JKAP correlates with lower disease risk and inflammation, and its increment during etanercept treatment associates with commendable treatment efficiency in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the correlation of Jun N-terminal kinase pathway associated phosphatase (JKAP) with disease risk and inflammation, also to explore the association of its longitudinal change with etanercept (ETN) treatment efficiency in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 107 active RA patients about to receive ETN treatment and 60 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled in this study. Serum JKAP level was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in RA patients (at week 0 (W0), W6, W12, and W24) and HCs (at recruitment). RA patients were categorized into W24 response patients and W24 non-response patients, or W24 remission patients and W24 non-remission patients, respectively, according to clinical response status or remission status at W24. RESULTS: JKAP level was reduced in RA patients compared with HCs. In RA patients, decreased baseline JKAP was correlated with elevated C-reaction protein level and anti-citrullinated protein antibodies positive status. Moreover, JKAP level was increased during ETN treatment. Subgroup analyses revealed that JKAP level during ETN therapy was increased in W24 response patients, while no difference was discovered in JKAP level among different time points in W24 non-response patients. Meanwhile, JKAP level during ETN treatment was elevated in both W24 remission patients and W24 non-remission patients, however, its increment was more evident in W24 remission patients. CONCLUSIONS: JKAP correlates with reduced disease risk and inflammation, and its increment during ETN treatment associates with commendable treatment efficiency in RA patients.

Long noncoding RNA HOXA-AS2 acts as an oncogene by targeting miR-145-3p in human non-small cell lung cancer.

Since this article has been suspected of research misconduct and the corresponding authors did not respond to our request to prove originality of data and figures, "Long noncoding RNA HOXA-AS2 acts as an oncogene by targeting miR-145-3p in human non-small cell lung cancer, by Y.-B. Shi, S.-L. Liu, X.-R. Mou, J. Liao, J.-P. Che, X.-Q. Fei, A.-R. Wang, published in Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2020; 24 (3): 1243-1249-DOI: 10.26355/eurrev_202002_20177-PMID: 32096154" has been withdrawn. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. https://www.europeanreview.org/article/20177.

Decreased expression of GBA3 correlates with a poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

Beta-glucosidase (GBA), also known as acid ß-glucosidase, exhibits an activity of glucosylceramidase (EC 3.2.1.45). Three main isoforms of ß-glucosidases have been identified in mammals: GBA1, GBA2, and GBA3. The deficiency of these enzymes leads to glucosylceramide accumulation, resulting in Gaucher's disease. The present study is focused on the cytosolic ß-glucosidase, GBA3, and its relationship with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The expression of GBA3 mRNA in HCC was evaluated first using the TCGA database, and then by immunohistochemistry using tissue microarrays of 328 clinically characterized HCC samples and 151 non-tumor liver controls. Moreover, the presence of a correlation between GBA3 expression and clinicopathological characteristics of patients was examined. The obtained results indicated that the expression of GBA3 mRNA was significantly lower in HCC than in the adjacent non-tumor liver tissues. The expression of GBA3 was inversely related to the number of tumors (p=0.041), tumor size (p<0.001), Edmondson grade (p=0.007), microvascular invasion (p=0.049), patient status (p<0.001), and α-fetoprotein level (p<0.001). Patients exhibiting low GBA3 expression had a shorter survival time than those with high expression (p<0.001). In conclusion, the decreased GBA3 expression is strongly associated with a poor prognosis in HCC patients, and GBA3 may be a potential therapeutic target for HCC.

Long noncoding RNA HOXA-AS2 acts as an oncogene by targeting miR-145-3p in human non-small cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVE: Recent studies have proved that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play important roles in many diseases, especially malignancies. The aim of this study was to investigate the exact role of lncRNA HOXA-AS2 (Hoxa cluster antisense RNA 2) in the development of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was utilized to detect HOXA-AS2 expression in NSCLC patients. The Wound healing assay and transwell assay were conducted to explore the function of HOXA-AS2 on NSCLC metastasis. Furthermore, the mechanism assays were used to explore the interaction between HOXA-AS2 and microRNA-145-3p (miR-145-3p). RESULTS: HOXA-AS2 expression level in NSCLC tissues was significantly higher than adjacent tissues. HOXA-AS2 expression was negatively correlated with disease-free survival of NSCLC patients. Moreover, the functional assays showed that the migration and invasion of NSCLC cells were significantly inhibited after HOXA-AS2 in vitro silence. Furthermore, the luciferase reporter gene assay also revealed that miR-145-3p was a direct target of HOXA-AS2 in NSCLC. CONCLUSIONS: Our results indicated that HOXA-AS2 could enhance the migration and invasion abilities of NSCLC by targeting miR-145-3p. Furthermore, these findings suggested that HOXA-AS2 might be a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC.

