Benja-ummarit induces ferroptosis with cell ballooning feature through ROS and iron-dependent pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Benja-ummarit (BU), a traditional Thai herbal formula, has been prescribed by traditional Thai practitioners for the treatment of liver cancer. Clinical trials of BU have shown an increase in overall survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients, including stage 1-3 (with or without prior standard chemotherapy) and terminal stage. The clinical outcomes differ from those of other apoptosis-based conventional chemotherapies.

Anti-Inflammatory and Gut Microbiota Modulating Effects of Probiotic MSMC39-1 on Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Colitis in Rats.

Probiotics have been shown to possess several properties, depending on the strain. Some probiotics have important roles in preventing infection and balancing the immune system due to the interaction between the intestinal mucosa and cells in the immune system. This study aimed to examine the properties of three probiotic strains using the tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) inhibition test in colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (Caco-2 cells).

Molecular Changes Following Induction of Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Diethylnitrosamine and Thioacetamide, and Subsequent Treatment with Extract.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary liver cancer commonly found in adults. Previously, we showed the anticancer effects of Thai herbal plant extract, Pierre (DM), in HCC-bearing rats. In the present study, we further examined the proposed mechanism of DM, including apoptosis and antioxidant activity.

Therapeutic efficacy of a extract in a rat model of hepatocellular carcinoma: Histopathological aspects.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is most common in adults and has a high mortality rate because of a lack of effective treatment options. We investigated the effect of a medicinal plant as a potential source of drugs against HCC. The rhizomes of Pierre (DM), Hua-Khao-Yen in Thai, are commonly used as ingredients for alternative treatment of cancer in Thailand.

α-mangostin preserves hepatic microvascular architecture in fibrotic rats as shown by scanning electron microscopy of vascular corrosion casts.

Liver fibrosis is a dynamic condition caused by wound-healing in which scar tissue replaces the liver parenchyma following repetitive injuries. It is hypothesized that α-mangostin (AM), the major constituent of the xanthone fraction in extracts of L., may protect the hepatic microvascular bed from thioacetamide (TAA)-induced fibrosis.

Hepatoprotective Effect of Probiotic Lactic Acid Bacteria on Thioacetamide-Induced Liver Fibrosis in Rats.

Hepatic fibrosis is a reversible wound-healing response characterized by the accumulation of extracellular matrix. Probiotics have been used to prevent and treat various disorders. The aim of the present study was to investigate the hepatoprotective effects of probiotic lactic acid bacteria (mixture of Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus casei, and Weissella confusa) on thioacetamide (TAA)-induced liver fibrosis in rats.

Anti-angiogenic and anti-proliferative effects of Benja-ummarit extract in rats with hepatocellular carcinoma.

The herbal extract Benja-ummarit (BU) is a traditional Thai medicine with a putative cancer-suppressing effect. However, this effect has only been tested in human hepatocarcinoma cell lines. The present study determined the efficacy of a BU extract to treat hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in rats and established its anti-angiogenic and anti-proliferative properties.

Protective effect of alpha-mangostin on thioacetamide-induced liver fibrosis in rats as revealed by morpho-functional analysis.

Liver fibrosis is an excessive accumulation of scar tissue resulting from inflammation and cell death. Thioacetamide (TAA) is a well-known hepatotoxin that induces liver fibrosis. A marker of injured hepatocytes is transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1), while alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1 (TIMP-1) are markers of activated hepatic stellate cells.

Alpha-Mangostin Partially Preserves Expression of Ammonia-Metabolizing Enzymes in Thioacetamide-Induced Fibrotic and Cirrhotic Rats.

Background: Ammonia metabolizing enzymes, carbamyol phosphate synthetase (CPS) and glutamine synthetase (GS), are expressed in the periportal and pericentral hepatocytes, respectively. CPS and GS function complementary to ensure complete ammonia detoxification. Immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the decline of both CPS and GS in cirrhotic rat liver induced by thioacetamide (TAA).

Collagen arrangement in space of Disse correlates with fluid flow in normal and cirrhotic rat livers.

Little is known about collagen arrangement in the space of Disse was related to the fluid flow both in normal and cirrhotic liver. We examined the changes in the arrangement of type-I collagen in thioacetamide-induced cirrhotic rat livers with immunohistochemistry and SEM after maceration of the noncollagenous tissues with NaOH. The sparse bundles of collagen fibers in the spaces of Disse were mostly elongated fibers with a disorganized arrangement in each nodule.

Rat β₃-adrenoceptor protein expression: antibody validation and distribution in rat gastrointestinal and urogenital tissues.

β3-Adrenoceptors play important roles in the regulation of urogenital and probably gastrointestinal function. However, despite recent progress, their detection at the protein level has remained difficult due to a lack of sufficiently validated selective antibodies. Therefore, we have explored the selectivity of two antibodies for the detection of rodent β3-adrenoceptors in immunoblots and immunohistochemistry.

Expressional changes of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase and glutamine synthetase in the liver of rat with thioacetamide-induced cirrhosis.

Background: In order to detoxify ammonia, mammalian livers use carbamoyl phosphate synthetase (CPS) and glutamine synthetase (GS) for conversion into respective non-toxic urea and glutamine. CPS is expressed in the periportal hepatocytes whereas GS is contained in the pericentral hepatocytes.

Objective: To examine the expressional changes of CPS and GS in the liver being induced to become cirrhotic by hepatotoxin thioacetamide (TAA).

Predominant vascular dilatation with NOS expression in lung lower lobe of thioacetamide induced-cirrhotic rat.

