Possible involvement of oxidative stress in 5-fluorouracil-mediated myelosuppression in mice.

Certain chemotherapeutic agents subject cells to oxidative stress, thereby promoting adverse effects. However, the molecular machinery governing 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)-mediated myelotoxicity is obscure. The purpose of this study was to clarify whether 5-FU-induced myelotoxicity is a cause of oxidative stress.

The presence of tryptase-positive and bikunin-negative mast cells in psoriatic skin lesions.

Human mast cells are well known to produce a serine protease, tryptase, which appears to play a pathogenic role in various skin inflammations. It was previously reported that a rat homologue of bikunin may inhibit tryptase activity. Various type of cells (i.

Quantitative analysis of bikunin-laden mast cells in follicular eruptions and chronic skin lesions of atopic dermatitis.

Bikunin, an inhibitor of serine proteases, is widely distributed in human tissues, including the skin, and may inhibit tryptase and modulate allergic inflammation. The purpose of the present study was to compare follicular eruptions (FE), so-called atopic skin or perifollicular accentuation, with atopic dermatitis (AD) lesions (ADL) by immunohistochemical analysis using antibodies to bikunin and tryptase. Immunohistochemically, bikunin was colocalized with tryptase in dermal mast cells, and a small quantity of bikunin was also deposited in the intercellular spaces in FE and ADL.