Green tea induced cellular proliferation and the expression of transforming growth factor-pi in the jejunai mucosa of fasting rats

Objective: The aim of this study was to understand whether or not the protective effect of green tea after fasting-induced damage in the Jejunal mucosa of rat is dependent on cell proliferation and the stimulation of specific growth factors

Materials and Methods: Sixty adult male Wistar rats were used in this study. The animals were divided randomly into 5 groups, with 12 in each group [G1-5]. The animals in G1 [control group] were fed a rat chow diet and water ad libitum. The animals in G2 [fasting group] were fasted for 3 days. The animals in the G3, G4, and G5 groups were fasted for 3 days as G2, but were given water [G3] green tea [G4], or a vitamin E [G5] solution, respectively, for another 7 days. The animals were euthanized, and the jejunum was removed and processed for histological and immunohistochemical analysis

Results: Compared to the G3 group, the Jejunal mucosa of G4 rats showed a 70.6% higher level [p < 0.001] of expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen and 98% higher level [p - 0.0001] of the expression of transforming growth factor-[Jl [TGF-[31], whereas the level of fibroblast growth factor-1 [FGF-1] and insulin-like growth factor-1 [IGF-1 ] expression was 22 and 1 1 % lower, respectively, in G4 animals as compared to G3 rats. These differences in the expression of FGF-1 and IGF-1 in G4 animals were not statistically significant

Conclusion: In this study, green tea repaired the fasting-induced damage in the Jejunal mucosa of rats, mainly by inducing a significant expression of TGF-|31 in the mUCOSa

Vaccine immunotherapy for a deadly disease like malignant melanoma: where do we stand?

The incidence of cancer and its related morbidity and mortality remain on the increase in both developing and developed countries. Cancer remains a huge burden on the health and social welfare sectors worldwide and its prevention and cure remain two golden goals that science strives to achieve. Among the treatment options for cancer that have emerged in the past one hundred years, cancer vaccine immunotherapy seems to present a promising and relatively safer approach as compared to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The identification of different tumor antigens in the last fifteen years using a variety of techniques, together with the molecular cloning of cytotoxic T lymphocytes [CTLs]-and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes [TILs]-defined tumor antigens allowed more refining of the cancer vaccines that are currently used in different clinical trials. In a proportion of treated patients, some of these vaccines have resulted in partial or complete tumor regression, while they have increased the disease-free survival rate in others. These outcomes a re more evident now in patients suffering fro m melanoma. This review provides an update on melanoma vaccine immunotherapy. Different cancer antigens are reviewed with a detailed description of the melanoma antigens discovered so far. The review also summarizes clinical trials and individual clinical cases in which some of the old and current methods to vaccinate against or treat melanoma were used. These include vaccines made of autologous or allogenic melanoma tumor cells, melanoma peptides, recombinant bacterial or viral vectors, or dendritic cells

rare form of granulomatous gastritis presenting at an unusual age

Isolated granulomatous gastritis is a rare disease of the middle-aged and it is a diagnosis of exclusion. It has not been reported earlier from Arab population. We are reporting a case of isolated granulomatous gastritis in an adolescent Arab boy who was treated successfully with steroids and is doing well after one year of follow-up