Background: About eighteen percent of cirrhotic patients come along with decreased systemic arterial oxygenation and expansion of pulmonary venous plexus which triggered by nitric oxide. The level of nitrate and iNOS significantly increase in the cirrhotic patients. However the localization of nNOS and iNOS in the lung tissue has not yet been clarified.

Protective effect of alpha-mangostin against type-I collagen formation in thioacetamide-induced cirrhotic rat.

Objective: To elucidate the protective effect of alpha-mangostin (alpha-MG) against increment of type-I collagen-positive hepatocytes in rat cirrhosis induced by thioacetamide (TAA).

Material And Method: Rats were separated into 4 groups. The first group was, the control, untreated with TAA.

Activated Ito cells of cirrhotic liver express M3 muscarinic receptor after thioacetamide exposure.

Ito cells or perisinusoidal stellate cells or hepatic fat storing cells are pericytes of normal liver sinusoidal endothelial cells. Activation of Ito cells by chemicals or toxins causes transdifferentiation into the main collagen-producing cells involving in the progression of liver cirrhosis. Quantitative analysis of Ito cell activation by immunohistochemistry has been shown to be useful in predicting the rate of progression of liver fibrosis in some clinical situations.

Chronological production of thioacetamide-induced cirrhosis in the rat with no mortality.

Background: Cirrhotic animal models are useful in studying complications of chronic liver disease. The authors chronologically investigated the effect of thioacetamide (TAA), administered intraperitoneally and adapted individually to weight changes, focusing on the optimal moment to obtain typical features of cirrhosis.

Material And Method: Male Wistar Rats,150-200 g, were intoxicated three times per week with TAA of 200 mg/kg for 4, 8, 12 or 16 weeks (n = 8 per group), respectively and compared with age-matched controls (n = 4 per group).

Anatomy and histology of the lower urinary tract.

The function of the lower urinary tract is basically storage of urine in the bladder and the at-will periodic evacuation of the stored urine. Urinary incontinence is one of the most common lower urinary tract disorders in adults, but especially in the elderly female. The urethra, its sphincters, and the pelvic floor are key structures in the achievement of continence, but their basic anatomy is little known and, to some extent, still incompletely understood.

From prenatal life into senescence, testosterone is essential requirement for manhood.

Prenatally, organisms have the bipotentiality to differentiate along either male or female lines, a process with different stages, each with a narrow window of time, during which testosterone plays a pivotal role in the case of male sexual differentiation. During puberty, the body directs the masculinization process with growth of the genitalia and prostate. Body contours become male, with an average height of 10-15 centimeters greater than that of females, a greater bone and muscle mass, a male hair pattern and a male-type fat distribution.

Lack of specificity of commercially available antisera against muscarinergic and adrenergic receptors.

Commercially available antisera against five subtypes of muscarinic receptors and nine subtypes of adrenoceptors showed highly distinct immunohistochemical staining patterns in rat ureter and stomach. However, using the M(1-4) muscarinic receptor subtypes and alpha(2B)-, beta(2)-, and beta(3)-adrenoceptors as examples, Western blots with membranes prepared from cell lines stably expressing various subtypes of muscarinic receptors or adrenoceptors revealed that each of the antisera recognized a set of proteins that differed between the cell lines used but lacked specificity for the claimed target receptor. We propose that receptor antibodies need better validation before they can reliably be used.

Lack of specificity of commercially available antisera: better specifications needed.

The ideal antiserum for immunohistochemical (IHC) applications contains monospecific high-affinity antibodies with little nonspecific adherence to sections. Many commercially available antibodies are "affinity" purified, but it is unknown if they meet "hard" specificity criteria, such as absence of staining in tissues genetically deficient for the antigen or a staining pattern that is identical to that of an antibody raised against a different epitope on the same protein. Reviewers, therefore, often require additional characterization.

Lower urinary tract symptoms and its potential relation with late-onset hypogonadism.

The study of the health status of the aging male takes presently a more integrative approach and it appears that ailments typical of male aging, such as lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), (visceral) obesity, metabolic syndrome and erectile failure are significantly interrelated. A common denominator of the above ailments is lower-than-normal testosterone levels occurring in a significant proportion of elderly men. This review addresses the potential connections between LUTS and late-onset hypogonadism.

Microscopic anatomy of the orbital Harderian gland in the common tree shrew (Tupaia glis).

The orbital Harderian gland of the common tree shrew (Tupaia glis) was investigated at the macroscopic and microscopic levels. In the glands of both sexes only one acinar cell type was found. The cell is characterized by the presence of numerous lipid vacuoles of variable size and by a small number of PAS-positive, electron-dense granules distributed throughout the cytoplasm, which are predominant at the basal portion of each acinar cell.

Pre-arterialisation of the arterialised venous flap: an experimental study in the rat.

Arteriovenous fistulae cause haemodynamic and morphological changes to the local venous channels. We have used the concept of preformed arteriovenous fistulae to study the viability improvement of arterialised venous flaps. Five groups of flaps were created using the abdominal skin of the Wistar rat (n= 10 in each group) with a silastic sheet implanted underneath.

Cerebral microvascular architecture in the common tree shrew (Tupaia glis) revealed by plastic corrosion casts.

The vascularization of the cerebrum (cerebral cortex and basal ganglia) in the common tree shrew (Tupaia glis) has been studied in detail using vinyl injection and vascular corrosion cast/SEM techniques. It is found that the arterial supply of the cerebral cortex are from cortical branches of the middle cerebral artery (MCA) and of the anterior cerebral artery (ACA). These arteries are in turn branches of the internal carotid artery (ICA).