Multi-drug resistant spinal tuberculosis-epidemiological characteristics of in-patients: a multicentre retrospective study.

Tuberculosis (TB) is the leading cause of death among infectious diseases. China has a high burden of TB and accounted for almost 13% of the world's cases of multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB. Spinal TB is one reason for the resurgence of TB in China. Few large case studies of MDR spinal TB in China have been conducted. The aim of this research was to observe the epidemiological characteristics of inpatients with MDR spinal TB in six provinces and cities of China from 1999-2015. This is a multicentre retrospective observational study. Patients' information was collected from the control disease centre and infectious disease database of hospitals in six provinces and cities in China. A total of 3137 patients with spinal TB and 272 patients with MDR spinal TB were analysed. The result showed that MDR spinal TB remains a public health concern and commonly affects patients 15-30 years of age (34.19%). The most common lesions involved the thoracolumbar spine (35.66%). Local pain was the most common symptom (98.53%). Logistic analysis showed that for spinal TB patients, reside in rural district (OR 1.79), advanced in years (OR 1.92) and high education degree (OR 2.22) were independent risk factors for the development of MDR spinal TB. Women were associated with a lower risk of MDR spinal TB (OR 0.48). The most common first-line and second-line resistant drug was isoniazid (68.75%) and levofloxacin (29.04%), respectively. The use of molecular diagnosis resulted in noteworthy clinical advances, including earlier initiation of MDR spinal TB treatment, improved infection control and better clinical outcome. Chemotherapy and surgery can yield satisfactory outcomes with timely diagnosis and long-term treatment. These results enable a better understanding of the MDR spinal TB in China among the general public.

Prognostic impact of prognostic nutritional index in advanced (stage IIIB/IV) non-small cell lung cancer patients.

Prognostic nutritional index (PNI) is a parameter reflecting prognosis for various cancers, including resected lung cancer. However, there were few reports to study the relationship between the PNI and overall survival (OS) in patients with advanced (stage IIIB/IV) non-small lung cancer (NSCLC). In this study, we collected the clinical data of 315 patients with advanced (stage IIIB/IV) NSCLC who had received chemotherapy or epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) between January 2010 and June 2011. Survival curves were plotted using the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariate analyses were used to evaluate prognostic significance of PNI in patients with advanced (stage IIIB/IV) NSCLC. In our analysis, we found that PNI (p=0.001) was significantly associated with OS in patients with advanced (stage IIIB/IV) NSCLC, so was smoking (p<0.001) and disease stage (p=0.005). We demonstrated that PNI could be utilized to predict survival outcomes in patients with advanced (stage IIIB/IV) NSCLC. Patients with a lower PNI may have worse prognosis.

Identification of functional estrogen response elements in glycerol channel Aquaporin-7 gene.

Objective: We previously reported that tissue-specific effects of estrogen on Aquaporin-7 (AQP7) expression are associated with the development of menopausal obesity. The current study was designed to identify the estrogen response elements (EREs) in the promoter of Aqp7 and investigate the role of AQP7 in the regulation of estrogen-induced anti-adipogenesis. Methods: We measured AQP7 expression and intracellular fat accumulation in 3T3-L1 adipocytes either silenced with shRNA or treated with estrogen receptor (ER)-specific antagonists or agonists before exposure to estrogen. EREs were predicted by Bioinformatics, assessed by chromatin immunoprecipitation, and verified by luciferase reporter assay. Results: We found that regulation of AQP7 expression was mainly via ERα, as confirmed by the use of ER selective antagonists and agonists. In addition, the induction of AQP7 expression by estrogen was linked to ER binding with two EREs in the promoter region of Aqp7. Furthermore, we found that the regulation of adipogenesis by 17ß-estradiol was AQP7 dependent, as evidenced by the increase in fat accumulation after silencing AQP7. Conclusions: Estrogen induces AQP7 expression by binding EREs in the promoter of the Aqp7 gene, resulting in fat catabolism of adipocyte. These results provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underpinning the anti-adipogenic effect of estrogen.

