Cytochrome P450 1B1 (CYP1B1) and catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) enzymes play critical roles in estrogen metabolism. Alterations in the catalytic activity of CYP1B1 and COMT enzymes have been found associated with altered breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women in many populations. The substitution of leucine (Leu) to valine (Val) at codon 432 increases the catalytic activity of CYP1B1, ...

We previously reported the augmentation of tumor cytotoxicity of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) by in vivo administration of a streptococcal preparation, OK-432 (S. Watabe et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst., 72: 1365-1370, 1984). The present study was undertaken to elucidate the mechanisms of the phenomena. Mouse and rat spleen cells were stimulated in vitro with OK-432. The culture supernatants...

Malignant pleural effusion develops frequently in patients with advanced lung cancer. Chemical pleurodesis is the most effective palliative treatment for these patients. The efficacy of pleurodesis using both OK-432, a preparation of Streptococcus pyogenes, and doxorubicin for 20 patients with cytology-proven malignant pleural effusion associated with lung cancer was evaluated. After complete r...

OBJECTIVE The basic objective of this study was to find out the efficacy of OK-432 for the conservative treatment of lymphangiomas of head and neck regions at the Department of ENT-Head & Neck Surgery of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Kathmandu, Nepal. METHODS It was a hospital based prospective, cross-sectional, case series, conducted among the patients suffering from differe...

Pyruvate kinase M(1), a nonallosteric isozyme, lacks heterotropic allosteric effect involving fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (FBP). To explore the molecular basis for this, a series of mutants were prepared and characterized, in which the possible candidate, Glu-432, was replaced in the rat M(1) isozyme and its allosteric mutant with the replacement of Ala-398 by Arg. Although these single mutants o...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Although first-choice therapy for the ranula is surgery, this choice presents technical difficulties and frequent recurrences because of insufficient surgery. We evaluated the efficacy of OK-432 sclerosis of the plunging ranula as a substitute for surgery. METHODS Twenty-one patients with plunging ranula were treated with intralesional injection of OK-432. The liquid co...

Several G-protein-coupled receptors contain cysteine residues in the C-terminal tail that may modulate receptor function. In this work we analysed the substitution of Cys438 by alanine in the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor (GLPR), which led to a threefold decrease in cAMP production, although endocytosis and cellular redistribution of GLP-1 receptor agonist-induced processes were unaf...

Omental milky spots are omentum-associated lymphoid tissues that cede peritoneal macrophages and participate in the immunity of the peritoneal cavity. We studied the changing surface features of milky spots and milky spot macrophages of Wistar rats, following the i.p. administration of OK-432, a killed streptococcal preparation (1 Klinische Einheit (unit) in 5 ml of phosphate-buffered saline) b...