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Abstract: We treated a patient with hypopharyngeal fibromatous polyp and speculated the mechanism of this disease. Fibromatous polyp, consisting of fibrous tissue hyperplasia with small vessels, fatty cells and inflammatory cells, is a clinically diagnostic name. Most of pharyngeal fibromatous polyps are arising from the palatine tonsil, and those from the pharyngeal epithelium are rare. The greater part of hypopharyngeal tumors is squamous cell carcinomas, and benign tumors are really uncommon. Fibromatous polyp is not thought to be a true tumor, but the symptoms are almost the same as tumorous diseases, e.g., discomfort in the throat, swallowing difficulty and respiratory distress. Complete resection is used as the treatment method. We operated on this patient under a laryngoscope and successfully resected the polyp. Five months after the operation, there is no sign of recurrence and the patient has no symptoms. This type of polyp is considered to enlarge gradually and it can cause asphyxia and/or dysphagia, so complete ablation should be performed as soon as possible. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Avicins are proapoptotic and anti-inflammatory triterpene electrophiles isolated from an Australian desert tree, Acacia victoriae. The presence of two α,β unsaturated carbonyl groups (Michael reaction sites) in the side chain of the avicin molecule prompted us to study its effects on NF-E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), a redox-regulated transcription factor that controls the expression of a battery of detoxification and antioxidant proteins via its binding to antioxidant response element (ARE). Avicin D-treated Hep G2 cells showed translocation of Nrf2 into the nucleus and a time-dependent increase in ARE activity. These properties were sensitive to DTT, suggesting that avicins affect one or more critical cysteine residues, probably on the Keapl molecule. Downstream of ARE, an activation of a battery of stress-induced proteins occurred. The implications of these findings were evaluated in vivo in mouse skin exposed to an ancient stressor, UV light. Avicins inhibited epidermal hyperplasia, reduced p53 mutation, enhanced apoptosis, decreased generation of 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine, and enhanced expression of NADPH:quinone oxidoreductase 1 and heme oxygenase-1. These data, combined with our earlier published work, demonstrate that avicins represent a new class of plant stress metabolites capable of activating stress adaptation and suppressing proinflammatory components of the innate immune system in human cells by redox regulation. The relevance for treatment of clinical diseases in which stress responses are dysfunctional or deficient is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]