A Case of Primary Ovarian Lymphoma Presenting as a Rectal Submucosal Tumor

Primary ovarian lymphoma is a rare malignancy whose symptoms or signs are usually nonspecific. In this article, we report a very rare case initially presenting as a rectal submucosal-tumor-like lesion with a defecation disturbance caused by primary ovarian lymphoma with bilateral involvement. A 42-year-old woman visited chungnam national university hospital complaining of persistent defecation disturbance for 6 months. Colonoscopy demonstrated compression of the rectum by an extrinsic mass mimicking a rectal submucosal tumor. Magnetic resonance imaging detected bilateral ovarian tumors, 9.3 cm and 5.4 cm each in diameter, compressing the rectum without enlarged lymph nodes. The diagnosis was established following a bilateral adnexectomy and histological studies of the excised tissue. The tumor was classified as a diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. The patient was prescribed six cycles of standard CHOP (cyclophosphamide, hydroxydaunorubicin, vincristine, prednisolone) regimen and is presently on treatment

In vivo bioluminescence imaging for leptomeningeal dissemination of medulloblastoma in mouse models

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.Abstract Background The primary cause of treatment failure in medulloblastomas (MB) is the development of leptomeningeal dissemination (seeding). For translational research on MB seeding, one of the major challenges is the development of reliable experimental models that simulate the seeding and growth characteristics of MBs. To overcome this obstacle, we improved an experimental mouse model by intracisternal inoculation of human MB cells and monitoring with in vivo live images. Methods Human MB cells (UW426, D283 and MED8A) were transfected with a firefly luciferase gene and a Thy1.1 (CD90.1) marker linked with IRES under the control of the CMV promoter in a retroviral DNA backbone (effLuc). The MB-effLuc cells were injected into the cisterna magna using an intrathecal catheter, and bioluminescence images were captured. We performed histopathological analysis to confirm the extent of tumor seeding. Results The luciferase activity of MB-effLuc cells displayed a gradually increasing pattern, which correlated with a quantitative luminometric assay. Live imaging showed that the MB-effLuc cells were diffusely distributed in the cervical spinal cord and the lumbosacral area. All mice injected with UW426-effLuc, D283-effLuc and MED8A-effLuc died within 51 days. The median survival was 22, 41 and 12 days after injection of 1.2 × 106 UW426-effLuc, D283-effLuc and MED8A-effLuc cells, respectively. The histopathological studies revealed that the MB-effLuc cells spread extensively and diffusely along the leptomeninges of the brain and spinal cord, forming tumor cell-coated layers. The tumor cells in the subarachnoid space expressed a human nuclei marker and Ki-67. Compared with the intracerebellar injection method in which the subfrontal area and distal spinal cord were spared by tumor cell seeding in some mice, the intracisternal injection model more closely resembled the widespread leptomeningeal seeding observed in MB patients. Conclusion The results and described method are valuable resources for further translational research to overcome MB seeding

Infections after Living Donor Liver Transplantation in Children

The aim of this study was to evaluate the infectious complications after living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) in children. We enrolled 95 children (38 boys and 57 girls) who underwent LDLT from 1994 to 2004. The median age was 22 months (range, 6 months to 15 yr). We retrospectively investigated the proven episodes of bacterial, viral, and fungal infection. There occurred 150 infections in 67 (70%) of 95 patients (1.49 infections/patient); 74 in 43 patients were bacterial, 2 in 2 were fungal, and 74 in 42 were viral. The most common sites of bacterial infection were the bloodstream (33%) and abdomen (25%). Most of the bacterial infections occurred within the first month after LDLT. Bacterial and fungal infections did not result in any deaths. The most common causes of viral infection were Epstein-Barr virus in 37 patients and cytomegalovirus in 18. Seven of the 14 deaths after LDLT were associated with viral infection. Our study suggests that infection is one of the important causes of morbidity and mortality after LDLT. Especially careful monitoring and management of viral infections is crucial for improving the outcome of LDLT in children

