FGF-21 protects H9c2 cardiomyoblasts against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress injury / 药学学报

Fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21) is an important metabolism regulator, however, whether FGF-21 has effects on cardiovascular remains unclear. In this study, H2O2-induced injury in H9c2 cells was used as a cell model, the anti-apoptosis potential and mechanism of FGF-21 against oxidative injury were evaluated by MTT assay, flow cytometry assay and real-time PCR. The results showed that FGF-21 could increase the cell survival of H2O2-induced injury in H9c2 cells and prevent H9c2 cells from oxidative stress-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, FGF-21 can elevate SOD activity and regulate Bcl-2/Bax expression in H9c2 cells. The results suggest that FGF-21 have protective effect against the H2O2-induced apoptosis in H9c2 cells.

Therapeutic effect of fibroblast growth factor 21 on hypertension induced by insulin resistance / 药学学报

This study is to evaluate the therapeutic effect of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) on hypertension induced by insulin resistance in rats and to provide mechanistic insights into its therapeutic effect. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were fed with high-fructose (10%) water to develop mild hypertensive models within 4 weeks, then randomized into 4 groups: model control, FGF21 0.25, 0.1 and 0.05 micromol x kg(-1) x d(-1) groups. Five age-matched normal SD rats administrated with saline were used as normal controls. The rats in each group were treated once a day for 4 weeks. Body weight was measured weekly, systolic blood pressure (SBP) was measured noninvasively using a tail-cuff method, insulin sensitivity was assessed using oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and HOMA-IR assay. At the end of the treatment, blood samples were collected, and blood glucose, serum cholesterol, serum triglyceride and serum insulin were measured. The results showed that blood pressure of the rats treated with different doses of FGF21 returned to normal levels [(122.2 +/- 3.5) mmHg, P < 0.01] after 4-week treatment, whereas, SBP of untreated (model control) rats maintained a high level [(142.5 +/- 4.5) mmHg] throughout the treatment. The observation of blood pressure in 24 h revealed that SBP of FGF21 treated-rats maintained at (130 +/- 4.5) mmHg vs. (143 +/- 5.5) mmHg for model control (P < 0.01). FGF21 treatment groups improved serum lipids obviously, total cholesterol (TC) and triglyceride (TG) levels decreased significantly to normal levels. The serum NO levels of three different doses FGF21 treatment group were significantly higher than that of the model control group [(7.32 +/- 0.11), (7.24 +/- 0.13), (6.94 +/- 0.08) vs. (6.56 +/- 0.19) micromol x L(-1), P < 0.01], and the degree of improvement showed obvious dose-dependent manner, indicating that FGF21 can significant increase serum NO in fructose-induced hypertension rat model and improve endothelial NO release function. The results of OGTT and HOMA-IR showed that insulin resistance state was significantly relieved in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, this study demonstrates that FGF21 significantly ameliorates blood pressure in fructose-induced hypertension model by relieving insulin resistance. This finding provides a theoretical support for clinical application of FGF21 as a novel therapeutics for treatment of essential hypertension.

Antitumor activity of the recombinant rClone30-CD/5-FC system / 药学学报

5-Flucytosine (5-FC) could be changed to 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) by cytosine deaminase (CD), the latter is able to kill cancer cells. However, there is no efficient method to deliver the CD gene into the tumor cells, which hampers the application of the suicide gene system. In this experiment, for the first time, the NDV has been utilized as a vector to deliver the CD gene into the cancer cells, the virus can infect the cancer cells specifically, replicate and assemble, while the cytosine deaminase is expressed. Then the CD converts the prodrug 5-FC into 5-FU to achieve the purpose of inhibiting tumor. Firstly, the whole genome of E. coli JM109 was extracted, and the CD gene was obtained by cloning method. Then the CD and IRES-EGFP were ligated into the pEE12.4 expression vector to become a recombinant pEE12.4IE-CD eukaryotic expression plasmid. The human liver cancer cells were transfected with the plasmid. The cells were treated with different concentrations of 5-FC, MTT method was used to determine the killing effect of CD/5-FC system on the human liver cancer cells. The cell deaths were 18.07%, 42.98% and 62.20% respectively when the concentrations of prodrug were at 10, 20 and 30 mmol x L(-1). In 5-FC acute toxicity experiment, Kunming mice were injected with different concentrations of 5-FC at intervals of 1:0.5. The LD50 of 5-FC through iv injection was determined by improved Karber's method, the LD50 was 507 mg x kg(-1) and the 95% confidence limit was 374-695 mg x kg(-1). According to the maximum LD0 dose of the LD50, the maximum safe dose was 200 mg x kg(-1). Body weight and clinic symptoms of the experimental animals were observed. These results laid the foundation to verify the antitumor effect and safety of CD/5-FC system in animal models. The CD gene was ligated into the NDV (rClone30) carrier, then the tumor-bearing animal was established to perform the tumor inhibiting experiment. The result showed that the recombinant rClone30-CD/5-FC system has a high antitumor activity in vivo. To summarize, CD gene has been cloned and its bioactivity has been confirmed in the mammalian cells. It is the first time in this study to utilize the recombinant NDV to deliver the CD gene into the tumor cells; our result proves the rClone30-CD/5-FC system is a potential method for cancer therapy.

