OBJECTIVEThis study was to investigate the effect of pioglitazone on apoptotic cardiomyocytes with the model of ischemia-reperfusion at rat heart in vivo.

METHODSSprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups. One was 30 min reperfusion group, which was subdivided into sham (n = 5), model (vehicle, n = 6) and pioglitazone 3 mg/kg (n = 7) with 30 min ischemia followed by 30 min reperfusion to detect the area of myocardial infarction (MI). Another was 2 h reperfusion group, which was further subdivided into sham (n = 5), model (vehicle, n = 6), and pioglitazone 0.3 mg/kg (n = 6), 1 mg/kg (n = 7) and 3 mg/kg (n = 6). Apart from the sham, pioglitazone and vehicle were administered intravenously 30 min before occlusion. Then hearts were excised, paraffined and cut into 4 microm thick. Immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, TUNEL and DNA agarose gel electrophoresis were performed to detect the expression of Bax, Bcl-2, Caspase-3 and PPARgamma protein and PPARgamma mRNA.

RESULTS(1) Compared with model, nec/aar of pioglitazone decreased by 28% (P < 0.01). The nec/lv ratio reduced by 32% (P < 0.01). (2) In a dose-dependent manner, the expressions of Bax and Caspase-3 were depressed, while the expression of Bcl-2, PPARgamma protein and PPARgamma mRNA were enhanced by pioglitazone. (3) The apoptotic index of subgroups injected pioglitazone reduced significantly by TUNEL compared with model (P < 0.05). Agarose gel electrophoresis demonstrated that DNA ladder existed in model, pioglitazone 0.3 mg/kg and pioglitazone 1 mg/kg, but not pioglitazone 3 mg/kg.

CONCLUSIONSPioglitazone could protect the heart from I/R injury evidenced by the improvement in the expression of PPARgamma at the levels of protein and mRNA after pioglitazone administrated, and by the decrease in the apoptotic cardiomyocytes.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Male ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; metabolism ; Myocardium ; metabolism ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; cytology ; drug effects ; metabolism ; PPAR gamma ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Thiazolidinediones ; pharmacology

Objective To investigate the expression feature of peroxiredoxin Ⅲ in cervical lesions and to further understand the mechanism for cervical cancer development/progression.Methods Expression of peroxiredoxin Ⅲ was immunohistochemically detected in cervical cancer.In addition.cervical epithelia were transfected with recombinant adeno-associated virus vector containing human papillomavirus 16 E6/E7 and pemxiredoxin Ⅲ expression was detected by quantitative real time PCR and Westem blotting.Results Peroxiredoxin Ⅲ was significantly up-regulated in cervical cancer tissues.Nevertheless,expression of peroxiredoxin Ⅲ remained unchanged in cervical epitllelial cells after transfection.Conclusion It seems that Prx Ⅲ is not related to cervical cancer initiation. Up-regulation of peroxiredoxin Ⅲ in cervical cancer might be an active response to oxidative stress in malignant cells,which protects against oxidatiton-induced apoptosis.

This study was intended to evaluate the effects of hypoxic exposure on gene expression and coordination of cytochrome oxidase (COX) subunits I (COX I) and IV (COX IV) encoded by mtDNA and nDNA respectively in rat cerebral cortex. Male Wistar rats were exposed to hypoxia in a hypobaric chamber simulating high altitude at 5000 m for 2, 5, 15 and 30 d. Control rats were fed outside the hypobaric chamber (the height was 300 m above sea level). Rats were sacrificed and mitochondria from cerebral cortex were isolated by differential centrifugation at each time point. COX I and COX IV proteins in isolated rat cerebral cortex mitochondria were detected by Western blot analysis and mRNA in the cerebral cortex by RT-PCR. The ratios of protein and mRNA were used to estimate the coordinative expression of two subunits. The results showed that COX I mRNA increased significantly at 2 and 5 d, and decreased to the control level at 15 and 30 d; COX IV mRNA remarkably increased at 2, 5 and 15 d, and dropped below the control level at 30 d. The mRNA ratio of COX IV to COX I reached a peak at 15 d, but showed no differences between other time points. The Western blot analysis of COX I and COX IV in isolated rat cerebral cortex mitochondria showed no obvious changes during hypoxic exposure. Our findings demonstrate that hypoxia can affect mRNA expression of COX I and COX IV and their coordination, while protein expression of both subunits are stable and coordinative. This study suggests that the expression of COX I and COX IV proteins during hypoxic exposure is coordinately regulated by post-transcriptional mechanisms.
Animals ; Cerebral Cortex ; metabolism ; Electron Transport Complex IV ; metabolism ; Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic ; Hypoxia ; metabolism ; Male ; Mitochondria ; metabolism ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

OBJECTIVETo study the difference and similarity between Hans and Uighurs in regard to Rhesus box and its significance.

