Skip to main content

Home/ Dr. Goodyear/ Group items tagged exhibition

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Nathan Goodyear

Metabolic influences on neuroendocrine regulation of reproduction - 0 views

  • Energy storage occurs mainly at the level of white adipose tissue, where adipocytes secrete the anorexigenic adipokine leptin
  • humans and laboratory animals with leptin or insulin deficiency or resistance and/or increased ghrelin levels exhibit delayed or absent puberty and frequently display hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, which prevents fertility
  • Ghrelin suppresses pulsatile gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) release [14,15], thus serving as a signal to suppress reproduction in times of famine
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Neuropeptides derived from POMC/CART neurons exert a potent anorectic action, thus decreasing food intake and body weight
  • AgRP and NPY have the opposite (orexigenic) effect, inducing food intake.
  • GnRH neurons have been shown to express insulin receptor mRNA and protein [27] and are activated by insulin
  • Kisspeptins (encoded by KISS1) have been identified in the last decade as the most potent secretagogues of GnRH release.
  •  
    Good, although brief, discussion of the interaction between metabolism and hormones.  Kisspeptin is a GNRH secreatagogue "upstream".   Insulin, Leptin, and Gherlin can inhibit GNRH through resistance and low levels.  Probably a U shaped graph of optimal activity.
Nathan Goodyear

Colonization-Induced Host-Gut Microbial Metabolic Interaction - 0 views

  • he gut microbiota enhances the host’s metabolic capacity for processing nutrients and drugs and modulate the activities of multiple pathways in a variety of organ systems.
  • Acquisition of the gut microbiota was associated with rapid increase in body weight (4%) over the first 5 days of colonization
  • The colonization process stimulated glycogenesis in the liver prior to triggering increases in hepatic triglyceride synthesis
  • ...11 more annotations...
  • modifications of hepatic Cyp8b1 expression and the subsequent alteration of bile acid metabolites
  • Expression and activity of major drug-metabolizing enzymes (Cyp3a11 and Cyp2c29) were also significantly stimulated
  • The gut microbiota (GM) exhibits a relatively low level of diversity compared to those of most soil ecosystems and in humans it is comprised of usually no more than nine phyla of microorganisms, of which only two are dominant: the Firmicutes and the Bacteroidetes
  • colonization of a germfree gut was rapid and remarkably stable, establishing within only a week after first exposure
  • a study conducted on germfree rats by Nicholls et al. showed that 3 weeks were necessary to obtain a stabilization and “normalization”
  • the microbiota status affects the systemic metabolism of the host, modulating the metabolic fingerprint of topographically remote organs such as the liver and the kidney
  • Gut colonization induces a rapid weight gain associated with stimulation of hepatic glycogenesis and triglyceride synthesis
  • Gut colonization alters bile acid metabolite profiles via modulation of hepatic Cyp8b1 expression
  • Bile acids are well-known contributors to glucose and lipid metabolism in the liver
  • GM is known to alter bile metabolism
  • GM is also known to exert a strong influence on the metabolism of xenobiotics
  •  
    The effects of gut microbiome are not confined to the gut.  They alter bile acid metabolism and thus lipid/glucose metabolism.  They alter CYP450 activity.  They effect metabolism.  They effect the metabolism, and thus effects, of other drugs. 
Nathan Goodyear

Diet-induced obesity and low testosterone increase neuroinflammation and impair neural ... - 0 views

  • both obesity and low testosterone are also risk factors for neural dysfunction, including cognitive impairment [58–61] and development of AD
  • Levels of obesity and testosterone are often inversely correlated
  • diet-induced obesity causes significant metabolic disturbances and impairs central and peripheral nervous systems.
  • ...23 more annotations...
  • both obesity and low testosterone are linked with promotion of inflammatory pathways [70–72] and exert harmful actions on the central [73–75] and peripheral [29,76] nervous systems
  • In general, obesity-related changes were worsened by low testosterone and improved by testosterone treatment; however, this relationship was not statistically significant in several instances. Further, our data suggest that a common pathway that may contribute to obesity and testosterone effects is regulation of inflammation
  • fasting blood glucose levels were independently and additively increased by GDX-induced testosterone depletion and high-fat diet
  • testosterone treatment significantly reduced fasting glucose under both the normal and high-fat diets, demonstrating potential therapeutic efficacy of testosterone supplementation
  • fasting insulin, insulin resistance (HOMA index), and glucose tolerance, low testosterone tended to exacerbate and or testosterone treatment improved outcomes.
  • testosterone status did not significantly affect body weight
  • testosterone’s effects likely do not indicate an indirect result on adiposity but rather regulatory action(s) on other aspects of metabolic homeostasis
  • Prior work in rodents has shown diet-induced obesity induces insulin resistance in rat brain [63] and that testosterone replacement improves insulin sensitivity in obese rats [64]. Our findings are consistent with the human literature, which indicates that (i) testosterone levels are inversely correlated to insulin resistance and T2D in healthy [30,65] as well as obese men [66], and (ii) androgen therapy can improve some metabolic measures in overweight men with low testosterone
  • it has been shown that TNFα has inhibitory effects on neuron survival, differentiation, and neurite outgrowth
  • Our data demonstrate that low testosterone and obesity independently increased cerebrocortical mRNA levels of both TNFα and IL-1β
  • Testosterone status also affected metabolic and neural measures
  • many beneficial effects of testosterone, including inhibition of proinflammatory cytokine expression
  • neuroprotection [80,81], are dependent upon androgen receptors, the observed effects of testosterone in this study may involve androgen receptor activation
  • testosterone can be converted by the enzyme aromatase into estradiol, which is also known to exert anti-inflammatory [82] and neuroprotective [83] actions
  • glia are the primary sources of proinflammatory molecules in the CNS
  • poorer survival of neurons grown on glia from mice maintained on high-fat diet
  • Since testosterone can affect glial function [86] and improve neuronal growth and survival [87–89], it was unexpected that testosterone status exhibited rather modest effects on neural health indices with the only significant response being an increase in survival in the testosterone-treated, high-fat diet group
  • significantly increased expression of TNFα and IL-1β in glia cultures derived from obese mice
  • testosterone treatment significantly lowered TNFα and IL-1β expression to near basal levels even in obese mice, indicating a protective benefit of testosterone across diet conditions
  • IL-1β treatment has been shown to induce synapse loss and inhibit differentiation of neurons
  • Testosterone status and diet-induced obesity were associated with significant regulation of macrophage infiltration
  • testosterone prevented and/or restored thermal nociception in both diet groups
  • a possible mechanism by which obesity and testosterone levels may affect the health of both CNS and PNS
  •  
    Study points to obesity and low Testosterone contribution of neuroinflammation.  No effect of body weight was seen with TRT.  This animal model found similar positive effects of TRT in insulin sensitivity.  Obesity and low T increase inflammatory cytokine production: this study found an increase in TNF-alpha and IL-1beta and TRT reduced TNF-alpha and IL-1beta to near base-line.  Testosterone is neuroprotective and this study reviewed the small volume of evaded that pointed to benefit from estradiol.  Testosterone's effect on glial survival was positive but not significant.  Obesity and low T were found to be associated with increased macrophage infiltration in the PNS with increased TNF-alpha and IL-1beta.   Testosterone therapy improved peripheral neuropathy via its positive effects on nocicieption.
Nathan Goodyear

