ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the efficacy of frankincense and myrrha in the treatment of acute interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS).@*METHODS@#The effects of frankincense and myrrha on the proliferation and migration of primary human urothelial cells (HUCs) were assessed in vitro. In the animal study, 48 virgin female rats were randomized into 4 groups (12 in each group): (1) control group (saline-injected control); (2) cyclophosphamide (CYP) group (intraperitoneal injected 150 mg/kg CYP); (3) CYP + pentosan polysulfate sodium group (orally received 50 mg/kg pentosan polysulfate sodium); and (4) CYP + frankincense and myrrha group [orally received frankincense (200 mg/kg) and myrrha (200 mg/kg)]. Rats orally received pentosan polysulfate sodium or frankincense and myrrha on day 1, 2, and 3. The experiments were performed on day 4. Pain and cystometry assessment behavior test were performed. Voiding interval values were assessed in rats under anesthesia. Finally, immunohistochemistry and Western blot were used to confirm the location and level, respectively, of cell junction-associated protein zonula occludens-2 (ZO-2) expression.@*RESULTS@#Low dose frankincense and myrrha increased cell proliferation and migration in HUCs compared with control (P<0.05). Rats with acute IC/PBS rats exhibited lower voiding interval values, pain tolerance, and ZO-2 expression (P<0.05). Voiding interval values and pain tolerance were higher in the frankincense and myrrha group than CYP group (P<0.05). ZO-2 expression in the bladder was increased in the CYP + pentosan polysulfate and frankincense + myrrha groups compared with the CYP-induced acute IC/PBS group (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#frankincense and myrrha modulate urothelial wound healing, which ameliorates typical features of acute IC/PBS in rats.
ABSTRACT
Background: The aim of this study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between Parkinson’s disease and pancreatic cancer in Taiwan. Methods: This was a case-control study using claim data of the Taiwan National Health Insurance Program. There were 13,861 subjects aged 20- 84 with newly diagnosed pancreatic cancer as cases and 55,444 randomly selected subjects without pancreatic cancer as controls from 1998 to 2011. Cases and controls were matched by sex, age and index year of diagnosing pancreatic cancer. The association of pancreatic cancer with Parkinson’s disease was evaluated by the multivariable logistic regression model to estimate the adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results: After adjusting for confounding factors including acute pancreatitis, chronic pancreatitis, diabetes mellitus, biliary stone, alcoholism, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, the multivariable logistic regression analysis showed the adjusted OR of pancreatic cancer was 0.82 for subjects with Parkinson’s disease (95% CI 0.55, 1.21), as compared with subjects without Parkinson’s disease. Conclusion: No association is detected between Parkinson’s disease and pancreatic cancer.
Subject(s)
Parkinson Disease , Pancreatic NeoplasmsABSTRACT
Urokinase degrades basement proteins and is hypothesized to play a role in cancer progression. We investigated the hypothesis of C/T polymorphism in the 3'-untranslated region (3'-UTR) of the urokinase gene being associated with the development of bladder cancer. Such an association seems unlikely, since the genotype distributions in 114 bladder cancer patients did not differ from those of 105 controls.