Detection of human parvovirus B19 infection in the thymus of patients with thymic hyperplasia-associated myasthenia gravis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the association between myasthenia gravis (MG) and human parvovirus B19 (B19V) infection in the thymus. METHODS: The presence of human B19V DNA and protein was assessed in 138 samples-including 68 thymic hyperplasias (39 with MG), 58 thymomas (23 with MG), and 12 normal thymus tissues-using a nested polymerase chain reaction, immunohistochemistry, laser capture microdissection, and sequencing in a double-blinded manner. RESULTS: B19V DNA was detected mainly in thymic hyperplasia, and the positivity rate (41.18%, 28/68) was significantly higher than that in thymoma (3.45%, 2/58) (p <0.001) but not that in normal thymic tissues. Correspondingly, the positivity rate in thymic hyperplasia with MG (30.77%, 12/39) was significantly higher than that in thymoma with MG (4.35%, 1/23) (p=0.021). However, it was higher in thymic hyperplasia without MG (55.17%, 16/29) than in thymic hyperplasia with MG (30.77%, 12/39) (p=0.043). Cells in thymic hyperplasia positive for B19V VP1/VP2 protein (63.24%, 43/68) were identified mainly in ectopic germinal centres and thymic corpuscle epithelial cells, but were rare in thymomas (1.72%, 1/58) (p <0.001). Moreover, the positivity rate was significantly higher in thymic hyperplasia with MG (74.36%, 29/39) than in thymic hyperplasia without MG (48.28%, 14/29) (p=0.027). CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, the present study is the first to show that human B19V infection is closely associated with thymic hyperplasia and thymic-hyperplasia-associated MG, but is not related to thymoma or thymoma-associated MG. The findings reveal a previously unrecognized aetiopathogenic mechanism of thymic-hyperplasia-associated MG, evoking numerous questions that require further investigation.

Knockdown of human serine/threonine kinase 33 suppresses human small cell lung carcinoma by blocking RPS6/BAD signaling transduction.

Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is characterized by rapid growth rate and a tendency to metastasize to distinct sites of patients' bodies. The human serine/threonine kinase 33 (STK33) gene has shown its potency as a therapeutic target for prevention of lung carcinomas including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but its function in the oncogenesis and development of SCLC remains unrevealed. In the current study, it was hypothesized that STK33 played a key role in the proliferation, survival, and invasion of SCLC cells. The expression of STK33 in human SCLC cell lines NCI-H466 and DMS153 was inhibited by specific shRNA. The cell proliferation, cell apoptosis, and cell invasion of the cells were assessed with a series of in vitro assays. To explore the mechanism through which STK33 gene exerted its function in the carcinogenesis of SCLC cells, the effect of STK33 knockdown on the activity of S6K1/RPS6/BAD signaling was detected. Then the results were further confirmed with STK33 inhibitor ML281 and in vivo assays. The results demonstrated that inhibition of STK33 in SCLC cells suppressed the cell proliferation and invasion while induced cell apoptosis. Associated with the change in the phenotypic features, knockdown of STK33 also decreased the phosphorylation of RPS6 and BAD while increased the expression of cleaved caspase 9, indicating that apoptosis induced by STK33 suppression was mediated via mitochondrial pathway. Similar to the results of STK33 knockdown, incubating NCI-H466 cells with STK33 inhibitor also reduced the cell viability by suppressing RPS6/BAD pathways. Additionally, STK33 knockdown also inhibited tumor growth and RPS6/BAD activity in mice models. Findings outlined in our study were different from that in NSCLC to some extent: knockdown of STK33 in SCLC cells induced the apoptosis through mitochondrial pathway but independent of S6K1 function, inferring that the function of STK33 might be cancer type specific.

