Impact of Integrating Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 Levels into Model for End-Stage Liver Disease Score for Survival Prediction in Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients.

Background: Liver reserve affects survival in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score is used to predict overall survival (OS) and to prioritize HCC patients on the transplantation waiting list, but more accurate models are needed. We hypothesized that integrating insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels into MELD score (MELD-IGF-1) improves OS prediction as compared to MELD.

The Differential Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines and BDNF among Bipolar Spectrum Disorders.

Objective: Emerging evidence suggests that inflammation and neurodegeneration underlies bipolar disorder. To investigate biological markers of cytokines and brain-derived neurotrophic factor between bipolar I, bipolar II, and other specified bipolar disorder with short duration hypomania may support the association with inflammatory dysregulation and bipolar disorder and, more specifically, provide evidence for other specified bipolar disorder with short duration hypomania patients were similar to bipolar II disorder patients from a biological marker perspective.

Methods: We enrolled patients with bipolar I disorder (n=234), bipolar II disorder (n=260), other specified bipolar disorder with short duration hypomania (n=243), and healthy controls (n=140).

Antigen specificity can be irrelevant to immunocytokine efficacy and biodistribution.

Cytokine therapy can activate potent, sustained antitumor responses, but collateral toxicity often limits dosages. Although antibody-cytokine fusions (immunocytokines) have been designed with the intent to localize cytokine activity, systemic dose-limiting side effects are not fully ameliorated by attempted tumor targeting. Using the s.

Involvement of reactive oxygen species/c-Jun NH(2)-terminal kinase pathway in kotomolide A induces apoptosis in human breast cancer cells.

The anticancer effects of kotomolide A (KTA), a new butanolide constituent isolated from the leaves of Cinnamomum kotoense (Lauraceae), on the two human breast cancer cell lines MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, were first investigated in our study. KTA exhibited selectively antiproliferative effects in cancer cell lines without showing any toxicity in normal mammary epithelial cells. Treatment of cancer cells with KTA to trigger G2/M phase arrest was associated with increased p21/WAF1 levels and reduced amounts of cyclin A, cyclin B1, cdc2 and cdc25C.

Protective effect of dextromethorphan against endotoxic shock in mice.

Dextromethorphan (DM) is a dextrorotatory morphinan and an over-the-counter non-opioid cough suppressant. We have previously shown that DM protects against LPS-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration through inhibition of microglia activation. Here, we investigated protective effects of DM against endotoxin shock induced by lipopolysaccharide/d-galactosamine (LPS/GalN) in mice and the mechanism underlying its protective effect.

Comparison of the metastatic properties of B16 melanoma clones isolated from cultured cell lines, subcutaneous tumors, and individual lung metastases.

Tumors produced by s.c. injection of uncloned B16 melanoma cell lines contain clonal tumor cell subpopulations with widely differing metastatic properties, including clones that are nonmetastatic.