BACKGROUND: In chemical pleurodesis for managing pulmonary air leak, tetracycline derivatives are commonly used, and their effectiveness has been established in many studies. Recently, a Viscum album extract was used in chemical pleurodesis. We compared the effects of V. album with those of a tetracycline derivative (doxycycline) to demonstrate the therapeutic effectiveness of the V. album extract in chemical pleurodesis for managing pulmonary air leak. METHODS: Between October 2010 and October 2016, chemical pleurodesis was performed using doxycycline in 40 patients and the V. album extract in 37 patients. Thirty-three patients were in the postoperative state after pulmonary resection, and 44 patients suffered from spontaneous pneumothorax. RESULTS: No statistically significant difference in the success rate was observed between the 2 groups (V. album extract and doxycycline). In both groups, chest pain was the most common complication. More patients in the doxycycline group complained of severe chest pain (42.1% vs. 13.5%, p=0.006). In the V. album extract group, 24.3% of the patients required a chest tube to drain the pleural effusion after cessation of the air leak (doxycycline group: 5%, p=0.022). Further, the amount of pleural effusion drained on the day after the last chemical pleurodesis in the V. album extract group was greater than that in the doxycycline group (162.2±170.2 mL vs. 97.0±77.2 mL, p=0.032). All patients were discharged from the hospital without complications after pleural effusion drainage. CONCLUSION: Considering that treatment using the V. album extract was less painful, V. album might be a feasible option for chemical pleurodesis. However, pleural effusion should be monitored carefully when using V. album extract for treating patients suffering from air leak.
Chest Pain ; Chest Tubes ; Doxycycline* ; Drainage ; Humans ; Pleural Effusion ; Pleurodesis* ; Pneumothorax ; Tetracycline ; Viscum album* ; Viscum*

A 52-year-old male patient who underwent multiple wedge resections experienced postoperative acute respiratory distress syndrome in both lungs after Viscum album pleurodesis. Despite initial rapid deterioration in clinical condition and rapid progression of bilateral lung infiltration, he exhibited a relatively smooth clinical recovery with marked response to glucocorticoid treatment. Our case report suggests that care must be taken to guard against the development of acute respiratory complications in the use of Viscum album for pleurodesis. However, in view of the clinically benign course, initial aggressive management of complications can prevent suffering and sequelae.
Humans ; Lung ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Pleurodesis* ; Pneumothorax* ; Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Adult* ; Viscum album* ; Viscum*

Viscum coloratum (Kom.) Nakai is a well-known medicinal plant. However, the optimal harvest time for V. coloratum is unknown. Few studies were performed to analyze compound variation during storage and to improve post-harvest quality control. Our study aimed to comprehensively evaluate the quality of V. coloratum in different growth stages, and determine the dynamic variation of metabolites. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry was used to quantify 29 compounds in V. coloratum harvested in six growth periods, and the associated biosynthetic pathways were explored. The accumulation of different types of compounds were analyzed based on their synthesis pathways. Grey relational analysis was used to evaluate the quality of V. coloratum across different months. The compound variation during storage was analyzed by a high-temperature high-humidity accelerated test. The results showed that the quality of V. coloratum was the hightest in March, followed by November, and became the lowest in July. During storage, compounds in downstream steps of the biosynthesis pathway were first degraded to produce the upstream compounds and some low-molecular-weight organic acids, leading to an increase followed by a decrease in the content of some compounds, and resulted in a large gap during the degradation time course among different compounds. Due to the rapid rate and large degree of degradation, five compounds were tentatively designated as "early warning components" for quality control. This report provides reference for better understanding the biosynthesis and degradation of metabolites in V. coloratum and lays a theoretical foundation for rational application of V. coloratum and better quality control of V. coloratum during storage.
Viscum/chemistry* ; Plants, Medicinal/chemistry* ; Chromatography, Liquid ; Mass Spectrometry ; Metabolomics

