Treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia by natural drugs

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is one of the most common urinary diseases affecting men, generally after the age of 50. The prevalence of this multifactorial disease increases with age. With aging, the plasma level of testosterone decreases, as well as the testosterone/estrogen ratio, resulting in increased estrogen activity, which may facilitate the hyperplasia of the prostate cells. Another theory focuses on dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and the activity of the enzyme 5α-reductase, which converts testosterone to DHT. In older men, the activity of this enzyme increases, leading to a decreased testosterone/DHT ratio. DHT may promote prostate cell growth, resulting in hyperplasia. Some medicinal plants and their compounds act by modulating this enzyme, and have the above-mentioned targets. This review focuses on herbal drugs that are most widely used in the treatment of BPH, including pumpkin seed, willow herb, tomato, maritime pine bark, Pygeum africanum bark, rye pollen, saw palmetto fruit, and nettle root, highlighting the latest results of preclinical and clinical studies, as well as safety issues. In addition, the pharmaceutical care and other therapeutic options of BPH, including pharmacotherapy and surgical options, are discussed, summarizing and comparing the advantages and disadvantages of each therapy

Estimating genomic instability mediated by Alu retroelements in breast cancer

Alu-PCR is a relatively simple technique that can be used to investigate genomic instability in cancer. This technique allows identification of the loss, gain or amplification of gene sequences based on the analysis of segments between two Alu elements coupled with quantitative and qualitative analyses of the profiles obtained from tumor samples, surgical margins and blood. In this work, we used Alu-PCR to identify gene alterations in ten patients with invasive ductal breast cancer. Several deletions and insertions were identified, indicating genomic instability in the tumor and adjacent normal tissue. Although not associated with specific genes, the alterations, which involved chromosomal bands 1p36.23, 1q41, 11q14.3, 13q14.2, occurred in areas of well-known genomic instability in breast and other types of cancer. These results indicate the potential usefulness of Alu-PCR in identifying altered gene sequences in breast cancer. However, caution is required in its application since the Alu primer can produce non-specific amplification

Deciphering von Hippel-Lindau (VHL/Vhl)-Associated Pancreatic Manifestations by Inactivating Vhl in Specific Pancreatic Cell Populations

The von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome is a pleomorphic familial disease characterized by the development of highly vascularized tumors, such as hemangioblastomas of the central nervous system, pheochromocytomas, renal cell carcinomas, cysts and neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas. Up to 75% of VHL patients are affected by VHL-associated pancreatic lesions; however, very few reports in the published literature have described the cellular origins and biological roles of VHL in the pancreas. Since homozygous loss of Vhl in mice resulted in embryonic lethality, this study aimed to characterize the functional significance of VHL in the pancreas by conditionally inactivating Vhl utilizing the Cre/LoxP system. Specifically, Vhl was inactivated in different pancreatic cell populations distinguished by their roles during embryonic organ development and their endocrine lineage commitment. With Cre recombinase expression directed by a glucagon promoter in α-cells or an insulin promoter in β-cells, we showed that deletion of Vhl is dispensable for normal functions of the endocrine pancreas. In addition, deficiency of VHL protein (pVHL) in terminally differentiated α-cells or β-cells is insufficient to induce pancreatic neuroendocrine tumorigenesis. Most significantly, we presented the first mouse model of VHL-associated pancreatic disease in mice lacking pVHL utilizing Pdx1-Cre transgenic mice to inactivate Vhl in pancreatic progenitor cells. The highly vascularized microcystic adenomas and hyperplastic islets that developed in Pdx1-Cre;Vhl f/f homozygous mice exhibited clinical features similar to VHL patients. Establishment of three different, cell-specific Vhl knockouts in the pancreas have allowed us to provide evidence suggesting that VHL is functionally important for postnatal ductal and exocrine pancreas, and that VHL-associated pancreatic lesions are likely to originate from progenitor cells, not mature endocrine cells. The novel model systems reported here will provide the basis for further functional and genetic studies to define molecular mechanisms involved in VHL-associated pancreatic diseases

Political fragmentation and land use changes in the Interior Plains

Recent years have witnessed growing interest in the critical role of local/regional governance structures in shaping physical land development and associated natural resource management processes. This article investigates how political fragmentation in local governance can affect land use patterns through a watershed-level analysis of population and employment density changes in the Interior Plains, the largest physiographic division of the US. Population density change rates are found to be negatively associated with a higher degree of political fragmentation, while employment density does not show such a clear relationship with political fragmentation. This finding shows that political fragmentation may present significant challenges to land and water resource management, a result consistent with the previous empirical research

Über die Rotschwingel-Rotstraußgras-Pflanzengesellschaft (Festuca rubra-Agrostis tenuis-Ges.) im Landschafts- und Naturschutzgebiet "Dönche" in Kassel

Das Landschaftsschutzgebiet "Dönche", eine 270 ha große Grünlandfläche in der kollinen Stufe des östlichen Habichtswaldes, wurde bis 1881 als Gemeinschaftsweide, von 1881 bis 1936 als Acker und seit 1936 als Truppenübungsplatz genutzt. Das seit 45 Jahren ungedüngte Grünland setzt sich aus mageren Grasfluren zusammen, deren Bestandesaufbau weitgehend von Rotschwingel (Festuca rubra) und Rotstraußgras (Agrostis tenais) bestimmt wird (s. Tab. 1). Es wird versucht, die synsystematisch undefinierbare Festuca rubra-Agrostis tenuis-Pflanzengesellschaft als eine Zentralassoziation des vorindustriellen Grünlandes auf tiefgründigen Lehmböden des Austauscher- und Silikat-Pufferbereiches zu identifizieren. Es werden dafür die synchronologischen, synmorphologischen, syngenetischen und synökologischen Argumente aufgeführt.The landscape protection area "Donche" - a 270 ha large grassland situated in the colline region of the Eastern Habichtswald (Kassel, North Hesse) - was a communal pasture land until 1881, an arable land from 1881 to 1936 and since 1936 it is a military training area. This grassland area, which has not been fertilized for 45 years, is composed (s. tab. 1) of poor meadows mainly consisting of red fescue (Festuca rubra) and common bent (Agrostis tenuis). One tries to identify the synsystematic indefinable Festuca rubra-Agrostis tenuis plant community as the central association of preindustrial grassland on the deep clay soils of the exchange and silicate buffer range (pH 4,2 - 6,2). Synchronological, synmorphological, syngenetical and synecological arguments are given in order to support this hypothesis

Kleinraeumige Verteilung der pflanzenaufnehmbaren Mineralstoffe in den vom Stammablaufwasser beeinflussten Bodenbereichen alter Buchen verschiedener Waldgesellschaften

Lecture of a colloquium in DuesseldorfTIB: in RO 1677 (3) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman