Jiang Xz

Anacardic acid (6-pentadecylsalicylic acid) induces apoptosis of prostate cancer cells through inhibition of androgen receptor and activation of p53 signaling

Anacardic acid (AA) is a mixture of 2-hydroxy-6-alkylbenzoic acid homologs. It is widely regarded as a non-specific histone acetyltransferase inhibitor of p300. The effects and the mechanisms of AA in LNCaP cells (prostate cancer cells) remain unknown. To investigate the effect of AA on LNCaP cells, we had carried out several experiments and found that AA inhibits LNCaP cell proliferation, induces G1/S cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of LNCaP cell. The mechanisms via which AA acts on LNCaP cells may be due to the following aspects. First, AA can regulate p300 transcription and protein level except for its mechanisms regulating function of p300 through post-translational modification in LNCaP cells. Second, AA can activate p53 through increasing the phosphorylation of p53 on Ser15 in LNCaP cells. AA can selectively activate p21 (target genes of p53). Third, AA can down-regulates androgen receptor (AR) through supressing p300. Our study suggests that AA has multiple anti-tumor activities in LNCaP cells and warrants further investigation.

Anacardic acid induces cell apoptosis of prostatic cancer through autophagy by ER stress/DAPK3/Akt signaling pathway

Anacardic acid, which is commonly seen in plants of Anacardiaceae, is an important composition of cashew, ginkgo leaf and fruit, and it has been suggested in previous research to show antitumor activity. The main aim of the present study was to evaluate the anticancer effects of anacardic acid on cell apoptosis of prostatic cancer and molecular mechanisms of this phenomenon. In this study we found that anacardic acid inhibited cell proliferation, induced apoptosis and caspase-3/9 activities and Bax protein expression of prostatic cancer. Anacardic acid induced the ER stress inducing factors (BiP, CHOP, p-eIF2α), autophagy, LC3, Beclin-1, Atg 7 and DAPK3 protein expression, and suppressed p-Akt and p-mTOR protein expression of prostatic cancer. Si-CHOP was used to inhibit ER stress in prostatic cancer by anacardic acid, which showed that the cell proliferation was increased, apoptosis, and caspase-3/9 activities and Bax protein expression was suppressed, autophagy, LC3, Beclin-1, Atg 7 and DAPK3 protein expression was reduced, and p-Akt and p-mTOR protein expression was promoted. DAPK3 inhibited p-Akt and p-mTOR protein expression, enhanced the anticancer effects of anacardic acid on prostatic cancer through autophagy. For the first time, the present study showed that anacardic acid induces cell apoptosis of prostatic cancer through autophagy by ER stress/DAPK3/Akt signaling pathway.

Long‐term efficacy and safety of self‐intracavernous injection of prostaglandin E1 for treatment of erectile dysfunction in China

The study evaluated the long‐term efficacy and safety profiles of self‐intracavernous injection of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) for erectile dysfunction (ED). Four hundred and sixteen ED patients were treated with self‐intracavernous injection of PGE1 from January 1998 to December 2007 in our outpatient service. Follow‐up was made to investigate the efficacy and side effects of this treatment. It was found that 261 patients (62.7%) felt satisfied and kept using this treatment due to its advantages of satisfactory efficacy and reasonable expense. Twenty‐seven of them (6.5%) got rid of PGE1 treatment after five times injections and did not need any other drugs to maintain satisfactory sexual lives. Two hundred and fourteen (51.4%) patients kept using this treatment for over 1 year, 26 (6.2%) over 5 years, 12 (2.9%) over 8 years and 7 (1.7%) over 10 years. The major complications of self‐intracavernous injection of PGE1 include fibrosis of corpus cavernosum (three cases), ecchymosis associated with vascular injury due to injection (23 cases) and pain associated with injection (295 cases). There were no patients displaying priapism. It is concluded that self‐intracavernous injection of PGE1 is a safe and effective treatment for ED with various aetiologies and a broad range of severity, and no serious complications were observed after long‐term application.

Urethra duplication with bladder outlet membrane obstruction

Urethral duplication is rare and procedures of management should be individualized according to each cases anomaly.