Immunological effect of the extract (KM-110) from Korean mistletoe (Viscum album coloratum) was examined. Lymphocytes obtained from KM-110-administrated mice showed increased responsiveness to mitogens, concanavalin-A (Con.A) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). In order to study cytokine induct ability of the KM-110, macrophages from the Balb/c mice were cultivated in the medium containing the extract. the macrophages were shown to induce secretion of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin 1 and 6 (IL-1, IL-6) and interferon-gamma (INF-gamma). We then tested antitumor activity of the macrophages activated by the KM-110. Peritoneal macrophages harvested from the KM110-treated Balb/c mice exhibited cytotoxicity against the syngeneic 3LL carcinoma cells. ...continue...
Animals ; Interferon-gamma ; Interleukin-1 ; Lymphocytes ; Macrophages ; Macrophages, Peritoneal ; Mice ; Mistletoe* ; Mitogens ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Viscum album* ; Viscum*

Immunoadjuvant activities of the extract (KM-110) from Korean mistletoe ( Viscum album coloratum) on the induction of humoral and cellular responses against Keyhole limpet hemocyanim (KLH) as an antigen and allogenic tumor cells were examined. When mice were immunized subcataneously (s.c.) with KLH admixed with KM-110, more than 1000-times higher antibody titers to KLH than those immunized with KLH alone was observed. KM-110 induced high level of KLH- specific IgG1, IgG2a and IgG2b antibodies. In an in vitro analysis of lymphocytes proliferation to KLH on week 4, the splenocytes of mice treated with KLH and KM- 110 exhibited significantly higher proliferating activity than those treated with KLH alone. In addition, the culture supernatnats obtained from the splenocytes of mice treated with both KLH and KM-110 showed high level of IL-2 and IL-4. In the test of cellular immune responses, KM-110 enhanced the DTH reaction to KLH in mice. Furthemore, cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) activity using an allogenic CTL induction model where C57BL/6 (H-2b) mice were injected with allogenic P815 (H-2d) mastocytoma cells admixed with or without KM-110, mice treated with P815 cells and KM-110 showed higher cytatoxic activity against allogenic tumor cells than those treated without KM-110. This results suggest that KM-110 may possess adjuvant activities to potentially enhance humoral as well as cellular immune responses against antigens.
Animals ; Antibodies ; B-Lymphocytes ; Immunity, Cellular* ; Immunoglobulin G ; Interleukin-2 ; Interleukin-4 ; Lymphocytes ; Mastocytoma ; Mice ; Mistletoe* ; T-Lymphocytes ; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic ; Viscum album* ; Viscum*

BACKGROUND: Malignant pleural effusion is a common clinical problem in neoplastic patients. With the diagnosis of a malignant pleural effusion, palliative therapy was done. One of the treatments was a chemical pleurodesis. Talc was the most commonly used a sclerosing agent, but the quality of patient's life was not improved. We was evaluated by other agents such as Viscum album for relief of malignant pleural effusion. MATERIAL AND METHOD: From November 2001 to October 2003, 17 patients who underwent to chemical pleurodesis for the malignant pleural effusion. We compared the talc (group I: 10 patients) and Viscum album (group II: 7 patients). We analysed them retrospectively in term of various factors and results. RESULT: There were no significant differences between group I and group II in the sex ratio, mean age, origin of primary cancer and site, but, group I had higher successful rate (80%:71%) than group II. Group II had better length of chest tube stay after procedure, Karnofsky performance and recurrence than group I. The failed treatement group was related to the pleural fluid pH and interval of initial chemical pleurodesis after thoracostomy. CONCLUSION: Although the chemical pleurodesis with Viscum album was slightly lower than talc in the successful rate, there was an alternative method instead of the chemical pleurodesis with talc to improve the patient's quality of life in malignant pleural effusion.
Chest Tubes ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Palliative Care ; Pleural Effusion ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant* ; Pleurodesis ; Quality of Life ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio ; Talc ; Thoracostomy ; Viscum album* ; Viscum*

