adipocytes from obese subjects than in the corresponding adipocytes from lean subjects. Higher TNF-α mRNA levels were associated with lower levels of miR-221. In addition, the miR-221 levels in the adipocytes were inversely correlated with BMI. Conclusion: Our results support the link between miR-221 and obesity development as well as obesity related inflammatory status.