Publications by authors named "Nishigaki I"

Breast cancer is the most prevalent malignant neoplasm in the world, and chemoprevention through dietary intervention strategy is an emerging option to reduce the incidence. D-pinitol (DP), a major component of soya bean, possesses attractive biological actions. We have investigated whether D-pinitol have an effect on tumor growth in vivo against 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)-initiated rat mammary carcinogenesis and investigated its mechanism of action.

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The therapeutic effects of the natural antioxidant mangiferin (a xanthonoid and potent oxygen free radical scavenger), which is widely distributed in mango fruit, against CdCl(2)-induced toxicity in human renal glomerulus endothelial cells (HRGEC) were investigated. The viability of HREGCs that were treated with CdCl(2) (25 µ mol) and co-treated with mangiferin (75 µ mol) for 24 h was measured by crystal violet dye. The exposure of human glomerulus renal endothelial cells to cadmium promotes a polarized apical secretion of IL-6 and IL-8, two pivotal proinflammatory cytokines known to play a significant role in renal inflammation.

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Aim Of The Study: In the present study the effects of mangiferin were tested against lung cancer-bearing mice in both the pre-initiation and post-initiation periods.

Materials And Methods: Healthy male Swiss albino mice (6-8 weeks old) were used throughout the study. The animals were treated with mangiferin (100 mg/kg body weight dissolved in corn oil) two weeks before (pre-initiation) and the twelfth week after (post-initiation) the establishment of B (a) P (50 mg/kg body weight)-induced lung carcinoma.

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Kaempferol (3,5,7-trihydroxy-2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one) is a flavonoid found in many edible plants (e.g., tea, broccoli, cabbage, kale, beans, endive, leek, tomato, strawberries, and grapes) and in plants or botanical products commonly used in traditional medicine (e.

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A variety of bioactive food components have been shown to modulate inflammatory responses and to attenuate carcinogenesis. Polyphenols isolated several years ago from various medicinal plants now seem to have a prominent role in the prevention and therapy of a variety of ailments. Mangiferin, a unique, important, and highly investigated polyphenol, has attracted much attention of late for its potential as a chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic agent against various types of cancer.

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Oxidative stress plays a pivotal role in the development of human diseases. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) that includes hydrogen peroxide, hyphochlorus acid, superoxide anion, singlet oxygen, lipid peroxides, hypochlorite and hydroxyl radical are involved in growth, differentiation, progression and death of the cell. They can react with membrane lipids, nucleic acids, proteins, enzymes and other small molecules.

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Development of drugs from natural products has been undergoing a gradual evoluation. Many plant derived compounds have excellent therapeutic potential against various human ailments. They are important sources especially for anticancer agents.

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Epidemiological investigations have shown that overcoming the risk of cancer is related to the consumption of green vegetables and fruits. Many compounds from different origins, such as terrestrial plants and marine and microbial sources, have been reported to have therapeutic effects of which marine sources are the most important because the diversity of marine life is more varied than other sources. Fucoxanthin is one important compound with a marine origin and belongs to the group of carotenoids; it can be found in marine brown seaweeds, macroalgae, and diatoms, all of which have remarkable biological properties.

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Alterations of endothelial cells and the vasculature play a central role in the pathogenesis of a broad spectrum of the most dreadful of human diseases, as endothelial cells have the key function of participating in the maintenance of patent and functional capillaries. The endothelium is directly involved in peripheral vascular disease, stroke, heart disease, diabetes, insulin resistance, chronic kidney failure, tumor growth, metastasis, venous thrombosis, and severe viral infectious diseases. Dysfunction of the vascular endothelium is thus a hallmark of human diseases.

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The immunomodulatory activity of mangiferin was studied in various groups of animals. For this study, adult Swiss albino male mice were treated with benzo(a)pyrene, abbreviated as B(a)P, at 50 mg/kg body weight orally twice a week for 4 weeks; and mangiferin was also given orally (pre- and post-initiation of carcinoma) at 100 mg/kg body weight. Immunocompetence and immune complexes as measured by phagocyte index, avidity index, and soluble immune complex (SIC) levels (p<0.

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Consumption of fruits and vegetables has been associated with a low incidence of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases. The present study was aimed at evaluating the protective effects of fresh apple extract (AE) on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) exposed to cytotoxic glycated protein (GFBS)/iron (FeCl(3)) chelate. The experimental design comprised 10 groups with 5 flasks in each group.

