Swimming trapper decreases the proportion of chromosomally unbalanced spermatozoa in human Robertsonian translocation carriers.

BACKGROUND: Carriers of reciprocal translocations often have more unbalanced spermatozoa and higher DNA fragmentation rates, elevating reproductive risk. The simple swim-up method (SSUM) can decrease the amount of spermatozoa with abnormal chromatin structure and fragmented DNA, however, it has limited efficacy in eliminating chromosomally unbalanced sperm. METHODS: The spermatozoa of eight Robertsonian translocation (Rob) carriers were split into three groups: original raw semen group (control group); SSUM and swimming trapper method group (STM) processed semen samples. After different semen preparation procedures, semen qualities, sperm chromosomal aneuploidy, and sperm fragmented DNA were evaluated. RESULTS: Although spermatozoa with higher motility was obtained by both SSUM and STM, the population of faster forward moving sperm was greater with STM as compared to SSUM. While the rates of DNA fragmentation were statistically much lower in both groups than ejaculated semen sample, our data showed better effect on the decrease of DNA fragmentation index (DFI) after selection by STM for patients who have high DFI (>20%) in neat semen. For all patients, significant decrease in the frequency of chromosomally unbalanced spermatozoa was observed after selection using STM. Although similar trends can be seen in the SSUM group, a significant difference was identified in one patient only. CONCLUSIONS: Use of swimming trapper (STM) is superior for enriching high-motile and genetically competent sperm in comparison with SSUM.

Quantitative Determination of Marker Compounds and Fingerprint Analysis of the Seeds of Vernonia anthelmintica.

In traditional Chinese medicine, the seeds of Vernonia anthelmintica (L.) Willd. have been widely used for treatment of cough, skin diseases, diarrhea, fever, schistosomiasis, amoebic dysentery, and gastrointestinal problems, especially in the treatment of vitiligo for thousands of years in China. In this study, an effective, reliable, and accurate high-performance liquid chromatography diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) method was developed for quantitative analysis of 3 marker bioactive compounds and chemical fingerprint of the seeds of V. anthelmintica. Data corresponding to common peak areas and HPLC chromatographic fingerprints were analyzed by exploratory hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) to extract information of the most significant variables contributing to characterization and classification of the analyzed samples. Based on variety and origin, the high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method validated the chemical fingerprint results used to screen the in vitro antioxidant activity of V. anthelmintica. The results show that the developed method has potential application values for the quality consistency evaluation and identification of similar instant V. anthelmintica samples. When considered collectively, this research results provide a scientific basis for the improvement of standardization and specification of V. anthelmintica medicinal materials and provide a pathway for the development and utilization of references for the identification of V. anthelmintica herbs.

Pigment epithelium-derived factor/vascular endothelial growth factor ratio for early prediction of preeclampsia: A prospective multicenter study in China.

BACKGROUND: Imbalance of circulating factors related to angiogenesis plays a central role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia (PE). OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to discover and validate a cutoff value of pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) ratio for early prediction of PE before 20 weeks of gestation. STUDY DESIGN: This prospective multicenter study was performed in mainland China, and was divided into 3 phases to discover, develop, and validate a cutoff value of PEDF/VEGF ratio that could predict PE prior to diagnosis in pregnant women at high risk of PE (12 weeks 0 days to 19 weeks 6 days of gestation). We estimated PEDF/VEGF ratio at 5 visits: from visit 0 (baseline) to the postpartum visit. RESULTS: In the discovery phase (200 women), we found that antiangiogenic PEDF was higher and angiogenic VEGF was lower in the PE group than in the control group before 20 weeks of gestation. In the development phase (650 women), we found that a cutoff value of 800 for PEDF/VEGF ratio demonstrated a preferably predictive value. Subsequently, in the validation phase (additional 900 women), we found that the negative predictive value of PEDF/VEGF ratio ≤800 at the visit 1 was 98.6% (95% CI, 97.3-99.4), at the visit 2 was 96.9% (95% CI, 95.1-98.1) and at the visit 3 was 95.1% (95% CI, 93.0-96.7). ORs were 4.40, 6.27, and 5.73, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: PEDF/VEGF ratio ≤800 may have some predictive value for early diagnosis of PE. Further multicenter studies with larger sample sizes are necessary to confirm our findings.

Quality Evaluation of the Traditional Medicine Majun Mupakhi ELA via Chromatographic Fingerprinting Coupled with UHPLC-DAD-Quadrupole-Orbitrap-MS and the Antioxidant Activity In Vitro.

By merging a high-performance liquid chromatography diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) method with high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC), an assay was developed for chemical fingerprinting and quantitative analysis of traditional medicine Majun Mupakhi ELA (MME), and constituent compounds were identified using HPLC coupled with UHPLC-DAD-Quadrupole-Orbitrap-MS method. In addition, the antioxidant capacity of MME was assessed based on the ability of components to scavenge radicals using in vitro method. Using a HPLC-DAD method with HPTLC easily validated the chemical fingerprinting results and quantified three characteristic components, namely, gallic acid (1), daidzein (2), and icariin (3), in commercial MMEs. The three compounds presented excellent regression values (R2 = 0.9999) in the ranges of the test and the method recovery was in the range from 100.49% to 100.68%. The fingerprints had 27 common characteristic peaks, of which 13 were verified by rapid UHPLC-DAD-Q-Orbitrap-MS analysis. In vitro antioxidant assays rapidly assessed and contrasted antioxidant activity or the free radical scavenging activity of the main polyphenolic classes in MMEs, and the antioxidant capacity was mostly affected by the presence of gallic acid. Thus, this study establishes a powerful and meaningful approach for MME quality control and for assessing in vitro antioxidant activity.

Predicting cardioembolic stroke with the B-type natriuretic peptide test: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the value of B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) in differentiating cardioembolic (CE) stroke from other subtypes of ischemic stroke. METHODS: We searched the EMBASE, MEDLINE, and Cochrane databases and reference lists of relevant articles published in April 2013. We selected original studies reporting the performance of BNP or N-terminal probrain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) in diagnosing CE stroke and summarized test performance characteristics using forest plots, hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic curves, and bivariate random-effect models. RESULTS: Data from 2958 patients with ischemic stroke were retrieved from 16 studies. Of these, 1024 (34.6%) patients had a final diagnosis of CE stroke. Overall, the mean diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of BNP for CE stroke was 15.8 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.92-25.20). Even after adjustment for multiple clinical predictors, serum natriuretic peptide levels showed a strong association with CE stroke (pooled adjusted DOR, 12.7; 95% CI: 7.32-22.0). The sensitivity and specificity of BNP for CE stroke were .78 (95% CI: .71-.87) and .83 (95% CI: .77-.87), respectively. A single BNP-negative result may be sufficient to exclude a diagnosis of CE stroke in low-prevalence (<20%) settings. Subgroup analysis showed that NT-proBNP had a slightly higher specificity (.87; 95% CI: .77-.93) and better capability for exclusion diagnosis. There was a lack of homogeneity in the timing of measurement and BNP assay method. CONCLUSIONS: BNP has reasonable accuracy in the diagnosis of CE stroke and may be a useful marker for the early detection in patients who may benefit from preventive anticoagulation therapy.