Fermented wheat germ extract inhibits glycolysis/p... [J Biol Chem. 2002] - PubMed result - 0 views

  • Avemar exhibits about a 50-fold higher IC(50) (10.02 mg/ml) for peripheral blood lymphocytes to induce a biological response, which provides the broad therapeutic window for this supplemental cancer treatment modality with no toxic effects.
  •  
    Fermented wheat germ extract (Avemar) shows benefit in cancer treatment with no toxic side effects
Nathan Goodyear

ScienceDirect - Food and Chemical Toxicology : Neuroprotective effect of ginger on anti... - 0 views

  • A marked decrease in anti-oxidant marker enzymes, superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR), reduced glutathione (GSH) and increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) was observed in the diabetic rats
  • inger may be used as therapeutic agent in preventing complications in diabetic patients.
  • These results suggest that ginger exhibit a neuroprotective effect by accelerating brain anti-oxidant defense mechanisms and down regulating the MDA levels to the normal levels in the diabetic rats
  •  
    Ginger reduces oxidative stress in diabetic rat model
Nathan Goodyear

Molecular Cell - A Muscle-Specific Insulin Receptor Knockout Exhibits Features of the M... - 0 views

  •  
    skeletal muscles very important in fat metabolism
Nathan Goodyear

Plant-derived 3,3′-Diindolylmethane Is a Strong Androgen Antagonist in Human ... - 0 views

  • Inhibition of Endogenous PSA Expression by DIM
  • DIM strongly inhibited DHT induction of androgen-responsive genes by more than 50%
  • antiandrogenic activity of DIM
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • DIM suppresses DHT-induced cell growth and PSA expression and exhibits no AR agonist activity
  • DIM has a strong affinity for both the mutant AR inLNCaP cells and for recombinant wild-type human AR
  • nuclear translocation and foci formation of DHT-bound AR are inhibited by DIM
  • Our investigation, leads to the conclusion that DIM is a strong, pure androgen antagonist.
  • The down-regulation of PSA by DIM
  • PSA has been reported to promote the proliferation, migration, and metastasis of prostate cancer cells through several mechanisms, including cleavage of insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 and degradation of extracellular matrix proteins fibronectin and laminin
  • PSA expression is regulated by the AR and is thought to function as a growth factor in LNCaP cells
  • down-regulation of PSA expression may be important in the antiproliferative effects of DIM in LNCaP cells
  •  
    DIM, from cruciferous veggies often used to aid estrogen metabolism, is found to decrease PSA transcription and function as an androgen receptor antagonist in prostate cancer cell lines.
Nathan Goodyear

Implications of free radicals and antioxidant levels in carcinoma of the breast: A neve... - 0 views

  • Experimental investigations as well as clinical and epidemiological findings have provided evidence supporting the role of reactive oxygen metabolites or free radicals such as singlet oxygen O 2 - , superoxide anions (O 2 ), hydrogen peroxide (H­2 O2 ) and hydroxyl radical in the etiology of cancer.
  • Certain aldehydes such as Malonyldialdehyde (MDA), the end product of lipid peroxidation arising from free radical degeneration of polyunsaturated fatty acids can cause cross linking in lipids, proteins and nucleic acids leading to cellular damage.
  • In this study, patients with cancer exhibited higher levels of MDA, both in tissues and serum (p<0.001) compared to the control group [Table 1]. In tissue, the MDA level in stage IV was significantly higher as compared to stage I indicating increased free radical activity with increasing severity of cancer
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • From these observations, it can be concluded that MDA levels play an important role in assessing the outcome of cancer
  • SOD and CAT are considered primary antioxidant enzymes, since they are involved in direct elimination of reactive oxygen metabolites. [13-16] They also act as anti-carcinogens and inhibitors at initiation and promotion/transformation stage in carcinogenesis
  • In our study, SOD and CAT levels were found to be low in all cancer patients as compared to controls
  • Fridovich and Tayarani have demonstrated in their respective studies that the reduction in SOD activity increases the toxic effects of O2 - and this might lead to severe cellular damage.
  • Mehrotra et al. in their study also observed high levels of MDA and low levels of SOD and CAT in patients of cancer cervix which is in sync with our observations.
  • strong evidence regarding the definitive role of free radicals in breast malignancy.
  •  
    This study finds a strong correlation between advancing breast cancer, decreased catalase and SOD with increasing MDA.  The authors of this study conclude this is a key factor in carcinogenesis and not a by-product of cancer.  This flies in the face of traditional medicines fear of antioxidant therapy in cancer.
Nathan Goodyear

