ABSTRACT
Hemangiopericytoma (HPC) is a rare tumor of uncertain malignant potential. Stout and Murray described HPC as "vascular tumor arising from Zimmerman's pericyte" in 1942. The World Health Organization (WHO) reclassified HPC as a fibroblastic/myofibroblastic tumor, after further characterization. HPC is found mostly wherever there is increased vascularity seen. The incidence of the tumor in head and neck area is only 15%, mostly seen in adults. We report here a case of HPC of a 22-year-old female, who presented to our department with a tender swelling in maxillary anterior region and the mass was well-circumscribed, sessile and soft on palpation. The skin over the tumor was intact and normal. The tumor was completely removed with wide surgical resection. The histopathological staining supported the diagnosis of HPC, this was further confirmed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) in which CD99 showed strong positivity.
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory function and mechanism(s) of action of an active component-betulinic acid isolated from Bacopa monniera. Betulinic acid, a pentacyclic triterpenoid markedly suppressed lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced IL-6 production in blood mononuclear cells both in vivo and in vitro. Betulinic acid also prevented LPS induced nuclear translocation of p65 NF-kappaB in hPBMCs. LPS induced nuclear translocation of NF-kappaB and IL-6 production was also abolished by p38 and ERK MAPK inhibitors PD98059 and SB203580. Addition of each of these inhibitors to cell cultures along with betulinic acid caused significant downregulation of IL-6 production and inhibition of p65 NF-kappaB nuclear translocation. The inhibitory effect of both betulinic acid and the inhibitors was higher than that of cells treated with inhibitors alone. These results suggest that betulinic acid inhibited IL-6 production by preventing p65 NF-kappaB nuclear translocation and there is a possibility that this prevention of p65 nuclear translocation may involve p38 and ERK MAPKs as cross talks occur between MAPK and NF-kappaB pathways. This study provides an insight into the probable mechanism(s) underlying the anti-inflammatory and therapeutic properties of betulinic acid.
Subject(s)
Anti-Inflammatory Agents/pharmacology , Interleukin-6/biosynthesis , Leukocytes, Mononuclear/metabolism , NF-kappa B/antagonists & inhibitors , Triterpenes/pharmacology , Animals , Anti-Inflammatory Agents/administration & dosage , Bacopa/immunology , Cells, Cultured , Flavonoids/pharmacology , Humans , Imidazoles/pharmacology , Interleukin-6/genetics , Leukocytes, Mononuclear/drug effects , Leukocytes, Mononuclear/immunology , Leukocytes, Mononuclear/pathology , Lipopolysaccharides/immunology , Lipopolysaccharides/metabolism , Male , Pentacyclic Triterpenes , Pyridines/pharmacology , Rats , Rats, Wistar , Signal Transduction/drug effects , Signal Transduction/immunology , Triterpenes/administration & dosage , p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases/antagonists & inhibitors , Betulinic AcidABSTRACT
Infertility is on the rise in today's world. A subnormal sperm count is frequently encountered in infertile couples. Clomiphene citrate, 1-[p-(beta-diethyl aminoethoxy) phenyl]-1,2-diphenyl chloroethylene, is an orally active nonsteroidal agent distantly related to diethylstilbestrol. It is thought to stimulate pituitary gonadotropin release by excluding estradiol from hypothalamic receptor sites. This interaction neutralizes the normal negative feedback control of estrogen and results in enhanced secretion of LH-RH, FSH-RH and gonadotropins. Testosterone is produced by the Leydig cells in response to LH secretion. The concentration of testosterone in the tubular environment is believed to maintain the gametogenic function of the testis. Clomiphene citrate in the dose of 25 mg daily for 25 days with five days rest was administered to 25 extreme oligozoospermic men (group I) and 40 moderate oligozoospermic men (group II) the cycle being continued for three months). Repeat semen analysis was done at the end of three months and all the routine seminal parameters were reevaluated. The data thus obtained was analyzed using Student's paired 't' test. The mean sperm count in Group I increased from 3.84 +/- 0.32 to 8.2 +/- 1.58 (P < 0.05) and in Group II from 13.05 +/- 0.48 to 24.55 +/- 1.73 (P < 0.001). The mean motile sperm count in Group I increased from 1.74 +/- 0.25 to 3.92 +/- 0.83 (P < 0.05) and in Group II from 8.27 +/- 0.40 to 10.05 +/- 0.56 (P < 0.01). Thus clomiphene citrate exerts its effect on spermatogenesis by raising the endogenous serum FSH, LH and testosterone levels to initiate and maintain gametogenesis (10). Researchers opined that this increase in endogenous gonadotrophins manifests itself in improving the sperm count, sperm motility and to certain extent morphology of the sperms, when there is no end-organ pathology.
