Growth inhibition by fusidic acid in cervical, thyroid, and breast carcinoma cell lines.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the effects of fusidic acid (FA) on human cervical, thyroid, and breast carcinoma cell lines to determine the potential usefulness of FA in cancer treatment. METHODS: Six cancer cell lines (cervical cancer: Caski, HeLa; thyroid cancer: 8505C, TPC1; and breast cancer: MCF-7, MDA-MB-231) were treated with FA. Furthermore the changes in cell growth, cell cycle duration, and extent of apoptosis were analyzed. RESULTS: After FA treatment, the cancer cells showed a decrease in growth rate. In the cell death assay, the cell populations were similar in each cell type after treatment with FA, indicating that growth inhibition by FA was not related to the induction of apoptosis. FA induced cell cycle arrest at a dose that inhibited growth rate, which varied in different cell types. G0/G1 phase arrest occurs in breast cancer, S phase arrest in 8505C thyroid cancer, and G2/M phase arrest in cervical cancer. These results indicate that FA reduces growth rates by inducing cell cycle arrest. CONCLUSION: FA treatment can interfere with cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest in human cervical, thyroid, and breast carcinoma cell lines. Thus, FA can be useful in treating human cervical, thyroid, and breast carcinomas.

Age- and menopause-related differences in physiological factors of health quality in women aged 35-60.

The purpose of this study was to elucidate using time series analysis age and menopause induced differences in selected health quality related physiological factors. The study was conducted, using the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), and the NHANES 1999-2002 data, on women aged 35-60. Subjects who had not had surgical menopause, did not use contraceptives, did not smoke, and did not breastfeed during the examination, and did not use contraception and for whom follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone (LH) activity was assessed, were included in the study. Menopausal status was defined by months since the last period (<2, 2-12, and >12 months for pre-, peri-, and postmenopause, respectively). The results indicate that postmenopausal women, aged less than 45, are characterized by a decrease in systolic blood pressure (SBP), an increase in high density lipoprotein (HDL) levels, and a decrease in triglyceride (TG) levels. It was also determined that aging is the main factor leading to physiological variability in systolic blood pressure and high density lipoprotein levels, in pre- and perimenopausal women, and in follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) activity in peri- and postmenopausal women.