Role of Oxidative Stress and the Microenvironment in Breast Cancer Development and Prog... - 0 views

  • oxidative stress leads to HIF-1α accumulation
  • Oxidative stress generated by breast cancer cells activates HIF-1α and NFκB in fibroblasts, leading to autophagy and lysosomal degradation of Cav-1
  • increased levels of hydrogen peroxide in exhaled breath condensate from patients with localized breast malignancy, associated with increased clinical severity
  • ...18 more annotations...
  • Comparing mitochondrial metabolic activity revealed a difference between stroma and epithelial cells
  • Overexpression of NOX4 in normal breast epithelial cells results in cellular senescence, resistance to apoptosis, and tumorigenic transformation, as well as increased aggressiveness of breast cancer cells
  • metalloproteinases (MMP) such as MMP-2, MMP-3, and MMP-9 increase extracellular matrix turnover and are themselves activated by oxidative stress
  • Lowered expression of Cav-1 not only leads to myofibroblast conversion and inflammation but also seems to impact aerobic glycolysis, leading to secretion of high energy metabolites such as pyruvate and lactate that drive mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation in cancer cells
  • Reverse Warburg Effect
  • secreted transforming growth factor β (TGFβ), insulin-like growth factor (IGF), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), fibroblast growth factor 2, and stromal-derived factor 1 (SDF1) are able to activate fibroblasts and increase cancer cell proliferation
  • oxidative stress has an important role in the initiation and preservation of breast cancer progression
  • cancer preventive role of healthy mitochondria
  • the cancer cells produce hydrogen peroxide and by driving the “Reverse Warburg Effect” initiate oxidative stress in fibroblasts. As a result of this process, fibroblasts exhibited reduced mitochondrial activity, increased glucose uptake, ROS, and metabolite production.
  • Oxidative stress results from an imbalance between unstable reactive species lacking one or more unpaired electrons (superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radical, reactive nitrogen species) and antioxidants
  • cancer cells are able to induce drivers of oxidative stress, autophagy and mitophagy: HIF-1α and NFκB in surrounding stroma fibro-blasts
  • Studies show that loss of Cav-1 in adjacent breast cancer stroma fibroblasts can be prevented by treatment with N-acetyl cysteine, quercetin, or metformin
  • However, diets rich in antioxidants have fallen short in sufficiently preventing cancer
  • hydrogen peroxide is one of the main factors that can push fibroblasts and cancer cells into senescence
  • It is widely held that HIF-1α function is dependent upon its location within the tumor microenvironment. It acts as a tumor promoter in CAFs and as a tumor suppressor in cancer cells
  • It was reported that overexpression of recombinant (SOD2) (Trimmer et al., 2011) or injection of SOD, catalase, or their pegylated counterparts can block recurrence and metastasis in mice
  • obstructing oxidative stress in the tumor microenvironment can lead to mitophagy and promote breast cancer shutdown is a promising discovery for the development of future therapeutic interventions.
  • Recent studies show that in the breast cancer microenvironment, oxidative stress causes mitochondrial dysfunction
  •  
    Really fascinating article on tumor signaling. The article points to a complex signaling between cancer cells and stromal fibroblasts that results in myofibroblast transformation that increases the microenvironment favorability of cancer. This article points to oxidative stress as the primary driving force.  
Nathan Goodyear

Antitumor activity of dichloroacetate on C6 glioma cell: in vitro and in vivo evaluation - 0 views

  • the oral bioavailability of DCA is nearly 100%
  • the oral bioavailability of DCA is almost 100%.
  • DCA can penetrate into the traditional chemotherapy sanctuary sites. Interestingly, it was reported that DCA could penetrate across the BBB,30 exhibiting the potential activity for brain therapy.
  • ...23 more annotations...
  • Clinical studies of DCA have shown reduced lactate levels
  • It has been reported that DCA activates the PDH by inhibition of PDK in a dose-dependent manner, and results in increased delivery of pyruvate into the mitochondria
  • The antitumor activity of DCA on nonsmall cell lung cancer, breast cancer, glioblastomas, and endometrial and prostate cancer cells has been demonstrated
  • It is well known that many chemotherapeutic agents have a low therapeutic index in brain tumors.
  • The most common metabolic hallmark of cancer cells is their propensity to metabolize glucose to lactic acid at a high rate even in the presence of oxygen
  • Pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase (PDK) is a gate-keeping enzyme that regulates the flux of carbohydrates (pyruvate) into the mitochondria
  • In the presence of activated PDK, pyruvate dehydrogenase (PDH), a critical enzyme that converts pyruvate to acetyl-CoA instead of lactate in glycolysis, is inhibited, limiting the entry of pyruvate into the mitochondria.
  • the level of Hsp70 was significantly decreased
  • DCA can penetrate the BBB
  • It has been reported that DCA treatment resulted in an increase in the proportion of tumor cells in the S phase, showing a decrease in proliferation as well as the induction of apoptosis
  • Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are involved in protein folding, aggregation, transport, and/or stabilization by acting as a molecular chaperone, leading to the inhibition of apoptosis by both caspase-dependent and/or independent pathways
  • HSPs are overexpressed in a wide range of human cancers and are implicated in tumor cell proliferation, differentiation, invasion, and metastasis
  • Considering the fact that high expression of HSPs is essential for cancer survival, the inhibition of HSPs is an important strategy of anticancer therapy.
  • In addition, after 5 years of continued treatment with oral DCA at a dose of 25 mg/kg, the serum DCA levels are only slightly increased compared with the levels after the first several doses, also showing its safety for oral administration at this dose.
  • DCA can enter the circulation rapidly after oral administration and then generate the stimulation of PDH activity generally within minutes.
  • Our in vivo results in tumor tissues indicated that DCA significantly induced ROS production and decreased MMP in tumor tissues
  • The numbers of microvessels in the DCA treatment groups were significantly decreased, suggesting the potential antiangiogenic effect of DCA
  • Under hypoxic conditions, hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF-1α) is activated and induces angiogenesis
  • In addition, HIF-1α can also induce the expression of PDK,48 which can inhibit the activity of PDH
  • The inhibition effect of DCA on HIF-1α would decrease vascular endothelial growth factor and inhibit angiogenesis
  • the antiangiogenic effect in the 25 mg/kg treatment group was lower than that in 75 mg/kg or 125 mg/kg treatment groups
  • In conclusion, DCA induces the apoptosis of C6 cells through the activation of the mitochondrial pathway, arresting the cell cycle of C6 cells in S phase and down-regulating Hsp70 expression.
  • DCA significantly induced the ROS production and decreased the MMP in tumor tissues. Our in vivo antitumor activity results also indicated that DCA has an antiangiogenic effect
  •  
    DCA as proposed therapy in cancer.
Nathan Goodyear

