ABSTRACT
AIM OF THE STUDY: Kyung-Ok-Ko (KOK), a traditional herbal prescription composed of Rehmannia glutinosa var. purpurae, Panax ginseng, Poria cocos, Lycium chinense, Aquillaria agallocha and honey, has been used to treat age-related symptoms, such as amnesia or dementia, and has been shown to ameliorate scopolamine-induced memory impairment in mice. However, the effects of KOK on transient cerebral global ischemia-induced brain damage are unclear. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Transient cerebral global ischemia was induced by occluding the bilateral common carotid artery for 5 min followed by reperfusion for 7 days. KOK (0.25, 0.5, 1, or 2 g/kg) was administered orally immediately after reperfusion and once a day over the next 7 days. Y-maze or novel object recognition tasks were to analyze learning and memory capabilities at 4 or 5 days after reperfusion, respectively. Histochemistry and immunohistochemistry were used for evaluation of the effect of KOK on neuronal degeneration. RESULTS: Histochemical studies showed that KOK increased the number of viable cells detected by Nissl staining and decreased the number of degenerated neuronal cells detected by Fluoro-Jade B staining in the hippocampal CA1 region. In the immunohistochemical study, the sub-chronic KOK administration attenuated the ischemia-induced activation of microglia and astrocytes and the increase of cytokine IL-1ß (P<0.05). In addition, KOK administration significantly attenuated the ischemia-induced cognitive impairments observed in the Y-maze and novel object recognition tasks (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the neuroprotective effects of KOK may be mediated by its anti-inflammatory activities, resulting in the attenuation of memory impairment.
Subject(s)
Ischemic Attack, Transient/drug therapy , Magnoliopsida , Memory Disorders/drug therapy , Neuroprotective Agents/therapeutic use , Animals , Astrocytes/drug effects , Astrocytes/pathology , CA1 Region, Hippocampal/drug effects , CA1 Region, Hippocampal/pathology , Carotid Stenosis/complications , Asia, Eastern , Gerbillinae , Interleukin-1beta/metabolism , Ischemic Attack, Transient/etiology , Ischemic Attack, Transient/metabolism , Ischemic Attack, Transient/pathology , Maze Learning/drug effects , Medicine, East Asian Traditional , Memory Disorders/etiology , Memory Disorders/pathology , Memory Disorders/physiopathology , Microglia/drug effects , Microglia/pathology , Neuroprotective Agents/pharmacology , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Plant Extracts/therapeutic useABSTRACT
<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Estrogen receptor alpha (ER alpha) is the most important endocrine therapy responsiveness predictor for women with breast cancer. The accuracy of the prediction of the response to endocrine therapy was thought to be affected by involving the estrogen receptor coregulatory proteins and cross-talk between ER and other growth factor-signaling networks. Nuclear corepressor 1 (NCOR1) is one of the ER a transcription repressor. The objective of the study is to investigate the expression of NCOR1 at the protein level and pursue its predictive value for breast cancer endocrine therapy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In the present study, the level of expression of NCOR1 protein has been assessed by immunohistochemistry in 104 cases of invasive carcinoma of the breast. Associations between NCOR1 protein expression and different clinicopathological factors and survival were sought.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>It was found that NCOR1 was expressed at significantly higher levels in responsive patients treated with endocrine therapy as first-line treatment on relapse. Responsive patients also had a significantly longer post-relapse survival and overall survival. No NCOR1 expression difference was found between patient by age, tumor size, lymph node status, different histological grade groups and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status. Multivariate analysis showed that NCOR1 is an independent prognostic factor for over-all survival.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>In breast cancer, NCOR1 protein expression level predicts response to endocrine therapy as first-line treatment for breast cancer patients on relapse and NCOR1 protein level assay may increase the accuracy in the endocrine treatment determination and, therefore, improving the patients survival.</p>
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Middle Aged , Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal , Therapeutic Uses , Breast Neoplasms , Drug Therapy , Metabolism , Estrogen Receptor alpha , Metabolism , Gene Expression Regulation , Immunohistochemistry , Nuclear Receptor Co-Repressor 1 , Metabolism , Receptor, ErbB-2 , Metabolism , Receptors, Progesterone , Metabolism , Tamoxifen , Therapeutic UsesABSTRACT
A study was conducted to analyze the height growth velocity curve based upon the maturity rate. Ninety-eight longitudinal data points for height (for subjects aged 6 to 17 years) were obtained retrospectively from health examination records in 1983. Growth distance and growth velocity curves of each individual were described by the wavelet interpolation method, and PHV age was determined with the described graph using computer simulation. We classified the growth velocity curve by the maturity rate approximated according to the PHV age. As a result, it was shown that the after-growth spurt in early maturity and somewhat early maturity type appeared more than in the average and somewhat late maturity types, and that conversely, the mid-growth spurt in the late maturity and somewhat late maturity types appeared more than in the early maturity and somewhat early maturity types. Specifically, it was demonstrated that two mid-growth spurts appeared in the late maturity and somewhat late maturity types.
