OBJECTIVETo investigate the incidence of depression and its etiological factors in patients with cryptorchidism 6-16 years after surgical treatment.

METHODSUsing Self-Rating Depression Scale and Correlation Factor Questionnaire, we investigated the incidence of depression symptoms among 70 patients with cryptorchidism 6-16 years after surgical treatment and another 70 healthy males as controls, and analyzed the related factors of depression symptoms.

RESULTSThe incidence rate of depression symptoms was 50% in the cryptorchidism patients postoperatively, extremely significantly higher than 4.3% in the control group (χ2 = 23.5, P <0.01). Multiple stepwise regression analysis showed that the main risk factors of depression symptoms were worries about natural fertility (F = 15.8992, P <0.01), dissatisfaction with scrotal appearance (F = 4.6003, P <0.05), and the status of being married (F = 4.1002, P <0.05).

CONCLUSIONSymptoms of depression often occur in cryptorchidism patients after operation, and the major etiological factors are infertility, dissatisfaction with scrotal appearance, and the status of being married.

Adult ; Body Image ; psychology ; Case-Control Studies ; Cryptorchidism ; psychology ; surgery ; Depression ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Infertility, Male ; psychology ; Male ; Marital Status ; Multivariate Analysis ; Risk Factors ; Scrotum ; pathology ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Time Factors

Adult ; Brain Abscess ; Cholesteatoma ; surgery ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Maxillary Sinus ; surgery

Adenoma, Pleomorphic ; surgery ; Humans ; Trachea ; Tracheal Neoplasms ; surgery ; Tracheotomy

Objective: To study the alleviation of curcumin analog WZ35 on type 1 diabetic nephropathy (DN). Methods: Mice were treated with a single ip injection of streptozocin (STZ) to induce type 1 diabetes, while the control animals received the same volume of citrate buffer. The curcumin and its analog WZ35 (20 mg/kg) were ig administration for 9 weeks after the diabete obtained. The body weight and blood glucose were monitored every 7 d. Biochemistry analyzer was used to analyze the creatinine (Cr) and urea nitrogen (BUN) levels in serum. The histopathology of kidney tissue was detected by HE staining. RT-qPCR assay was used to evaluate the gene levels of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. CD68 staining was used to evaluate the macrophages infiltration in kidney tissue. Results: Compared with negative control, the mice in diabetic group showed the reduced body weight, increased blood glucose, high Cr and BUN levels in serum, renal pathological damage, and increased inflammatory gene, and macrophages infiltration in kidney. While the administration with curcumin and its analog WZ35 could obviously attenuate the DN through inhibiting Cr and BUN in serum while had no effect on the body weight and blood glucose. Compared with curcumin, WZ35 could inhibit the gene expression of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines as well as infiltration of macrophages. Conclusion: The curcumin analog could attenuate DN through inhibiting inflammatory response.

A simple model organism Caenorhabditis elegans has contributed substantially to the fundamental researches in biology. In an era of functional genomics, nematode worm has been developed into a multi-purpose tool that can be exploited to identify disease-causing or disease-associated genes, validate potential drug targets. This, coupled with its genetic amenability, low cost experimental manipulation and compatibility with high throughput screening in an intact physiological condition, makes the model organism into an effective toolbox for drug discovery. This review shows the unique features of C. elegans, how it can play a valuable role in our understanding of the molecular mechanism of human diseases and finding drug leads in drug development process.
Animals ; Caenorhabditis elegans ; Drug Discovery ; Drug Evaluation, Preclinical

OBJECTIVETo explore the protective effect of electroacupuncture (EA) pretreatment on ovarian function in rats with ovulation induction.

METHODSThirty SD female rats were numbered according to random number table. According to vaginal smear method, rats of estrus were divided into a normal group (10 rats) and cohabitated with male SD rats with the proportion of 1:1. With computer-generated random number, the remaining rats were divided into a model group and an EA group, 10 rats in each one. The model of superovulation was established with pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) and human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in the model group and EA group. Before model establishment and cohabitation, rats in the EA group were treated with EA at "Guanyuan (CV 4)" and "Sanyinjiao (SP 6)", once for 15 min, for consecutive 7 days. Rats in the normal group and model group received no further treatment. The third day 23:00 pm after cohabitation, blood samples in three groups were collected to test the level of estradiol (E₂) and progesterone (P). After the rats were sacrificed, the HE staining method was applied to observe the morphological changes of ovarian tissue; the immunohistochemical method was applied to measure the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor VEGFR-2; the real-time quantitative PCR technique was applied to measure the gene expression of VEGF and VEGFR-2.

