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Background/aim: Colostrum contains antibodies, such as immunoglobulin G (IgG), immunoglobulin A (IgA) and immunoglobulin M (IgM), and, therefore, has potent immunomodulating activity. In particular, IgA has an O-linked sugar chain similar to that in the group-specific component (Gc) protein, a precursor of the Gc protein-derived macrophage-activating factor (GcMAF). In the present study, we investigated the macrophage-activating effects of degalactosylated/desialylated bovine colostrum., Results: We detected the positive band in degalactosylated/ desialylated bovine colostrum by western blotting using Helix pomatia agglutinin lectin. We also found that degalactosylated/ desialylated bovine colostrum could significantly enhance the phagocytic activity of mouse peritoneal macrophages in vitro and of intestinal macrophages in vivo. Besides, degalactosylated/desialylated bovine colostrum did not mediate the production of inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β)., Conclusion: Similar to the use of GcMAF, degalactosylated/desialylated bovine colostrum can be used as a potential macrophage activator for various immunotherapies., (Copyright© 2015 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.)

Food produced via fermentation with mesophilic bacteria has been used to confer health benefits. In contrast, mammalian physiological responses to the intake of thermophile-fermented products have not been thoroughly investigated. We examined the effects of administering a compost extract consisting of fermented marine animals with thermophiles, including Bacillaceae, to pregnant sows and piglets. Retrospective studies were performed on two different swine farms (n=330-1050 sows). The rate of stillbirth was markedly lower in all parities of the compost extract-fed group compared to those of the control group (p≦0.001). Additionally, the birth to weaning period of newborns was significantly shorter (p<0.0001), while the ratio of weanlings per liveborn piglets was increased by more than 6.5% in the compost extract-fed group. Thus thermophiles and their products in the compost extract might promote growth and reduce stillbirths of piglets during the birth to weaning period., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A rare case in tracheal invasion by a papillary carcinoma in an intrathoracic goiter is reported. Subtotal thyroidectomy and tracheoplasty were performed. Surgery should be considered as first-line treatment of intrathoracic goiter in order to avoid future compression of the respiratory tract and to remove possible concomitant malignant lesion.

With a newly developed in vitro chemosensitivity test based on the morphological changes of nuclear damage (nuclear damage assay) described here, we were able to screen currently available anticancer drugs within 24 hr with a 100% success rate. In preclinical chemotherapy using four human ovarian epithelial tumor cell lines and their xenografts in nude mice, the in vitro/in vivo response (sensitive/sensitive and resistant/resistant) rate was 94%. The nuclear damage assay was used to determine the chemosensitivity in 49 patients (60 assays) with ovarian cancer. The response rate of the 13 patients with measurable tumors, 9 of whom showed resistance to CAP (cyclophosphamide, adriamycin, and cisplatin) therapy, was 46% when the patients were given various combination chemotherapy protocols consisting of more than one active agent selected from group A and B agents by the nuclear damage assay. The newly developed in vitro chemosensitivity test proved to be useful when selecting a second-line combination chemotherapy for patients with CAP-resistant ovarian cancer.

We examined the sensitivity of four human germ-cell-tumor cell lines exhibiting different stages of differentiation to human interferons (IFNs) in vitro. The cell lines were derived from two embryonal carcinomas (NEC 8 and NEC 14), a choriocarcinoma (IMa), and a yolk-sac tumor (HUOT). Treatment with poly I:C induced IFN production in IMa and HUOT cells, but not in NEC-8 and NEC-14 cells. In the two embryonal-carcinoma cell lines, the addition of IFN-alpha, IFN-beta, and IFN-gamma did not prevent infection by vesicular stomatitis virus and encephalomyocarditis virus. Also, in these two lines, 2-5A synthetase was not induced by the addition of IFN-alpha. In contrast, both IMa and HUOT showed sensitivity to the antiviral action of IFN-alpha and IFN-beta against the two viruses, and 2-5A synthetase was induced by IFN-alpha. IFNs added at doses of up to 1000 IU/ml had no antiproliferative effect on NEC 8, NEC 14, and HUOT, whereas colony formation by IMa cells was greatly suppressed by all three forms of IFN. These results indicate that the production of and sensitivity to IFN are developmentally regulated and are related to the level of differentiation of human germ-cell stem cells.

Fluorescent histochemical observations of the small intestine of the guinea pig demonstrated that single fluorescent cell bodies, separate from the ganglia, were present in the myenteric plexus. These cell bodies gave rise to single processes which entered the ganglia or the interganglionic strands. They were of a very small size, and the intensity of their fluorescence increased by pretreatment with L-DOPA and nialamide. Interruption of extrinsic nerve pathways to the small intestine caused a disappearance of the meshwork of fluorescent fibers in the myenteric plexus; but in some areas a fluorescent fiber which supplied its terminal to the ganglion was seen to remain. A photograph taken from the denervated myenteric plexus revealed that a long process arising from an extraganglionic cell entered the ganglion and ramified into terminal branches.