ABSTRACT
Reproductive health is an important issue in the field of population and health. As the most common respiratory disease in the world, asthma is linked with male reproductive dysfunction, but the related study is rarely reported. In this study, we analyzed the interventional effect of baicalin (BA) on male reproductive injury in asthmatic mice and its mechanism. Male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into three groups, namely as control group ( CK group), OVA-induced asthma model group ( OVA group) and baicalin intervention asthma group (OVA+BA group). The results showed that no significant difference was found in body weight among the three groups. In the OVA group, the testicular coefficient and sperm count decreased significantly, with sperm malformation rate increased significantly ( P < 0.05). In the baicalin intervention group, the testicular coefficient was increased significantly and sperm malformation rate decreased significantly ( P < 0. 05) ; Hematoxylin-eosin ( HE) staining showed that damaged basement membrane of seminiferous tubules, decreased the number of spermatogenic cells and reduced Johnson score were observed in OVA group. The seminiferous tubule diameter and seminiferous epithelium height were significantly increased (P < 0. 05), the basement membrane of seminiferous tubules was relatively complete and Johnson score gains in the OVA + BA group. Compared with control group, the contents of hydrogen peroxide ( H
ABSTRACT
Asthma is a heterogeneous disease that affects three hundred million people worldwide. About half of them are not well controlled, new therapeutic approach and more effective medicines are therefore urgently needed. Recent studies have shown that bitter taste receptors (Tas2rs) are expressed in respiratory system, and Tas2rs might be used as new targets for asthma treatment since some bitter compounds show therapeutic potential for asthma therapies. Based on this situation, we studied the effect of bitter compound baicalin (BA) on the apoptosis of inflammatory cells in the respiratory tract of asthmatic mice and its relationship with bitter signal transduction. Male BALB/c mice were selected as the tested animals randomly divided into control group (CK), asthma mouse model group stimulated by intraperitoneal injection and aerosol inhalation of ovalbumin(OVA) and intragastric administration of BA intervention OVA-induced asthma group (OVA + BA). The results showed that inflammatory cells infiltration, alveolar septum thickening and diminished alveolarspaces were observed in the OVA group after HE staining. The above symptoms were significantly alleviated in OVA+BA group. The total number of inflammatory cells and classified cell count in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of mice in OVA group were increased, and the number of inflammatory cells in BA intervention group were decreased significantly (P < 0. 05). Analysis of real-time quantitative PCR showed that the expression levels of mucin Muc5ac were significantly increased in the lung in OVA group (P <0. 05), while the expression levels of Muc5ac in OVA+BA group were significantly lower than that in OVA group (P <0. 05). The expression of Tas2r108, Tas2r126, Tas2r135, Tas2r143 and their downstream signal transduction molecules α-gust and Trpm5 were down-regulated in OVA group (P < 0. 05). In OVA group, the transcription of pro-apoptotic factors P53, Bax and Casp3 was inhibited, and decreased activity of caspase3 was detected, whereas the transcription of anti-apoptotic factor Bcl2 was up-regulated (P < 0. 05). In OVA+BA group, the transcription of tested Tas2rs genes and downstream signal transduction molecules (P < 0. 05), as well as pro-apoptotic genes P53, Bax and Casp3 were all up-regulated associated with the decreased Bcl2 expression and increased caspase3 activity (P < 0. 05). Our results suggest that BA might function as a bitter taste receptor agonist to mediate the regulation of respiratory tract inflammatory cells apoptosis by activating the bitter signal transduction system, and thus to reduce the lung inflammation and injury in asthmatic mice.
ABSTRACT
Because the large number of people is suffering from asthma, and about half of them are not well controlled, new therapeutic approach and more effective medicines are therefore urgently needed. Recent studies have shown that bitter taste receptors (T2Rs) are expressed in various tissues, and T2Rs might be used as the new targets for asthma treatment since some bitter compounds show therapeutic potential for asthma therapies. In this study, the relationship between the development and exacerbation of asthma and bitter signal transduction was analyzed by establishing the asthma model in the C57BL/6 mice. The present results showed that the total number of white blood cells and the number of eosinophil, neutrophil, lymphocyte and macrophages in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were significantly increased (P < 0. 05), accompanied with the up-regulation of Muc5ac gene expression (P< 0. 01) and asthma-like pathologically changes in mice lungs in OVA or OVA+SO
ABSTRACT
Ellagitannins is a kind of phenolic compounds with many biological activities. Recent studies have found that the effective ingredients of these compounds have close relationship with their colon-derived bacteria metabolites, that is urolithins. The objective of this study was to review the structure characteristics, types and distribution of urolithins, improvement in diseases related to prostate, breast and colon, as well as anti-cancer, anti-oxidation, anti-inflammation and other biological activities. The present review will lay the foundation for development and utilization of urolithins.