Rare Occurrence of 3 "H": Hypercalcemia, Hemolytic Anemia and Hodgkin's Lymphoma - 0 views

  • administered zoledronic acid (4 mg). Prednisolone (1 mg/kg/day) was started and simultaneously, she was administered first cycle of ABVD (Adriamycin: 25 mg/m2, Bleomycin: 10 U/m2, Vinblastine: 6 mg/m2 and Dacarbazine: 375 mg/m2), which led to normalisation of serum calcium levels over 4 days and improvement in her hemoglobin levels
  • Etiology of anemia in Hodgkin’s lymphoma is multifactorial. Anemia of chronic disease, decreased red cell survival, infiltration of bone marrow by tumor and marrow suppression by chemotherapy/radiotherapy are the common mechanisms
  • Our case had only a transient response to steroids and chemotherapy. Therefore, she was treated with Rituximab which brought hemolysis under control
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • Hypercalcemia in HL is rare and its incidence has been reported as 0.9, 1.6 and 5.4 % in different series
  • Hypercalcemia of malignancy involves three mechanisms: 1. Humoral hypercalcemia mediated by PTHrP—seen in solid tumors like breast cancer and adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL), 2. Direct osteoclast mediated bone resorption due to bony metastasis—seen in solid tumors and multiple myeloma, 3. Calcitriol mediated hypercalcemia—seen in Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as well as granulomatous disorders like tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, leprosy and disseminated Candidiasis
  • Mechanism of hypercalcemia in HL has long been suggested to involve extra-renal activation of 1α-hydroxylase leading to production of 1, 25(OD)2 Vitamin D3 or Calcitriol, an active metabolite of Vitamin D, which leads to increased re-absorption of calcium and phosphate from intestine, increased osteoclast activation and bone resorption as well as increased phosphate re-absorption in renal tubules
  • The source of 1α-hydroxylase in HL has been postulated as monocytes and macrophages infiltrating the tumor akin to tuberculosis or sarcoidosis and is stimulated by IFN-γ secreted by T-lymphocytes
  • Like sarcoidosis, patients with HL exhibit increased sensitivity to Vitamin D supplements and sunlight, which have been found to precipitate hypercalcemia in these patients
  • Classical biochemical profile in Calcitriol mediated hypercalcemia include: an elevated calcium, normal/slightly elevated phosphate, normal 25(OH) Vitamin D, suppressed PTHrP and PTH, elevated Calcitriol and a normal/increased tubular reabsorption of phosphate
  • not been associated with a poorer prognosis and tends to subside after treatment of the underlying disease
  •  
    great read on hypercalcemia in hodgkin's lymphoma.
Nathan Goodyear

Adenoid cystic carcinoma: current therapy and potential therapeutic advances based on g... - 0 views

