ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Polysaccharides from various sources are being considered potential sources for the treatment of liver cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of polysaccharide isolated from Panax notoginseng (PPN) on the proliferation of H22 liver cancer cells and the survival of the tumor-bearing mice transplanted with H22 cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Polysaccharide from PPN was added to the culture medium of mouse hepatoma H22 cells at different doses. Cell proliferation was assayed with a standard MTT assay. Survival rates of tumor-bearing mice were recorded. Peripheral blood lymphocytes were assayed by flow cytometry. Serum interleukin-2 levels in peripheral blood were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Polysaccharide from PPN inhibited the growth of H22 cells and significantly prolonged the survival of tumor-bearing mice. The increase in activated CD4(+) T-cells and the elevation of serum interleukin-2 may contribute to the antitumor activity of PPN. CONCLUSION: PPN has potential antitumor activity for the treatment of liver cancer.
ABSTRACT
Exposure therapy is underutilized in the treatment of pathological anxiety and is often delivered in a suboptimal manner. Negative beliefs about exposure appear common among therapists and may pose a barrier to its dissemination. To permit reliable and valid assessment of such beliefs, we constructed the 21-item Therapist Beliefs about Exposure Scale (TBES) and examined its reliability and validity in three samples of practicing clinicians. The TBES demonstrated a clear single-factor structure, excellent internal consistency (αs=.90-.96), and exceptionally high six-month test-retest reliability (r=.89). Negative beliefs about exposure therapy were associated with therapist demographic characteristics, negative reactions to a series of exposure therapy case vignettes, and the cautious delivery of exposure therapy in the treatment of a hypothetical client with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Lastly, TBES scores decreased markedly following a didactic workshop on exposure therapy. The present findings support the reliability and validity of the TBES.
Subject(s)
Anxiety Disorders/therapy , Attitude of Health Personnel , Implosive Therapy/methods , Adult , Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale/statistics & numerical data , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Personality Inventory/statistics & numerical data , Principal Component Analysis , Professional Practice , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales/statistics & numerical data , Reproducibility of Results , Sensitivity and SpecificityABSTRACT
Cognitive-behavioral treatments for panic disorder (PD) emphasize interoceptive exposure (IE) to target anxiety sensitivity (AS) but vary considerably in its manner of delivery. This randomized controlled trial was conducted to compare the efficacy of the low-dose delivery of IE exercises often prescribed in treatment protocols to an intensive form of IE hypothesized to optimize inhibitory learning. Participants (N = 120) with elevated AS were randomly assigned to one of four single-session interventions: (a) low-dose IE as prescribed in Barlow and Craske's Panic Control Treatment, (b) low-dose IE without controlled breathing or a lengthy between-trial rest period, (c) intensive IE, or (d) expressive writing control. Compared to the other conditions, intensive IE produced significantly greater reductions in AS and fearful responding to a straw breathing task from pretreatment to posttreatment. Maintenance of gains during the follow-up period did not differ between conditions. Changes in fear toleration and negative outcome expectancies fully mediated the superior efficacy of intensive IE over low-dose IE. The two low intensity IE conditions produced particularly high rates of fear sensitization on between-trial and outcome variables. The findings suggest that the intensive delivery of IE exercises has the potential to improve the efficacy of exposure-based treatments for PD.
Subject(s)
Adaptation, Psychological , Cognitive Behavioral Therapy/methods , Implosive Therapy/methods , Inhibition, Psychological , Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care/statistics & numerical data , Panic Disorder/therapy , Analysis of Variance , Anxiety/psychology , Fear/psychology , Female , Humans , Hyperventilation/psychology , Learning , Male , Panic Disorder/diagnostic imaging , Panic Disorder/psychology , Psychiatric Status Rating Scales , Radiography , Writing , Young AdultABSTRACT
Previously, we identified a group of replication-competent exogenous mouse mammary tumor viruses that failed to induce mammary tumors in susceptible mice. Sequence comparison of tumorigenic and tumor-attenuated virus variants has linked the ability of virus to cause high-frequency mammary tumors to the gag gene. To determine the specific sequences within the gag gene that contribute to tumor induction, we constructed five distinct chimeric viruses that have various amino acid coding sequences of gag derived from a tumor-attenuated virus replaced by those of highly tumorigenic virus and tested these viruses for tumorigenic capacities in virus-susceptible C3H/HeN mice. Comparing the tumorigenic potentials of these viruses has allowed us to map the region responsible for tumorigenesis to a 253-amino-acid region within the CA and NC regions of the Gag protein. Unlike C3H/HeN mice, BALB/cJ mice develop tumors when infected with all viral variants, irrespective of the gag gene sequences. Using genetic crosses between BALB/cJ and C3H/HeN mice, we were able to determine that the mechanism that confers susceptibility to Gag-independent mammary tumors in BALB/cJ mice is inherited as a dominant trait and is controlled by a single gene, called mammary tumor susceptibility (mts), that maps to chromosome 14.
