OBJECTIVETo investigate the relation of peripheral blood estradiol, progesterone and testosterone levels with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).

METHODSForty-eight patients with IBS identified according to Rome II diagnostic criteria and 30 healthy subjects as controls were analyzed for peripheral blood sex hormone levels by radioimmunoassay and corresponding software.

RESULTSIn male patients with IBS, blood testosterone level was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05), but blood estradiol and progesterone showed no significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05). In the female patients, blood estradiol level was significantly lower than that of the control group (P<0.05), whereas blood progesterone and testosterone levels had no significant differences between the two groups (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONPeripheral blood testosterone level in male IBS patients and estradiol level in female patients are lower than those of healthy subjects, suggesting that IBS might be associated with blood sex hormone disorder.

Adult ; Aged ; Estradiol ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Irritable Bowel Syndrome ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Progesterone ; blood ; Radioimmunoassay ; Testosterone ; blood

OBJECTIVETo investigate the correlation between dehydroepiandrosterone and arteriosclerosis in premenopausal and postmenopausal women.

METHODSForty premenopausal and 40 postmenopausal women were examined for serum concentrations of dehydroepiandrosterone and intima-media thickness of the carotid artery, and the serum concentrations of lipids, estrogen, endothelin, and E-selectin were also measured.

RESULTSCompared with premenopausal women, the mean intima-media thickness was increased but dehydroepiandrosterone and estrogen levels were decreased in postmenopausal women. A significant inverse correlation was detected between the intima-media thicknesses and dehydroepiandrosterone level. The postmenopausal women had decreased antioxidation and elevated low-density lipoprotein level.

CONCLUSIONArteriosclerosis is more likely to occur in women with low dehydroepiandrosterone level which causes decreased antioxidation and elevation of blood lipid levels.

Adult ; Arteriosclerosis ; blood ; Carotid Artery Diseases ; blood ; Dehydroepiandrosterone ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Lipids ; blood ; Middle Aged ; Postmenopause ; blood ; Premenopause ; blood

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effects of a novel tripeptide analog of arginine on isoproterenol (ISO), a beta-adrenergic receptor agonist, induced the change in concentration transient cytosolic free calcium in cultured neonatal rat cardiac myocytes (CMs).

METHODSThe expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was induced in cultured neonatal rat CMs by stimulation with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) for 24 h, and quantitatively measured using Western blotting. The CMs were incubated in the presence of the new arginine analog for 6 h and the changes of fluorescence signal of free calcium in response to isoproterenol (ISO) treatment were measured under laser scanning confocal microscope.

RESULTSIncubation of the CMs for 24 h in the presence of IL-6 and LPS resulted in significantly increased nitric oxide (NO) production, and also in increased iNOS protein accumulation in the cells. Specific inhibition of iNOS by the new arginine analog substantially inhibited NO production and increased the peak value of ISO-induced Ca2+ transient.

CONCLUSIONThe new arginine analog strongly inhibits IL-6 and LPS-induced NO production and increases beta-adrenergic responsiveness in cultured neonatal rat CMs.

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Arginine ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Calcium ; metabolism ; Cells, Cultured ; Isoproterenol ; pharmacology ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Oligopeptides ; pharmacology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo investigate the relation of the levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and antibodies against oxidized low-density lipoprotein (anti-oxLDL) to with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

METHODSThe levels of CRP, anti-oxLDL and anti-LDL were measured and compared in 96 subjects including 26 with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 29 with unstable angina pectoris (UAP), 20 with stable angina pectoris (SAP) and 21 control subjects to evaluate the relationship between CRP and anti-oxLDL.

RESULTSBoth CRP and anti-oxLDL levels in patients with ACS, including AMI and UAP, were significantly higher than those in SAP patients and the control subjects (P<0.05), but the level of anti-LDL showed no significant difference between the groups (P>0.05). There was significant positive correlation between the levels of CRP and anti-oxLDL (P<0.001).

CONCLUSIONThe specific immune response to oxLDL may play an important role in the instability of plaque and the occurrence of ACS, and anti-oxLDL level may serve as an important specific marker for the instability of plaque.

