Paris Saponin II (PSII) has been regarded as an effective and imperative component isolated from Rhizoma Paridis saponins (RPS) and exhibited strong anti-tumor effects on a variety of cancer. Our results revealed that human non-small lung cancer cell lines NCI-H460 and NCI-H520 were exposed to 1 mu M of PSII, which inhibited the proliferation of lung cancer cells and activated apoptosis, autophagy and paraptosis. PSII induced paraptosis-associated cell death prior to apoptosis and autophagy. It induced paraptosis based on ER stress through activation of the JNK pathway. Meanwhile, PSII increased the cytotoxicity of cisplatin through paraptosis-associated pathway. All in all, PSII induced paraptosis based on induction of non-apoptotic cell death, which would be a possible approach to suppress the multi-drug resistant to apoptosis.

Shewanella species are distributed ubiquitously in the soil and water, being common in the marine habitat. Although these bacilli were thought to be rarely pathogenic, there has been an increasing number of reports of them being implicated in a wide variety of clinically significant infections. Three distinct species were initially recognized by MacDonell and Colwell. They were Shewanella putrefaciens, hanedai and benthica. Shewanella algae, which is the most common human clinical isolate, was believed to be a strain of Shewanella putrefaciens by some authors, and was later grouped as a separate and distinct entity. With multi-drug resistance on the rise and the lack of large-scale systemic studies, we describe a case of bacteremia caused by this rare organism. We hope to increase the awareness among care providers on the same.