Pharmacogenetic analysis of pediatric patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a possible association between survival rate and ITPA polymorphism.

Genetic polymorphisms are important factors in the effects and toxicity of chemotherapeutics. To analyze the pharmacogenetic and ethnic differences in chemotherapeutics, major genes implicated in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) were analyzed. Eighteen loci of 16 genes in 100 patients with ALL were analyzed.

Impaired generation of reactive oxygen species in leprechaunism through downregulation of Nox4.

Leprechaunism features a clinical constellation characterized by extreme insulin resistance, growth retardation, and several distinct developmental abnormalities. One puzzling observation about leprechaunism is that mutations in the insulin receptor gene frequently associated with this syndrome cannot account for the aberrant responses of cultured cells to other growth factors. Here we report that the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) is impaired in cells from leprechaunism patients, thus shedding new light on this issue.

A curcuminoid and two sesquiterpenoids from Curcuma zedoaria as inhibitors of nitric oxide synthesis in activated macrophages.

The overproduction of nitric oxide (NO) by inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is known to be responsible for vasodilation and hypotension observed in septic shock and inflammation. Inhibitors of iNOS, thus, may be useful candidates for the treatment of inflammatory diseases accompanied by overproduction of NO. In the course of screening oriental anti-inflammatory herbs for the inhibitory activity of NO synthesis, a crude methanolic extract of Curcuma zedoaria exhibited significant activity.