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Acupuncture has become an effective approach in clinic for treating obesity, but its mechanism has not been clarified yet. A large number of researches have been conducted on the obesity mechanism in the aspects of neurophysiological regulation, feeding center regulation and peripheral digestion and absorption regulation at home and abroad. But, regarding the main storage site of excess energy, i．e. the remodeling and functional regulation of white adipose tissue (WAT), is still a new field in research. In the paper, focusing on the new filed of weight loss, in view of the promotion of WAT browning through the re-gulation of UCP1 and PPARγ signal pathway with acupuncture, the potential peripheral mechanism of acupuncture was explored on weight loss.
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Acupuncture has been widely used for treating diseases since the ancient days in China, but the mechanism by which acupuncture exerts such powerful roles is unclear. Epigenetics, including DNA methylation, histone modification, and post-transcriptional regulation of miRNAs, is the study of heritable changes in gene expression that do not include DNA sequence alterations. Epigenetics has become a new strategy for the basic and clinical research of acupuncture in the last decade. Some investigators have been trying to illustrate the mechanism of acupuncture from an epigenetics perspective, which has shed new lights on the mechanisms and applications of acupuncture. Moreover, the introduction of epigenetics into the regulatory mechanism in acupuncture treatment has provided more objective and scientific support for acupuncture theories and brought new opportunities for the improvement of acupuncture studies. In this paper, we reviewed the literatures that has demonstrated that acupuncture could directly or indirectly affect epigenetics, in order to highlight the progress of acupuncture studies correlated to epigenetic regulations. We do have to disclose that the current evidence in this review is not enough to cover all the complex interactions between multiple epigenetic modifications and their regulations. However, the up-to-date results can help us to better understand acupuncture's clinical applications and laboratory research.
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Objective To explore the mechanism of extracellular regulated protein kinase 2 (ERK2) in diabetic neuropathic pain(DNP) mice. Methods Forty mice were randomly divided into four groups: control group, DNP group, siERK2-DNP group (intrathecal injection of M_ERK2-shRNA adenovirus), siRNA-DNP group (intrathecal injection of siRNA adenovirus). The pain threshold was detected after the model made successfully, the mechanical pain threshold was detected before moulding, after moulding 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 6 weeks. Spinal cord tissues were taken after 6 weeks, and the expression of ERK2 and nuclear factor ΚB (NFΚB) in the posterior horn of the spinal cord was detected by Western blotting and immunohistochemistry. Results Compared with the control group, the pain threshold of DNP group and siRNA-DNP group decreased significantly, the expression of ERK2 and NFKB increased significantly (P0. 05). Conclusion The marked down-regulation of ERK2 may be one of the important mechanisms affecting neuronal injury in the spinal dorsal horn of diabetic neuropathic pain.
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As the common pathway of chronic renal diseases leading to end-stage renal failure, renal tubulointerstitial fibrosis is characterized by the deposition of extracellular matrix and scar hardening. Our study aimed to construct an in vitro cell culture platform to explore the impact of matrix stiffness on cell morphology and function of renal tubular epithelial cells. Photopolymerized polyacrylamide gels (PAA gel) with varying stiffnesses as model substrates was selected to simulate the matrix stiffness of normal and fibrotic renal tissues with elastic moduli ranging from 1 to 40 kPa. The human renal tubular epithelial cells (HK-2) were seeded on the surface of PAA gels. The impact of matrix stiffness on the morphology of HK-2 were investigated via immunofluorescence staining and confocal microscopy. The expression levels of glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1), glucose transporter 2 (GLUT2), glucose transporter 5 (GLUT5) were semi-quantitatively analyzed. With increasing matrix stiffness, both the levels of GLUT1 and GLUT5 in HK-2 cells were significantly decreased, whereas the expression level and the distribution pattern of GLUT2 in HK-2 remained unchanged with stiffness variation.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the clinical features of children with incomplete Kawasaki disease (IKD), and to provide reference for the early diagnosis of IKD.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The clinical data of 22 hospitalized children with IKD were analyzed retrospectively and compared with the data of 63 children with Kawasaki disease (KD) who were hospitalized during the same period of time. Another 20 children with pyrexia were enrolled as the control group.