Ming-Ju Hsieh
Changhua Christian Hospital, Taiwan
Title: Celastrol induces apoptosis-mediated cell death in multi-drug resistance human nasopharyngeal cancer cells
Submitted Date: 23-10-2017
Biography
Ming-Ju Hsieh is a biochemistry doctor, specializing in biochemistry, biotechnology, tumor metastasis, apoptosis and other research areas. He have considerable experience in research results In the hospital and research units.
Abstract
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) belongs to squamous cell carcinoma that occurs in the epithelial lining of the nasopharynx. Because of the anatomical position close to the cervical lymph node, some patients have a distant metastasis at the time of diagnosis that leads to treatment failure. Although early stages have a high curability and excellent prognosis, advanced NPC urgently requires new drugs developed to reinforce the effectiveness of therapy without noticeable side effects. Celastrol, a chemical compound isolated from the root extracts of Tripterygium wilfordii (Thunder god vine) and Celastrus regelii, has been reported to possess anticancer potential. The aim of the present study was to determine the anticancer activity of celastrol and further elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. In this study, we first demonstrated that celastrol potently suppressed cell viability in MDR-NPC cell lines. Treatment of cells with celastrol induced G2/M arrest and apoptosis. Further studies showed that celastrol increased the expression of cleaved caspase-3, -8, -9 and subsequently activated apoptosis. Moreover, we found that celastrol-induced activation of Bax, Bim and t-Bid involved in the apoptosis. The expression of anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 was significantly reduced, but expression of Bcl-XL was no significantly change after treatment of celastrol. Celastrol treatment also increased the expression of Fas, DcR2, DR5, RIP and TRADD. The cytotoxic effect of celastrol on NPC cells is mainly due to apoptosis, mediated by Fas-Fas ligand and mitochondrial pathway. These results suggested that celastrol could be a potential anticancer agent for NPC.
Rochelle R Pamaran
Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, Philippines
Title: The demographic, clinical and psychosocial profile of pediatric acute poisoning cases in a tertiary hospital- A 5 year retrospective study
Submitted Date: 27-12-2017
Biography
Rochelle R Pamaran has received the degree of Doctor of Medicine at Cagayan State University, Cagayan, Philippines and passed the Physician Licensure Examination in 2007. She has worked as a Clinical Coordinator under the Asian Foundation for Tropical Medicine in collaboration with the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for the Influenza Surveillance.
Abstract
Introduction: Poisoning is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide and represents a major public health threat in children according to World Health Organization.rnrnObjective: To determine the profile of acute poisoning cases in the pediatric population in a tertiary hospital from 2012 to 2016.rnrnDesign: The study is a retrospective cross-sectional study on acute poisoning cases among the pediatric population. Review of hospital records was done upon approval of Ethics Review Board.rnrnPatients/Participants: Random sampling was done among acute poisoning cases and 128 cases were included.rnrnResults: The prevalence rate of acute poisoning was 0.56%. Majority were adolescents. Females were more affected. A greater number of cases had intentional poisoning with adolescents and females being more affected. Unintentional poisoning/accidental poisoning was observed more among children aged less than years old. The toxicants more commonly ingested were therapeutics drugs mostly over the counter drugs, organophosphates, caustic chemicals and herbicides. There were three mortalities, one from nitrite poisoning and 2 from paraquat poisoning. Most of the cases were classified as C3 and D and they represent the population with lower economic status. Most patients with intentional poisoning were diagnosed to have adjustment disorder with depress mood. The association of age, sex and medical social classification with the nature of incident is not statistically significant, but percentage shows that intentional poisoning is more common among adolescents and unintentional poisoning occurred more among younger age group.rnrnConclusion: Acute poisoning is indeed one of the health problems at present because of the increasing availability of toxic agents as product of modern innovations in pharmacotherapy and chemical use in the environment. It is recommended to concerned agencies to strengthen existing rules and regulations in usage, distribution and marketing of commonly encountered toxicants that caused mortality, including those that are banned. rn