Effect of Guizhi Fulingwan on Ovulation Dysfunction in PCOS-IR Rats by Regulating PI3K/Akt/mTOR Pathway / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To investigate the effect of Guizhi Fulingwan on ovulation dysfunction in rats with polycystic ovary syndrome with insulin resistance （PCOS-IR） induced by letrazole combined with high fat emulsion. Method:A total of 72 female SD rats were randomly divided into control group， model group， metformin group and Guizhi Fulingwan low， medium and high dose groups， with 12 rats in each group. Except for control group， rats were given letrozole 0.001g·kg^-1 combined with high-fat emulsion 15 mL·kg^-1 for 21 consecutive days to establish model of PCOS-IR. Guizhi Fulingwan low， medium and high-dose groups were administrated with Guizhi Fulingwan 0.31， 0.62， 1.24 g·kg^-1 respectively， metformin group was administrated with metformin 0.27 g·kg^-1， control group and model group were administrated with 12 mL·kg^-1 of normal saline daily for 30 days. Hematoxylin-eosin（HE） staining was used to observe ovarian tissue pathology morphology， and enzyme-linked immunoassay method （ELISA） was used to detect serum follicle stimulating hormone （FSH）， luteinizing hormone （LH）， testosterone （T）， fasting insulin （FINS） level，and LH/FSH and insulin resistance index （HOMA-IR） were calculated． Western blot was used to detect the expression levels of autophagy key molecular Atg6 yeast homologue （Beclin-1）， autophagy related gene 5（Atg5）， microtubule associated protein light chain 3 （LC3） Ⅱ proteins in the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B/rapamycin target protein （PI3K/Akt/mTOR） signaling pathway and autophagy related indicators in rat ovarian tissue. Beclin-1 and LC3Ⅱ protein expressions were detected by immunohistochemistry （IHC）. Result:Compared with control group， the thickness of follicles and follicular granulosa cells in the ovary of the model group also decreased， and the number of corpus luteum significantly decreased， while the white membrane thickness of the ovary increased， and the number of atresia follicles and cystic dilatation follicles increased significantly. Serum T， LH， LH/FSH， FINS， FINS， HOMA-IR were significantly increased （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Phosphorylated （p） -PI3K， p-Akt， and p-mTOR proteins in ovarian tissue were all decreased （<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）. The relative expression levels of autophagy-related protein LC3Ⅱ and Beclin-1 were significantly increased （<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Compared with model group， the number of follicles in the low， medium and high dose Guizhi Fulingwan group and the metformin group decreased， the number of follicles in atresia and atresia increased， and the follicular granulosa cell layer thickness increased. Serum T， LH， LH/FSH， FINS and HOMA-IR of Guizhi Fulingwan group were significantly decreased （<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）， and serum FINS and HOMA-IR of metformin group were significantly decreased （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. The expressions of p-PI3K， p-Akt， and p-mTOR proteins were increased （<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）. The expression levels of LC3Ⅱ， Atg5 and Beclin-1 in the medium and high dose groups were significantly decreased （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Conclusion:Guizhi Fulingwan can activate the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway of granular cells， inhibit excessive autophagy of granular cells， improve ovarian function and insulin resistance， and restore ovulation， and the effect is better with high dose.

Effect of Guizhi Fulingwan on Autophagy of Ovarian Granulosa Cells in Mice with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To investigate the effect of Guizhi Fulingwan on autophagy of ovarian granulosa cells in mice with polycystic ovary syndrome （PCOS）. Method:Twenty SD mice were randomized into a normal group （<italic>n</italic>=10） and a PCOS model group （<italic>n</italic>=10）， followed by PCOS modeling and <italic>in vitro</italic> culture of extracted ovarian granulosa cells. The ovarian granulosa cells of normal mice were classified into the control group and treated with 10% blank serum while those of PCOS mice into the experimental groups and with 10% Guizhi Fulingwan-containing serum at different concentrations （17.6， 35.1， 70.2 mg·kg^-1） and 10% metformin-containing serum （25 mg·kg^-1）， respectively， for 72 h. During the modeling， the changes in mouse body weight were measured. After modeling， the ovarian morphology was observed by microscopy， and the fasting blood glucose （FBG） was measured by Roche glucometer. Following the detection of fasting insulin （FI） and testosterone （T） levels by radioimmunoassay， the proliferation of ovarian granulosa cells was determined using cell counting kit-8 （CCK-8） to figure out the maximal dose of drug-containing serum that did not obviously affect the cell viability for subsequent assay. The autophagy of ovarian granulosa cells was examined by flow cytometry， and the protein expression levels of intracellular microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3Ⅰ （LC3Ⅰ）， LC3Ⅱ， Beclin1， and p62 were assayed by Western blott. Result:Compared with the blank group， the model group showed increased body weight and elevated FI， FBG， and T levels （<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）， indicating the successful modeling of PCOS mice. Flow cytometric assay proved that the incubation with 10% Guizhi Fulingwan serum-containing medium resulted in a decline of autophagy （<italic>P</italic><0.05）. As demonstrated by Western blot assay results， the protein expression levels of Beclin1 and LC3 Ⅱ/Ⅰ in the model group increased significantly as compared with those of the blank group， whereas the expression level of p62 decreased significantly （<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Compared with the model group， the medium- and high-dose Guizhi Fulingwan groups exhibited significantly down-regulated Beclin1 and LC3 Ⅱ/Ⅰ levels but remarkably up-regulated p62 （<italic>P</italic><0.05，<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Conclusion:Guizhi Fulingwan inhibits the autophagy of ovarian granulosa cells by down-regulating the protein expression levels of Beclin1 and LC3 Ⅱ/Ⅰ.

Serum high-sensitivity C-reaction protein and heart fatty acid binding protein level and cardiac accidents in patients with unstable angina pectoris / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the relationship between serum high-sensitivity C-reaction protein (hs-CRP) and heart fatty acid binding protein (h-FABP) on cardiac accidents in patients with unstable angina pectoris (UAP).</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Serum levels of hs-CRP, h-FABP, cardiac troponin-I (cTn-I) and creatine kinase MB isoenzyme (CK-MB) were measured and cardiac accidents within 2 weeks after the test were observed in 74 patients (male 45) with stable AP (SAP) and 56 patients (male 29) with UAP.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The incidence of cardiac accidents was significantly higher in UAP group (26.8%) than that in SAP group (10.53%, P < 0.001). Serum hs-CRP [(7.64 +/- 2.18) mg/L vs. (1.78 +/- 0.62) mg/L, P < 0.001], h-FABP [(16.46 +/- 5.28) microg/L vs. (3.15 +/- 2.61) microg/L, P < 0.001] and cTn-I [(1.28 +/- 0.43) microg/L vs. (0.67 +/- 0.09) microg/L, P < 0.001] levels were also significantly higher in UAP group than those in SAP group. The serum hs-CRP and h-FABP levels for patients with cardiac accidents in the SAP group were (6.32 +/- 2.06) microg/L and (8.76 +/- 3.83) microg/L respectively, which were higher than those for the patients having no cardiac accidents in the control (P < 0.01). The serum hs-CRP, h-FABP, cTn-I and CK-MB levels in patients with cardiac accidents were significantly higher than those in patients without cardiac accidents in both SAP and UAP groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Measuring traditional parameters for myocardial damage (cTn-I and CK-MB) in combination with hs-CRP and h-FABP is valuable for predicting the risk of recent cardiac accidents for AP patients.</p>