Aged ; Antibodies ; blood ; immunology ; Biomarkers ; blood ; metabolism ; C-Reactive Protein ; metabolism ; Case-Control Studies ; Coronary Disease ; blood ; complications ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Lipoproteins, LDL ; immunology ; Male ; Middle Aged

Objective To evaluate the effects and safety of policosanol combined with simvastatin on serum lipids and sex hormones in male patients with hyperlipidemia.Methods This randomized,singleblinded,placebo-controlled study included 120 male patients with hyperlipidemia.Patients were devided randomly into treatment group(n =60) and control group (n =60).Patients in the treatment group were administrated with simvastatin (40 mg/d) plus policosanol (20 mg/d),and those in the control group were treated with simvastatin (40 mg/d) plus placebo (20 mg/d).The values of total cholesterol (TC),triglyceride(TG),high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C),low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C),testosterone(T) and estradiol(E2) were assessed before and after 16 weeks treatment.Drug-induced adverse effects were observed.Results Baseline characteristics were similar between groups.TC,TG,LDL-C were(5.74 ± 0.99),(1.62 ± 0.69),(3.60 ± 0.56) mmol/L in the treatment group at baseline and significantly reduced after 16 weeks treatment (4.57 ± 0.58),(1.54 ± 0.55),(2.68 ± 0.38) mmol/L (all P ＜0.05).TC,LDL-C were(5.99 ± 0.93),(3.76 ± 0.42) mmol/L in the control group at baseline and significantly reduced after 16 weeks treatment(5.03 ± 0.59),(2.98 ± 0.28)mmol/L (all P ＜ 0.05) while TG remained unchanged post 16 weeks therapy in the control group.Simvastatin plus policosanol achieved a significantly greater reduction in LDL-C and TC than simvastatin plus placebo (P ＜ 0.05).HDL-C,T and E2 were similar before and after 16 weeks treatments in both groups(P ＞ 0.05).The adverse reactions were similar between the two groups,most of them were mild and happened at the beginning of drug therapy and could be well tolerated.Conclusion Simvastatin/policosanol produces greater decreases in TC,LDL-C than simvastatin/placebo without resulting more side effects and changes on sex hormones.

OBJECTIVETo determine whether testosterone modulates markers of cardiomyocytes aging via its classic androgen receptor (AR)-dependent pathway or conversion to estradiol.

METHODSMale littermates and testicular feminized (Tfm) mice were randomly separated into 4 experimental groups littermate controls (n=8), Tfm mice (n=7), testosterone-treated Tfm mice (n=8), and Tfm mice treated with testosterone in combination with the aromatase inhibitor anastrazole (n=7). Cardiomyocytes were isolated from mouse left ventricles, the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and the amount of malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured using colorimetry method, and expression of p16(INK4α) and retinoblastoma (Rb) proteins were detected by Western blotting.

RESULTSThe SOD and GSH-Px enzyme activities of cardiomyocytes were decreased, and the MDA levels and the expression of p16(INK4α) and Rb proteins were increased in Tfm mice compared with control mice. An increase was observed in the activities of SOD and GSH-Px enzyme as well as a decrease in MDA levels and the expression of p16(INK4α) and Rb proteins in the testosterone-treated Tfm mice. After co-treatment with anastrazole in Tfm mice, these improvement were partly inhibited.

CONCLUSIONPhysiological testosterone replacement can delay cardiomyocyte aging in Tfm mice, an effect that is independent of the AR pathway and in part conversion to estradiol.

Androgen-Insensitivity Syndrome ; metabolism ; Animals ; Cellular Senescence ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 ; analysis ; Female ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; physiology ; Receptors, Androgen ; physiology ; Superoxide Dismutase ; metabolism ; Testosterone ; physiology

OBJECTIVETo investigate the inhibitory effect of a tripeptide, a new arginine analog, on nitric oxide (NO) production and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS).

METHODSMacrophages challenged with lipopolysaccharide were cultured to test the inhibitory effect of the arginine analog of different concentrations on iNOS. Primarily cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) treated with insulin were used to test the effect of the analog on endothelial NOS (eNOS).

RESULTSThe new arginine analog significantly inhibited NO production in the macrophages in a dose-dependent manner, but had little effect on insulin-stimulated NO production in HUVECs. The new analog could significantly suppress iNOS activity, but had no significant inhibitory effect on constitutive NOS activity or eNOS activity. Western blot analysis showed that the new analog did not significantly affect the protein expression of iNOS.

