ABSTRACT
Royal jelly (RJ) is known to have a variety of biological activities toward various types of cells and tissues of animal models, but nothing is known about its effect on brain functions. Hence, we examined the effect of oral administration of RJ on the mRNA expression of various neurotrophic factors, their receptors, and neural cell markers in the mouse brain. Our results revealed that RJ selectively facilitates the mRNA expression of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a potent neurotrophic factor acting in the brain, and neurofilament H, a specific marker predominantly found in neuronal axons, in the adult mouse hippocampus. These observations suggest that RJ shows neurotrophic effects on the mature brain via stimulation of GDNF production, and that enhanced expression of neurofilament H mRNA is involved in events subsequently caused by GDNF. RJ may play neurotrophic and/or neuroprotective roles in the adult brain through GDNF.
Subject(s)
Fatty Acids/administration & dosage , Fatty Acids/pharmacology , Gene Expression Regulation/drug effects , Hippocampus/drug effects , Hippocampus/metabolism , Nerve Growth Factors/genetics , Neurofilament Proteins/genetics , Administration, Oral , Aging/physiology , Animals , DNA, Complementary/genetics , Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor , Male , Mice , RNA, Messenger/genetics , RNA, Messenger/metabolismABSTRACT
Four rare cases of spindle cell carcinoma of the larynx are reported and the histo-pathological and immuno-histochemical findings are described. The spindle cell carcinoma involved the right vocal cord of an 88-year-old and an 86-year-old male patients and the anterior commissure of a 76-year-old and a 68-year-old male patients. Two patients underwent total laryngectomy, one patient extirpation under laryngomicrosurgery and one radiation therapy. All were well controlled thereafter and there was no recurrence. Surgery seemed to be the most satisfactory therapeutic approach and radiation therapy was effective in a patient with relatively small tumor. The histo-pathological and immuno-histochemical analysis in one patient revealed a sarcoma-like component of the carcinoma and the findings suggested that this was the result of a metaplastic change in the mesenchyme without inflammatory changes.