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Pyrexia was observed in all children. Compared with the KD group, the IKD group had significantly lower proportions of children with changes in the limbs, conjunctival hyperaemia, and cervical lymphadenectasis (P<0.05), a significantly higher serum level of glutamic-pyruvic transaminase (P<0.05), and significantly lower levels of plasma albumin, serum sodium, and interleukin-6 (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the rate of γ-globulin application between the IKD and KD groups; however, the IKD group had a significantly higher incidence rate of coronary artery lesion than the KD group (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The symptoms and signs in children with IKD are untypical. The liver function test and serum hyponatremia and IL-6 measurements may be useful for the diagnosis of IKD.</p>
Subject(s)
Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Alanine Transaminase , Blood , Liver , Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome , Diagnosis , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
Drug-drug interactions have become a serious problem in the clinic, since plant-based medicines are extensively used. The present study investigated the effects of Ziziphus jujuba fruit (ZJ) extract on the pharmacokinetics of phenacetin, a typical substrate of a cytochrome P450 enzyme CYP 1A2, in rats. The rats were pretreated with the water extract (1.0 g · kg(-1)) or the ethanolic extract (3.6 g · kg(-1)) of ZJ for 10 days, and the pharmacokinetics of phenacetin was investigated after intravenous administration. In an in vitro assay, acetaminophen formation in the hepatic microsomes of ZJ-treated rats was investigated to assess CYP1A2 activity. Our results demonstrated that the treatment with the water and ethanolic extracts of ZJ decreased the plasma concentration of phenacetin and increased the plasma concentration of acetaminophen, resulting in a 43.2% and 15.5% reduction in the AUC0-120 of phenacetin, respectively, and a 53.2% and 64.9% increase in the AUC0-120 of acetaminophen, respectively after intravenous administration. The water or ethanolic extract of ZJ significantly increased the clearance of phenacetin and acetaminophen formation in hepatic microsomes. In conclusion, ZJ extracts displayed effects on the pharmacokinetics of phenacetin and increased the CYP1A2 activity in rats. Therefore, precaution on drug-drug interactions should be taken when ZJ is co-administered with drugs metabolized by CYP1A2, which may result in decreased concentrations of these drugs.
Subject(s)
Animals , Male , Acetaminophen , Metabolism , Area Under Curve , Cytochrome P-450 CYP1A2 , Cytochromes , Metabolism , Fruit , Herb-Drug Interactions , Liver , Microsomes, Liver , Phenacetin , Metabolism , Pharmacokinetics , Plant Extracts , Pharmacology , Rats, Sprague-Dawley , ZiziphusABSTRACT
AlM:To analyze and compare the effect of femtosecond laser micro - incision corneal stromal lens excision ( SMlLE) and excimer laser in situ keratomileusis ( LASlK) in the treatment of myopia after operation, to explore the safety, operability and prediction of SMlLE.METHODS:ln this prospective clinical controlled study, 100 cases ( 200 eyes ) received SMlLE and 100 cases ( 200 eyes) undergone LASl in our hospital in the same period were selected. Uncorrected visual acuity, diopter, corrected visual acuity, slit lamp examination, intraocular pressure and corneal anterior segment OCT, corneal topography (Obscan ll) of two groups in 1d, 1wk, 1, 3, 6mo, 1a were compared. lndependent samples t test was used for data analysis.RESULTS:1) Postoperative slit lamp examination:after 1d in SMlLE group, there were less eyes had corneal layer between mild cloudy or edema; postoperative 1wk corneal layer disappeared, cornea became clear and transparent. 2 ) Postoperative vision recovery: 1d after operation, vision recovery in LASlK group was better than that in SMlLE group, the difference was statistically significant (P0. 05 ). 3 ) Obscan ll examination: graphics in the SMlLE group was more regular and placed in the center, no eccentric and irregular graphics, better than that in the LASlK group. 4) Anterior segment OCT examination:postoperative corneal flap in the SMlLE group was more uniform and accurate, but it was thin in the center and slightly thick the peripheral part in the LASlK groups. 5 ) Postoperative visual quality assessment used subjective questionnaire survey. The two groups had statistically significant difference on 4 points and 1 points (P<0. 05). Complains in the LASlK groups were more that that in the SMlLE group. While, no complain of the SMlLE group was higher than that of the LASlK group. Glare of postoperative patients with night vision and dark environment in the SMlLE group was better than that of the LASlK group.CONCLUSlON: SMlLE is safe, effective, stable and predictable for the correction of myopia.
