Antiproliferative and proapoptotic activities of methanolic extracts from Ligustrum vulgare L. as an individual treatment and in combination with palladium complex.

The aim of this study is to examine the growth inhibitory effects of methanolic leaf and fruit extracts of L. vulgare on HCT-116 cells over different time periods and their synergistic effect with a Pd(apox) complex. The antiproliferative activity of plant extracts alone or in combination with the Pd(apox) complex was determined using MTT cell viability assay, where the IC(50) value was used as a parameter of cytotoxicity. Results show that antiproliferative effects of L. vulgare extracts increase with extension of exposure time, with decreasing IC(50) values, except for 72 h where the IC(50) values for methanolic leaf extract were lower than for the fruit extract. The Pd(apox) complex alone had a weak antiproliferative effect, but combination with L. vulgare extracts caused stronger effects with lower IC(50) values than with L. vulgare extracts alone. The type of cell death was explored by fluorescence microscopy using the acridin orange/ethidium bromide method. Treatments with plant extracts caused typical apoptotic morphological changes in HCT-116 cells and co-treatments with Pd(apox) complex caused higher levels of apoptotic cells than treatment with plant extracts alone. The results indicate that L. vulgare is a considerable source of natural bioactive substances with antiproliferative activity on HCT-116 cells and which have a substantial synergistic effect with the Pd(apox) complex.

Antioxidant, antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities of five lichen species.

The antioxidative, antimicrobial and antiproliferative potentials of the methanol extracts of the lichen species Parmelia sulcata, Flavoparmelia caperata, Evernia prunastri, Hypogymnia physodes and Cladonia foliacea were evaluated. The total phenolic content of the tested extracts varied from 78.12 to 141.59 mg of gallic acid equivalent (GA)/g of extract and the total flavonoid content from 20.14 to 44.43 mg of rutin equivalent (Ru)/g of extract. The antioxidant capacities of the lichen extracts were determined by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals scavenging. Hypogymnia physodes with the highest phenolic content showed the strongest DPPH radical scavenging effect. Further, the antimicrobial potential of the lichen extracts was determined by a microdilution method on 29 microorganisms, including 15 strains of bacteria, 10 species of filamentous fungi and 4 yeast species. A high antimicrobial activity of all the tested extracts was observed with more potent inhibitory effects on the growth of Gram (+) bacteria. The highest antimicrobial activity among lichens was demonstrated by Hypogymnia physodes and Cladonia foliacea. Finally, the antiproliferative activity of the lichen extracts was explored on the colon cancer adenocarcinoma cell line HCT-116 by MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) viability assay and acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining. The methanol extracts of Hypogymnia physodes and Cladonia foliacea showed a better cytotoxic activity than the other extracts. All lichen species showed the ability to induce apoptosis of HCT-116 cells.

Difficulties in establishing a timely diagnosis of pulmonary artery sarcoma misdiagnosed as chronic thrombo-embolic pulmonary disease: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Pulmonary artery sarcomas are rare neoplasms that are often confused with chronic thrombo-embolic disease, as both can have similar clinical and imaging presentation. CASE PRESENTATION: In this report, we present a case of a 50-year-old man initially diagnosed with chronic thrombo-embolic pulmonary disease, but who was later found to have pulmonary artery sarcoma with poor survival prognosis. We review the clinical and imaging characteristics of the two diseases and discuss the difficulties in establishing a timely diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Similar clinical features and imaging presentation of pulmonary artery sarcoma and chronic thrombo-embolic pulmonary disease make definitive diagnosis difficult. This case report also illustrates and emphasizes that in any case with no predisposition factors for embolism, no evidence of deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary emboli, and inadequate relief of symptoms with anticoagulation, an alternative diagnosis of pulmonary artery sarcoma should be considered. If pulmonary artery sarcoma is diagnosed late in the course of the disease, there is usually a poor survival outcome.