Tissue-specific effects of estrogen on glycerol channel aquaporin 7 expression in an ovariectomized mouse model of menopause.

OBJECTIVE: Elevated fat mass and redistribution of body fat are commonly observed in postmenopausal women. Aquaporin 7 (AQP7), a unique glycerol permeable integral membrane protein, has been associated with the onset of obesity. We hypothesized that estrogen supplementation could counteract this fat accumulation and redistribution through tissue-specific modulation of AQP7. METHODS: We measured fat depot weight, adipocyte size, and the expression of AQP7 and glycerol kinase (GK) in visceral and subcutaneous fat tissues of ovariectomized mice supplemented with or without 17ß-estradiol. RESULTS: Removal of the ovaries resulted in a significant decrease in AQP7 expression and an increase in GK expression in visceral adipocyte tissue; expression of AQP7 and GK in subcutaneous adipose tissue remained unaltered. Supplementation with estrogen significantly restored the visceral, but not subcutaneous, fat depot mass and adipocyte size to those of sham-operated mice. A marked increase in the expression of AQP7 and a reduction of GK were observed selectively in the visceral fat depots in estrogen-treated mice. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that estrogen has tissue-specific effects on AQP7 expression, and modulation of AQP7 by estrogen alters the balance of adipocyte metabolism between adipose tissue depots.

Cytogenetic landscape and impact in blast phase of chronic myeloid leukemia in the era of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy.

The landscape of additional chromosomal alterations (ACAs) and their impact in chronic myeloid leukemia, blast phase (CML-BP) treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) have not been well studied. Here, we investigated a cohort of 354 CML-BP patients treated with TKIs. We identified +8, an extra Philadelphia chromosome (Ph), 3q26.2 rearrangement, -7 and isochromosome 17q (i(17q)) as the major-route changes with a frequency of over 10%. In addition, +21 and +19 had a frequency of over 5%. These ACAs demonstrated lineage specificity: +8, 3q26.2 rearrangement, i(17q) and +19 were significantly more common in myeloid BP, and -7 more common in lymphoid BP; +Ph and +21 were equally distributed between two groups. Pearson correlation analysis revealed clustering of common ACAs into two groups: 3q26.2 rearrangement, -7 and i(17q) formed one group, and other ACAs formed another group. The grouping correlated with risk stratification of ACAs in CML, chronic phase. Despite the overall negative prognostic impact of ACAs, stratification of ACAs into major vs minor-route changes provided no prognostic relevance in CML-BP. The emergence of 3q26.2 rearrangement as a major-route change in the TKI era correlated with a high frequency of ABL1 mutations, supporting a role for TKI resistance in the changing cytogenetic landscape in CML-BP.

New species, hyper-diversity and potential importance of Calonectria spp. from Eucalyptus in South China.

Plantation forestry is expanding rapidly in China to meet an increasing demand for wood and pulp products globally. Fungal pathogens including species of Calonectria represent a serious threat to the growth and sustainability of this industry. Surveys were conducted in the Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan Provinces of South China, where Eucalyptus trees in plantations or cuttings in nurseries displayed symptoms of leaf blight. Isolations from symptomatic leaves and soils collected close to infected trees resulted in a large collection of Calonectria isolates. These isolates were identified using the Consolidated Species Concept, employing morphological characters and DNA sequence comparisons for the ß-tubulin, calmodulin, histone H3 and translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene regions. Twenty-one Calonectria species were identified of which 18 represented novel taxa. Of these, 12 novel taxa belonged to Sphaero-Naviculate Group and the remaining six to the Prolate Group. Southeast Asia appears to represent a centre of biodiversity for the Sphaero-Naviculate Group and this fact could be one of the important constraints to Eucalyptus forestry in China. The remarkable diversity of Calonectria species in a relatively small area of China and associated with a single tree species is surprising.

Screening of key genes associated with contused rat spinal cord with DNA microarray.

