The emetic and anti-emetic effects of the capsaicin analogue resiniferatoxin in Suncus murinus, the house musk shrew.

1. In SUNCUS: murinus the ultrapotent capsaicin analogue resiniferatoxin (RTX) induced an emetic response in the dose range 1 - 1000 microg kg(-1), s.c.

Unsaturated fatty acid feeding prevents the development of acute hepatitis in Long-Evans cinnamon (LEC) rats.

To investigate the effects of dietary alpha-linolenic acid (18:3, n-3; alpha-LNA) and linoleic acid (18:2, n-6; LA) on the development of hereditary hepatitis, we compared incidences and grades of acute hepatitis between the Long-Evans cinnamon (LEC) rats fed with safflower oil-supplemented diet and perilla oil-supplemented diet. Both safflower and perilla oil supplemented diets reduced the incidence of hepatitis and significantly prolonged its onset as compared to the non-supplemented conventional diet. No significant difference was observed between safflower and perilla oil diets in the rats of incidence of hepatitis.

Vascular endothelial growth factor expression in untreated osteosarcoma is predictive of pulmonary metastasis and poor prognosis.

To investigate the clinical significance of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in osteosarcoma, we immunohistochemically stained biopsy specimens of 27 primary osteosarcomas using an antibody against VEGF and evaluated the correlation between the expression of VEGF and local density of CD34-positive microvessels, clinicopathological variables, and survival of patients. VEGF staining was positive in 17 tumors (63.0%) in which the density of CD34-positive microvessels was significantly higher than that in VEGF-negative 10 tumors (P < 0.

[Reproductive and developmental toxicity study of gadobenate dimeglumine formulation (E7155) (1)--Fertility study in male rats by intravenous administration].

The influence of gadobenate dimeglumine formulation (E7155) on general reproductive performance and fertility in male rats of the Sprague-Dawley strain was assessed in this study. E7155 was administered by intravenous injection at a dosage of 0.3, 1.

Single treatment with cisplatin or UFT, but not their combination treatment enhances the metastatic capacity of mouse fibrosarcoma cells.

To elucidate the roles of chemotherapeutic agents in tumor progression, we examined whether cis-diamminedichloroplatinum (II) (cisplatin) and UFT would promote malignant progression of a weakly tumorigenic and poorly metastatic fibrosarcoma cell line OR-32SK in vivo. C57BL/6 mice, transplanted with QR32SK, were treated with either cisplatin or UFT alone and in combination. After treatment with or without cisplatin and/or UFT, we established in vitro culture cell lines from the tumors arising in the mice on day 21 and then i.

Increased E1AF expression in mouse fibrosarcoma promotes metastasis through induction of MT1-MMP expression.

In this study, we investigated the role of E1AF, a member of ets family transcription factor, in the acquisition of metastatic capacity by non-metastatic mouse fibrosarcoma cell clone, QR-32. The QR-32 cell clone grows progressively after co-implantation with gelatin sponge in syngeneic C57BL/6 mice. The cell lines (QRsP) established from arising tumors after the co-implantation exhibited enhanced tumorigenicity and pulmonary metastasis in vivo as compared with parent QR-32 cells.

Inflammatory cell-mediated tumour progression and minisatellite mutation correlate with the decrease of antioxidative enzymes in murine fibrosarcoma cells.

We isolated six clones of weakly tumorigenic fibrosarcoma (QR) from the tumorigenic clone BMT-11 cl-9. The QR clones were unable to grow in normal C57BL/6 mice when injected s.c.

Intramuscular injection of plasmid DNA expressing mRNA7 coding the nucleocapsid protein of JHMV partially protected mice against acute infection with JHMV.

We constructed a plasmid expressing mRNA7 coding the nucleocapsid (N) protein of JHM strain of mouse hepatitis virus (JHMV) under the control of Rous sarcoma virus LTR, referred to as pRSV-mRNA7. When C57BL/6 mice injected intramuscularly (i.m.

Polysaccharide K induces Mn superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) in tumor tissues and inhibits malignant progression of QR-32 tumor cells: possible roles of interferon alpha, tumor necrosis factor alpha and transforming growth factor beta in Mn-SOD induction by polysaccharide K.

Previously we reported the malignant progression of QR-32, a regressor-type tumor clone, following co-implantation with foreign bodies (gelatin sponge or plastic plate) in normal syngeneic C57BL/6 mice. We also reported that the progression of QR-32 cells by a gelatin sponge was significantly inhibited in the mice administered polysaccharide K (PSK) and that PSK induced an increase of radical scavengers, especially manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD), locally at the site of tumor tissues. In this study, to reveal the possible mechanism by which PSK induced Mn-SOD in the tumor tissues, we examined the mRNA expression and protein levels of inflammatory cytokines in the tissues.

Establishing a link between oncogenes and tumor angiogenesis.

We have tried to stress that mutant oncogenes or overexpressed, nonmutated proto-oncogenes, in addition to their direct affect on promoting aberrant tumor cell proliferation (and survival), may possess a crucial indirect means of stimulating tumor cell growth through regulation of angiogenesis. This effect would never be observed in tissue culture studies of oncogene function using pure cultures of tumor cells, which probably helps explain why the pro-angiogenic function of oncogenes has not been appreciated until only relatively recently. Indeed, the very first indication of a possible contributory role of oncogenes, such as ras and myc, to tumor angiogenesis was first reported by Thompson et al.

Impact of oncogenes in tumor angiogenesis: mutant K-ras up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor/vascular permeability factor is necessary, but not sufficient for tumorigenicity of human colorectal carcinoma cells.

