Molecular mechanism of ligustilide attenuating OGD/R injury in PC12 cells by inhibiting ferroptosis / 中国中药杂志

The aim of this study is to explore the mechanism of ligustilide, the main active constituent of essential oils of traditional Chinese medicine Angelicae Sinensis Radix, on alleviating oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion(OGD/R) injury in PC12 cells from the perspective of ferroptosis. OGD/R was induced in vitro, and 12 h after ligustilide addition during reperfusion, cell viability was detected by cell counting kit-8(CCK-8) assay. DCFH-DA staining was used to detect the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species(ROS). Western blot was employed to detect the expression of ferroptosis-related proteins, glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4), transferrin receptor 1(TFR1), and solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11), and ferritinophagy-related proteins, nuclear receptor coactivator 4(NCOA4), ferritin heavy chain 1(FTH1), and microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3(LC3). The fluorescence intensity of LC3 protein was analyzed by immunofluorescence staining. The content of glutathione(GSH), malondialdehyde(MDA), and Fe was detected by chemiluminescent immunoassay. The effect of ligustilide on ferroptosis was observed by overexpression of NCOA4 gene. The results showed that ligustilide increased the viability of PC12 cells damaged by OGD/R, inhibited the release of ROS, reduced the content of Fe and MDA and the expression of TFR1, NCOA4, and LC3, and improved the content of GSH and the expression of GPX4, SLC7A11, and FTH1 compared with OGD/R group. After overexpression of the key protein NCOA4 in ferritinophagy, the inhibitory effect of ligustilide on ferroptosis was partially reversed, indicating that ligustilide may alleviate OGD/R injury of PC12 cells by blocking ferritinophagy and then inhibiting ferroptosis. The mechanism by which ligustilide reduced OGD/R injury in PC12 cells is that it suppressed the ferroptosis involved in ferritinophagy.

Clinical characteristics and placental pathology analysis of 14 cases of pregnancy with aortic dissection/aortic aneurysm / 中华病理学杂志

Objective: To investigate the pathological changes of placenta in pregnant women with aortic dissection/aneurysm and their relationship with clinical features. Methods: The placental samples of 14 pregnant women with aortic dissection/aneurysm diagnosed from January 2012 to October 2021 and 10 normal placental samples of pregnant women from January 2021 to December 2021 at Beijing Anzhen Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China were selected. Routine H&E staining and immunohistochemistry were used to analyze the histological features under light microscope. The clinical data were also analyzed. Results: The age of 14 pregnant patients with aortic dissection/aneurysm for placental examination ranged from 22 to 38 years (median, 28 years). The gestational ages ranged from 22 to 39 weeks (median, 34 weeks). The pregnancy of second trimester was noted in 2 cases, and the third trimester in 12 cases. All cases were singleton pregnancy. Seven cases were Stanford type A aortic dissection, 6 cases were Stanford type B aortic dissection, and one case was aortic root aneurysm. Four of the pregnant women underwent aortic dissection surgery after caesarean section, three underwent caesarean section after aortic dissection surgery, and seven underwent both caesarean section and aortic dissection procedures. Among the newborns, 2 cases were full-term birth, and 12 cases were premature birth. Twelve cases had alive newborns, and 2 cases stillbirths. Fetal/placental weight ratio (FPR)<10th percentile was in 5 cases and FPR>90th percentile in one case. Compared with the normal group, accelerated villus maturation and distal villus dysplasia were more frequently found in pregnancy with aortic dissection group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in villi infarction and decidua vascular lesions between the two groups (P>0.05), nor was there correlation between the type of aortic dissection and distal villus dysplasia and accelerated villus maturation of placentas (P>0.05). The number of villous interstitial blood vessels in the placentas of pregnancy with aortic dissection group was significantly fewer than that in the normal control group (P<0.01). Conclusions: There are considerable pathological changes in the placentas of pregnant women with aortic dissection/aneurysm. The main histological features are accelerated villus maturation and distal villus dysplasia, which are manifestations of villous ischemia and hypoxia, and also a part of the placental pathological manifestations of maternal vascular dysperfusion.

