Evaluating Medicinal Plants for Anticancer Activity

Plants have been used for medical purposes since the beginning of human history and are the basis of modern medicine. Most chemotherapeutic drugs for cancer treatment are molecules identified and isolated from plants or their synthetic derivatives. Our hypothesis was that whole plant extracts selected according to ethnobotanical sources of historical use might contain multiple molecules with antitumor activities that could be very effective in killing human cancer cells. This study examined the effects of three whole plant extracts (ethanol extraction) on human tumor cells. The extracts were from Urtica membranacea (Urticaceae), Artemesia monosperma (Asteraceae), and Origanum dayi post (Labiatae). All three plant extracts exhibited dose- and time-dependent killing capabilities in various human derived tumor cell lines and primary cultures established from patients’ biopsies. The killing activity was specific toward tumor cells, as the plant extracts had no effect on primary cultures of healthy human cells. Cell death caused by the whole plant extracts is via apoptosis. Plant extract 5 (Urtica membranacea) showed particularly strong anticancer capabilities since it inhibited actual tumor progression in a breast adenocarcinoma mouse model. Our results suggest that whole plant extracts are promising anticancer reagents

Distinguishing Dystrophic Calcification from Calciphylaxis

Introduction Calcinosis cutis, a disorder in which calcium salts deposit in skin and subcutis, is categorized into five subtypes: dystrophic calcification, metastatic calcification, idiopathic calcification, iatrogenic calcification, and calciphylaxis. Dystrophic calcification, the most common subtype, typically results from local tissue damage1,2 and is proposed to be caused by the release of phosphate binding proteins by necrotic cells in response to tissue damage, inflammation, or hypoxia.2 The condition often presents with nontender nodules of the skin or subcutis and normal serum calcium. Calciphylaxis is believed to be caused by impaired inhibition of calcification in the microvasculature.3 A deficiency in carboxylated matrix Gla protein, a vitamin K dependent inhibitor of vascular calcification, has been associated with calciphylaxis.3 Conditions resulting in vitamin K deficiency, including Warfarin usage and end stage renal disease, have been implicated.3 Several causes of nonuremic calciphylaxis have been reported, notably in association with alcoholic cirrhosis.1,4,5 Additional risk factors include hypercalcemia, hyperphosphatemia, and hyperparathyroidism.3 Intramural vascular calcification of small to medium-sized vessels, typically of the dermis and subcutaneous fat, is a key pathologic diagnostic criterion of calciphylaxis.1 Following medial calcification, subintimal fibroplasia and thrombosis result in vascular occlusion, ischemia, inflammation, and necrosis of surrounding tissue.3 Consequently, calciphylaxis is associated with severely painful lesions.3 Diagnosis requires clinicopathologic correlation as diagnostic histopathological findings of intramural calcification of small vessels and vasculopathy can be subtle. The following case underscores how variations in the clinicopathologic presentation of dystrophic calcification and calciphylaxis can create diagnostic challenges

Ideal-self fulfillment and sex-roles in mate selection

Numerous theorists and researchers have studied the process of mate selection. Freud\u27s (1921/1959) theory that people look for a partner who represents their ideal self has received some empirical support (Karp, Jackson & Lester, 1970; Murstein, 1976). A separate notion regarding choice of mate has been based on recent work on the importance of sex roles (Bem, 1974). The theorizing is that a particular pattern of sex role pairing between a person and their partner is the goal (Murstein & Williams, 1983; Orlofsky, 1982). The present study was designed to investigate whether the quest for the ideal self is a factor in the sex role of the mate chosen. Further, the aim was to determine whether selecting a partner who represented the ideal led to greater dyadic satisfaction. Sixty heterosexual couples, applying for marriage licenses in a suburb of New York City were given the Bem Sex-Role inventory under three instructional sets: to describe yourself, yourself as you would ideally like to be and your partner. They also were asked to complete a demographic questionnaire and the Spanier Dyadic Adjustment Scale. The results indicate that both males and females tend to choose partners who represent their ideal self in sex role classification. The idea that the partner would be more similar to the ideal than the actual self was supported only for females on masculinity traits. The prediction that a partner who represents the ideal would lead to greater satisfaction was not supported. Supplemental analyses using a simulated control group created from the actual data indicated it was unlikely these results had occurred by chance. It was concluded that the quest for the ideal self may be a salient factor in the sex role of the partner chosen. This was particularly true for women in seeking their ideal masculinity through their partner. Males, however, seemed more traditional regarding what they look for in a mate. Contrary to expectation, a partner who represents the ideal self does not seem to lead to greater satisfaction with the relationship