Objective To explore the effect of long-term depleted uranium (DU)ingestion on testosterone production in rats, and its involvement mechanism. Methods Male and female rats (F0 and F1 respectively) for 160 days, respectively. The contents of testosterone (T), luteinizing hormone (LH), and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) in serum were detected in 20 months of F0 generations, and 15 months of F1 generations. RT-PCR was used to analyze the levels of StAR mRNA and P450scc mRNA. Results Compared with the normal control group, the testosterone contents in exposed F0 and F1 generations increased, the lowest was 51.73 U/L, but those of LH and FSH decreased. The expression of StAR mRNA in the low-doze group of F1 generation (StAR/β-actin = 1.35) was up-regulated, down-regulated for other groups.compared with the normal control group (P450scc/β-actin = 0. 313), the expression of P450scc mRNA in the low- and high-dose groups of F0 generation were decreased (P450scc/β-actin = 0.21), and those in the low- and high-dose groups of F1generation were increased (P450scc/β-actin = 0.623) (P ≤ 0.01). Conclusion Long-term DU exposure inhibit the male reproduction by intervening the sexual hormone production through down-regulated the expression of StAR mRNA and P450scc roRNA.

Background:Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) offers a new approach for adult patients with major depressive disorder (MDD).The study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of tACS treating MDD.Methods:This is an 8-week,double-blind,randomized,placebo-controlled study.Ninety-two drug-naive patients with MDD aged 18 to 65 years will receive 20 daily 40-min,77.5-Hz,15-mA sessions of active or sham tACS targeting the forehead and both mastoid areas on weekdays for 4 consecutive weeks (week 4),following a 4-week observation period (week 8).The primary outcome is the remission rate defined as the 17-item Hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS-17) score ≤7 at week 8.Secondary outcomes are the rates of response at weeks 4 and 8 and rate of remission at week 4 based on HDRS-17,the proportion of participants having improvement in the clinical global impression-improvement,the change in HDRS-17 score (range,0-52,with higher scores indicating more depression) over the study,and variations of brain imaging and neurocognition from baseline to week 4.Safety will be assessed by vital signs at weeks 4 and 8,and adverse events will be collected during the entire study.Discussion:The tACS applied in this trial may have treatment effects on MDD with minimal side effects.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the anti-invasion efficacy of the ethanol extract of Oldenlandia diffusa Will. (EEOD) on a three-dimensional (3D) human malignant glioma (MG) cell invasion and perfusion model based on microfluidic chip culture and the possible mechanism of action of Oldenlandia diffusa Will. (OD). METHODS: The comprehensive pharmacodynamic analysis method in this study was based on microfluidic chip 3D cell perfusion culture technology, and the action mechanism of Chinese medicine (CM) on human MG cells was investigated through network pharmacology analysis. First, the components of EEOD were analyzed by ultraperformance liquid chromatography with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF/MS). Then, cell viability and apoptosis were assessed to determine the optimum concentration of EEOD for invasion experiments, and two-dimensional (2D) migration and invasion abilities of U87 and U251 MG cells were evaluated using scratch wound and Transwell assays. The possible mechanism underlying the effects of EEOD on glioma was analyzed through a network pharmacology approach. RESULTS: Thirty-five compounds of EEOD were detected by UPLC-Q-TOF/MS. EEOD suppressed the viability of MG cells, promoted their apoptosis, and inhibited their migratory and invasive potentials (all P<0.05). Network pharmacology analysis showed that OD inhibited the invasion of MG cells by directly regulating MAPK and Wnt pathways through MAPK, EGFR, MYC, GSK3B, and other targets. The anti-invasion effect of OD was also found to be related to the indirect regulation of microtubule cytoskeleton organization. CONCLUSIONS ]EEOD could inhibit the invasion of human MG cells, and the anti-invasion mechanism of OD might be regulating MAPK and Wnt signaling pathways and microtubule cytoskeleton organization.