Effect of Shensong Yangxin on the Progression of Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation is Correlated with Regulation of Autonomic Nerve Activity / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Shensong Yangxin (SSYX), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, has long been used clinically to treat arrhythmias in China. However, the mechanism of SSYX on atrial fibrillation (AF) is unknown. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the effect of SSYX on the progression of paroxysmal AF is correlated with the regulation of autonomic nerve activity.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eighteen mongrel dogs were randomly divided into control group (n = 6), pacing group (n = 6), and pacing + SSYX group (n = 6). The control group was implanted with pacemakers without pacing; the pacing group was implanted with pacemakers with long-term intermittent atrial pacing; the pacing + SSYX group underwent long-term intermittent atrial pacing and SSYX oral administration.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared to the pacing group, the parameters of heart rate variability were lower after 8 weeks in the pacing + SSYX group (low-frequency [LF] component: 20.85 ± 3.14 vs. 15.3 ± 1.89 ms 2 , P = 0.004; LF component/high-frequency component: 1.34 ± 0.33 vs. 0.77 ± 0.15, P < 0.001). The atrial effective refractory period (AERP) was shorter and the dispersion of the AERP was higher after 8 weeks in the pacing group, while the changes were suppressed by SSYX intake. The dogs in the pacing group had more episodes and longer durations of AF than that in the pacing + SSYX group. SSYX markedly inhibited the increase in sympathetic nerves and upregulation of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 expression in the pacing + SSYX group. Furthermore, SSYX suppressed the decrease of acetylcholine and α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor protein induced by long-term intermittent atrial pacing.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>SSYX substantially prevents atrial electrical remodeling and the progression of AF. These effects of SSYX may have association with regulating the imbalance of autonomic nerve activity and the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway.</p>

Aerobic exercise improves spermatogenesis of male rats: Results of iTRAQ-based proteomic analysis of the testis tissue / 中华男科学杂志

Objective@#To investigate the effect of aerobic exercise on the spermatogenic function of male rats and screen out differentially expressed proteins related to spermatonesis-regulation by proteomic analysis.@*METHODS@#We randomly divided 24 SD male rats into groups A (non-exercise control), B (exercise), and C (weight-bearing exercise), those in the latter two groups made to swim for 60 minutes a day and those in group C bearing a load 3% of the body weight, both 6 times a week for 9 weeks. At 24 hours after the last exercise, we obtained the sperm count, measured the levels of such serum reproductive hormones as testosterone (T), luteotrophic hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH), and employed isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ)-based proteomic analysis of the testicular tissue.@*RESULTS@#Compared with group A, group C showed significant increases in sperm concentration (［2.12 ± 0.43］ vs ［3.54 ± 0.52］ ×10⁶/ml, P 0.05) and FSH (［20.49 ± 2.44］ vs ［22.29 ± 2.31］ IU/L, P >0.05). No significant changes were observed in sperm concentration or reproductive hormone levels in group B as compared with A. Group B exhibited obviously more mature sperm and cell layers in the seminiferous epithelium than group A. A total of 47 differentially expressed proteins were identified, of which 37 were up-regulated and the other 10 down-regulated. In addition, another 5 significantly differentially expressed proteins closely related to reproductive function were identified, including up-regulated Anx A1, GPX3, Rimbp3, and Dpy19l2 and down-regulated CYP17. Enrichment analysis showed that the differentially expressed proteins were mainly involved in extracellular matrix-receptor interaction, protein digestion and absorption, and focal adhesion pathways.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Proper-intensity exercise can improve the spermatogenic function of rats. Aerobic exercise promotes spermatogenesis mainly by up-regulating the expressions of the proteins related to the production and differentiation of spermatozoa.

Sodium nitrite reduces lipid accumulation in steatotic cells by enhancing autophagy / 药学学报

Recent data have revealed that inhibiting autophagy exacerbates lipid accumulation in hepatocytes and nitrite treatment reduces total triglyceride levels in the high-fat diet mice. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effects of nitrite on simple hepatic steatosis and the possible role of autophagy. Firstly, steatotic L-02 cells were induced by incubating L-02 cells with 1.2 mmol · L(-1) oleic acid (OA) for 24 h. Secondly, steatotic L-02 cells were treated with 0.2 mmol · L(-1) sodium nitrite (SN) plus 3-methyladenine (3-MA), or chloroquine (CQ) for 24 h, and then lipid accumulation was measured with oil red O staining and triglyceride quantification. The notable steatosis could be observed in L-02 cells following exposure to 1.2 mmol · L(-1) OA for 24 h. Treatment with 0.2 mmol · L(-1) sodium nitrite reduced lipid accumulation in steatotic L-02 cells. 3-MA weakened the ability of sodium nitrite to ameliorate hepatic steatosis. Additionally, the sodium nitrite increased number of LC3-II immunostaining puncta and LC3-II protein expression was confirmed by immunofluorescence or Western blot analysis, and the effects were enhanced by CQ treatment. The number of increased cytoplasm vacuoles and lysosomes increased was confirmed by phase contrast and fluorescence microscope respectively. The increased autolysosome was detected by electron microscopy, this phenomenon could be reversed by CQ treatment. These data demonstrated that sodium nitrite enhanced the autophagic flux and decomposition of triglycerides in steatotic L-02 cells.