Therapeutic effect of fibroblast growth factor 21 on NAFLD in MSG-iR mice and its mechanism / 药学学报

This study is to evaluate the therapeutic effect of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) on NAFLD in MSG-IR mice and to provide mechanism insights into its therapeutic effect. The MSG-IR mice with insulin resistance were treated with high dose (0.1 micromol.kg-1d-1) and low dose (0.025 micromol.kg-1d-1) of FGF21 once a day for 5 weeks. Body weight was measured weekly. At the end of the experiment, serum lipids, insulin and aminotransferases were measured. Hepatic steatosis was observed. The expression of key genes regulating energy metabolism were detected by real-time PCR. The results showed that after 5 weeks treatment, both doses of FGF21 reduced body weight (P<0.01), corrected dyslipidemia (P<0.01), reversed steatosis and restored the liver morphology in the MSG model mice and significantly ameliorated insulin resistance. Additionally, real-time PCR showed that FGF21 significantly reduced transcription levels of fat synthetic genes, decreased fat synthesis and promoted lipolysis and energy metabolism by up-regulating key genes of lipolysis, thereby liver fat accumulation was reduced and liver function was restored to normal levels. In conclusion, FGF21 significantly reduces body weight of the MSG-IR mice, ameliorates insulin resistance, reverses hepatic steatosis. These findings provide a theoretical support for clinical application of FGF21 as a novel therapeutics for treatment of NAFLD.

Study on environmental and psychological risk factors for female infertility / 中华劳动卫生职业病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the environmental and psychological risk factors for female infertility and to provide a scientific basis for the prevention and control of female infertility.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>In a hospital-based case-control study, a self-designed questionnaire was used to survey the cases and controls (1:1) with nation and age (± 2 years) as matching variables. Univariate and multivariate conditional logistic regression models were employed to analyze the datasets.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The univariate analysis showed that female infertility was related to the following factors: eating fried foods, alcohol consumption, smoking, staying up late, perm, housing decoration, contact with heavy metals, exposure to radiation, contact with pesticides, working in hot environment, mental stress, uneasiness, helplessness, and despair. The multivariate analysis showed that staying up late (OR = 2.937), housing decoration (OR = 2.963), exposure to radiation (OR = 2.506), contact with pesticides (OR = 2.908), and mental stress (OR = 4.101) were the main risk factors for female infertility. Furthermore, there was an interaction between staying up late and mental stress.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Female infertility is caused by multiple factors including staying up late, housing decoration, exposure to radiation, contact with pesticides, and mental stress, and there is an interaction between staying up late and mental stress.</p>

Neuroprotection of adenoassociated vira-mediated brain-derived neurotrophic factor on retinal ganglion cells in DBA/2J mice with glaucoma / 中华实验眼科杂志

Background Deficiency of neurotrophic factor is associated with the damage of optic nerve in glaucoma.Reaserches showed that ectopically applied neurotrophic factor has a transient neuroprotective effect in glaucoma model,and the viral expression of adeno-associated neurotrophie factor may provide long-term supplementation of neurotrophic factor and neuroprotection in tissues.Objective The present study Was to investigate the neuroproteetive effect of adeno-associated viral(AAV)-mediated brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)on retinal ganglion cells(RGCs)in DBA/2J mice with experimental glaucoma. Methods 10 clean DBA/2J mice were administered intravitreal injection with 1 microliter of AAV-BDNF-GFP in the left eyes at the age of 6 months,and the right eyes were injected with the same volume of saline solution as control.Intraocular pressure (IOP)was measured with Tonolab in the mice every month.Retinas were obtained after 3 months for the investigation of GFP expression in RGCs using fluorescence microscopy.Immunohistochemistry Was performed by applying TUJ1 and Cy3 antibodies to identify surviving RGCs. Results The IOP of DBA/2J mice were 11.90 mmHg and 11.40 mmHg in the right eyes and left eyes,respectively,at 4 months.The IOP of DBA/2J mice began to rise at 5 months and reached its peak in 8 month-old mice.There was no statistically significant difference in IOPs between the right eyes and the left eyes from 4 month-through 9 month-old mice(t=-1.78-0.61,P=0.11-0.90).Three months after intrlavitreal injection of AAV-BDNF-GFP,GFP was positively expressed in RGCs of retinas with the expression rate of 46.33%±8.08%.The over-expression of BDNF led to more RGCs survival than the control eyes (3168.13±1319.33/mm2 vs 2024.81±796.38/mm2,t=2.75,P=0.02). Conclusion These data suggest that BDNF can exert a protective effect in DBA/2J glaucoma mice.