Patch testing for corticosteroid allergy using high and low concentrations.

Bioassay-guided purification of an extract of Cucurbita andreana fruits yielded cucurbitacins B (1), D (2), E (3), and I (4). These cucurbitacins were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on the growth of human colon (HCT-116), breast (MCF-7), lung (NCI-H460), and central nervous system (CNS) (SF-268) cancer cell lines, cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzymes and on lipid peroxidation. Inhibitory activities of cucurbitacins B (1), D (2), E (3) and I (4), respectively, were for colon 81.5, 80.4, 77, and 65% at 0.4 microM, breast 87, 78, 66.5, and 12% at 0.4 microM, lung 96, 43, 37 and 2% at 0.1 microM and CNS 92, 25, 24 and 4% at 0.05 microM. Adriamycin (doxorubicin) was used as a positive control, which showed 64, 47, 45 and 71% inhibition of HCT-116 (colon), MCF-7 (breast), NCI-H460 (lung) and SF-268 (CNS) cell lines, respectively, at 0.3 x 10(-5) M. Compounds 1, 2, 3, and 4 inhibited the COX-2 enzyme by 32, 29, 35, and 27%, respectively, at 100 microg/ml. However these compounds did not inhibit the COX-1 enzyme at this concentration. Ibuprofen, naproxen and vioxx, commercial antiinflammatory drugs, were tested as controls for the inhibition of COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes at concentrations of 2.1, 2.5 and 1.67 microg/ml, respectively. Ibuprofen and naproxen exhibited 59 and 95% COX-1, and 53 and 79% COX-2 inhibitory activities, respectively. Vioxx showed specific COX-2 inhibition by 71%. Also, cucurbitacins 1 and 4 inhibited lipid peroxidation by 59 and 23%, respectively, at 100 microg/ml.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents↗

PubMed2003

Correspondence: treatment of the neuroblastoma-associated opsoclonus-myoclonus-ataxia (OMA) syndrome with high-dose methylprednisolone.

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Anti-Inflammatory Agents↗

PubMed2003

Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of statins.

Anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of statins. 3-Hydroxy-3-methyl-gutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors or statins constitute the most powerful class of lipid-lowering drugs. Clinical trials have demonstrated a marked reduction in cardiovascular mortality in patients treated with statins. However, the benefits observed with statin therapy appear to be related, at least in part, with their cholesterol-lowering independent effects. Extensive research carried out mainly in the last decade suggests that the clinical benefits of these drugs could be related to an improvement in endothelial dysfunction, a reduction in blood thrombogenicity, anti-inflammatory properties, and, recently, immunomodulatory actions. In this sense, statins decrease T cell activation, the recruitment of monocytes and T cells into the arterial wall, and enhance the stability of atherosclerotic lesions. Many of these effects are related with the inhibition of isoprenoid synthesis, which serve as a lipid attachment for a variety of proteins implicated in intracellular signaling. In fact, small G proteins, whose proper membrane localization and function are dependent on isoprenylation, may play an important role in the lipid-lowering independent effects of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. This article summarizes the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of statins and their participation in the different steps of atherosclerotic lesion formation.

Anti-Inflammatory Agents↗