Influencing factors of serum uric acid level and its relationship with SLC 2A9 gene polymorphism / 国际检验医学杂志

Objective To explore the influencing factors of serum uric acid (UA) level and its relationship with SLC2A9 gene polymorphism. Methods A total of 2000people in the health examination center of Yangpu District Central Hospital were selected to examine their blood pressure, blood sugar, blood lipid and other biochemical indicators. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) locus rs2241480 of SLC2A9 gene was detected and analyzed. According to UA level, UA was divided into high UA group (n=217), middle UA group (n=1705) and low UA group (n=78). The biochemical indexes and SLC2A9 genotype of each group were compared, and the relationship between UA and SLC2A9 gene polymorphism was analyzed. Results The prevalence of hyperuricemia (HUA) was 10.85% in physical examination population, 12.92% in males, which was significantly higher than 8.48% in females (P﹤0.05). With the increase of UA level, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting blood glucose (FBG), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (Cr) increased significantly, and high density lipoprotein (HDL-C-c) increased significantly.) there was a significant decrease, with statistical significance (P﹤0.05). The genotyping of rs2241480 locus in different UA levels showed significant difference (P﹤0.05). Male (OR=1.99), BMI (OR=3.01), SBP (OR=3.77) were independent risk factors for HUA, while HDL-C (OR=0.27) and rs2241480 locus genotype (CC, OR=0.41) were protective factors (P﹤0.05). Conclusion Traditional cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure and lipid are independent risk factors for UA level. SLC2A9 gene polymorphism may be associated with the occurrence of HUA.

Removal of Cu2+ ions from aqueous solution by the abandoned mushroom compost of Flammulina velutipes.

The abandoned mushroom compost of Flammulina velutipes, a cheap and easy by-product to get, was used as biosorbent for removing copper ions from aqueous solution. Batch experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of contact time, solution pH, biomass dosage, initial concentration of Cu2+ ions and temperature on biosorption efficiency. The maximum sorption capacity could be reached at pH 5.0 in 60 min. Langmuir, Freundlich, and Redlich- Peterson isotherm models were used to fit the experimental data and their model parameters were evaluated. The calculated qm based on Langmuir equation was 35.608 mg g-1 at 288 K, 48.711 mg g-1 at 298 K, and 42.330 mg g-1 at 308 K, respectively. The kinetics were discussed by pseudo- first order and pseudo- second order models, and the result showed that the latter was more suitable. The thermodynamics of biosorption was also investigated, and the biosorption process was feasible, spontaneous and endothermic in nature.

Establishment of H reflex model in mice with minimal insult and measurement of nerve conduction velocity / 生理学报

The aim of the present study was to establish a minimally invasive H reflex model in mice for the benefit of the research of clinical spinal cord injury and related diseases. Minimally invasive surgery was performed in hind limb of Kunming mouse under light anesthesia. The skin was incised at the point of one-third of the distance from greater trochanter to the base of the cauda. A pair of fine copper conductors were inserted into the shallow muscle using a syringe needle. After the needles were withdrawed, the retained conductors were ligated and fixed with the tissues surrounding the sciatic nerve as the first pair of stimulating electrodes. Another pair of conductors were inserted and fixed in medial malleolus close to the tibial nerve as the second stimulating electrodes. Copper conductor was inserted passing the skin above the proximal end of the metatarsal and fixed as the recording electrode. The reference electrode was placed at the walking pad in the base of the big toe using the same method. Electromyography (EMG) was used to record M and H waves in planta pedis muscles. The stimulus was a square wave with a width of 0.2 ms and frequency of 0.3 Hz. The latency time of the M and H waves which were induced from the two pairs of stimulating electrodes was recorded. Nerve conduction velocity (NCV) was then calculated from the distance between the cathodes of the stimulating electrodes and the latency time difference of M or H waves. The result showed the achievement ratios of H reflex induction were 92.73% and 81.82% in sciatic and tibial nerves, respectively. The latency time of H wave was about 7~10 ms. Motor nerve conduction velocity (MNCV) obtained was (25.84 ± 4.70) m/s (n = 35), while sensory nerve conduction velocity (SNCV) was (31.45 ± 7.30) m/s (n = 35). The method established in the present paper is simple to practice, does slight harm to the animal, and can produce waveforms with little interference. With these advantages, the method can be applied for the study of the latency of H reflex, and it is suitable for the researches which demands good physical condition of experimental animal during H reflex study. This model can also be applied to the detection of SNCV and MNCV.