Targeted disruption of the single mutant K-ras allele in two human colorectal carcinoma cell lines (DLD-1 and HCT-116) leads to loss of tumorigenic competence in nude mice with retention of ability to grow indefinitely in monolayer culture. Because expression of the mutant K-ras oncogene in these cell lines is associated with marked up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor/vascular permeability factor (VEGF/VPF), we sought to determine whether this potent angiogenesis inducer plays a role in K-ras-dependent tumorigenic competence. Transfection of a VEGF121 antisense expression vector into DLD-1 and HCT-116 cells resulted in suppression of VEGF/VPF production by a factor of 3- to 4-fold.

[Comparative studies of airway deposition of 99mTc-DTPA aerosol particles among 4 different nebulizers by pulmonary scintillation method].

The inhalation therapy is one of the important treatment of bronchial asthma. The effectiveness of the therapy, however, is different depending on the size of particles produced by each inhalation equipment. Therefore, we have tried to clarify the relationship between the size of inhaled particles and the deposition rate in the lung by using different types of equipment.

Male/female differences in drug-induced emesis and motion sickness in Suncus murinus.

In order to elucidate possible male/female differences in emesis, the effects of various emetogenic drugs (cisplatin, copper sulfate, veratrine, nicotine, serotonin) and motion stimulus were compared between male and female Suncus murinus. Cisplatin (IP), nicotine (SC), veratrine (SC) and copper sulfate (PO) induced dose-dependent emesis in either sex, and there was no apparent difference in estimated ED50 values. However, male animals tended to be more susceptible to serotonin-induced emesis.

Localized near-infrared spectroscopy and functional optical imaging of brain activity.

Changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) and cerebral metabolic rates (CMRO2) have been used as indices for changes in neuronal activity. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can also measure cerebral haemodynamics and metabolic changes, enabling the possible use of multichannel recording of NIRS for functional optical imaging of human brain activity. Spatio-temporal variations of brain regions were demonstrated during various mental tasks.

The LEC (Long-Evans Cinnamon) rat as an animal model for bilirubin-induced tooth pigmentation.

The LEC (Long-Evans Cinnamon) rat is well known as a useful animal model for hepatic disease. We noticed the green pigmentation in incisors 2-3 weeks after acute hepatitis accompanied by severe jaundice. This study was undertaken to elucidate the cause of this phenomenon.

Enhancement of tumor associated antigen expression during the regression phase of xenogenized tumor cell growth in vivo.

Rat fibrosarcoma cells infected with Friend leukemia virus (FV-KMT-17) grow for a short time and then regress spontaneously in syngeneic hosts. This regression was caused by immunological mechanisms, because the tumor cells were renogenized. In this study, we have tried to find out whether tumor-associated antigen (TAA) expression in these xenogenized tumor cells can be modulated by xenogenization.

Inhibitory effect of a traditional Chinese medicine, Juzen-taiho-to, on progressive growth of weakly malignant clone cells derived from murine fibrosarcoma.

We have investigated the inhibitory effect of oral administration of Juzen-taiho-to, a Kampo (Chinese herbal) medicine, on progressive growth of a mouse fibrosarcoma. Spontaneously regressive QR-32 tumor cells were able to grow progressively in vivo when coimplanted s.c.

Cytolytic activity induced by intramuscular injection of plasmid DNA expressing the nucleocapsid protein of the JHM strain of mouse hepatitis virus into C57BL/6 mice.

We constructed plasmids expressing mRNA7 coding the nucleocapsid (N) protein of JHM strain of MHV (JHMV) under the control of Rous sarcoma virus (RSV) LTR or human elongation factor (EF) 1a promoter, referred to as pRSV-mRNA7 and pEF-mRNA7, respectively. Although only a slight level of cytolysis was observed by the spleen cells from C57BL/6 mice injected intramuscularly with pEF-mRNA7, the spleen cells from the mice administered with pRSV-mRNA7 showed a significant level of cytolytic activities against the cells expressing the viral N protein. The difference in the level of specific cytolysis might have been mainly due to a difference in the expression levels of the N protein in the muscles between the mice injected with pEF-mRNA7 and pRSV-mRNA7, since the specific activity of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) in muscles from the mice injected with plasmid DNA expressing CAT gene directed by RSV LTR was significantly higher than that in those administered by the plasmid DNA directed by EF-1a promoter.

Prophylactic effect of serotonin uptake inhibitors against motion sickness in Suncus murinus.

The prophylactic effect of serotonin uptake inhibitors, imipramine and fluoxetine, against motion sickness was investigated in Suncus murinus. Imipramine (s.c.

Transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-beta 1) produced in tumour tissue after chemotherapy acts as a lymphokine-activated killer attractant.

Using an under agarose migration (UAM) assay, we studied lymphokine-activated killer (LAK)-attractant activity in cultured conditioned medium of tumour tissues after chemotherapy as a possible mechanism of enhanced LAK cell accumulation into tumour tissues after chemotherapy. BMT-11 is a fibrosarcoma developed in C57BL/6 mice. The conditioned medium of BMT-11 tumour tissues obtained from mice treated with various anti-cancer drugs had chemotactic activity for LAK cells (LAK-attractant activity).

Pathological comparison between spontaneously developed and chemically induced liver cancers in LEC rats with hereditary hepatitis.

To investigate the pathological differences between spontaneously developed and chemically induced liver cancers in LEC rats with hereditary hepatitis, eight-week-old LEC rats were fed 0.06% or 0.03% of 3'-methyl-4-dimethylaminoazobenzene (3'-Me-DAB) for 12 weeks, and then fed basal diet.