The authors studied whether cyclic AMP (cAMP), a widespread regulator of inflammation, modulates the cytokine-mediated expression of the intercellular adhesion molecule, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and the inflammatory nitric oxide synthase 2 (NOS-2), in primary and immortalized brain endothelial cell cultures (GP8.3 cell line). When measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay...

BACKGROUND Lecythis pisonis Cambess is commonly known as "castanha de sapucaia" in Brazil. Chemical composition studies revealed that this nut is an excellent source of anti-oxidant minerals and of essential lipids. OBJECTIVE The aim of the present study is to assess the anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory effect of Lecythis pisonis Cambess on the brain tissue of Wistar rats. MATERIAL AND ME...

Mitochondrial morphology is dynamically remodeled by fusion and fission in cells, and dysregulation of this process is closely implicated in tumorigenesis. However, the mechanism by which mitochondrial dynamics influence cancer cell survival is considerably less clear, especially in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we systematically investigated the alteration of mitochondrial dyn...

BACKGROUND Cardiovascular complication due to diabetes has remained a major cause of death. There is an urgent need to intervene the cardiac complications in diabetes by nutritional or pharmacological agents. Thus the present study was designed to find out the effectiveness of garlic on cardiac complications in insulin-resistant diabetic rats. METHODS AND RESULTS SD rats were fed high fructos...

PURPOSE The liver is the most common site of systemic metastases from uveal melanoma (UM). Such metastases usually continue to develop despite the application of current treatment modalities. This study was conducted to obtain insight into the molecular pathways that underlie the development of UM metastasis and thus to identify potential novel therapeutic pathways for this disease. METHODS M...

BACKGROUND Rheumatic heart disease is an autoimmune disease caused by group A streptococci infection and frequently affects the aortic valve. Sex differences are common in the disease progression, treatment, and outcome. However, little is known about the sex differences in the pathology of aortic valves in rheumatic heart disease. DESIGN We studied the end-stage calcific aortic valves from m...

We explored the role of TNFR/TNF-α signalingin apoptosis among alveolar macrophages (AM) and its relevance to the development of coal workers' pneumoconiosis (CWP). Purified alveolar macrophages (AMs) were prepared from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid harvested from 366 CWP patients and 120 healthy subjects enrolled inthe study. The purified AMs were then divided into control, SOD, anti-TNFR, TNFR...

Pregnane X receptor (PXR) activation exhibits anti-inflammatory effects via repressing nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB); however, its overactivation may disrupt homeostasis of various enzymes and transporters. Here we found that ginsenosides restore PXR/NFkB signaling in inflamed conditions without disrupting PXR function in normal conditions. The effects and mechanisms of ginsenosides in regulating P...