ABSTRACT
The relationship between angiogenesis and fibrosis has been demonstrated in several pathological conditions, one of them being schistosomiasis. To observe whether suppression of angiogenesis would interfere with fibrosis, Thalidomide, an anti-angiogenesis drug, was administered during 30 consecutive days to mice with experimental schistosomiasis. Computerized morphometric measurements of fibrosis, and the counting of blood vessels from hepatic schistosomal lesions did not significantly differ when treated animals and their controls were compared at the end of the experiments. These rather unexpected results are presented under the understanding that they may be of interest during further studies on the anti-angiogenesis properties of thalidomide, and the relationship between angiogenesis and fibrosis.
Subject(s)
Animals , Female , Male , Mice , Angiogenesis Inhibitors/therapeutic use , Liver Cirrhosis/prevention & control , Liver/blood supply , Neovascularization, Pathologic/prevention & control , Schistosomiasis mansoni/pathology , Thalidomide/therapeutic use , Disease Models, Animal , Liver Cirrhosis/parasitology , Liver Cirrhosis/pathology , Liver/parasitology , Neovascularization, Pathologic/parasitologyABSTRACT
Potential inhibitory effects of the antiangiogenic drug TNP-470 on rat urinary bladder carcinogenesis were investigated in F344 male rats initiated with 0.05% BBN in the drinking water for 8 weeks. Group 1 was then continuously treated with TNP-470 by subcutaneous injection using osmotic minipump until the end of the experiment; group 2 served as the control with only initiation. The incidences and multiplicities of papillomas and carcinomas in the TNP-470-treated group were significantly decreased compared to the control group values along with the tumor vascular density. In conclusion, TNP-470 can inhibit rat urinary bladder carcinogenesis, presumably through its effects on angiogenesis.
Subject(s)
Angiogenesis Inhibitors/pharmacology , Animals , Biopsy, Needle , Blotting, Northern , Butylhydroxybutylnitrosamine , Chi-Square Distribution , Cyclohexanes , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Drug Administration Schedule , Immunohistochemistry , Male , Neoplasms, Experimental , Neovascularization, Pathologic/prevention & control , Probability , RNA, Messenger/analysis , Random Allocation , Rats , Rats, Inbred F344 , Sensitivity and Specificity , Sesquiterpenes/pharmacology , Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/drug therapy , Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/analysisABSTRACT
The inhibition of tumor growth and tumor induced angiogenesis by the glutamine antimetabolite acivicin was evaluated in 6-7 weeks old male Swiss albino mice bearing Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) transplanted by intraperitoneal (ip) injections of EAC cells. Treatment involving ip injections with two different doses of acivicin (0.05 and 0.41microg/g body weight/day) in saline revealed decrease in tumor volumes and reduced number of blood vessels on peritoneal wall after 10 and 15 days of treatment when compared to control (i.e. injected with saline only). Vascular hyperpermeability was found to be lesser in the treated groups of mice than the control as indicated by the FITC- D and colloidal carbon assay. Serum VEGF level was found to decrease in the drug treated groups both after 10 and 15 days of treatment. The results thus suggest that acivicin may suppress tumoral angiogenesis through regulation of VEGF level.