Upregulation of MMPs in placentas of patients with gestational diabetes mellitus: Involvement of the PI3K/Akt pathway.

In recent years, there has been a notable rise in the incidence of pregnancies complicated by gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), characterized by glucose intolerance first identified during pregnancy. Analysis of placental tissue has revealed that placentas from women with GDM tend to be larger and heavier compared to control placentas, indicating potential changes in trophoblast proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. In this study, transcriptome sequencing was conducted on placentas obtained from both normal pregnancies and pregnancies with GDM to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying this condition. The original sequencing data were subjected to sequencing analysis, resulting in the identification of 935 upregulated genes and 256 downregulated genes. The KEGG and GO analysis techniques on differential genes uncovered evidence suggesting that the phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signaling pathway may contribute to the pathogenesis of GDM. Subsequent analysis indicated that the expression levels of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) 11, MMP12, MMP14, and MMP15, which are regulated by the PI3K/Akt pathway, were upregulated in the placentas of patients with GDM when compared to those of individuals with normal placental function. Additionally, our investigation into alternative splicing patterns revealed an increase in exon skipping alternative splicing of CSF3R in the placenta of patients with GDM compared to that in the control group. The CSF3R-PI3K-MMP pathway is speculated to regulate the pathogenesis of GDM.

Diagnoses and Treatment of Acquired Undescended Testes: A Review.

Acquired undescended testes were once considered a sporadic disease. In recent years, reports suggest that they are not uncommon, with an incidence rate about 3 times that of congenital undescended testes. The etiology of acquired undescended testes remains inconclusive, clinical diagnostic standards are unclear, and treatment approaches are still controversial. There is ongoing debate about the mechanism of testicular ascent. The prevailing view is that acquired undescended testes occur due to the partial absorption of the gubernaculum, which forms part of the parietal peritoneum. The residual gubernacular fibers continuously pull on the spermatic cord, preventing the spermatic cord from elongating proportionately to somatic growth, leading to a re-ascent of the testis. Acquired undescended testes may increase the risk of testicular cancer, but this is still debated. The preferred treatment method is also controversial. However, surgical fixation has an immediate effect; no studies have proven that early surgery improves fertility in patients. The etiology of acquired undescended testes is closely related to the continuous pull of the residual gubernacular fibers on the spermatic cord, which prevents the cord from extending proportionately to body growth. There are no clear diagnostic standards for acquired undescended testes yet, and spontaneous descent is possible, so testicular fixation surgery may not be the preferred treatment method.

Testicular ectopia: A case report.

This paper mainly describes three cases of children with ectopic testis, of which two patients with transverse testicular ectopia (TTE) and one with perineal ectopic testis (PET). All patients who underwent orchidopexy at the same pediatric surgical unit in the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University (Jining, China) between June 2010 and February 2021 were retrospectively evaluated (age range, 14-34 months). A total of two patients (67%) was admitted with asymptomatic unilateral inguinal masses and the contralateral testis missing; the first patient was diagnosed with TTE intraoperatively, whereas the other patient was diagnosed with TTE through physical examination and ultrasound preoperatively. The third patient (33%) was admitted with the right testis missing and a left perineal mass, which was confirmed using PET by physical and ultrasound examination before the operation. The first two patients underwent transseptal orchidopexy, whereas the third patient underwent simple orchidopexy. Postoperative complications were not observed (follow-up, 10-24 months). The low incidence and poor understanding of ectopic testis compels us to report our findings and further discuss this particular disease of testicular ectopia, including its pathogenesis, diagnostic and treatment options.

Association between the expression levels of ADAMTS16 and BMP2 and tumor budding in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Tumor budding (TB) has become a crucial factor for predicting the malignancy grade and prognostic outcome for multiple types of solid cancer. Studies have investigated the prognostic value of TB in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its molecular mechanism in HCC remains unclear. To the best of our knowledge, the present study was the first to compare the expression of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between TB-positive (TB-pos) and TB-negative HCC tissues. In the present study, total RNA was extracted from 40 HCC tissue specimens and then sequenced. According to Gene Ontology (GO) functional annotation, upregulated DEGs were markedly associated with embryonic kidney development-related GO terms, which suggested that the TB process may at least partly mimic the process of embryonic kidney development. Subsequently, two genes, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase domain with thrombospondin motifs 16 (ADAMTS16) and bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP2), were screened and verified through immunohistochemical analysis of HCC tissue microarrays. According to the immunohistochemical results, ADAMTS16 and BMP2 were upregulated in TB-pos HCC samples, and BMP2 expression was increased in budding cells compared with the tumor center. Additionally, through cell culture experiments, it was demonstrated that ADAMTS16 and BMP2 may promote TB of liver cancer, thus promoting the malignant progression of liver cancer. Further analysis revealed that ADAMTS16 expression was associated with necrosis and cholestasis, and BMP2 expression was associated with the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage and the vessels encapsulating tumor clusters. Overall, the findings of the present study provided insights into the possible mechanisms of TB in HCC and revealed potential anti-HCC therapeutic targets.

