Molecular cloning of a cDNA coding for feline liver xanthine dehydrogenase.

A cDNA coding for feline liver xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH, EC 1.1.204) was amplified by RT-PCR and cloned for determining the sequence. The clones contained an open reading frame of 4002 base pairs encoding 1333 amino acid residues. The calculated molecular weight and isoelectric point were approximately 146 kDa and 7.0. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequences indicated remarkable high homology, i.e., the amino acid residues of feline XDH shared approximately 90%, 87%, 87% and 86% identity with those of human, bovine, rat and mouse, respectively. The anino acid sequences of two putative iron-sulfur centers, one NAD binding site and one molybdenum binding site were well conserved among mammalian animals.

Conjugated linoleic acid supplementation reduces adipose tissue by apoptosis and develops lipodystrophy in mice.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a naturally occurring group of dienoic derivatives of linoleic acid found in beef and dairy products. CLA has been reported to reduce body fat. To examine the mechanism(s) of CLA reduction of fat mass, female C57BL/6J mice were fed standard semipurified diets (10% fat of total energy) with or without CLA (1% wt/wt). Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-biotin nick endlabeling (TUNEL) and DNA fragmentation analysis revealed that fat-mass decrease by CLA was mainly due to apoptosis. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha and uncoupling protein (UCP)-2 mRNA levels increased 12- and 6-fold, respectively, in isolated adipocytes from CLA-fed mice compared with control mice. Because it is known that TNF-alpha induces apoptosis of adipocytes and upregulates UCP2 mRNA, a marked increase of TNF-alpha mRNA with an increase of UCP2 in adipocytes caused CLA-induced apoptosis. However, with a decrease of fat mass, CLA supplementation resulted in a state resembling lipoatrophic diabetes: ablation of brown adipose tissue, a marked reduction of white adipose tissue, marked hepatomegaly, and marked insulin resistance. CLA supplementation decreased blood leptin levels, but continuous leptin infusion reversed hyperinsulinemia, indicating that leptin depletion contributes to the development of insulin resistance. These results demonstrate that intake of CLA reduces adipose tissue by apoptosis and results in lipodystrophy, but hyperinsulinemia by CLA can be normalized by leptin administration.

Antitumor effects of Scutellariae radix and its components baicalein, baicalin, and wogonin on bladder cancer cell lines.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the antitumor effects of Scutellariae radix and its components baicalein, baicalin, and wogonin on human bladder cancer cell lines (KU-1 and EJ-1) and a murine bladder cancer cell line (MBT-2). METHODS: Bladder cancer cells were incubated with various concentrations of the agents. Antiproliferative activity against the bladder cancer cell lines was examined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diplenyl tetrazolium bromide assay. In an in vivo experiment, the mice were subcutaneously injected with MBT-2 cells, and Scutellariae radix was orally administered at a dose of 2 or 10 mg per mouse one time daily for 10 days from day 11 to day 20. RESULTS: All the drugs inhibited cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner, but baicalin exhibited the greatest antiproliferative activity. The concentration of baicalin necessary to obtain 50% inhibition was 3.4 microg/mL for KU-1, 4.4 microg/mL for EJ-1, and 0.93 microg/mL for MBT-2. For KU-1 and MBT-2, the percentage of cell survival significantly decreased (P <0.05) at a baicalin concentration of 1 microg/mL. In an in vivo experiment, antitumor effects of Scutellariae radix on C3H/HeN mice implanted with MBT-2 were investigated. All the control mice showed a progressive increase in tumor volume, reaching 2.81 +/- 0.18 cm(3) on day 20 and 5.36 +/- 0.44 cm(3) on day 25. However, when Scutellariae radix was orally administered at a dose of 10 mg per mouse one time daily for 10 days from day 11 to day 20, the tumor volume was 1.99 +/- 0.19 cm(3) on day 20 and 3.86 +/- 0.26 cm(3) on day 25, a significant inhibition of tumor growth (P <0.05). Conclusions. These results suggest that Chinese herbal medicines may become an attractive and promising treatment for bladder cancer.

Comparative study of transurethral laser prostatectomy versus transurethral electroresection for benign prostatic hyperplasia.

BACKGROUND: Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) is the gold standard treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Recently, less invasive transurethral laser prostatectomy, such as visual laser ablation (VLAP) or interstitial laser coagulation (ILCP), have been developed. Herein, we investigated the efficacy of VLAP and ILCP compared to TURP. METHODS: A total of 80 patients with BPH were treated: 20 patients by VLAP, 30 patients by ILCP and 30 patients by TURP. All patients were followed up for 12 months after their operations. Treatment outcomes were evaluated by four different criteria: (i) the International Prostatic Symptom Score (I-PSS), (ii) the maximum flow rate (Qmax), (iii) postvoided residual urine volume before treatment and one, three, six and 12 months after treatment, and (iv) prostatic volume before operation and three and six months postoperatively. RESULTS: The I-PSS, Qmax and residual urine volume were significantly improved compared to baseline levels and the improvement continued for 12 months in the three groups: for I-PSS (P<0.001 in the VLAP group and P<0.0001 in the ILCP and TURP groups), Qmax (P<0.001 in the VLAP and ILCP groups, and P<0.0001 in the TURP group), residual urine volume (P<0.01 in the VLAP group and P<0.0001 in the ILCP and TURP groups). Significant reduction of the prostatic volume was recorded only in the ILCP and TURP groups (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: Visual laser ablation and ILCP can be good alternative treatments for BPH. Visual laser ablation provides good outcomes in patients with small-sized BPH and with risk factors such as heart disease or anticoagulation therapy.

Effects of Platycodon grandiflorum feeding on serum and liver lipid concentrations in rats with diet-induced hyperlipidemia.

To study the effect of Platycodon grandiflorum (P.g.) feeding on serum and liver lipid concentrations, diet-induced hyperlipidemic rats were fed diets containing 5% and 10% P.g. powder for 3 weeks. The P.g. feeding markedly decreased both serum and liver lipid concentrations in hyperlipidemic rats. Especially, 5% P.g. diet significantly decreased the concentrations of total cholesterol and triglycerides in serum and liver as compared with those of the hyperlipidemic control group. Dietary P.g. also induced a reduction in low-density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol as well as an increase in the concentration of high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol in serum. Furthermore, the atherogenic index was also low in rats fed P.g. diet. These results indicated that dietary P.g. may have a beneficial effect on preventing hypercholesterolemia and hyperlipidemia.

The effect of the Nepenthes alata extract on the cold agglutinin-associated antigens.

Nepenthes alata is a tropical insectivorous plant with pitchers. After treating human red blood cells (RBCs) with the extract from the Nepenthes pitchers, the antigenicities of I, IF, Lud, and Om on the RBCs disappeared. As these antigens are associated with cold agglutinins, this extract appears to contain several decomposing enzymatic activities that work against glycolipids and glycoproteins. These activities of this extract, however, ceased on heating at 100 degrees C for 15 min.