  • Cisplatin and 5-FU or CAP (cisplatin, doxorubicin, and cyclophosphamide) regimens can be used for combination chemotherapy
  • patients with advanced salivary gland malignancy treated with the CAP regimen achieved partial response (PR) or stable disease (SD) rates of 67% (8 out of 12 patients)
  • Agents commonly given as monotherapy for treating ACC are cisplatin, mitoxantrone, epirubicin, vinorelbine, paclitaxel, and gemcitabine. However, few of these agents have shown efficacy
  • ...23 more annotations...
  • single agent mitoxantrone or vinorelbine were recommended as reasonable choices
  • ACC is subdivided into 3 histological groups based on solid components of the tumor including cribriform, tubular, and solid
  • Cribriform and tubular ACCs usually exhibit a more indolent course, whereas the solid subtype is associated with worse prognosis
  • ACC consists of two different cell types: inner luminal epithelial cells and outer myoepithelial cells
  • epithelial cells express c-kit, cox-2 and Bcl-2
  • myoepithelial cells express EGFR and MYB
  • a balanced translocation of the v-myb avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog-nuclear factor I/B (MYB-NFIB) is considered to be a signature molecular event of ACC oncogenesis
  • As a transcription factor, MYB is known to modulate multiple genetic downstream targets involved in oncogenesis, such as cox-2, c-kit, Bcl-2 and BclX
  • Various signaling cascades are essential for cancer cells to survive and grow. The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway is one of them
  • This pathway regulates cell survival and growth and is upregulated in many cancers
  • Mutations in genes associated with DNA repair are frequently found in familial cancer syndromes, such as hereditary breast-ovarian cancer syndrome (HBOC), hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC, also called Lynch syndrome) and Li-Fraumeni syndrome [30, 31]. These mutations were also reported in non-hereditary cancers
  • 70% of ACC samples (58 of 84) were found to have genetic alterations in the MYB/MYC pathway, indicating that changes in this pathway are crucial in ACC pathogenesis
  • The second most frequently mutated pathway was involved in chromatin remodeling (epigenetic modification), a pathway that includes multiple histone related proteins, and was altered in 44% of samples
  • C-kit
  • VEGF, iNOS and NF-κB were noted to be highly expressed in ACC cells as compared to normal salivary gland cells
  • members of the SOX family, such as SOX 4 and SOX10, are overexpressed in ACC
  • FABP7 (Fatty acid binding protein 7) and AQP1 (Aquaporin 1) tend to be overexpressed in ACC cell lines
  • considerable variability in HER2 overexpression ranging from 0–58% in patients with ACC
  • the study with cetuximab and concurrent chemoradiation or chemotherapy showed the highest ORR (total 43%, 9.5% CR and 33% PR), but this regimen was only given to the EGFR positive patients
  • Cancer immunotherapy can be classified into 3 major groups. Active immunization using anti-tumor vaccines to induce and recruit T cells, passive immunization based on monoclonal antibodies, and adoptive cell transfer to expand tumor-reactive autologous T cells ex vivo and then reintroduce these cells into the same individual
  • LAK cells showed cytotoxicity against ACC cells
  • cytokine-induced cell apoptosis and the cytotoxic effect of the LAK cells contributed to tumor regression
  • molecular finding of the MYB-NFIB fusion gene has the greatest potential to target what appears to be a fundamental event in disease pathogenesis
  •  
    good review of adenoid cystic carcinoma
Nathan Goodyear

Anticancer mechanisms of cannabinoids - 0 views

  • modulating key cell signalling pathways involved in the control of cancer cell proliferation and survival
  • cannabinoids inhibit angiogenesis and decrease metastasis in various tumour types in laboratory animals
  • Cannabis sativa L. (marijuana)
  • ...41 more annotations...
  • of the approximately 108 cannabinoids produced by C. sativa, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (thc) is the most relevant because of its high potency and abundance in plant preparations
  • Tetrahydrocannabinol exerts a wide variety of biologic effects by mimicking endogenous substances—the endocannabinoids anandamide3 and 2-arachidonoylglycerol4,5—that engage specific cell-surface cannabinoid receptors
  • the cb2 receptor was initially described to be present in the immune system6, but was more recently shown to also be expressed in cells from other origins
  • transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V, member 1
  • orphan G protein–coupled receptor 55
  • Most of the effects produced by cannabinoids in the nervous system and in non-neural tissues rely on cb1 receptor activation
  • two major cannabinoid-specific receptors—cb1 and cb2
  • cardiovascular tone, energy metabolism, immunity, and reproduction
  • cannabinoids are well known to exert palliative effects in cancer patients
  • best-established use is the inhibition of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting
  • thc and other cannabinoids exhibit antitumour effects in a wide array of animal models of cancer
  • cannabinoid receptors and their endogenous ligands are both generally upregulated in tumour tissue compared with non-tumour tissue
  • cb2 promotes her2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) pro-oncogenic signalling in breast cancer
  • pharmacologic activation of cannabinoid receptors decreases tumour growth
  • endocannabinoid signalling can also have a tumour-suppressive role
  • pharmacologic stimulation of cb receptors is, in most cases, antitumourigenic. Nonetheless, a few reports have proposed a tumour-promoting effect of cannabinoids
  • most prevalent effect is the induction of cancer cell death by apoptosis and the inhibition of cancer cell proliferation
  • impair tumour angiogenesis and block invasion and metastasis
  • thc and other cannabinoids induce the apoptotic death of glioma cells by cb1- and cb2-dependent stimulation
  • Autophagy is primarily a cytoprotective mechanism, although its activation can also lead to cell death
  • autophagy is important for cannabinoid antineoplastic activity
  • autophagy is upstream of apoptosis in the mechanism of cannabinoid-induced cell death
  • the effect of cannabinoids in hormone- dependent tumours might rely, at least in part, on the ability to interfere with the activation of growth factor receptors
  • glioma cells), pharmacologic blockade of either cb1 or cb2 prevents cannabinoid-induced cell death with similar efficacy
  • other types of cancer cells (pancreatic48, breast24, or hepatic43 carcinoma cells, for example), antagonists of cb2 but not of cb1 inhibit cannabinoid antitumour actions
  • thc promotes cancer cell death in a cb1- or cb2-dependent manner (or both) at lower concentrations
  • cannabidiol (cbd), a phytocannabinoid with a low affinity for cannabinoid receptors15, and other marijuana-derived cannabinoids57 have also been proposed to promote the apoptotic death of cancer cells acting independently of the cb1 and cb2 receptors
  • In cancer cells, cannabinoids block the activation of the vascular endothelial growth factor (vegf) pathway, an inducer of angiogenesi
  • In vascular endothelial cells, cannabinoid receptor activation inhibits proliferation and migration, and induces apoptosis
  • cb1 or cb2 receptor agonists (or both) reduce the formation of distant tumour masses in animal models of both induced and spontaneous metastasis, and inhibit adhesion, migration, and invasiveness of glioma64, breast65,66, lung67,68, and cervical68 cancer cells in culture
  • the ceramide/p8–regulated pathway plays a general role in the antitumour activity of cannabinoids targeting cb1 and cb2
  • cbd, by acting independently of the cb1 and cb2 receptors, produces a remarkable anti-tumour effect—including reduction of invasiveness and metastasis
  • cannabinoids can also enhance immune system–mediated tumour surveillance in some contexts
  • ability of thc to reduce inflammation75,76, an effect that might prevent certain types of cancer
  • recent observations suggest that the combined administration of cannabinoids with other anticancer drugs acts synergistically to reduce tumour growth
  • combined administration of gemcitabine (the benchmark agent for the treatment of pancreatic cancer) and various cannabinoid agonists synergistically reduced the viability of pancreatic cancer cells
  • Other reports indicated that anandamide and HU-210 might also enhance the anticancer activity of paclitaxel89 and 5-fluorouracil90 respectively
  • Combined administration of thc and cbd enhances the anticancer activity of thc and reduces the dose of thc needed to induce its tumour growth-inhibiting activity
  • Preclinical animal models have yielded data indicating that systemic (oral or intraperitoneal) administration of cannabinoids effectively decreases tumour growth
  • Combinations of cannabinoids with classical chemotherapeutic drugs such as the alkylating agent temozolomide (the benchmark agent for the management of glioblastoma80,84) have been shown to produce a strong anticancer action in animal models
  • pharmacologic inhibition of egfr, erk83, or akt enhances the cell-death-promoting action of thc in glioma cultures (unpublished observations by the authors), which suggests that targeting egfr and the akt and erk pathways could enhance the antitumour effect of cannabinoids
  •  
    Good review of the anticancer effects of cananbinoids.
Nathan Goodyear