OBJECTIVES: To identify key genes and novel potential therapeutic targets for contused spin cord injury through analyzing microarray data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Gene expression data set GSE2599 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus, including 3 rat spinal cord injury (SCI) samples and 3 healthy controls. Data pre-treatment and differential analyses were performed with packages of R. Cluster analysis was done with gene expression values to globally present the difference between the two states. Functional enrichment analysis was performed for all the DEGs with DAVID tools. The most up- and down-regulated genes were picked out and their interactors were predicted with String. Pathway enrichment analysis was done with GENECODIS for all the genes in the network. RESULTS: A total of 227 DEGs were screened out, 132 up-regulated genes and 145 down-regulated genes. Response to wounding, response to organic substance and defense response was the top 3 significant functional terms. APOBEC1 was the most up-regulated gene while HPD was the most down-regulated one. Their interactors were obtained and network was constructed. Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that tyrosine metabolism and other metabolism-related pathways were significantly over-represented. CONCLUSIONS: A range of DEGs were revealed in present study, which could deepen the understandings about the mechanisms of SCI and guide future researches on treatment development.

Low prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in Chinese patients with breast cancer.

This retrospective study investigated the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV) in Chinese women with breast cancer, and the correlation between HPV infection and carcinogenesis. Tumour and non-cancerous breast tissue samples were obtained from 62 female patients with breast cancer; normal breast tissue samples were obtained from 46 women without breast cancer. HPV DNA was detected by nested polymerase chain reaction using consensus primers; HPV subtypes were determined by reverse dot blot and pyrosequencing analyses. HPV was found in tumour tissue samples from four of the 62 patients (6.5%), while no HPV DNA was detected in either the non-cancerous samples from patients with breast cancer or from the normal breast tissue controls. Of the four HPV-positive cases, three were HPV 16 positive (75%) and one was HPV 18 positive (25%). The low frequency of HPV detected in this study suggests that this infection is not a major risk factor in breast cancer development.

Prevalence of human papillomavirus in Chinese patients with colorectal cancer.

AIM: The prevalence of human papillomavirus (HPV) was determined in Chinese patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). The study also aimed to determine whether the HPV DNA peripheral blood (PB) assay can be used to diagnose HPV-related CRC. METHOD: Tumour tissue, noncancerous colorectal tissue and whole-blood samples were obtained from 96 patients with CRC. In addition, 32 colorectal tissue samples were harvested from patients without CRC, and 48 whole-blood samples were collected from healthy blood donors. HPV DNA was detected by means of a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using consensus primers, and HPV genotypes were determined by reverse Southern blot and pyrosequencing. RESULTS: HPV DNA was detected in 32 of the 96 patients with CRC, and colorectal tissues from the 32 control patients without CRC were negative for HPV DNA (P < 0.001). Among 48 healthy donors, three had detectable levels of HPV DNA in their PB. Patients with CRC did not have significantly higher levels of HPV DNA than controls. The HPV prevalence in tumour tissues was higher than that in noncancerous colorectal tissues (P < 0.001) or that in PB samples (P < 0.001). No correlation between the presence of HPV and demographic or medical characteristics was observed. HPV 16 was the viral type most frequently detected and was found in 33 (94%) of 35 HPV-positive patients. CONCLUSION: HPV infection may be a risk factor for CRC. However, detection of HPV DNA in PB does not appear to reflect the HPV status of CRC.

Synthesis and antinociceptive activity of capsinoid derivatives.

According to the data of structural identification, six capsinoids or their derivatives were successfully synthesized to test for their analgesic activity. Three of them were capsinoids with different acyl chain compared with capsaicin after substitution of ester for amide at C(1) position. The other three could be described as capsinoid derivatives with different alkoxy chain, compared with capsaicin after substitution of ester for amide at C(1) position and alkoxy for hydroxy at C(4) position and synthesis of them was reported first. Compared with capsaicin, experiment results about pungency showed that capsinoids and their derivatives synthesized were all no or only slight pungent; that is, capsinoid derivates synthesized still have the same advantage of nonpungency with capsinoid. Relation between analgesic activity and molecular structure of compounds synthesized was also reported first, which would facilitate finding capsinoid derivatives owning excellent analgesic activity. The experiment results about analgesic activity showed that capsinoids displayed moderate analgesia effect and their antinociceptive activity decreased with the elongation of acyl chain at C(1) position; that antinociceptive activities of capsinoid derivatives synthesized were much stronger not only than those of indomethacin but also than those of their precursor (vanillyl decanoate), which increased with elongation of alkoxyl chain at C(4) position. Especially 4-hexyloxyl-3-methoxybenzyl decanoate showed the best antinociceptive activity in synthesized compounds, which was 9-fold higher than its precursor (vanillyl decanoate) and 6-fold higher than that of indomethacin.