RESULTSThe number of ovarian follicle in the EA group was higher than that in the model group and normal group (all P < 0.05); the ratio of corpus luteum size to ovarian size in the EA group was lower than that in the model group (P < 0.01). The ratio of plasma estradiol to progesterone in the EA group tended to be normal group (P < 0.05) and lower than that in the model group (P < 0.01). The protein expression of VEGF and VEGFR-2 in lutein granulosa cell and follicular fluid in the EA group was lower than that in the model group (P < 0.05); gene level of VEGF and VEGFR-2 in ovarian tissue in the EA group was lower than that in the model group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONEA pretreatment has certain protective effect on ovarian function in rats with ovulation induction, which is likely to be related to regulation of VEGF and its receptor.

Acupuncture Points ; Animals ; Chorionic Gonadotropin ; blood ; Electroacupuncture ; Estradiol ; blood ; Female ; Male ; Ovary ; physiology ; Ovulation Induction ; Pregnancy ; Progesterone ; blood ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; genetics ; metabolism

Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive ; surgery ; Tongue ; surgery ; Uvula ; surgery

Head ; surgery ; Humans ; Neck ; surgery ; United States

Lycii Cortex, a popular herb medicine in traditional Chinese medicine, is used to treat different inflammation-related diseases. The aim of our work is to find the key constituents inhibiting NF-kappaB, a key regulator of inflammation. In the investigations of cell-based in vitro assays of extracts, we found that both ethyl acetate extract and methanol extract of Lycii Cortex inhibited the TNF-alpha-induced activation of NF-kappaB. Through bioassay-guided fractionation, we identified 4 phenolic amides including trans-N-(p-coumaroyl) tyramine (1), trans-N-feruloyltyramine (2), trans-N-caffeoyltyramine (3), and dihydro-N-caffeoyltyramine (4). Four phenolic amides showed differently inhibitory activities on TNF-alpha-induced NF-kappaB activation. Trans-N-caffeoyltyramine (3) was identified as the key component with an IC50 of 18.41 micromol x L(-1). It was suggested that the hydroxyl group at C-3 in trans-N-caffeoyltyramine might be a key binding site and its C-7,8-double bond might play an important role on NF-kappaB inhibitory activities as the link of the conjugation of pi electrons leading to a partial planar conformation. It might be inferred that the biological activity of compound 3 is attributed to the structure of Michael reaction acceptor containing alpha, beta-unsaturated ketones and benzene along with hydroxyl group in o-diphenol.
Biological Assay ; Cell Line ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Humans ; Inflammation Mediators ; antagonists & inhibitors ; immunology ; Lycium ; chemistry ; Molecular Structure ; NF-kappa B ; antagonists & inhibitors ; immunology

Objective To investigate the effects of Shenfu injection ( SF,a Chinese herbal medicine preparation made of Codonopsis pilosula and Aconitum carmichaeli) on the cell apoptosis of focal cerebral ischemic-reperfusion injured rats and the expression of heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1). Methods Forty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats used for producing unilateral brain ischemia reperfusion model were randomly divided into three groups:sham operation group ( Sham group),ischemia reperfusion group ( IR group),and SF Injection group (SF group).The model of focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury was induced by transient occlusion of middle cerebral artery (ischemia for 2 h,and reperfusion for 3,6 h respectively).In SF group,SF ( 10 mg/kg) was intraperitoneally injected duri(n)g reperfusion.Cell apoptosis rate in brain tissue was detected by the technique of Annexin-V-PI double staining and was counted in flow cytometer.Expression of HO-1 in brain was measured by RT-PCR,while the pathological and ultra structure changes of cerebral tissue were also observed.Results Cell apoptosis rate of brain tissue were significantly higher in IR group than that in Sham group (P ＜0.01 ),while SF group had less significant changes in cell apoptosis rate, HO-1 level of brain tissue than IR group (P ＜ O.01 ).The ultra structure change of brain tissue was less in SF group than that in IR group.Conclusions During early stage of brain IR injury,SF inhibits cellular apoptosis and in turn protects the brain from injury which is attributed to the increase in HO-1 expression induced by SF.