A Combined Preclinical Therapy of Cannabinoids and Temozolomide against Glioma | Molecu... - 0 views

  • Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC; Supplementary Fig. 1), the main active component of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa
  • CB1, abundantly expressed in the brain and at many peripheral sites
  • CB2, expressed in the immune system and also present in some neuron subpopulations and glioma cells
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • antitumoral agents
  • Aside from THC, C. sativa produces approximately 70 other cannabinoids, although, unlike THC, many of them exhibit little affinity for CB receptors (10, 20). Of interest, at least one of these components, namely, cannabinol (CBD; Supplementary Fig. 1), has been shown to reduce the growth of different types of tumor xenografts including gliomas
  • the combined administration of THC and CBD is being therapeutically explored (10, 20, 26), although its effects on the proliferation and survival of cancer cells have only been analyzed in vitro
  •  
    THC found to augment chemotherapy in the glioblastoma cell culture study.
Nathan Goodyear

Ivermectin: enigmatic multifaceted 'wonder' drug continues to surprise and exceed expec... - 0 views

  • The avermectins are known to possess pronounced antitumor activity
  • Over the past few years, there have been steadily increasing reports that ivermectin may have varying uses as an anti-cancer agent, as it has been shown to exhibit both anti-cancer and anti-cancer stem cell properties
  • In human ovarian cancer and NF2 tumor cell lines, high-dose ivermectin inactivates protein kinase PAK1 and blocks PAK1-dependent growth
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • PAK1 is essential for the growth of more than 70% of all human cancers, including breast, prostate, pancreatic, colon, gastric, lung, cervical and thyroid cancers, as well as hepatoma, glioma, melanoma, multiple myeloma and for neurofibromatosis tumors
  • Ivermectin suppresses breast cancer by activating cytostatic autophagy, disrupting cellular signaling in the process, probably by reducing PAK1 expression
  • Cancer stem cells are a key factor in cancer cells developing resistance to chemotherapies and these results indicate that a combination of chemotherapy agents plus ivermectin could potentially target and kill cancer stem cells, a paramount goal in overcoming cancer
  • Triple-negative breast cancers, which lack estrogen, progesterone and HER2 receptors, account for 10–20% of breast cancers and are associated with poor prognosis
  • Ivermectin addition led to transcriptional modulation of genes associated with epithelial–mesenchymal transition and maintenance of a cancer stem cell phenotype in triple-negative breast cancers cells, resulting in impairment of clonogenic self-renewal in vitro and inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis in vivo
  • Ivermectin-induced cytostatic autophagy also leads to suppression of tumor growth in breast cancer xenografts, causing researchers to believe there is scope for using ivermectin to inhibit breast cancer cell proliferation and that the drug is a potential treatment for breast cancer
  • ivermectin synergizes with the chemotherapy agents cytarabine and daunorubicin to induce cell death in leukemia cells
  • Ivermectin inhibits proliferation and increases apoptosis of various human cancers
  • Activation of WNT-TCF signaling is implicated in multiple diseases, including cancers of the lungs and intestine,
  • A new screening system has found that ivermectin inhibits the expression of WNT-TCF targets
  • It represses the levels of C-terminal β-catenin phosphoforms and of cyclin D1 in an okadaic acid-sensitive manner, indicating its action involves protein phosphatases
  • In vivo, ivermectin selectively inhibits TCF-dependent, but not TCF-independent, xenograft growth without side effects
  • ivermectin has an exemplary safety record, it could swiftly become a useful tool as a WNT-TCF pathway response blocker to treat WNT-TCF-dependent diseases, encompassing multiple cancers.117
  •  
    Ivermectin shows promise and usefullness in several cancer types.  This is a review article.
Nathan Goodyear

Niclosamide, an old antihelminthic agent, demonstrates antitumor activity by blocking m... - 0 views

