Objective To study the effect of artemether (Art) on total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) in adult Schistosoma japonicum. Methods In vitro, the T-AOC was determined in five-week old worms incubated without or with Art and/or hemin for 24 h, and the worms were continuously incubated for 96 h, then worm survival was assessed. In vivo, T-AOC was determined in worms freshly recovered from mice 6 - 24 h after treatment with Art 300 mg/kg. Results Throughout 96 h incubation no worms were killed by 50 μmol/L Art or 50 μmol/L hemin alone, but approximatdy 80% of them were killed by Art plus hemin. Addition of reduced glutathione and vitamin E could significantly block the cidal action of the combined treatment. No effect on T-AOC was seen in the worms exposed to Art or heroin alone for 24 h, but the combined treatment led to a pronounced T-AOC reduction in female worms in vitro. Such a drug effect on female worms was demonstrated in vivo. After female worms were exposed to Art for 6 - 24 h in vivo, their T-AOC was significantly reduced by 40% - 64%. However, no drug effect on male worms' T-AOC was observed in vivo and in vitro exposed to Art plus hemin. Conclusion Art-induced T-AOC reduction in female worms may sensitize them to lethal damages of endogenous and exogenous oxygen radicals.

OBJECTIVE To explore the changes of brain white matter of the patients with obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome(OSAHS)with magnetic resonance diffusional kurtosis imaing(DKI).METHODS There were 38 patients with OSAHS examined by polysomnogram(PSG)from November 2017 to June 2021,and 32 non-OSAHS controls matched in gender and age who were included in this study.All the subjects were scanned by DKI.The different encephalic regions through comparing kurtosis fractional anisotropy(KFA)values of all encephalic regions between the two groups were found,and the relationship between the KFA values of the different encephalic regions in OSAHS patients and the apnea-hypopnea index(AHI),lowest saturation oxygen(LSaO2)and the percent of the total record time spent below 90%oxygen saturation(TS90%)in PSG were analyzed.RESULTS The KFA values of white matter fiber tracts in corpus callosum,bilateral corona radiata,cingulate gyrus,right superior cerebellar peduncle and inferior cerebellar peduncle of OSAHS group were obviously lower than control group(P<0.05).After controlling for age and body mass index(BMI),the partial correlation between AHI and the KFA values of corpus callosum,left posterior corona radiata,right anterior corona radiata,cingulate gyrus in OSAHS group were also negative(r=-0.344,-0.380,-0.406,-0.53,P<0.05).The partial correlation between LSaO2 and the KFA values of corpus callosum,left posterior corona radiata,right anterior corona radiata,cingulate gyrus,right superior cerebellar peduncle in OSAHS group were also positive(r=0.366,0.406,0.446,0.404,0.342,P<0.05).The partial correlation between TS90%and the KFA values of corpus callosum,left posterior corona radiata,right anterior corona radiata,cingulate gyrus,right superior cerebellar peduncle and inferior cerebellar peduncle in OSAHS group were also negative(r=-0.414,-0.352,-0.355,-0.336,-0.456,-0.360,P<0.05).CONCLUSION Recurrent apnea and hypoxemia at night of OSAHS patients can cause damage to white matter fibers in parts of encephalic regions.

The effect of altering the promoter region of ubiquitous chromatin-opening element (UCOE) and matrix attachment region (MAR) on stable and efficient expression of genes was investigated. Four different promoters were tested, namely, oct4 containing an enhancer region, sox2 having a CpG island, nanog having no regulatory elements, and CMV containing a CpG island and an enhancer region. Eight reporter plasmids were constructed: pOCT4-UCOE, pOCT4-MAR, pSOX2-UCOE, pSOX2-MAR, pNANOG-UCOE, pNANOG-MAR, pCMV-UCOE, and pCMV-MAR. Stable and efficient expression was observed when UCOE combined with the oct4 promoter, whereas the sox2 was the best promoter suited for MAR. Comparison of the stable clones of oct4-UCOE and sox2-MAR showed that UCOE-regulated expression is more stable and efficient than MAR-regulated expression. When CpG island-containing promoter is linked with UCOE, stable and efficient expression could be observed. These data suggest that an enhancer region in the promoter leads to high, yet unstable expression when combined with UCOE, whereas CpG islands stabilize expression. In conclusion, UCOE and MAR interact with regulatory elements on the promoter by altering the chromatin open state and chromatin loop to regulate gene expression.
Chromatin/genetics* ; CpG Islands/genetics* ; Gene Expression ; Gene Expression Regulation ; Promoter Regions, Genetic/genetics*