Congenital anomalies of the alimentary tract are rare lesions in laboratory animals. We describe a congenital cyst attached to the greater curvature of the forestomach in a B6C3F1 mouse. The inner surface of the cyst was mostly covered with cuboidal or pseudostratified ciliated epithelium and was focally covered with the flat cuboidal epithelium. The base of the cyst appeared to be inserted between the layers of the outer longitudinal muscle layer of the forestomach, although no smooth muscle layer was evident in the free surface of the cyst wall. The cyst resembled duplication of the alimentary tract, as it was lined with ciliated epithelium and had developed at the greater curvature of the forestomach. Since the smooth muscle layer did not completely cover the whole wall and the cyst did not communicate with the gastric lumen, the cyst was not thought to be a standard duplication but rather a simple congenital cyst.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Radical modulation activity of pine cone extracts of Pinus elliottii var. Elliottii.

The radical modulation activity of lignins prepared from the cone of Pinus elliottii var. Elliottii was investigated, using ESR spectroscopy. These lignins produced radical(s) under alkaline conditions, and the radical intensity was increased with increasing pH. Lower concentrations of lignins slightly reduced the radical intensity of sodium ascorbate, whereas higher concentrations of lignins enhanced both the radical intensity and cytotoxic activity of sodium ascorbate. Lignins effectively scavenged superoxide anion, produced by hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase reaction. Elliottii lignins significantly inhibited the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-induced cytopathic effect, in similar fashions to other natural, commercial and synthetic lignins. Pretreatment of mice with lignins significantly protected them from the lethal infection with E. coli. Crude alkaline extracts of Elliottii pine cone displayed similar magnitude of activity with lignins. These data further supports the medicinal efficacy of plant extracts.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Superiority of selective bolus infusion and simultaneous rapid removal of anticancer agents by charcoal hemoperfusion in cancer treatment.

This report presents the clinical effectiveness of multidisciplinary therapy consisting of intraarterial selective chemotherapy, combined with radiofrequency regional hyperthermia (RFRH) in advanced cancer patients. Patients were categorized into the following therapeutic groups: Group I: RFRH without intraarterial chemotherapy. Group II: Intraarterial infusion of a standard dose of Mitomycin C (MMC) and 5Fu. Group III: RFRH combined with intraarterial chemotherapy as in Group II. Group IV: RFRH combined with a large intraarterial infusion of MMC or Adriamycin (ADM) during charcoal hemoperfusion. Clinical effectiveness in terms of more than 50% tumor size reduction was achieved in 9% in Group I, 0% in Group II, 25% in Group III and 55% in Group IV, respectively. In Group IV, several side effects were observed but were not serious, despite the lethal dose of drug administered. These results suggest that RFRH combined with selective infusion chemotherapy, especially when large doses are administered during charcoal hemoperfusion, is a valuable treatment for advanced cancer patients.

Adolescent↗