Inferior vena cava (IVC) thrombosis after traumatic liver injury is an extremely rare condition, and only 12 cases have been reported in the English literature since 1911. We report a case of a 26-year-old man who presented with IVC thrombosis after blunt liver injury. IVC thrombosis was incidentally detected by computed tomography 15 days after conservative management of blunt liver injury. The patient denied any symptoms of thrombophlebitis and did not have any evidence of hypercoagulable state. We placed an IVC filter via the right jugular vein and started the anticoagulation treatment. The patient recovered successfully without operative treatment and IVC thrombosis disappeared completely two months later. We suggest that that the possibility of IVC thrombosis should be considered in patients with a large hematoma of the liver, which may cause compression of the IVC.

The ascarids, Toxocara canis and Toxascaris leonina, are probably the most common gastrointestinal helminths encountered in dogs. In order to understand biological differences of 2 ascarids, we analyzed gene expression profiles of female adults of T. canis and T. leonina using CLC Genomics Workbench, and the results were compared with those of free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. A total of 2,880 and 7,949 ESTs were collected from T. leonina and T. canis, respectively. The length of ESTs ranged from 106 to 4,637 bp with an average insert size of 820 bp. Overall, our results showed that most functional gene annotations of 2 ascarids were quite similar to each other in 3 major categories, i.e., cellular component, biological process, and molecular function. Although some different transcript expression categories were found, the distance was short and it was not enough to explain their different lifestyles. However, we found distinguished transcript differences between ascarid parasites and free-living nematodes. Understanding evolutionary genetic changes might be helpful for studies of the lifestyle and evolution of parasites.

The oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) is one of the most important edible mushrooms worldwide. The mechanism of P. ostreatus fruiting body development has been of interest both for the basic understanding of the phenotypic change of the mycelium-fruiting body and to improve breeding of the mushrooms. Based on our previous publication of P. ostreatus expressed sequence tag database, 1,528 unigene clones were used in macroarray analysis of mycelium, fruiting body and basidiospore developmental stages of P. ostreatus. Gene expression profile databases generated by evaluating expression levels showed that 33, 10, and 94 genes were abundantly expressed in mycelium, fruiting body and basidiospore developmental stages, respectively. Among them, the genes specifically expressed in the fruiting body stage were further analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Northern blot to investigate temporal and spatial expression patterns. These results provide useful information for future studies of edible mushroom development.

Background: Paclitaxel well known as anti-cancer drug has been shown to cause alopecia in chemotherapy. The paclitaxel chemotherapy-mediated alopecia is induced by apoptotic damage in human dermal papilla (HDP) cells. Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) inhibits apoptosis against anti-cancer drug such as cisplatin. EGCG, one of the green tea extract ingredients, has been reported to enhance cell viability and to inhibit apoptosis. However, it is unclear that EGCG enhances cell viability and inhibits apoptosis against paclitaxel-induced apoptotic damage in HDP cells. Methods: We show cell viability, cell cycle, and microRNA (miRNA) expression in EGCG-mediated rescue cell to paclitaxel-mediated cell death and growth arrest. Results: EGCG promotes cell survival and cell death inhibitory effects and alteration of miRNA expression in paclitaxelexposed HDP cells were investigated. Firstly, paclitaxel increases apoptosis and EGCG promotes cell survival and represses paclitaxel-induced apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis showed that EGCG protects apoptosis in paclitaxel-exposed HDP cells. miRNA microarray analysis was performed and 48 miRNAs changed by EGCG in paclitaxel-exposed HDP cells were identified. In gene ontology analysis in silico, miRNAs regulate apoptosis and cell proliferation-regulated genes, such as BCL2L1, BCL2L2, BBC3, and MDM2. In Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, miRNAs are related to mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway and Wnt signaling pathway, which regulate apoptosis and cell proliferation. Conclusions: EGCG inhibits apoptosis through regulating miRNA expression related to apoptosis and cell proliferation in paclitaxel-treated HDP cells.

Background: Annona muricata (A. muricata) L. (also known as graviola) contains various antioxidants that have beneficial effects on headaches, hypertension, coughs and asthma. A. muricata L. also has various other physiological effects, such as antispasmodic effects for the treatment of heart conditions, and sedative and nervine effects. In the present study, the effect of A. muricata L. extracts on melanogenesis was investigated and the ensuing inhibitory mechanisms were determined. Methods: The inhibitory effects of A. muricata L. extracts on melanogenesis were initially investigated by measuring melanin contents. Subsequently, the ensuing mechanisms were characterized by determining changes in the activity of tyrosinase, which is the rate-limiting step of melanogenesis. Finally, mRNA and protein expression levels of tyrosinase and the melanogenesis-associated transcription factor (MITF) were determined.