The phase II clinical trial is a critical step in the drug development process. In the oncology setting, phase II studies typically evaluate one primary endpoint, which is efficacy. In practice, a binary measurement representing the response to the...
The leading cause of death in the United States is cardiovascular disease, a result of atherosclerosis. The reducing agent N-(2-Mercaptopropionyl)glycine (MPG) as been found to be an effective antioxidant therapy in a number of conditions, and our...
The acetogenin annonacin, from the tropical annonaceous plant Annona muricata, is a lipophilic, mitochondrial complex I inhibitor reported to be more toxic than rotenone to mesencephalic neurons. The temperate annonaceous plant Asimina tri/oba...
Monophosphoryl Lipid A (MPLA), a derivative of LPS endotoxin, is a TLR4 agonist that displays as little as 0.1-1% as much toxicity as its parent molecule while retaining immunostimulatory properties. We discovered that MPLA activates a TRIF-biased...
Oxygen is critical to aerobic metabolism, but hyperoxia is cytostatic and cytocidal. The precise mechanisms involved in hyperoxic cell injury remain incompletely understood although there is substantial support for the possibility that hyperoxia...
Oxidative stress-induced immunosuppression could be due to a decrease in CD4 + T lymphocyte activation or proliferation. 4-Hydroxynonenal (HNE), an end product of lipid peroxidation, and its protein adducts act as markers of oxidative stress. In...
Cancer accounts for nearly one-quarter of deaths in the United States, exceeded only by heart diseases. Despite the development of various strategies to treat cancer, it remains one of the most deadly diseases worldwide due to the limited effects...
Alcoholic liver disease (ALD) ranks among the major causes of morbidity and mortality in the world and effects millions of patients each year. Progression of ALD is well characterized and is actually a spectrum of liver diseases, which progresses...
Green tea--Health aspects; Green tea--Therapeutic use; Polyphenols--Physiological effect; Drug delivery systems; Lungs--Cancer--Treatment
Green tea polyphenols (GTPs) are gaining increasing attention because of their potential anti-tumor effects. However, poor oral bioavailability limits their efficacy in vivo. In this dissertation, two hypotheses were tested: 1) GTPs administered...
Three-dimensional imaging in medicine; Lungs--Cancer--Diagnosis
Many lung diseases or injuries can cause biomechanical or material property changes that can alter
lung function. While the mechanical changes associated with the change of the material properties
originate at a regional level, they remain largely...
Pancreatic beta cells are extremely vulnerable to destruction by Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS). In type 1 diabetes and islet transplantation ROS are thought to be involved in the loss of beta cells. To test the role of antioxidant in islet...
Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. It is identified by its rapid, invasive progression with a profound resistance to treatments such as chemotherapy. Unfortunately, there is a lack of...