Investigation of the neural substrates of voice recognition in Chinese schizophrenic patients with auditory verbal hallucinations: an event-related functional MRI study.

OBJECTIVE: Auditory hallucinations (AVHs), like real auditory perceptions, are often perceived as familiar voices. Given that neural correlates of AVHs involve the auditory cortex, it is likely that those brain regions responsible for recognition of voice identity are invoked during AVHs. METHOD: Schizophrenic patients with (n = 13) and without (n = 13) auditory hallucinations, and 13 healthy subjects performed a voice recognition task during functional magnetic resonance imaging at 1.5 T. In the task using prerecorded vocal stimuli, they classified voice as familiar and unfamiliar. RESULTS: Under the familiar minus unfamiliar contrasts, cerebral activation pattern is different in the three groups and patients with auditory hallucinations showed less activation in the right temporal lobe than controls. CONCLUSION: Voice recognition was impaired in patients with AVHs. Our results support that auditory association cortices play a role in the perception of AVHs.

Crown gall -- a plant tumour with biological activities.

Petroleum ether, acetone, 80% MeOH and water extracts of crown gall, a plant tumour, obtained from Eucalyptus globulus tree were screened for cytotoxic, antioxidant, antiinflammatory, embryotoxic, antitumour-promoting and antimicrobial activities. In terms of bioactivity the 80% MeOH extract was most effective followed by the acetone extract. The petroleum ether extract showed weak to moderate cytotoxic activity in dose-dependent manner against PC12 cells, mouse L fibroblasts and 1321N1 glia cells, whereas the hydroalcohol extract had no or a weak cytotoxic effect. The 80% MeOH extract exhibited strong antioxidant activity. Based on the in vitro HET-CAM assay all the extracts were effective against inflammation. The extracts did not show any embryotoxic effect at the concentrations tested. Antitumour-promoting activity (100% inhibition; 100 microg/mL) was observed in the 80% MeOH and acetone extracts. In the antimicrobial screening all extracts displayed predominantly antifungal activity against Candida sp. The extracts also showed various levels of antibacterial activity against E. faecalis, Ps. aeruginosa, Bac. subtilis and Staph. epidermidis. From the results of the investigations it can be concluded that crown gall is a valuable plant tumour tissue having interesting biological activities.

Cancer chemoprevention by ginseng in mouse liver and other organs.

Oral administration of red ginseng extracts (1% in diet for 40 weeks) resulted in the significant suppression of spontaneous liver tumor formation in C3H/He male mice. Average number of tumors per mouse in control group was 1.06, while that in red ginseng extracts-treated group was 0.33 (p<0.05). Incidence of liver tumor development was also lower in red ginseng extracts-treated group, although the difference from control group was not statistically significant. Anti-carcinogenic activity of white ginseng extracts, besides red ginseng extracts, was also investigated. In the present study, the administration of white ginseng extracts was proven to suppress tumor promoter-induced phenomena in vitro and in vivo. It is of interest that oral administration of the extracts of Ren-Shen-Yang- Rong-Tang, a white ginseng-containing Chinese medicinal prescription, resulted in the suppression of skin tumor promotion by 12-o-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate in 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene-initiated CD-1 mice. These results suggest the usefulness of ginseng in the field of cancer prevention.

Inhibitory effects of 6-O-acylated L-ascorbic acids possessing a straight- or branched-acyl chain on Epstein-Barr virus activation.

6-O-Acylated L-ascorbic acids possessing a straight- or branched-acyl chain of varying length from C(4) to C(18) have been synthesized and evaluated their anti-tumor promoting effects on the activation of the Epstein-Barr virus early antigen. The derivatives having a straight- or branched-acyl chain of C(6) to C(11) carbon atoms exhibited marked effects.