Physicochemical Properties, Stability and Texture of Soybean-Oil-Body-Substituted Low-Fat Mayonnaise: Effects of Thickeners and Storage Temperatures.

With the increasing consumer demand for low-fat and low-cholesterol foods, low-fat mayonnaise prepared from soybean oil body (SOB) substitute for egg yolk has great consumption potential. However, based on previous studies, it was found that the stability and sensory properties of mayonnaise substituted with SOB were affected due to there being less lecithin and SOB containing more water. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of different ratios of xanthan gum, pectin and modified starch as stabilizers on the apparent viscosity, stability, texture and microstructure of SOB-substituted mayonnaise. It was found that the apparent viscosity and stability of SOB-substituted mayonnaise increased significantly when xanthan gum, pectin and modified starch were added in a ratio of 2:1:1. Meanwhile, the emulsified oil droplets of SOB-substituted mayonnaise were similar in size and uniformly dispersed in the emulsion system with different thickener formulations. In addition, the storage stability of SOB-substituted mayonnaise was explored. Compared with full egg yolk mayonnaise, SOB-substituted mayonnaise had better oxidative stability and bacteriostatic, which is important for the storage of mayonnaise. This study provided a theoretical basis for the food industry application of SOB. Meanwhile, this study provided new ideas for the development and storage of low-fat mayonnaise.

Lactobacillus paracasei 24 Attenuates Lipid Accumulation in High-Fat Diet-Induced Obese Mice by Regulating the Gut Microbiota.

Obesity has become a worldwide public health problem. Lactic acid bacteria have attracted extensive attention for alleviating obesity and fat accumulation. This study aimed to evaluate the alleviating effects of Lactobacillus paracasei 24 (LP24) on lipid accumulation in an obese mouse model induced by a high-fat diet (HFD). The results showed that LP24 treatment significantly reduced body weight and fat deposition in HFD mice, improved blood lipid levels and liver steatosis, reduced liver oxidative stress injury and the inflammatory response, and regulated fat metabolism-related factors. Moreover, LP24 regulated the abundance and diversity of the gut microbiota, reduced the abundance of Firmicutes and the ratio of Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes (F/B), and increased the abundance of Akkermansia. In summary, LP24 regulates lipid metabolism by activating the expression level of related genes and regulating the gut microbiota through the gut-liver axis to attenuate the development of obesity. This study provides a theoretical basis for probiotics to regulate gut microbiota to reduce lipid accumulation.

BKCa channel is a molecular target of vitamin C to protect against ischemic brain stroke.

Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that vitamin C decreases the risk of stroke, which has generally been ascribed to its function as antioxidant and free radical scavenger. However, whether there is a defined molecular target for vitamin C on stroke is unknown. Utilizing middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats as a model for ischemic stroke, we demonstrated that long-term, low-dose administration of vitamin C prior to MCAO could exert significant neuroprotective effect on the brain damage. The long-term, low-dose vitamin C pretreated rats had decreased brain infarct size and decreased neurological deficit score compared with the vehicle or single high dose pretreated MCAO rats. Furthermore, electrophysiological experiments using patch clamp technique showed that vitamin C increased the whole-cell current of the large-conductance Ca2+-activated K+ (BKCa) channel. Moreover, vitamin C increased the open probability of the channel without change its amplitude. Importantly, blockade of the BKCa channels abolished the neuroprotective effect of vitamin C on MCAO. Therefore, this study shows that long-term, low-dose pretreatment with vitamin C could reduce MCAO-induced brain damage through activation of the BKCa channels, suggesting that the BKCa channel is a molecular target of vitamin C on stroke.