Expression of survivin in human gastric carcinoma and gastric carcinoma model of rats.

AIM: To study the expression of survivin, an inhibitor of apoptosis protein, in human gastric carcinomas and gastric carcinoma models of rats. METHODS: With the method of immunohistochemical staining, we studied the expression of survivin in 20 cases of chronic gastritis and 56 cases of gastric carcinomas. We used N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) and high dose sodium-chloride diet to induce rat gastric carcinomas. Survivin expression was studied in glandular stomachs of normal rats, adenocarcinomas and tissues adjacent to the tumor, as well as in rats during the induction period. RESULTS: Survivin was expressed in 27 of 56 (48.2 %) cases of human gastric carcinoma tissues and 1 of 20 (5 %) cases of chronic gastritis. It was found that the expression of survivin had no relation with the elements of age, tumor depth, tumor size, and disease stage, but was significantly related to histological type. The positive rate of survivin expression in cases of intestinal type was significantly higher than that in cases of diffuse type (P<0.05). In animal experiments, survivin expression in glandular stomachs of normal rats, of rats in middle induction period, in adenocarcinomas and tissues adjacent to tumor were 0, 40.0 %, 78.3 % and 38.9 %, respectively. Compared with the survivin expression in normal rats, the differences were significant. CONCLUSION: These data imply that survivin plays an important role in the onset of gastric carcinoma and that high survivin expression is an early event of gastric carcinoma.

Inhibitory effects of docetaxel on expression of VEGF, bFGF and MMPs of LS174T cell.

AIM: To study the effects of non-cytotoxic concentrations of docetaxel on some important angiogenic factors of LS174T Cells. METHODS: The non-cytotoxic concentration of docetaxel and the activity of gelatinase were determined with MTT and gelatin zymography respectively, the expression of VEGF(vascular endothelial growth factor), bFGF (basic fibroblast growth factor), MMP (matrix metalloproteinase) 2 and MMP 9 was investigated with RT-PCR and Western blot. RESULTS: The maximum non-cytotoxic concentration of docetaxel on LS174T Cells was 1.0 ng/ml. Compared with the solvent control group, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0 ng/ml of docetaxel could downregulate the expression of VEGF, bFGF, MMP 2 and MMP 9 and suppress the activity of gelatinase. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that the non-cytotoxic concentrations of docetaxel have strong antiangiogenic activity on LS174T Cells, which suggests docetaxel may be a promising antiangiogenic agent.

Multicenter, randomized, controlled trial of heat-killed Lactobacillus acidophilus LB in patients with chronic diarrhea.

Chronic diarrhea is a common bowel disorder; disturbance of intestinal microorganisms may play a role in its pathogenesis. This study assessed the clinical efficacy of lyophilized, heat-killed Lactobacillus acidophilus LB versus living lactobacilli in the treatment of chronic diarrhea. One hundred thirty-seven patients with chronic diarrhea were randomly allocated to receive either a 4-week course of 2 capsules of Lacteol Fort twice a day (Lacteol group, 69 patients) or a 4-week course of 5 chewable tablets of Lacidophilin three times a day (Lacidophilin group, 64 patients). The frequency of stools was recorded quantitatively, and semiquantitative parameters such as stool consistency, abdominal pain, distention, and feeling of incomplete evacuation were evaluated. At the second and fourth week of treatment, mean bowel frequency was significantly lower in the Lacteol group than in the Lacidophilin group (1.88 +/- 1.24 vs 2.64 +/- 1.12, 1.39 +/- 0.92 vs 2.19 +/- 1.05; P<.05). At the end of the treatment, the clinical symptoms were markedly improved in the Lacteol group, indicating that L. acidophilus LB is more effective than living lactobacilli in the treatment of chronic diarrhea.