Moxibustion alleviates decreased ovarian reserve in rats by restoring the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway / 中西医结合学报

OBJECTIVE@#Moxibustion, a common therapy in traditional Chinese medicine, has potential benefits for treating decreased ovarian reserve (DOR). The present study investigates the protective effect of moxibustion in a rat model of DOR and explores the possible mechanisms.@*METHODS@#Sixty-four female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: control, DOR, moxibustion (MOX), and hormone replacement therapy (HRT). The DOR rat model was established by intragastric administration of 50 mg/kg Tripterygium glycoside suspension (TGS), once daily for 14 days. MOX and HRT treatments were given from the day TGS administration was initiated. The ovarian reserve function was evaluated by monitoring the estrus cycle, morphological changes in ovaries, levels of serum estradiol (E2), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), and anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH), pregnancy rate and embryo numbers. Terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated nick-end-labeling staining was used to identify ovarian granulosa cell apoptosis, while the protein and mRNA expressions of Bax, B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and protein kinase B (AKT) in ovarian tissues were examined by immunohistochemistry, Western blot and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction.@*RESULTS@#Compared with the DOR group, MOX improved the disordered estrous cycle, promoted follicular growth, reduced the number of atresia follicles, increased the concentrations of serum E2 and AMH, and decreased serum FSH and LH concentrations. More importantly, the pregnancy rate and embryo numbers in DOR rats were both upregulated in the MOX treatment group, compared to the untreated DOR model. Further, we found that the MOX group had reduced apoptosis of ovarian granulosa cells, increased Bcl-2 expression and reduced expression of Bax. Furthermore, the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was triggered by the moxibustion treatment.@*CONCLUSION@#Moxibustion improved ovarian function and suppressed apoptosis of ovarian granulosa cells in a rat model of DOR induced by TGS, and the mechanism may involve the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Yanghe Huayantang Reverses Tamoxifen Resistance in Breast Cancer Through ER/PI3K/Akt/mTOR Pathway / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To explore the possible mechanism of Yanghe Huayantang in reversing the drug resistance of breast cancer by observing the effect of Yanghe Huayantang on the transplant tumor of tamoxifen （TAM）-resistant breast cancer and its influences on the interaction pathway of estrogen receptor （ER）/phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt）/mammalian rapamycin target protein （mTOR）. Method:Fifty mice were randomly divided into 5 groups： blank group， model group， Yanghe Huayantang group， everolimus group， and Yanghe Huayantang+everolimus group. The model of kidney deficiency was established by bilateral ovariectomy， and the blank group was treated with sham operation. Three days after the establishment of the model， all the five groups of mice were inoculated with breast cancer TAM drug-resistant cells （MCF-7/TAM^-） to establish breast cancer TAM -resistant transplanted tumor model. After successful modeling， Yanghe Huayantang group received intragastric administration of Yanghe Huayantang （traditional Chinese medicine preparation 20 mL·kg^-1）， everolimus group received intraperitoneal injection of everolimus （10 mg·kg^-1）. Yanghe Huayantang + everolimus group received Yanghe Huayantang by intragastric administration and everolimus by intraperitoneal injection. The blank group and model group received intragastric administration and intraperitoneal injection of phosphate buffer （PBS）. Drug administration was lasted for 28 days in all groups， once a day. After administration， the tumor tissue was separated and weighed， and the tumor inhibition rate was calculated. Hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining was used to observe the pathological changes of tumor tissue. Immunofluorescence and Real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） were used to detect the expression of PI3K， Akt， mTOR， ER protein and mRNA in tumor tissue. Result:Compared with the model group， the tumor volume and tumor weight of Yanghe Huayantang group decreased significantly on the 12th， 20th and 28th days （<italic>P</italic><0.01）， and the tumor inhibition rate increased significantly （<italic>P</italic><0.01）.Yanghe Huayantang group significantly reduced the density of tumor cells and caused tumor cell necrosis. Compared with the model group， Yanghe Huayantang group， everolimus group and Yanghe Huayantang+everolimus group inhibited the expression of PI3K， Akt， mTOR protein and mRNA （<italic>P</italic><0.05， <italic>P</italic><0.01）. Compared with the blank group， Yanghe Huayantang group， everolimus group and Yanghe Huayantang+everolimus group all inhibited the protein and mRNA expression of ER， and mRNA expression of ER in Yanghe Huayantang+everolimus group was significantly lower than that in the model group （<italic>P</italic><0.01）. Conclusion:Yanghe Huayantang can inhibit the growth of TAM-resistant breast cancer. The mechanism may be that Yanghe Huayantang can reverse the TAM resistance of breast cancer by down-regulating the expression of key molecules of ER/PI3K/Akt/mTOR cross-signal pathway.