  • Accumulating evidence suggests that niclosamide targets multiple signaling pathways such as nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kB), Wnt/β-catenin, and Notch, most of which are closely involved with cancer stem cell proliferation
  • The transcription factor NF-κB has been demonstrated to promote cancer growth, angiogenesis, escape from apoptosis, and tumorigenesis
  • NF-κB is sequestered in the cytosol of resting cells through binding the inhibitory subunit IκBα
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • Niclosamide blocked TNFα-induced IκBα phosphorylation, translocation of p65, and the expression of NF-κB-regulated genes
  • Niclosamide also inhibited the DNA binding of NF-κB to the promoter of its target genes
  • niclosamide has two independent effects: NF-kB activation and ROS elevation
  • The Wnt signaling pathway plays fundamental roles in directing tissue patterning in embryonic development, in maintaining tissue homeostasis in differentiated tissue, and in tumorigenesis
  • niclosamide is a potent inhibitor of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway
  • The Notch signaling pathway plays important roles in a variety of cellular processes such as proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, cell fate decisions, and maintenance of stem cells
  • niclosamide potently suppresses the luciferase activity of a CBF-1-dependent reporter gene in both a dose-dependent and a time-dependent manners in K562 leukemia cells
  • niclosamide treatment abrogated the epidermal growth factor (EGF)-stimulated dimerization and nuclear translocation and transcriptional activity of Stat3, and induced cell growth inhibition and apoptosis in several types of cancer cells (e.g. Du145, Hela, A549) that exhibit relatively higher levels of Stat3 constitutive activation
  • niclosamide can rapidly increase autophagosome formation
  • niclosamide induced autophagy and inhibited mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1)
  • Niclosamide has low toxicity in mammals (oral median lethal dose in rats >5000 mg/kg
  • Niclosamide is active against cancer cells such as AML and colorectal cancer cells, not only as a monotherapy but also as part of combination therapy, in which it has been found to be synergistic with frontline chemotherapeutic agents (e.g., oxaliplatin, cytarabine, etoposide, and daunorubicin)
  • Because niclosamide targets multiple signaling pathways (e.g., NF-κB, Wnt/β-catenin, and Notch), most of which are closely involved with cancer stem cells, it holds promise in eradicating cancer stem cells
  •  
    Review article: common anti-parasitic medication, niclosamide, provides anti-proliferative effect in cancer stem cells (CSC), via inhibition of NF-kappaBeta, Wnt/B-catenin, Notch, ROS, mTORC1, and STAT2 pathways.
Nathan Goodyear

Oncotarget | Preclinical evaluation of a nanoformulated antihelminthic, niclosamide, in... - 0 views

  • Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy in the world
  • paclitaxel represents a breakthrough in the treatment of ovarian cancer, the overall 5-year survival rate of patients with stage III disease is still approximately 40%
  • Targeting cancer stem cells is an emerging concept in cancer therapy
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • Ovarian cancer stem cells play an important role in chemoresistance and cancer recurrence
  • Furthermore, recent studies indicate that niclosamide exhibits anticancer effects against various human cancer cells by acting on multiple cell signaling pathways and inducing mitochondrial uncoupling [16–21]
  • This toxicity evaluation showed that oral nano-NI had no toxic effect on either group of mice in terms of weight, plasma albumin levels, and blood cell counts, and revealed no adverse effects on vital organ function in the rodents, which suggests that nano-NI is safe for animals
  • The nano-NI demonstrated significantly higher inhibitory effects on sphere formation than the original niclosamide did
  • the nano-NI formulation decreased the metabolic activity of ovarian cancer cells and caused a metabolic shift from oxidative phosphorylation to glycolysis
  • has low systemic bioavailability (~10%) when administered orally, which is beneficial for treating local parasitic infections of the intestines while minimizing systemic exposure
  • niclosamide inhibits tumor cell growth by interrupting multiple pathways (Wnt, Notch, STAT3, NF-κB, and mTORc1) and the generation of reactive oxygen species in several cancer cells
  • The current standard therapy for ovarian cancer includes taxanes and platinum-based chemotherapy after cytoreductive surgery. Among treated patients, nearly 70 to 80% will experience disease recurrence
  •  
    nano-Niclosamide more effective than traditional Niclosamide in in vitro and in vivo ovarian cancer.
Nathan Goodyear

Frontiers | Branched-Chain Amino Acid Ingestion Stimulates Muscle Myofibrillar Protein ... - 1 views

  • BCAAs exhibit the capacity to stimulate myofibrillar-MPS, however a full complement of EAA could be necessary to stimulate a maximal response of myofibrillar-MPS following resistance exercise
  • This information potentially has important nutritional implications for selecting amino acid supplements to facilitate skeletal muscle hypertrophy in response to resistance exercise training and the maintenance of muscle mass during aging, unloading, or disease
  • results from the present study suggest that ingesting BCAAs alone, without the other EAA, provides limited substrate for protein synthesis in exercised muscles
  • ...3 more annotations...
  • the overall response of MPS is not maximized. Instead, the limited availability of EAA likely explains the qualitative difference in magnitude of the MPS response to ingestion of BCAAs alone and ingestion of similar amounts of BCAAs as part of intact whey protein
  • decreased EAA concentrations following leucine ingestion
  • these data support the notion that EAA availability is the rate-limiting factor for stimulating a maximal MPS response to resistance exercise with BCAA ingestion
  •  
    Complete amino acid supplementation exceeds muscle building capacity (myofibrillar-MPS) over BCAA alone.
Nathan Goodyear

The use of low-dose naltrexone (LDN) as a novel anti-inflammatory treatment for chronic... - 0 views

  • orally active competitive opioid receptor antagonist
  • 4.5 mg, though the dosage can vary a few milligrams below or above that common value
  • At the low dosage level, naltrexone exhibits paradoxical properties, including analgesia and anti-inflammatory actions
  • ...10 more annotations...
  • LDN may be an effective treatment for FM
  • In addition to the antagonist effect on mu-opioid and other opioid receptors, naltrexone simultaneously has an antagonist effect on non-opioid receptors (Toll-like receptor 4 or TLR4) that are found on macrophages such as microglia
  • It is via the non-opioid antagonist path that LDN is thought to exert its anti-inflammatory effects
  • Once activated, microglia produce inflammatory and excitatory factors that can cause sickness behaviors such as pain sensitivity, fatigue, cognitive disruption, sleep disorders, mood disorders, and general malaise
  • The neuroprotective action appears to result when microglia activation in the brain and spinal cord is inhibited
  • By suppressing microglia activation, naloxone reduces the production of reactive oxygen species and other potentially neuroexcitatory and neurotoxic chemicals
  • suppressed TNF-alpha, IL-6, MCP-1, and other inflammatory agents in peripheral macrophages
  • individuals with greater ESR at baseline experienced a greater drop in pain when taking LDN
  • LDN has been reported to reduce not only self-reported pain in that condition but also objective markers of inflammation and disease severity
  • Naltrexone has also shown some promise in improving disease severity in multiple sclerosis
  •  
    LDN maybe useful in treating chronic pain via anti-inflammatory effects on microglia.
Nathan Goodyear