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Creation of artificial gametes may provide a universal solution for these patients with no gametes. Stem cell technology may provide a way to obtain fully functional gametes. Retinoic acid [RA] can initiate meiosis. Several studies have demonstrated that RA can promote sperm cells differentiation from mouse embryonic stem cells [mESCs] and other cells from human embryonic stem cells [hESCs]. We sought to determine whether RA could promote differentiation of germ cells from hESCs. hESCs were differentiated as embryoid bodies [EBs] in suspension with all-trans RA [atRA] or without atRA for 0, 1, 3, 5 and 7 days, and then the expression of VASA, SCP3, GDF9 and TEKT1 were compared by real-time PCR. The statistical differences were evaluated by one way ANOVA. The expression of germ cell-specific markers including the gonocyte marker VASA, the meiotic marker SCP3, and post meiotic markers, GDF9 and TEKT1, all increased in the presence and absence of RA as EB differentiation progressed. In addition, the expression of these markers increased an average of 9.3, 6.9, 7.2 and 11.8 fold respectively in the presence of RA, compared to the absence of RA, over 5 days differentiation. Our results indicate that hESCs may have the potential to differentiate to primordial germ cells [PGCs] and early gametes. RA can improve germ cells differentiation from hESCs
Subject(s)
Embryonic Stem Cells , Germ Cells , TretinoinABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate whether advanced paternal age is related to an increased risk of schizophrenia in Chinese Han population.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A case-control design study was performed. Three hundred and fifty-one patients with schizophrenia and 199 unrelated healthy volunteers were recruited. By using Logistic regression, paternal age was divided into five categories, and maternal age into four categories. Setting the paternal age of 26-30 years as reference, the OR, P values and 95% CI of the other paternal age categories were analyzed, respectively. The participant's sex, age and parental age at birth were used as covariants for adjusting confounding effects.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The OR for schizophrenia in offspring whose paternal age at birth of 31-35 years, 36-40 years, and ≥ 41 years categories were 3.834, 8.805, and 11.619 respectively. The advanced maternal age had no significant effects on the risk for schizophrenia in offspring.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The advanced paternal age was associated with elevated risk for schizophrenia in offspring among a Han Chinese population. Putative biological mechanisms may include accumulated de novo mutations and alterations in epigenetic regulations with aging in spermatogenesis.</p>
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Adult , Child , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Young Adult , Asian People , Genetics , Paternal Age , Schizophrenia , GeneticsABSTRACT
Summary: In order to compare GnRH agonist with antagonist protocol for the same patient during controlled ovarian stimulation cycles, the in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) outcome was retrospectively studied in 81 patients undergoing 105 agonist protocols and 88 antagonist protocols. The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in duration of ovarian stimulation, number of ampoules, oocytes retrieved, serum estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) levels,thickness of endometrium, the zygote-and blastocyst-developmcnt rate between GnRH agonist and antagonist protocols (P>0.05). High quality embryo rate was higher in antagonist protocols, but there was no significant difference between two protocols. Implantation rate and clinical pregnant rate were significantly higher in antagonist protocol (15.82% and 30.26%, respectively) than in agonist protocol (5.26% and 10.64% respectively (P<0.05). It was concluded GnRH antagonist protocol probably improved the outcome of pregnancy of older patients with a history of multiple failure of IVF-ET in a GnRH protocol.
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To assess the relationship between pronuclear scoring and day-3 embryo quality and pregnancy outcome and to determine the clinical value of pronuclear stage scoring system in human in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (WF-ET) program, a pronuclear scoring system was used to score zygotes 16-20 h after insemination during conventional WF or intracytoplasmic sperm injec- tion (ICS1). The embryos were classified into groups Z1, Z2, Z3 and Z4. Comparisons were made of the rates of arrested embryos and excellent embryos on day 3. Comparisons of pregnancy outcome were made only in those patients in whom cohorts of similarly Z-scored embryos were transferred. The results showed that there were less arrested embryos and more excellent embryos on day 3 in groups Z1 and Z2 than those in group Z3 and Z4. More embryos arrested and less excellent embryos developed in group Z4 than group Z3. The clinical pregnancy rates resulting from the transfer of single pronuclear score homologous embryo types were similar among groups Z1, Z2 and Z3. Implanta- tion rates of group Z1 were higher (P<0.05) than that of group Z3. These findings suggests that pro- nuclear scoring can predict developmental ability on day 3 and implantation potential. A evaluation that combines the Z-score and day 3 embryo morphology is useful in the determination of the most viable embryos and the number of embryos for transfer.