Health literacy level and its influencing factors among residents in Ningbo City / 预防医学

Objective To analysis the health literacy status, trends and distribution characteristics of Ningbo residents during 2015-2016, and to provide basis for developing health policies and intervention strategies. Methods During 2015-2016, 9810 residents of 15-69 years old in Ningbo were investigated by face-to-face interviews using the unified national questionnaire and multistage PPS sampling method. Results Totally 9750 residents correctly filled out the questionnaire. The adjusted health literacy (AHL) of residents in 2016 was 21.73％, increased by 6.29 percentage points than 2015 (15.44％) .The monitoring results of two years both showed that there was no significant differences of AHL between men and women (P >0.05) . However, the AHL of residents with different age-groups, occupations and education levels all assumed significant differences (P<0.05) . The AHL was significantly higher in urban residents than rural residents (P<0.05) .Among the 6 health issues, the AHL of safety and first aid was the highest (2015: 56.98％, 2016: 61.32％), and the chronic disease prevention (2015:11.23％, 2016: 12.10％) and basic medical care (2015: 11.97％, 2016: 13.81％) were the lowest, also who had the smallest lifting range. Logistic regression analysis displayed that residents with higher level of education had higher AHL (OR=1.72, 95％CI: 1.61-1.83) . Comparison with civil servants, institutions, teachers and medical professionals, farmers (OR=0.74, 95％CI: 0.58-0.94), workers (OR=0.70, 95％CI: 0.57-0.86) and other occupational groups (OR=0.78, 95％CI: 0.64-0.96) had lower AHL. Conclusion The health literacy of Ningbo residents is on the rise, Knowledge of chronic disease prevention and basic medical care will be the main contents of health literacy enhancement program in the future, especially for people with less education.

PID1 based connection of insulin resistance to hepatocellular carcinogenesis / 中国药理学与毒理学杂志

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of phosphotyrosine interaction domain containing 1 (PID1, NYGGF4) onpromotion of IR and HCC, and explore its underlying mechanisms. METHODS Lentivirus were used to mediate the knockdown of PID1 in HFD induced IR mouse model as well as ob/ob mice. Intraperitoneal glucose and insulin tolerance were performed 4 weeks after lentivirus injection. Hydrodynamics-based transfection was applied to induce the liver specific overexpression of PID1. Flow cytometry was exerted to detect the proportion and function of immune cells.qRT-PCR and Western blot were used to detect the expression of downstream pathways of PID1. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) were conducted to identify proteins interacting with PID1.Chromatin immunoprecipitation(ChIP)was operated to measure the modification of H3K4me3 of PID1 promoter.RESULTS PID1 restriction improved insulin resistance,hyperglycemia and fatty liver. Conversely, hepatic knockdown of PID1 attenuated liver xenografted tumor growth. Moreover,PID1 liver-specific protooncogenes via hydrodynamics-based transfection established a primary hepatocellular carcinoma mouse model,induced an immunosuppressive environment,with the reduction of CD3+,CD4+,CD8+T cells,retarded maturation of dendritic cells(DCs),pronounced differentiation of regulatory T cells(Tregs),and recruitment of MDSC.In addition,PID1 overexpression activated prolifer-ation related genes, promoted anti-inflammatory genes, suppressed pro-inflammatory genes, induced glycolysis and lipid metabolism genes to facilitate tumorigenesis in liver. Importantly, PID1 exerted its tumor-promoting function through binding to epidermal growth factor receptor(EGFR)and activation of downstream KRAS/ERK pathway.As such,PID1 exist trimethylation of histone H3 at lysine 4(H3K4me3) modification and IR up-regulated the expression of PID1 by activation the H3K4me3 modification. CONCLUSION PID1 is a new gene that exerts both liver cancer-promoting and insulin resistance inducing function.IR accelerates liver cancer development and progression partially dependent on the activation of PID1.

Effects of spectral domain optic coherence tomography in monitoring glaucomatous progression of POAG / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM: To evaluate the ability of spectral domain optic coherence tomography ( SD-OCT ) parameters to detect progressive structural damage in primary open angle glaucoma ( POAG) by contrasting with visual field. ·METHODS: Retrospectively we evaluated 48 subjects (48 eyes ) of POAG, followed up 14 to 62mo. The parameters of SD-OCT and visual field were obtained. The correlation between the change of visual field measurements and OCT measurements were analyzed. Visual field progression was defined as reproducible drop of at least 2dB of mean deviation (MD) from the baseline visit. ROC curve was made to evaluated the ability of OCT parameters in detect progression of POAG. ·RESULTS: The 25 eyes were classified in progression group and 23 eyes were in non-progression group. No significant correlation was seen between OCT parameters and visual field in non-progression group. In progression group, OCT parameters which were significantly correlated with MD reduce were rim volume ( r=-0. 5997, P=0. 0007), C/D vertical ratio (r=-0. 6309, P=0. 0003), RNFL(r= 0. 4201, P= 0. 0260), and GCC(r= 0. 7080,P<0. 01). ROC curves showed the GCC reflected the reduce of MD accurately (P=0. 013). ·CONCLUSION: Part parameters of SD-OCT can reflect the progression of POAG accurately and provided a new method to detect the damage of visual function of POAG.

Progress in the study of signal pathways for chronic inflammation-associated pancreatic carcinogenesis / 药学学报

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most lethal and intractable human malignancies with poor prognosis. Chronic pancreatitis is the independent risk factor for pancreatic cancer. Smoking, obesity and family history are the risk factors for chronic inflammation-associated pancreatic carcinogenesis. Recent studies of signal pathways have made a significant progress in our understanding of chronic pancreatitis in pancreatic cancer. This review summarizes recent development in the important signal pathways involved in pancreatic carcino-genesis from chronic pancreatitis.