Antitumor activity and macrophage nitric oxide producing action of medicinal herb, Crassocephalum crepidioides.

Background: Crassocephalum crepidioides, a plant distributed in Okinawa Islands, is known in folk medicine; however, its anticancer activity has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to determine the in vitro and in vivo antitumor activities of C. crepidioides on murine Sarcoma 180 (S-180) and related molecular mechanisms.

Efficacy of Bidens pilosa Extract against Herpes Simplex Virus Infection In Vitro and In Vivo.

The development of strains of herpes simplex virus (HSV) resistant to drugs has been reported among the immunocompromised patients. Thus, there is a need to develop new therapeutic agents for HSV infections. We evaluated the anti-HSV activity of Bidens pilosa (B.

Interleukin-1 alpha produced by human T-cell leukaemia virus type I-infected T cells induces intercellular adhesion molecule-1 expression on lung epithelial cells.

The pathogenic mechanism of human T-cell leukaemia virus type I (HTLV-I)-related pulmonary disease, which involves overexpression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) in lung epithelial cells, was investigated. The supernatant of HTLV-I-infected Tax(+) MT-2 and C5/MJ cells induced ICAM-1 expression on A549 cells, a human tumour cell line with the properties of alveolar epithelial cells. Neutralization of ICAM-1 partially inhibited HTLV-I-infected T-cell adhesion to A549 cells.

Dengue virus-induced apoptosis in hepatic cells is partly mediated by Apo2 ligand/tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand.

Although hepatic injury is reported in cases with dengue haemorrhagic fever and dengue shock syndrome, its mechanism remains poorly understood. Several findings suggest that dengue virus (DEN) induces apoptosis of hepatocytes in vivo. In this work, DEN type 2 (DEN-2) strain NGC was shown to induce apoptosis in the hepatic cell line HepG2, and infection of HepG2 cells was found to induce Apo2 ligand (Apo2L, also known as tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand or TRAIL) expression.