CONCLUSIONThe new analog is a NOS inhibitor with high selectivity on iNOS.

Arginine ; analogs & derivatives ; pharmacology ; Blotting, Western ; Cell Line ; Cells, Cultured ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; drug effects ; enzymology ; Humans ; Insulin ; pharmacology ; Lipopolysaccharides ; pharmacology ; Macrophages ; drug effects ; enzymology ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II ; antagonists & inhibitors ; metabolism ; Oligopeptides ; chemistry ; pharmacology

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the effect of physiological doses of testosterone on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) deletion in the aortic vascular wall of castrated C57BL/6J mice.

METHODTwenty-four male C57BL/6J mice were randomized into normal control group (n=8), castrated+placebo group (castrated group, n=8), and castrated+physiological doses (1 mg/kg every 3 days) of testosterone group (n=8). The mice were fed normally for 3 months along with 8 mice with natural aging (18 months old), after which blood samples were obtained from all the groups for measurement of testosterone concentrations. The aortic mtDNA was extracted to analyze the deleted fragments using nested PCR, and fragments with deletions were purified and identified by sequence analysis.

RESULTSCompared with the normal control group, the castrated group showed a significantly higher optical density ratio of the deletions [(18.1713 ∓ 2.4317)% vs (36.8475 ∓ 3.3365)%], but no significant difference was found between the castrated and natural ageing group [(42.3075 ∓ 3.6556)%]. The castrated+testosterone showed a lowered optical density ratio of (23.6488 ∓ 2.7634)% as compared with the castrated and natural ageing group, but a similar one with the normal control group. Sequence analysis identified 4 different types of deletions in the aging aorta at 3713, 3864, 4236, and 4415 bp, and the presence of direct repeats was confirmed to flank the deletions.

CONCLUSIONSMultiple mtDNA deletions occur in ageing mice at a higher rate than in young mice. Testosterone deficiency is associated with increased aortic mtDNA deletions, which can be decreased by physiological doses of testosterone.

Aging ; drug effects ; Animals ; Aorta ; metabolism ; DNA, Mitochondrial ; genetics ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Gene Deletion ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Orchiectomy ; Random Allocation ; Testosterone ; pharmacology

To observe the effects of simvastatin on plasma superoxide dismutase (SOD), malonaldehyde (MDA) and 8-iso-prostaglandin F2α (8-iso-PGF2α) as well as uric acid (UA) and serum lipids in patients with stable angina. METHODS Eighty-five patients with stable angina were divided into 4 groups, including hyperlipemia treatment group (HLT), hyperlipemia control group (HLC), normolipemia treatment group (NLT), and normolipemia control group (NLC). All the patients received routine treatment according to the guideline of CHD treatment, and those in the treatment groups were given Simvastatin (40 mg) every night, whereas those in the control group received placebo for 3 months. Before and after the treatments, the levels of plasma 8-iso-PGF2α were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and the plasma levels of SOD and MDA were detected by colorimetric method. LDL, HDL, TC, TG, and UA were also measured biochemically. RESULTS Compared with the control group, both of the treatment groups showed significantly increased levels of SOD and decreased MDA, 8-iso-PGF2α, UA and plasma lipids after the treatments (P<0.05). CONCLUSION In patients with coronary heart disease, simvastatins can decrease plasma lipids, inhibit lipid peroxidations, and promote the clearance of free radicals, thereby alleviating the oxidative stress.
Aged ; Angina Pectoris ; blood ; drug therapy ; Dinoprost ; analogs & derivatives ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Malondialdehyde ; blood ; Middle Aged ; Simvastatin ; pharmacology ; therapeutic use ; Superoxide Dismutase ; blood

Objective To analyze the metrological verification parameters and methods for dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) to facilitate magnitude traceability.Methods DEXA's principle was discussed from the aspects of dual-energy X-ray absorption method and hardware structure.The method combining corresponding theory and specifications was used to describe the measurement accuracy and repeatability as well as the verification method and data processing for radiation protection performance parameters.Theoretical analysis was executed on corresponding parameters.Results Theoretical analysis was carried out on the metrological verification parameters of DEXA from the aspects of principle structure and measuring method.Conclusion It's of great significance for enhancing DEXA metrological verification to master the metrological verification parameters and methods.