Danielarnold0175

Several in vivo immunotropic effects of κ/β-carrageenan isolated from the red algae Tichocarpus crinitus were studied, by orally administering it at 100 mg/kg/day to mice for 7 days. Serum levels of IFN-γ, IL-12, IL-1β, and IL-4 were measured. Carrageenan's ability to influence development of LPS-induced inflammation was also assessed. Oral administration of κ/β-carrageenan increased serum levels of all the studied cytokines at least twice in comparison to the intact mice, while intraperitoneal LPS injection at 1 mg/kg increased concentration of only the pro-inflammatory cytokines IFN-γ, IL-12, and IL-1β. Furthermore, κ/β-carrageenan demonstrated a higher efficacy at inducing IFN-γ production than LPS. Previous 7-day-long oral carrageenan administration impaired development of LPS-induced inflammation level of IL-1β dropped below that found in intact mice, while IFN-γ and IL-12 concentrations were at least 40% lower than in mice with LPS-induced inflammation. Murine peritoneal macrophages were also affected by the oral administration of the κ/β-carrageenan their motility was increased, and morphology altered. In sum, we have demonstrated that κ/β-carrageenan, when administered orally, is not only not immunologically inert, but at the dose of 100 mg/kg possesses pharmacologically exploitable effects.This study investigated the effects of the alga lectin Hypnea cervicornis agglutinin (HCA) on rat zymosan-induced arthritis (ZyA). Zymosan (50-500 μg/25 μL) or sterile saline (Sham) was injected into the tibio-tarsal joint of female Wistar rats (180-200 g). Arthritic animals received morphine (4 mg/kg, intraperitoneal), indomethacin (5 mg/kg, intraperitoneal), or 2% lidocaine (100 μL, subcutaneous). HCA (0.3-3 mg/kg) was administered by intravenous route 30 min before or 2 h after zymosan. 1H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo[4,3-a]-quinoxalin-1-one (ODQ, 4 μg, intra-articular) was given 30 min prior HCA. Selleckchem SR18662 Hypernociception was measured every hour until 6 h, time in which animals were sacrificed for evaluation of leukocytes of the intra articular fluid and gene expression of TNF-α, IL-1, IL-10, and iNOS in the joint tissues using PCR techniques. Hypernociception was responsive to morphine and indomethacin, and its threshold was not altered by lidocaine. The post-treatment of HCA reduced both hypernociception and leukocyte influx. This antinociceptive effect was abolished either by ODQ and glibenclamide. HCA also reduced gene expression of iNOS and TNF-α. In conclusion, the antinociceptive effect of HCA in ZyA involves cyclic GMP signalization and selective modulation of cytokine expression.BACKGROUND The number of examined lymph nodes (ExLNs) and the rate of lymph node (LN) noncompliance are two independent indicators for evaluating the oncological efficacy for radical gastric cancer (GC) surgery. There are no studies to prove the relationship between these two indicators and their influence on the long-term prognosis of GC patients. METHODS The clinicopathological data of 1872 patients with radical GC resection with pathological stage pT2-4N0-3M0 from June 2007 to June 2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Noncompliance was defined as patients with more than one or more LN stations absence as described in the protocol for lymphadenectomy in the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association. RESULTS Among 1872 patients, 941 (50.3%) had complete LN compliance, 469 (25.1%) had minor LN noncompliance, and 462 (24.6%) had major LN noncompliance. Logistic regression analysis showed that cT staging and ExLNs were independent risk factors for LN noncompliance. In the whole group, Kaplan-Meier survival curve elucidated that overall survival (OS) differences of ExLNs ≤ 25 and ExLNs > 25 were statistically significant (p  less then  0.001). Stratified analysis of LN noncompliance elucidated no statistically significant difference in OS of these two group. Multivariate COX regression analysis suggested that LN noncompliance was an independent prognostic factor for OS, whereas ExLNs was no longer an independent prognostic factor for OS. CONCLUSIONS The increase number of ExLNs can improve the OS of GC patients, which depends on the decrease of LN noncompliance rate. As surrogate indicators for long-term prognosis of GC patients, LN noncompliance rate was better than ExLNs number.PURPOSE This article uses an evaluation of New Heights, a school-based program for pregnant and parenting teens in the District of Columbia Public Schools, to illustrate how maternal and child health programs can obtain rigorous evaluations at reasonable cost using extant administrative data. The key purpose of the article is to draw out lessons learned about planning and conducting this type of evaluation, including the important role of partnerships between program staff and evaluators. DESCRIPTION This article summarizes the evaluation's research design, data sources, and lessons learned about ingredients contributing to the successful implementation of this study. The evaluation employed a difference-in-differences design to estimate program impacts using administrative data merged across agencies. ASSESSMENT Several features of New Heights and its context facilitated an evaluation. First, New Heights leaders could clearly describe program components and how the program was expected to improve specific student education outcomes. These outcomes were easy to measure for program and comparison groups using administrative data, which agencies were willing to provide. Second, buy-in from program staff facilitated study approval, data agreements, and unanticipated opportunities to learn about program implementation. Finally, time spent by evaluators and program staff in conversation about the program's components, context, and data resulted in greater understanding and a more useful evaluation. CONCLUSION The New Heights evaluation is a concrete example of how a small program with a modest evaluation budget can obtain evidence of impact. Collaborative relationships between researchers and program staff can enable these informative studies to flourish.