BACKGROUND: Malignant pleural effusion is a common clinical problem in neoplastic patients. With the diagnosis of a malignant pleural effusion, palliative therapy was done. One of the treatments was a chemical pleurodesis. Talc was the most commonly used a sclerosing agent, but the quality of patient's life was not improved. We was evaluated by other agents such as Viscum album for relief of malignant pleural effusion. MATERIAL AND METHOD: From November 2001 to October 2003, 17 patients who underwent to chemical pleurodesis for the malignant pleural effusion. We compared the talc (group I: 10 patients) and Viscum album (group II: 7 patients). We analysed them retrospectively in term of various factors and results. RESULT: There were no significant differences between group I and group II in the sex ratio, mean age, origin of primary cancer and site, but, group I had higher successful rate (80%:71%) than group II. Group II had better length of chest tube stay after procedure, Karnofsky performance and recurrence than group I. The failed treatement group was related to the pleural fluid pH and interval of initial chemical pleurodesis after thoracostomy. CONCLUSION: Although the chemical pleurodesis with Viscum album was slightly lower than talc in the successful rate, there was an alternative method instead of the chemical pleurodesis with talc to improve the patient's quality of life in malignant pleural effusion.
Chest Tubes ; Diagnosis ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Palliative Care ; Pleural Effusion ; Pleural Effusion, Malignant* ; Pleurodesis ; Quality of Life ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio ; Talc ; Thoracostomy ; Viscum album* ; Viscum*

OBJECTIVETo research the function of endophytes of mistletoe in parasitism process of mistletoe in Pterocarya stenoptera.

METHODEndophytes from eight different parts of the mistletoe were separated by explant culture, and further screened by different CMC plates culture and DNS method to get cellulase high productive strains. The distribution of the endophytic fungus parasitized in mistletoe were prepared and stained to demonstrate by histological section of the intumescentia part of the P. stenoptera.

RESULTThe histological section indicated that aboundent of hyphasma were distributed around the haustorium of the mistletoe. Eighty three strains of endophytic fungus were separated, 38 of them were able to degrade cellulose, 19 strains showed high cellulase activity and 10 of which were separated from the parasitic position.

CONCLUSIONEndophytic fungus of mistletoe can secrete cellulase and assist the haustorium of mistletoe to breakthrough the cell walls as well as intercellular space tissues of the P. stenoptera, thus, the endophytic fungus plays an important role in the parasitism process of mistletoe in P. stenoptera.

Cellulase ; metabolism ; Cellulose ; metabolism ; Fungi ; metabolism ; Juglandaceae ; Symbiosis ; Viscum ; cytology ; microbiology

To study the triterpenoids and triterpenoid saponins of Viscum liquidambaricolum further, chemical constituents were isolated from the title plant by various chromatographic methods such as silica gel and ODS medium pressure column chromatography, Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography, et al. Their structures were elucidated by physiochemical properties and spectral analysis. Eight triterpenoids and triterpenoid saponins were isolated and identified as myricadiol(1), maslinic acid(2), 2alpha, 3beta, 23-trihydroxyolean-12-en-28-oic acid(3), oleanolic acid 3-O-beta-D-glucuronopyranoside-6'-O-methyl ester(4), oleanolic acid 3-O-beta-D-glucuropyranoside(5), oleanolic acid 3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)-alpha-L-arabinopyranoside (6), 3-O-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl-oleanolic acid-28-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (7), 3-O-beta-D-glucuronopyranosyl-oleanolic acid-28-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (8). Compounds 1-8 were isolated from this plant and the genus for the first time.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Saponins ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Triterpenes ; analysis ; isolation & purification ; Viscum ; chemistry

OBJECTIVETo establish a gas chromatography method for simultaneous determination of organochlorine and pyrethroid pesticide residues in Viscum coloratum by cloud-point extraction (CPE).

METHODPesticides were extracted with the non-ionic surfactant Triton X-100. The apparatus was gas chromatography with electron capture detector and the separation was performed on an Hp-5 column. The pesticide residues were calculated by external standard method.

RESULTGood linear relation was obtained over the range of 5-500 microg L(-1) for organochlorine and 10-1,000 microg L(-1) for pyrethroid. The limits of detection was 1.5-7.5 microg kg(-1). The average recoveries of organochlorine and pyrethroid were 74.15% -111.6% with corresponding RSD of 4.0% -9.1%.

CONCLUSIONThe sample and rapid method was applied to pesticide residues determination.

Chromatography, Gas ; methods ; Limit of Detection ; Octoxynol ; chemistry ; Pesticide Residues ; analysis ; Plant Extracts ; analysis ; Viscum ; chemistry