Biological Activities and Cell Proliferation effects of Red Ginseng Ethanol Extracts

Objectives: Reactive Oxygen Species(ROS) are continuously produced at a high rate as a by-product of aerobic metabolism. Since tissue damage by free radical, ROS such as hydrogen peroxide(H2O2), nitric oxide(NO) increases with age. Several lines of evidence provided that ROS appears to cause to develop aging-related various diseases such as cancer, arthritis, cardiovascular disease. In this study, we have conducted to investigate the pharmacological effects of red ginseng for the development possibility to pharmacopuncture drug sources or healthy aid foods. Methods: For our aims, it was investigated the biological activities of Red Ginseng ethanol extracts (RGEE) by measuring total polyphenol contents, total flavonoid contents, DPPH radical scavenging activity, ABTS radical scavenging activity and cell viability of MCF 10A and SK-MEL-2 in vitro with MTT assay method. Results: The total polyphenol contents of RGEE was 3.060.11mg/g in 10mg/ml, the total flavonoid contents of RGEE was 1.350.01mg/g in same concentration. The ABTS radical scavenging activity was about 80% and that of DPPH activity was 65% in 50mg/ml of RGEE. The cell viability of SKMEL-2, skin cancer cell line was decreased and that of MCF 10A, skin normal cell line was increased. Conclusions: We conclude that RGEE may be useful as potential functional foods or pharmacopuncture drug sources on the diseases induced by oxidant stress

Analytical Research to Determine the effects of the Components of ONGABO on the Viability of HepG2 Cancer Cells by Using the Sovereign, Minister, Assistant and Courier Principle (君臣佐使論)

Objectives: This study used the basic principle of Oriental medicine, the sovereign, minister, assistant and courier principle (君臣佐使論) to investigate the effects of the component of ONGABO, which is composed of Ginseng Radix (Red Ginseng), Angelica Gigantis Radix, Schisandrae Fructus, Cuscuta Semen and Curcumae tuber on the viability of HepG2 cells. Methods: Single and mixed extracts of the component of ONGABO were prepared by lypohilizing powder of Red Ginseng (6-year root from Kanghwa), Angelica Gigantis Radix, Schisandrae Fructus, Cuscuta Semen, Curcumae Tuber (from Omniherb Co., Ltd., Korea) at the laboratory of herbal medicine in Woosuk University and were eluted after being macerated with 100% ethanol for three days. The cell viability of HepG2 was determined by using an absorptiometric analysis with PrestoBlue (Invitrogen) reagent after the plate had been incubated for 48 hours. All of the experiments were repeated three times to obtain the average value and standard deviation. The statistical analysis was done and the correlation factor was obtained by using Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and Origin 6.0 software. Results: Although Ginseng Radix (Red Ginseng) and Schisandrae Fructus did not enhance the viability of HepG2 cells, they were shown to provide protection of those cells. On the other hand, Angelica Gigantis Radix decreased the viability of HepG2 cells significantly, Cuscuta Semen and Curcumae Tuber had a small or no effect on the viability of HepG2 cells. Conclusions: In the sovereign, minister, assistant and courier principle (君臣佐使論), Ginseng Radix (Red Ginseng) corresponds to the sovereign component because it provides cell protection effects, Angelica Gigantis Radix corresponds to minister medicinal because it kills cells, Schisandrae Fructus corresponds to the assistant medicinal to help red ginseng having cell protect effects. Cuscuta Semen and Curcumae Tuber correspond to the courier medicinal having no effect in cell viability in HepG2. We hope this study provides motivation for advanced research on the sovereign, minister, assistant and courier principle

Biological Activities of Hominis Placenta Herbal Acupuncture prepared by Hydrochloric Acid Hydrolysis

