The functional role of sulforaphane in intestinal inflammation: a review.

Intestinal inflammation represented by inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has become a global epidemic disease and the number of patients with IBD continues to increase. This digestive tract disease not only affects the absorption of food components by destroying the intestinal epithelial structure, but also can induce diseases in remote organs via the gut-organ axis, seriously harming human health. Nowadays, increasing attention is being paid to the nutritional and medicinal value of food components with increasing awareness among the general public regarding health. As an important member of the isothiocyanates, sulforaphane (SFN) is abundant in cruciferous plants and is famous for its excellent anti-cancer effects. With the development of clinical research, more physiological activities of SFN, such as antidepressant, hypoglycemic and anti-inflammatory activities, have been discovered, supporting the fact that SFN and SFN-rich sources have great potential to be dietary supplements that are beneficial to health. This review summarizes the characteristics of intestinal inflammation, the anti-inflammatory mechanism of SFN and its various protective effects on intestinal inflammation, and the possible future applications of SFN for promoting intestinal health have also been discussed.

Two new species of a new genus, Pseudorogneda, of Polycystididae discovered in Southern China.

Two new species of the new genus Pseudorogneda of Polycystididae were discovered in a brackish environment from Southern China. Pseudorogneda sinensis n. gen. n. sp., is distinguished by a semicircular double-walled prostate stylet type II that tapers in diameter from proximal to distal with a proximal-to-distal fold, and an inner wall with a funnel-shaped base originating at the midpoint of the outer wall; its flattened tubular prostate stylet type IV exhibits a horn-like base and a proximal-to-distal folded structure on its wall. For Pseudorogneda shenda n. gen. n. sp., its crescent-shaped prostate stylet type II is double-walled and the inner wall has a funnel-shaped base that starts at the proximal 2/3 position of the outer stylet and is fused with the outer stylet to form a sharp distal end; its tubular and slightly-curved prostate stylet type IV exhibits a slit and a distal fold. Phylogenetic analysis of 18S rDNA and 28S rDNA sequences shows that the two novel species are clustered to form an independent clade from other genera, which is consistent with morphological comparison in the establishment of two new species in a new genus.

Gastrointestinal stromal tumors of the rectum: Clinical, pathologic, immunohistochemical characteristics and prognostic analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical, pathological and immunohistochemical characteristics of rectal gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) and to correlate them with clinical outcomes. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective review of 29 patients with surgically treated rectal GISTs during the period from 1997 to 2005 was undertaken. The NIH (National Institute of Health Consensus) criteria were applied. RESULTS: All the rectal GISTs in our series originated in the lower half of the rectum and patients underwent primary surgery for complete resections; High-risk, intermediate-risk, low-risk and very low-risk GISTs were found in 11, 6, 5 and 7 patients, respectively. Necrosis, adjacent (mucosal or serosa) invasion and marked pleomorphisms were found in 10, 7 and 20 patients, respectively. Positive expression of CD117, CD34, SMA and S-100 was found in 28, 28, 7 and 3 patients, respectively. Twelve patients had recurrence or metastasis within the median disease-free survival time of 41 months. Among the patients who underwent local resections, the recurrence rate for low-risk and very low-risk GISTs was only 1/10; for intermediate-risk and high-risk GISTs, the recurrence rate after local resections was 3/4, which was higher than the recurrence and metastasis rate of 8/13 after laparotomy. Of the 12 patients with adverse outcomes, 4 patients underwent secondary complete resections; however, all 4 patients had further recurrences. On univariate analysis, risk classification (p = 0.0002), necrosis (p = 0.0205), adjacent invasion (p = 0.0090) and marked pleomorphism (p = 0.0480) were significant predictors of disease-free survival. In the Cox regression model, only the risk classification (p = 0.012) was found to be an independent factor. CONCLUSION: We found that rectal GISTs arise predominantly in the lower half of the rectum and have high CD117 and CD34 expression. Local resection may be a good choice for very-low-risk and low-risk GISTs, but aggressive surgery may be more beneficial for high-risk and intermediate-risk GISTs. For patients with disease recurrence, the results of secondary surgery were poor. Only the NIH risk classification proved to be an independent prognostic factor for rectal GISTs, whereas the proof for other factors was insufficient.