Intracerebroventricular administration of arginine vasotocin (AVT) induces anorexigenesis and anxiety-like behavior in goldfish.

Arginine vasotocin (AVT) is known as a neurohypophyseal hormone that regulates water- and mineral-balance in non-mammalian vertebrates. Recent studies revealed that AVT also exerts central effects on behavior. The goldfish has several merits for evaluation of behavioral changes. However, there is few information on the behavioral action of AVT in this species. Here we examined the effects of AVT on food intake and psychomotor activity. AVT was administered intracerebroventricularly at 1, 5 and 10 pmol g-1 body weight (BW). Intracerebroventricular (ICV) administration of AVT at 5 and 10 pmol g-1 BW significantly decreased food intake during 30 min after injection and recovery from anesthesia. The AVT-induced anorexigenic action was attenuated by treatment with the AVT receptor V1aR antagonist Manning compound (MC) at 50 pmol g-1 BW. As the goldfish tends to prefer the lower to the upper area of a tank, we used this preference behavior for assessing psychomotor activity during a 30-min observation period. ICV administration of AVT at 1, 5 and 10 pmol g-1 BW significantly prolonged the time spent in the lower area, but did not affect locomotor activity in the tank at any dose. The action of AVT was similar to that of the central-type benzodiazepine receptor inverse agonist FG-7142 at 10 pmol g-1 BW. AVT-induced anxiety-like behavior was blocked by treatment with MC at 50 pmol g-1 BW. These results indicate that AVT affects food intake and psychophysiological status, and also induces anorexigenic- and anxiogenic-like actions via the V1aR-signaling pathway in the goldfish brain.

Combination Effect of Bowman-Birk Inhibitor and α-Tocopheryl Succinate on Prostate Cancer Stem-Like Cells.

The reoccurrence of androgen-dependent prostate cancer after anti-androgen therapy mainly depends on prostate cancer stem-like cells. To reduce the risk, it is important to delete the cancer stem-like cells. Furthermore, to induce differentiation of cancer stem-like cells is critical to abrogate stemness of the cells. Therefore, we tried to investigate a possibility on the establishment of a new effective therapy to eradicate the cancer stem-like cells via the induction of differentiation in this study. Prostate cancer stem-like cells from an androgen-dependent prostate cancer cell line (LNCaP cell) had severe resistance against an anti-androgen therapeutic agent. We selected Bowman-Birk inhibitor (BBI) from soybeans reported as a chemopreventive agent in prostate cancer to differentiate the caner stem-like cells and α-tocopheryl succinate (TOS) known as a mitocan to induce effectively cytotoxic effect against the cancer stem-like cells. In fact, only TOS treatment had cytotoxic effect against the cancer stem-like cells, but the addition of BBI treatment to the cells treated with TOS reinforced TOS-mediated cytotoxicity in the cancer stem-like cells. This reinforcement coincided with the combination-enhanced apoptosis in the stem-like cells. Also, we confirmed caspase9-caspase3 cascade mainly contributed to the enhancement of the cytotoxicity in the stem-like cells caused by the combination, indicating that the reinforcement of BBI on TOS-mediated apoptosis via mitochondria related to the enhancing cytotoxic effect of the combination on the prostate cancer stem-like cells. Overall, it seems that the combination is an effective new approach to reduce the reoccurrence of prostate cancer targeting prostate cancer stem cells.

Ultrastructural and immunohistochemical study of small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the parotid gland.

A case of small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma of the parotid gland is presented with immunohistochemical and electron microscopic studies. Small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma is extremely rare and is often difficult to distinguish from malignant lymphoma, adenoid cystic carcinoma, and undifferentiated carcinoma. Under light microscopy, the tumor cells consisted of solid sheets and nests of small tumor cells. Immunohistochemically, they were positive for KL-1 and EMA, and focally positive for NSE and synaptophysin. Observation using an electron microscope showed membrane-bound neuroendocrine granules in some tumor cells. Histological evaluation indicated that the present case was small cell carcinoma of the parotid gland, showing a neuroendocrine variety.