Electroacupuncture at intercostal nerve for mammary gland hyperplasia in rats / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the correlation between efficacy of electroacupuncture (EA) on mammary gland hyperplasia (MGH) and the regulatory pathway of intercostal nerve.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifty female SD rats were randomly divided into a blank group (group A, 12 rats), a model group (group B, 12 rats), an EA group (group C, 13 rats) and an intercostal nerve transection group (group D, 13 rats). The rats in the group B, group C and group D were prepared into MGH model; after model was successfully prepared, the 7th intercostal nerve was cut off in the group D. EA was applied at back acupoints including bilateral "Tianzong" (SI 11), "Ganshu" (BL 18) and "Shenshu" (BL 23) as well as chest acupoints including bilateral "Wuyi" (ST 15), "Hegu" (LI 4) and "Danzhong" (CV 17) in the group C and D. The two groups of acupoints were selected alternately. EA was given for 20 min, once a day; 5-day treatment was taken as one course; there was an interval of 2 days between course; totally 20 treatments were given. After treatment, the height and diameter of papilla were observed; the contents of serum estradiol (E) and progestin (P), the expression of estrogen receptor α (ERα) and progestrone receptor (PR) in mammary gland were measured.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1) The height and diameter of papilla: after treatment, the height and diameter of papilla in the group C were significantly smaller than those in the group B (both<0.05); the height and diameter of left-side papilla in the group D were significantly bigger than those in the group C (both<0.05). (2) Serum Eand P: after treatment, compared with the group B, the contents of Eand E/P were reduced and the content of P was increased in the group C and group D (all<0.05). Compared with the group C, the contents of Eand E/P were increased and the content of P was reduced in the group D (all<0.05). (3) ERα and PR in mammary gland: compared with the group B, the content of ERαwas decreased and the content of PR was increased in the group C (both<0.05). Compared with the group C, the content of ERαwas increased and the content of PR was decreased in the group D ((both<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The efficacy mechanism of EA for MGH is likely to be related with the pathway of intercostal nerve; the mechanism may be acupuncture regulating the contents of serum Eand P as well as contents of ERα and PR in mammary gland.</p>

Role of single serum progesterone assay in threatened abortion as a predictor of viable pregnancy.

Background: Low progesterone levels have been linked to increased risk of miscarriage in first trimester of pregnancy. Methods: The observational, cross-sectional study was conducted over 100 pregnant females in first trimester of pregnancy < 12 weeks. All patients were subjected to sonography to confirm pregnancy & serum progesterone level testing immediately after admission and before initiation of treatment. Result: After analysis of the results, cut off value of serum progesterone as determined in this study came out to be 9.9 ng/ml with 94.9% sensitivity & 92.7% specificity. Conclusion: The value of serum progesterone estimation was of great help in differentiating between viable and non-viable pregnancy.

The effects of progesterone on hypoxic ischemic injuries in the Cornu Ammonis (CA) region of the hippocampus of neonatal rats / Efectos de la progesterona en lesiones por hipoxia isquémica en la región Cornu Ammonis (CA) del hipocampo en ratas neonatas

Hypoxia-ischemia (HI) is a major cause of brain damage in the newborn. Several studies elicited the neuroprotective effects of progesterone in adult rats but there is very little literature available on neonatal rats. Therefore the present study is undertaken to see the effect of progesterone in hypoxic ischemic brain injury in neonatal rats, using an established neonatal HI rat pup model. Seven-day-old rat pups were subjected to right common carotid artery ligation and then 60 minutes hypoxia. The first dose of progesterone to treatment group was administered by peritoneal injection (4 mg/kg), after 10 minutes of exposure and subsequent doses were given by subcutaneous injection at 6 h, 24 h and 48 h intervals. Control group was also exposed to HI and was given only the vehicle (peanut oil) through the same route and intervals as that of treatment group. After 96 h, the pups were perfused with 10% formalin and brains were sampled and stained with toluidine blue. Cells density and number of pyramidal cells of the hippocampal Cornu Ammonis (CA) regions were examined by stereological methods. The histomorphometric assessment of the effects of progesterone showed minimal but no significant protective value in the volume, cells density and total number of pyramidal cells of hippocampal CA region of the treatment and control groups (p>0.05) after HI. Our results concluded that 4 mg/kg of PROG had no significant neuroprotective effect in HI model of the neonatal rat's hippocampus.

