[In vitro effect of combined traditional Chinese medicine (Changqing capsule) on the tachyzoites of Toxoplasma gondii].

OBJECTIVE: To detect the in vitro effect of the traditional Chinese medicine on the tachyzoites of Toxoplasma gondii. METHODS: Supernatant (1.5 ml) of different doses of the traditional Chinese medicine (Changqing capsule) was collected by normal saline immersion and 2.5 x 10(4) Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites were added in each paste well for 8 hours. Spiramycin, pyrimethamine and azithromycin in different doses were used as controls. Normal saline was used as negative control. Mice were inoculated with drug-treated tachyzoites intraperitoneally or intragastrically. The normal mice were subcultured after 8 days for 3 generations. RESULTS: The incident number of the infected mice was significantly different among groups with different drugs and doses: 2/60, 16/60, 10/60 and 10/60 in the groups of Changqing capsule, spiramycin, pyrimethamine and azithromycin respectively (P < 0.05). No mice were found incident in groups of high and medium dose Changqing capsule while 2 out of 20 found sick in the low dose group (P < 0.05). The subculture observation showed that 2 and 1 mice in the first generation of the low dose Changqing capsule group inoculated intraperitonelly and intragastrically were found infected respectively. 2 mice of the second generation in low dose spiramycin group and 1 mouse of the third generation in low dose pyrimethamine group were also found infected. CONCLUSION: The in vitro killing effect of the Changqing capsule on the tachyzoites of Toxoplasma gondii is better than the current clinical drugs and shows a positive correlation with the dosages.

[Expressions of Cx43 and Skp2 in epithelial ovarian tumor and their clinical significances].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Connexin 43 (Cx43), an important member of connexins family, is frequently down-regulated in neoplastic cells. It has been shown to have gap junction-dependent anti-tumor effect on various tumor cell lines. Recently, it was reported that Cx43 could inhibit tumor growth via down-regulating the expression of S-phase kinase associated protein 2 (Skp2). Skp2, a member of F-box protein family, can specifically recognize, and accelerate the ubiquitin-mediated degradation of several key regulators of G(1) phase progression. This study was to detect expressions of Cx43 and Skp2 in epithelial ovarian tumor, and to explore their correlations to tumorigenesis and development of ovarian cancer. METHODS: Expressions of Cx43 and Skp2 were examined by immunohistochemistry in 81 specimens of epithelial ovarian tumor (13 specimens of adenoma, 12 specimens of borderline adenoma, and 56 specimens of adenocarcinoma). Relationship between expression levels of Cx43 and Skp2, and association of their expression levels with clinicopathologic factors were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: Positive rates of Cx43 in ovarian adenoma, borderline adenoma, and ovarian adenocarcinoma were 84.6% (11/13), 66.7% (8/12), and 33.9% (19/56), respectivelyu expression level of Cx43 in ovarian adenocarcinoma was significantly lower than those in ovarian adenoma (P<0.01), and borderline adenoma (P<0.01). Positive rates of Skp2 in ovarian adenoma, borderline adenoma, and ovarian adenocarcinoma were 0, 0, and 46.3% (26/56), respectivelyu expression level of Skp2 in ovarian adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than those in ovarian adenoma (P<0.01), and borderline adenoma (P<0.01). Moreover, the expression levels of Cx43 and Skp2 were independent of age and histological type, but significantly associated with pathologic grade, clinical stage, and positive lymph node metastasis of ovarian adenocarcinoma. Besides, in ovarian adenocarcinoma, expression level of Cx43 was moderately inversely correlated with that of Skp2 (r=-0.48, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Down-regulation of Cx43, and over-expression of Skp2 are tumor specific, and may play important roles in tumorigenesis, and development of ovarian cancer. Up-regulation of Skp2 may be related with down-regulation of Cx43 in ovarian cancer.

[Expression of cellular FLICE inhibitory protein (cFLIP) in endometrial adenocarcinoma].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Cellular FLICE inhibitory protein (cFLIP) is a new-found member of the inhibitors of apoptosis. It has been reported to be overexpressed in various human cancers. We investigated the expression of cFLIP in endometrial adenocarcinoma and its association with clinicopathological features and proliferating cell nuclear antigen-labeling index (PCNA-LI). METHODS: cFLIP and PCNA-LI were determined in endometrial tissue samples including 42 endometrial adenocarcinoma tissues, 20 normal proliferative endometrial tissues, and 40 hyperplastic tissues with (n=10) or without (n=30) atypia by immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: The positive rates of cFLIP expression in normal proliferative samples of endometrium, hyperplastic samples, and endometrial adenocarcinomas were (55.0+/-11.4)%, (72.5+/-7.1)%, and (83.3+/-5.8)%, respectively. Scoring on the basis of the percentage of positive cells and the intensity of positive immunostaining indicated that the expression level of cFLIP was significantly higher in adenocarcinoma than in normal proliferative endometrium (P< 0.01) and hyperplastic endometrium with or without atypia (P< 0.05);but no significant difference was found between the later two groups. PCNA-LI were (12.01+/-2.07)%,(20.26+/-6.99)%, (27.10+/-3.01)%, and (41.65+/-10.16)%, respectively in the adenocarcinoma groups with different cFLIP levels showed as -, +, ++, +++. Statistical analysis showed that cFLIP expression was significantly associated with PCNA-LI (r=0.7471,P< 0.01). In addition, cFLIP expression was also significantly associated with clinical stage (P< 0.05), the presence of invasion to >1/2 myometrium (P< 0.05) and positive lymph node metastasis (P< 0.01) of endometrial adenocarcinomas. CONCLUSION: Overexpression of cFLIP is tumor specific, which may be a late event in the tumor development of endometrial adenocarcinoma.