Huangjing Zanyu Capsule enhances sperm mitochondrial membrane potential in asthenozoospermia patients / 中华男科学杂志

Objective@#To observe the effect of Huangjing Zanyu Capsule (HZC) on sperm mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) in asthenozoospermia patients.@*METHODS@#We assigned 70 asthenozoospermia patients to a treatment group (n = 39) and a control group (n = 31), the former treated with oral HZC at the dose of 4 capsules tid for 3 months while the latter left untreated. We obtained semen parameters from the patients and detected their sperm mitochondrial membrane potentials (MMP) by JC-1 staining and flow cytometry before and after medication, followed by comparison between the two groups.@*RESULTS@#The total effectiveness rate was 71.05% in the treatment group and natural pregnancy was achieved in 3 cases during the medication. A total of 35 patients in the treatment group and 30 controls completed all the laboratory examinations after a 3-month observation. Compared with the controls, the patients treated with HZC exhibited significant improvement after medication in MMP (variation value: ［1.19 ± 10.36］% vs ［20.28 ± 14.21］%, P <0.01), total sperm motility (variation value: ［3.46 ± 8.67］% vs ［20.68 ± 14.12］%, P <0.01), the percentage of progressively motile sperm (variation value: ［2.26 ± 8.29］% vs ［17.58 ± 12.73］%, P <0.01), and the percentage of morphologically normal sperm (variation value: ［0.23 ± 3.48］% vs ［3.37 ± 3.99］%, P <0.01). MMP was significantly correlated with total sperm motility (r = 0.69, P <0.01), progressive sperm motility (r = 0.75, P <0.01) and normal sperm morphology (r = 0.26, P <0.01).@*CONCLUSIONS@#Huangjing Zanyu Capsule can enhance sperm mitochondrial membrane potential and sperm mitochondrial function, thus improving total sperm motility, progressive sperm motility and normal sperm morphology. It is safe and effective for the treatment of asthenospermia.

Expression of tyrosine kinase receptor B in OVCAR-3 ovarian cancer cells and its significance / 中国癌症杂志

Background and purpose:TrkB,a neurotrophic tyrosine kinase receptor,serves as a potent and specific suppressor of anoikis of non-malignant epithelial cells,and induces high invasion capacity in these cells.TrkB over-expression has been associated with chemotherapy resistance and poor survival in neuroblastoma and some other highly aggressive cancers.However,the relationship of the expression of TrkB to anoikis resistance in ovarian cancer cells has rarely been reported in literature.This study investigated the expression and significance of anoikis- suppressor TrkB in OVCAR-3 ovarian cancer cells.Methods:The expression of TrkB and its ligand BDNF was evaluated in OVCAR-3 ovarian cancer cells under different culture conditions by RT-PCR and Western blot.Results: TrkB mRNA was overexpressed in multicellular spheroids(cell-spheroids,anchorage-independent culture,AIC)as compared to that in OVCAR-3 cells(adhesive-cells,adhesive culture,AC),(35.3?0.7)% versus(23.5?0.5)%;but BDNF mRNA expression was the opposite to the above situation,(41.4?0.6)% versus(32.24?0.7)%(P