Ginsenoside Rg1 prevents early diabetic retinopathy via reducing retinal ganglion cell layer and inner nuclear layer cell apoptosis in db/db mice.

BACKGROUND: Diabetic retinopathy (DR), a diabetic vascular complication, is prone to developing into blindness. Ginsenoside Rg1 (GRg1), a major saponin in ginseng, exerts high anti-apoptotic activity. METHODS: This study aimed to explore the protective effects of GRg1 against diabetes-induced retinal damage. Measurements of blood glucose, blood lipids and vascular permeability were performed, as well as assessments of pathological changes, and the retinal thickness of each layer. Retinal cell apoptosis related protein expression levels were measured by immunofluorescence and western blot assays. RESULTS: Our data demonstrated that GRg1 effectively reduced blood glucose and triglyceride levels and maintained normal retinal permeability and physiological structure. GRg1 maintained the thickness of the ganglion cell layer (GCL) and the inner nuclear layer (INL) by reducing cell apoptosis. CONCLUSIONS: These data strongly indicate that GRg1 prevents diabetic retinal changes by decreasing GCL and INL cell apoptosis. GRg1 may be a promising drug for early DR treatment.

Mechanisms of resistance to estrogen receptor modulators in ER+/HER2- advanced breast cancer.

Endocrine therapy represents a mainstay adjuvant treatment of estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer in clinical practice with an overall survival (OS) benefit. However, the emergence of resistance is inevitable over time and is present in one-third of the ER+ breast tumors. Several mechanisms of endocrine resistance in ER+/HER2- advanced breast cancers, through ERα itself, receptor tyrosine signaling, or cell cycle pathway, have been identified to be pivotal in endocrine therapy. The epigenetic alterations also contribute to ensuring tumor cells' escape from endocrine therapies. The strategy of combined hormone therapy with targeted pharmaceutical compounds has shown an improvement of progression-free survival or OS in clinical practice, including three different classes of drugs: CDK4/6 inhibitors, selective inhibitor of PI3Kα and mTOR inhibitors. Many therapeutic targets of cell cycle pathway and cell signaling and their combination strategies have recently entered clinical trials. This review focuses on Cyclin D-CDK4/6-RB axis, PI3K pathway and HDACs. Additionally, genomic evolution is complex in tumors exposed to hormonal therapy. We highlight the genomic alterations present in ESR1 and PIK3CA genes to elucidate adaptive mechanisms of endocrine resistance, and discuss how these mutations may inform novel combinations to improve clinical outcomes in the future.

Ginsenoside Rb1 mitigates oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by methylglyoxal in SH-SY5Y cells via the PI3K/Akt pathway.

Diabetic encephalopathy is a severe diabetic complication characterized by cognitive dysfunction and neuropsychiatric disability. Methylglyoxal (MGO), a highly reactive metabolite of hyperglycemia, serves as a major precursor of advanced glycation end products that play key roles in diabetic complications. Ginsenoside Rb1 (abbreviated as Rb1) has received extensive attention due to its potential therapeutic effects on diabetes and neurodegeneration. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of Rb1 on MGO-induced damage in SH-SY5Y cells and the related mechanism. SH-SY5Y cells were pretreated with Rb1 for 8 h and then exposed to MGO (0.5 mM) for 24 h. Cell survival was assessed by the MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was assessed using Hoechst 33342/propidium iodide (PI) staining and an Annexin-V/PI kit. The activities of oxidative stress markers were examined using commercial kits. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) staining and JC-1 staining were used to evaluate mitochondria injury. In addition, protein levels were measured by Western blot analysis. As a result, Rb1 alleviated the injury induced by MGO by increasing the activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase and total glutathione, decreasing the level of malondialdehyde, and alleviating mitochondrial damage and ROS production. Furthermore, Rb1 could enhance the Bcl-2/Bax ratio, inhibit the expression of cleaved caspase-3 and cleaved caspase-9, and enhance the levels of phosphorylated Akt. Moreover, the protective effects of Rb1 against MGO-induced apoptosis were partly abolished by LY294002, a specific inhibitor of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) phosphorylation. Our results demonstrated that Rb1 ameliorated MGO-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis in SH-SY5Y cells via activating the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway.

LEM4 confers tamoxifen resistance to breast cancer cells by activating cyclin D-CDK4/6-Rb and ERα pathway.

The elucidation of molecular events that confer tamoxifen resistance to estrogen receptor α (ER) positive breast cancer is of major scientific and therapeutic importance. Here, we report that LEM4 overexpression renders ER+ breast cancer cells resistant to tamoxifen by activating the cyclin D-CDK4/6 axis and the ERα signaling. We show that LEM4 overexpression accelerates tumor growth. Interaction with LEM4 stabilizes CDK4 and Rb, promotes Rb phosphorylation and the G1/S phase transition. LEM4 depletion or combined tamoxifen and PD0332991 treatment significantly reverses tamoxifen resistance. Furthermore, LEM4 interacts with and stabilizes both Aurora-A and ERα, promotes Aurora-A mediated phosphorylation of ERα-Ser167, leading to increase in ERα DNA-binding and transactivation activity. Elevated levels of LEM4 correlates with poorer relapse-free survival in patients with ER+ breast cancer undergoing endocrine therapy. Thus, LEM4 represents a prognostic marker and an attractive target for breast cancer therapeutics. Functional antagonism of LEM4 could overcome tamoxifen resistance.

Evaluation of the effect of interventions for the female drug abusers.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate an effective method to facilitate the physical and mental recovery of drug abusers in detoxification restoration period. METHODS: Integrated interventions were adopted to observe the changes in the physical and mental conditions of female drug abusers who had withdrawn drugs. RESULTS: Comparing behavioral changes between the two groups before and after intervention, we found that changes of score in the intervention group were all higher than those in the control group in terms of their physical symptoms or state of anxiety. CONCLUSION: It is necessary to help drug abusers understand the harm of drug-abuse, build up self-confidence and improve EQ through interventions. It will be beneficial for the drug addicts to refrain from drug-taking and regain a normal life. Our study has proved that positive results can only be obtained from integrated intervention projects.