Search

Background: Intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of paclitaxel is useful for treating malignant tumors with peritoneal dissemination, but the therapeutic efficacy is limited. Chemoresistance due to paclitaxel-induced nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation is an important cause of suboptimal therapeutic efficacy.Aims: The purpose of this study was to prove that addition of nafamostat mesilate (FUT-175), a synthetic serine protease inhibitor and an NF-κB inhibitor, to i.p. paclitaxel enhances antitumor effects of paclitaxel against gastric cancer with peritoneal dissemination.Methods: In vitro, we assessed NF-κB activity and apoptosis in response to treatment with FUT-175 alone, paclitaxel alone, or a combination of FUT-175 and paclitaxel in a human gastric cancer cell line (MKN-45). In vivo, we established peritoneal dissemination in nude mice by i.p. injection of MKN-45 cells. The animals received i.p. injections of FUT-175 alone three times a week (FUT-175 group), of paclitaxel alone once a week (paclitaxel group), or a combination of FUT-175 and paclitaxel (combination group) three times and once a week, respectively.Results: In the combination group, paclitaxel-induced NF-κB activation was inhibited and apoptosis was enhanced in comparison with those in the other groups both in vitro and in vivo. In the combination group, number and weight of peritoneal nodules were significantly lower than those in the paclitaxel group (p = 0.0009 and p = 0.0417, respectively). In the survival analysis, the combination group had a significantly better survival than the paclitaxel group (p = 0.0048).Conclusion: FUT-175 enhances the antitumor effect of i.p. paclitaxel against gastric cancer with peritoneal dissemination by inhibiting NF-κB activation in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We experienced a case of Dermatobia hominis infestation from South America. Here we discuss imported cases of D. hominis in Japan with literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Direct and converse magnetoelectric (ME) effects, namely, magnetic-field (B) induced electric polarization (P) and electric-field (E) induced magnetization (M), respectively, were investigated at room temperature for c-axis oriented polycrystalline specimens of a Z-type hexaferrite, Sr3Co2Fe24O41. The B profile of the linear ME coefficient obtained from the converse effect well coincides with that obtained from the direct effect. Furthermore, M-E curves show a substantial hysteretic behavior, which allows reversal and multilevel switching of M by applying pulsed E. The present results demonstrate the feasibility of nonvolatile memory elements by using the ME Z-type hexaferrite at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The magnetic structure and the effect of a magnetic field on its domain structure were investigated in a magnetoelectric Y-type hexaferrite, Ba1.3Sr0.7CoZnFe11AlO22, by means of mapping with a micro-focused and circularly polarized X-ray beam in the resonant X-ray diffraction. It was revealed that this hexaferrite exhibits a magnetic order characterized by two distinct antiferromagnetic components: incommensurate helical and commensurate collinear ones, which can be explained as the development of the so-called alternating longitudinal conical structure. A multidomain state due to the handedness of the helical component, i.e., spin-chirality, is transformed into nearly a mono-domain one by using only a magnetic field. Furthermore, the sign of the spinchirality in the mono-domain state is reversed by reversing the sign of a magnetic field. These results demonstrate that the spin-chirality in this hexaferrite can be manipulated by a magnetic field alone at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listeria monocytogenes contamination of ready-to-eat seafood products commercially available in Osaka was examined between 1999 and 2000. L. monocytogenes was isolated from 12 (13%) of the 95 products tested. All positive samples were from cold-smoked fish with 9 being obtained during the summer. Thirteen isolates of L. monocytogenes were typed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based typing methods. Isolates of the same serotype originating from the same manufacturer gave similar DNA profiles, irrespective of the type of sample or date of isolation. The finding suggest that persistent strains in each manufacturing facility proliferate during the summer and contaminate products during manufacturing processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]