Reactive Oxygen Species(ROS) are continuously produced at a high rate as a by-product of aerobic metabolism. Since tissue damage by free radical increases with age, the reactive oxygen species(ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide(H2O2), nitric oxide(NO). Several lines of evidence provided that ROS appears to cause to develop aging-related various diseases such as cancer, arthritis, cardiovascular disease. In this study, we have conducted to investigate the biological activities of Hominis Placenta Herbal Acupuncture by measuring total polyphenol content, DPPH radical scavenging, ABTS radical scavenging, Superoxide dismutase(SOD)-like activity, Nitrite scavenging ability in vitro. The total polyphenol contents of Hominis Placenta Herbal Acupuncture was 24.6㎖/㎖. Elctron donation ability on DPPH was 49.4%. The 2,2'-azinobis-3-ehtlbezothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid radical decolorization (ABTS) was 50.01%, similar to the DPPH free radical scavenging. The superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activities of hominis placenta herbal acupuncture was 50.876%. The nitrite scavenging abilities at pH 1.5, pH 3.0, pH 6.0 were 52.8%, 29.4%, 15.4%, respectively; these abilities decreased as pH increased. We conclude that Hominis Placenta Herbal Acupuncture may be useful as potential sources of antioxidant

Biological Activities of Scolopendrid Pharmacopuncture

2Reactive Oxygen Species(ROS) are continuously produced at a high rate as a by- product of aerobic metabolism. Since tissue damage by free radical increases with age, the reactive oxygen species(ROS) such as hydrogen peroxide(H2O2), nitric oxide(NO). Several lines of evidence provided that ROS appears to cause to develop aging-related various diseases such as cancer, arthritis, cardiovascular disease. Our reserch objective was to examine the in vitro biological activity of Scolopendrid Pharmacopuncture, including the total poly-phenol content, DPPH radical scavenging, ABTS radical scavenging, Superoxide dismutase(SOD)-like activity, Nitrite scavenging ability. The total poly-phenol contents of Scolopendrid Pharmacopuncture was 35.859mg/L. Elctron donation ability on DPPH was 36.82%. The 2,2'-azinobis-3-ehtlbezothiazoline-6- sulfonic acid radical decolorization (ABTS) was 84.7%. The superoxide dismutase (SOD)-like activities of Scolopendrid Pharmacopuncture was 44.33%. The nitrite scavenging effects were pH dependent, and were highest at pH 1.5(45.2%) and lowest at pH 6.0(11.3%). We conclude that Scolopendrid Pharmacopuncture may be useful as potential sources of antioxidant

Restoration of Spermatogenesis Using a New Combined Herbal Formula of Epimedium koreanum Nakai and Angelica gigas Nakai in an Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone Agonist-Induced Rat Model of Male Infertility

Purpose: We investigated the protective effect of a mixture of 2 herbal extracts, KH-465, which consisted of Epimedium koreanum Nakai and Angelica gigas Nakai, on spermatogenesis in a luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonist-induced rat model of male infertility. Materials and Methods: Seventy-five 12-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, containing 15 rats each: a normal control group that received no treatment and 4 experimental groups (I, II, III, and IV) in which an LHRH agonist was administered for 4 weeks to induce spermatogenic failure. Group I received distilled water, and groups II, III, and IV received 200 mg/kg/day of KH-465, 400 mg/kg/day KH-465, and depo-testosterone for 4 weeks, respectively. Weight changes of the testis and epididymis, sperm count motility, and levels of testosterone (T), free T, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) were estimated. Results: Body, testis, and epididymis weight showed no significant differences among the control and experimental groups. Treatment with KH-465 increased the sperm count and motility. Serum hormone levels of T, free T, and FSH were not significantly different in the experimental groups, while the LH level was higher than in the LHRH agonist-induced control group, but not to a significant extent. Levels of SOD were higher and 8-OHdG were lower in the groups that received KH-465 than in the LHRH agonist-induced control group. Conclusions: Our results suggest that KH-465 increased sperm production via reducing oxidative stress and had a positive effect in a male infertility model