Pharmacological Effects of Resveratrol in Intervertebral Disc Degeneration: A Literature Review.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is a high incidence disease of musculoskeletal system that often leads to stenosis, instability, pain and even deformity of the spinal segments. IDD is an important cause of discogenic lower back pain and often leads to large economic burden to families and society. Currently, the treatment of IDD is aimed at alleviating symptoms rather than blocking or reversing pathological progression of the damaged intervertebral disc. Resveratrol (RSV) is a polyphenol phytoalexin first extracted from the Veratrum grandiflflorum O. Loes and can be found in various plants and red wine. Owing to the in-depth study of pharmacological mechanisms, the therapeutic potential of RSV in various diseases such as osteoarthritis, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes have attracted the attention of many researchers. RSV has anti-apoptotic, anti-senescent, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and anabolic activities, which can prevent further degeneration of intervertebral disc cells and enhance their regeneration. With high safety and various biological functions, RSV might be a promising candidate for the treatment of IDD. This review summarizes the biological functions of RSV in the treatment of IDD and to facilitate further research.

Lupus enteritis masquerading as Crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND: Systemic lupus erythematosus is an autoimmune disease which can affect multiple organs, resulting in significant mortality and morbidity. Lupus enteritis is one of the rare complications of SLE, defined as vasculitis of the intestinal tract, with supportive biopsy findings and/or image. However, lupus enteritis is seldom confirmed on histology or image and the changes of intestinal mucosa are nonspecific. Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract which affects any part of the gastrointestinal tract. The diagnosis of CD is confirmed by clinical evaluation and a combination of endoscopic, histology, radiology, and/or biochemical investigations. CASE PRESENTATION: Here we report a rare case of a 71-years-old Chinese male has been diagnosed with lupus enteritis which similar to CD in the aspects of endoscopic, histology, and radiology. So far, there are no relevant cases reported. CONCLUSIONS: The endoscopic appearance of lupus enteritis is nonspecific, on the basis of our case, the features of lupus enteritis can be described as spacious, clean and no moss ulcers which discontinuous involved all gastrointestinal tract.

Effect of TRAIL in combination with DDP on the expression of MDR1 gene in gastric cancer cells.

INTRODUCTION: Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignant tumor, and gastric cancer is the second most common cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Although chemotherapy is one of the most important treatment options for gastric cancer, and could improve the overall survival rate and quality of live, one significant reason for its failure is multidrug resistance (MDR). AIM: To study the effect of tumour necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) combined with chemotherapeutic drug cisplatin (DDP) on the expression of multidrug resistance gene 1 (MDR1) in the gastric cancer cell line SGC-7901/VCR. MATERIAL AND METHODS: SGC-7901/VCR cells were cultured with DDP and TRAIL in various concentrations. The apoptosis rate was separately measured by a flow cytometer in DDP (sub-toxic dose) alone, TRAIL (200 µg/l) alone and in a combination of the two. Expression levels of MDR1 mRNA and P-glycoprotein (P-gp) were detected by RT-PCR and ELISA analysis, respectively. RESULTS: The apoptosis rate in the combination group was significantly higher than that in the other groups (p < 0.05). According to the results of RT-PCR and ELISA, the expressions of MDR1 mRNA and P-gp in the combination group were statistically significant different compared with other groups (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The combination of TRAIL with DDP could reverse MDR phenotype in gastric cancer cell line SGC7901/VCR. The mechanism may be involved in the down-regulation of MDR1 mRNA and P-gp, which may play an essential role in overcoming the chemotherapeutic resistance of gastric cancer cells. This study indicates that a combination of chemotherapy and TRAIL may be an effective strategy to treat MDR gastric cancer.

The effect of TRAIL on the expression of multidrug resistant genes MDR1, LRP and GST-π in drug-resistant gastric cancer cell SGC7901/VCR.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To investigate the effect of tumor necrosis factor related apoptosis inducing ligand(TRAIL) on the expression of multidrug resistant genes MDR1, LRP and GST-n in drug-resistant gastric cancer cell strain SGC7901/VCR, and discuss a potential mechanism that reverses the multidrug resistance of gastric cancer with TRAIL as the target point. METHODOLOGY: SGC7901/VCR cell strain was treated over 48 h with TRAIL (50, 100, 200 and 400ig/L, respectively). The expression ofMDR1, LRP, GST-r mRNA in different groups of gastric cell strains was tested by RT-PCR and the expression of P-gp, LRP and GST-n by ELISA. RESULTS: Under the action of TRAIL of different concentrations, different degrees of inhibition were observed in the expression of the mRNA and protein, and the difference from the reference group was statistically significant(p<0.01). Except for the insignificant inhibition degree of mRNA and protein in MDR1, LRP and GST-nr as compared between the 400lg/L and the 2001ig/L group(p>0.05), the differences between other groups were all statistically significant (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: As preliminarily estimated from the results of the study, TRAILis negatively correlated with drug-resistant genes. It is possible that TRAIL increases the apoptosis and growth inhibition of chemotherapy drug tumor cells by reducing the expression of drug-resistant genes MDR1, LRP and GST-Tt, thereby participating in the reversion of the multidrug resistance of gastric cancer