Resveratrol neuroprotective effects during focal cerebral ischemia injury via nitric oxide mechanism in rats.

Background: Our prior study showed that resveratrol could suppress infarct volume and exert neuroprotective effect on rats subjected to focal cerebral ischemia (FCI) injury. Recently, it has been reported in some literature that resveratrol protects the spinal cord, kidney, and heart from ischemia-reperfusion injury through upregulation of nitric oxide (NO). Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the role of nitric oxide on the neuroprotective mechanisms of resveratrol on rats after FCI injury.

Paraneoplastic hypercalcemia with metastatic calcification--clinicopathologic studies.

Hypercalcemia is a common paraneoplastic syndrome that may result in metastatic calcification. We report here on four autopsy cases with paraneoplastic hypercalcemia with metastatic calcification, to evaluate the clinicopathologic manifestations. All were males, aged 37-63 years old.

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester ameliorates cerebral infarction in rats subjected to focal cerebral ischemia.

The effects of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), an antioxidant derived from propolis, on the infarct volume elicited by focal cerebral ischemia were studied on Long-Evans rats. Cerebral infarction was induced by microsurgical procedures with ligation of the right middle cerebral artery (MCA) and clipping of bilateral common carotid arteries (CCA) for 60 min. The rats were sacrificed 24 h later and serial brain slices of 2 mm thickness were taken and stained for the measurement of infarct area.

The association of HLA -A, -B, and -DRB1 genotypes with Graves' disease in Taiwanese people.

Graves' disease has been associated with different human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes in different races. To evaluate the association of HLA type in Taiwanese with Graves' disease, the HLA-A, -B, and -DRB1 alleles in a total of 236 Taiwanese adults with Graves' disease and 533 racially matched normal control subjects were examined using the PCR-SSOP (sequence specific oligonucleotide probe) technique. The prevalence of HLA-A*0207, -B*2704, -B*4601, and -DRB1*0901 among patients with Graves' disease was found to be increased, with odds ratios (OR) of 2.