Hyperthermia as an immunotherapy strategy for cancer - 1 views

  • the notion of treating human cancers with heat dates back to the writings of Hippocrates
  • enhance the efficiency of standard cancer therapies, such as chemotherapy and radiation treatment
  • After antigen uptake at tumor sites, APCs have the ability to create a robust response by entering lymphoid compartments and programming lymphocytes
  • ...36 more annotations...
  • Hyperthermia differs fundamentally from fever in that it elevates the core body temperature without changing the physiological set point
  • hyperthermia is induced by increasing the heat load and/or inactivating heat dissipation
  • mor cells [2]. Although significant cell killing could be achieved by heating cells or tissues to temperatures > 42°C for 1 or more hours, the application, measurement and consistency of this temperature range within the setting of cancer clinical trials
  • mild temperature hyperthermia (ie, within the fever-range, 39–41°C)
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      101.2 to 105.8
  • moderate hyperthermia (41°C)
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      105.8 F
  • Hsps are a family of stress-induced proteins
  • they are key regulators of cellular protein activity, turnover and trafficking
  • Hsps ensure appropriate post-translational protein folding, and are able to refold denatured proteins, or mark irreversibly damaged proteins for destruction
  • the ability of fever-range hyperthermia to induce reactive immunity against tumor antigens through DCs and NK-cells is likely mediated by Hsps
  • thermotolerance
  • Hsps support the malignant phenotype of cancer cells by not only affecting the cells’ survival, but also participating in angiogenesis, invasion, metastasis and immortalization mechanisms
  • Hsps released from stressed or dying cells activate dendritic cells (DCs), transforming them into mature APCs
  • In theory, fever-range hyperthermia may take advantage of tumor cell Hsps by inducing their release from tumor cells and augmenting DC priming against tumor antigens
  • In several models of hyperthermia, heat-treated tumors exhibited improved DC priming and generation of systemic immunity to tumor cell
  • hyperthermia alone can enhance antigen display by tumor cells, thus rendering them even more susceptible to programmed immune clearance
  • Fever-range hyperthermia may also induce Hsps
  • Hsps may exert an adjuvant effect by bolstering MHC class II and co-stimulatory molecule expression by DCs
  • thermal ablation of liver tumors in particular has demonstrated an ability to potentiate immune responses [57, 58] and elicit robust T-cell infiltrates at ablation sites
  • specific Hsp, Hsp70, directly inhibits apoptosis pathways in cancer cells, as demonstrated in human pancreatic, prostate and gastric cancer cells
  • Cross-priming is the ability of extracellular Hsps complexed to tumor peptides to be internalized and presented in the context of MHC class I molecules on APCs, thus allowing potent priming of CTLs against tumor antigens
  • It has been reported that Hsps are generated from necrotic tumor cell lysates, but not from tumor cells undergoing apoptosis
  • tumor cells exposed to hyperthermia in the heat shock range (42°C for 4h) prior to lysing, DC activation and cross-priming were significantly enhanced with the application of heat
  • Due to the ability of Hsps to activate DCs directly by chaperoning tumor antigens upon their release [28], it is possible that both local and regional immune stimulation can be achieved with hyperthermia.
  • support the use of hyperthermia as an inducer of Hsps to serve as ‘danger signals’, activating antitumor immune responses
  • whole-body hyperthermia not only augments immune responses, but also stimulates the migration of skin-derived DCs to draining lymph nodes
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      This allows for the activation of lymphocytes by the activated dendritic cells.
  • suggest a valuable role of hyperthermia in DC cancer vaccine strategies
  • In mice treated with fever-range whole-body hyperthermia, tumor growth was significantly inhibited and NK-cell infiltration increased
    • Nathan Goodyear
       
      Hyperthermia increased NK cell activation, proliferation, and infiltration, which equals increased cytotoxicity.
  • exposure to fever-range hyperthermia resulted in improved endogenous NK-cell cytotoxicity to several cancer types
  • improved activation and function of DCs and NK cells following hyperthermia
  • Hyperthermia increases the expression ICAM-1 a key adhesion molecule,
  • The combined effects of hyperthermia on lymphoid tissue endothelium and lymphocytes can promote immune surveillance and increase the probability of naive lymphocytes leaving the circulation and encountering their cognate antigen displayed by DCs in lymphoid organs.
  • In independent clinical studies, whole-body hyperthermia resulted in a transient decrease in circulating lymphocytes in patients with advanced cancer [12, 94, 99, 100], a finding which mirrored observations in animal models in which lymphocyte entry into lymph noeds was increased following hyperthermia treatment [93]. Enhanced recruitment of lymphocytes to lymphoid tissues may be exploited in the treatment of malignancies.
  • The initial tumor antigen presentation and initiation of clonal expansion of CTLs transpires in the lymph nodes and cannot take place outside this specialized compartment
  • the ability of DCs present in the lymph nodes to stimulate an anti-tumor immune response is critical
  • hyperthermia has been shown to improve immune surveillance by T-cell
  • and to increase DC trafficking to lymph nodes
  •  
    Great review of hyperthermia.
‹ Previous 21 - 40 of 48 Next ›
Showing 20 items per page