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The health benefits of green tea for a wide variety of ailments, including different types of cancer, heart disease, and liver disease, were reported. Many of these beneficial effects of green tea are related to its catechin, particularly (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate, content. There is evidence from in vitro and animal studies on the underlying mechanisms of green tea catechins and their biological actions.

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Astaxanthin (ASX), a red carotenoid pigment with no pro-vitamin A activity, is a biological antioxidant that occurs naturally in a wide variety of plants, algae and seafoods. This study investigated whether ASX could inhibit glycated protein/iron chelate-induced toxicity in human umbilical-vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) by interfering with ROS generation in these cells. Glycated fetal bovine serum (GFBS) was prepared by incubating fetal bovine serum (FBS) with high-concentration glucose.

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The protective effect of methanol extracts of Cassia fistula (flowers, leaves and bark) was examined in vitro in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) against toxicity induced by glycated protein (GFBS) in vitro. The experiments consisted of eight groups of HUVEC with five flasks in each group. Group I was treated with 15% FBS, group II with GFBS (70 microM) alone, and the other six groups were treated with GFBS plus 25 and 50 microg of each of the three types of C.

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Formation of an iron chelate of glycated protein was demonstrated by the appearance of an absorption peak at approximately 270 nm after mixing glycated bovine serum albumin with FeCl3. This peak disappeared and a new peak appeared at approximately 420 nm to form an isosbestic point at approximately 340 nm by the addition of deferoxamine mesylate, an iron-chelating agent, to the mixture, thus confirming the formation of the iron chelate of the glycated protein in the mixture. The lipid peroxide level was increased markedly in endothelial cells and slightly in smooth muscle cells from bovine aorta incubated in the medium containing glycated fetal bovine serum-iron chelate.

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To understand better the pathophysiology of random skin flaps, randomized skin flaps of human (3 cases) and guinea pig (53 cases) were investigated. Proximal (normal), proximomedial (viable), mediodistal (between viable and necrotic parts), and distal (necrosis) locations of the skin flaps were biopsied. Lipid peroxidase, hydrolytic enzymes of cytosol (Ca(2+)-dependent cysteine protease: calpain), and lysosome (acid phosphatase) of skin were used as markers.

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The proliferation of cultured smooth muscle cells from rabbit aorta was inhibited markedly by 2-methoxyestradiol, considerably by 2-hydroxyestradiol, and only slightly by 17 beta-estradiol. The effects at doses from 1 to 40 nmol/ml were cytostatic rather than cytocidal. 2-Methoxyestradiol could be useful to suppress excessive proliferation of arterial smooth muscle cells, and thus to prevent the progression of atherosclerosis.

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Since penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae first recognized in 1967, the rate of penicillin-resistant strains has been increasing worldwide. There have been up to 50% from pediatric specimens in Japan. We reported three pediatric cases with penicillin G resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae infection to show some important clue from these cases for clinical practice against resistant pneumococcal infection.

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A 54-year-old woman presented proteinuria and severe hyperlipoproteinemia, She had type III hyperlipoproteinemia with the phenotype E2/2. Renal biopsy specimen revealed lipoprotein thrombi within the glomerular capillary lumina without tubulointerstitial lesion and deposition of IgA in the mesangium and peripheral capillary loops, indicating lipoprotein glomerulopathy with IgA nephropathy. Treatment with probucol resulted in the improvement of both hyperlipoproteinemia and proteinuria with the disappearance of the lipoprotein thrombi in the glomerular capillary without any change in the mesangial IgA deposition.

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Aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase was purified from bovine brain for the first time by affinity chromatography using a monoclonal antibody to the enzyme, and it was compared with the decarboxylase purified from bovine adrenal medulla by the same procedure. The monoclonal antibody was produced from a hybridoma established for the enzyme highly purified from bovine adrenal medulla. The Mr values of brain and adrenal-medulla enzyme were both estimated to be approx.

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We present here the first familial cases (a mother and son) of dominantly inherited retinoblastoma with a 13q14 deletion [46,XY or XX, del(13)(q14.1q21.2)].

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Esterase D was qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed in the red blood cells from 50 retinoblastoma patients who had been followed-up at Juntendo University and their family. In only one case with deletion of chromosome No. 13 (q12.

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