La hipoxia-isquémica (HI) es una causa importante de daño cerebral en el recién nacido. Varios estudios indican los efectos neuroprotectores de la progesterona en ratas adultas, sin embargo existe poca literatura disponible en ratas recién nacidas. Por tanto, el presente estudio se llevó a cabo para ver el efecto de la progesterona en la lesión cerebral HI en ratas recién nacidas, utilizando un modelo de cría de rata neonata HI establecido. A los siete días de nacidas, las crías de ratas fueron sometidas a la ligadura de la arteria carótida común derecha y luego 60 minutos de hipoxia. La primera dosis de progesterona fue administrada al grupo de tratamiento mediante inyección peritoneal (4 mg/kg), después de 10 minutos de exposición y las dosis posteriores fueron administradas por inyecciones subcutáneas en intervalos de 6 h, 24 h y 48 h. El grupo control también fue expuesto a HI y se le administró solamente aceite de cacahuete a través de la misma ruta y con los intervalos que recibió el grupo de tratamiento. Después de 96 h, las crias fueron perfundidas con formalina al 10% y se tomaron muestras de los cerebros, los que se tiñeron con azul de toluidina. La densidad celular y el número de células piramidales de las regiones del hipocampo Cornu Ammonis (CA) fueron examinadas por métodos estereológicos. La evaluación histomorfométrica de los efectos de la progesterona mostró un valor protector mínimo, pero no significativo en el volumen, densidad de las células y el número total de células piramidales de la región de CA del hipocampo de los grupos de tratamiento y control (p>0,05) después de HI. En conclusión, nuestros resultados indican que 4 mg/kg de progesterona no tuvo efecto neuroprotector significativo en el modelo de HI del hipocampo de ratas neonatas.

Mechanism study of PRB in regulating therapeutic sensitivity of MPA in endometrial cancer cells / 中国药理学通报

Aim To explore the role of progesterone re-ceptor B ( PRB ) in regulation of medroxyprogesterone acetate ( MPA) sensitivity in endometrial cancer cells, and to investigate the effect of MPA on the biological character in Ishikawa cells infected with shRNA targe-ting PRB gene. Methods Ishikawa cells were stably transfected with PRB shRNA using lentivirus to knock-down endogenous PRB expression. Real-time fluores-cent quantitative PCR was applied to confirm the knockdown effect. MTT assay, flow cytometry and cell invasion assay were applied to detect the influence of MPA on endometrial cancer cell proliferation, apopto-sis and invasion. We also used Western blot assay to detect the effect of MPA induced the activation of ERK/MAPK signal pathway. Results Recombinant lentiviral vector expressing shRNA targeting PRB gene was successfully established, results of real-time PCR and Western blot showed that compared with control group, PRB expression in Ishikawa cells infected with shRNA decreased obviously ( P <0.01 ); MPA could repress endometrial cancer cells proliferation and inva-sion, meanwhile promoted its apoptosis ( P <0.01 ) . However, the effect was almost reverse in Ishikawa cells infected with shRNA. Furthermore, MPA induced ERK/MAPK activation in Ishikawa cells infected with shRNA. Conclusions PRB plays a role in regulating therapeutic sensitivity of MPA in endometrial cancer cells;and for Ishikawa cells infected with shRNA tar-geting PRB gene, MPA has effects on the biological character via pERK1/2-MAPK signal pathway.

Effect of polycystic ovary-like environment on E_2 and P levels in human granulosa cells in vitro / 重庆医科大学学报

Objective:To study the effect of polycystic ovary-like environment on secretion of E_2 and P from human granulosa luteal cells in vitro.Methods:According to different additives granulosa cells cultured in vitro which were retrieved from infertility women with normal ovulation who were undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer(IVF-ET),were divided into four groups:A (androstenedione) group,LH group,INS (insulin) group and A+LH+INS group.Each group was subdivided into polycystic ovary-like environment group with higher levels of the additives and physiological environment group with lower levels of the additives.Levels of E_2 and P in medium were detected separately.Results:Levels of E_2 and P in polycystic ovary-like environment were significantly decreased in A group and A+LH+INS group,and significantly increased in LH group and INS group (P