METHODSThe sequence specific primers of upstream, downstream and hybrid Rhesus boxes were designed on the basis of RHD gene sequence. The upstream, downstream and hybrid Rhesus boxes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-sequence specific primer(PCP-SSP) and mismatched PCR.

RESULTSThe percentage of RHD-/RHD-, RHD+/RHD- and RHD+/RHD+ genotypes ascertained in the unrelated Hans with RhD(-) were 61.40%, 34.21% and 4.39% respectively, while those in the unrelated Chinese Uighurs with RhD(-) were 94.44%, 2.78% and 2.78% respectively. Furthermore, all 6 cases of some other minorities were RHD-/RHD- types. The percentage of RHD-/RHD- and RHD+/RHD- genotypes ascertained in the unrelated Chinese Uighurs were significantly higher than those in Chinese Hans (P < 0.01), whereas no statistically significant difference in the percentage of RHD+/RDH+ genotype between the two groups was observed (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe Rh blood group of Uighurs in Xingjiang possesses both Oriental and Caucasian characteristics, which embodies a special ethnical aspect of the Chinese nation and is in accord with the anthropologic research results.

China ; Genetics, Population ; Genotype ; Humans ; Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Rh-Hr Blood-Group System ; genetics

Objective:To investigate the prognostic value of serum free triiodothyronine (FT3) in patients with hepatitis E-related acute liver failure (HEV-ALF).Methods:Clinical data of 88 patients with HEV-ALF and 86 patients with acute hepatitis E (AHE) were collected from the member hospitals of Chinese Consortium for the Study of Hepatitis E between January 2016 and December 2021; the data of 100 health subjects who underwent health check-up in Suzhou Municipal Hospital were also collected as healthy control (HC) group. Serum FT3 levels were analyzed in all subjects. HEV-ALF patients were divided into survival group ( n=73) and death group ( n=15) according to their 30 day survival. Correlation between serum FT3 level and prognosis of HEV-ALF patients were analyzed by Cox regression and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and decision curve analysis (DCA) were used to assess the predictive value of serum FT3 levels for predicting the prognosis of patients, and its prediction efficacy was compared with conventional Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD), King’s College Hospital criteria (KCH) and Child-Pugh models. Results:The levels of serum FT3 in HEV-ALF patients were significantly lower than those in AHE patients and HC group ( P=0.006 or <0.001). Cox regression analysis showed that international standardized ratio ( HR=17.984, 95% CI 2.804-115.362), hepatic encephalopathy ( HR=12.895, 95% CI 2.386-69.695) and total cholesterol ( HR=2.448, 95% CI 1.108-5.409) were independent risk factors for death in HEV-ALF patients, and serum FT3 level ( HR=0.323, 95% CI 0.119-0.876) was a protective factor. OPLS-DA results showed serum FT3 levels had high predictive value. ROC curve analysis results showed that the area under the curve was 0.828 (95% CI 0.733-0.900, P<0.001), the sensitivity was 80.00%, and the specificity was 78.08%. DCA showed that FT3 has good prediction ability and decision-making level serum FT3 levels in patients with improvement and fluctuation were significantly higher than those in the patients with deterioration ( P<0.05 or <0.01). Conclusion:Serum FT3 levels are closely related to the prognosis of HEV-ALF patients and it may be used as a biomarker for the prognosis of patients with HEV-ALF.

The incidence of depression after myocardial infarction (DAMI) is high, causing significant harm to the patients' physical and mental health, but the pathogenesis is unknown. Establishing animal models which simulate the pathogenesis of DAMI in humans is an effective way to explore the mechanism of the disease. In this paper, problems existing in the modeling process, such as animal selection, model selection, model preparation and behavioral evaluation, are summarized and considered in order to provide reference for DAMI model research.

Objective To investigate the prevalence of tension-type headache(TTH)in children and adolescents aged 0-19 years globally in 1990-2021,and to provide a basis for the prevention and treatment of TTH.Methods Based on the Global Burden of Disease Study data,the age-standardized prevalence distribution of TTH and its changing trend were analyzed among the children and adolescents aged 0-19 years,with different sexes,age groups,sociodemographic index(SDI)regions and countries/territories.Results The age-standardized prevalence rate(ASPR)of TTH in children and adolescents aged 0-19 globally in 2021 was 17 339.89/100 000,which was increased by 1.73%since 1990.The ASPR in females was slightly higher than that in males(1990:17 707.65/100 000 vs 16 403.78/100 000;2021:17 946.29/100 000 vs 16 763.09/100 000).The ASPR in adolescence was significantly higher than that in school-aged and preschool periods(1990:27 672.04/100 000 vs 10 134.16/100 000;2021:28 239.04/100 000 vs 10 059.39/100 000).Regions with high SDI exhibited a higher ASPR than the other regions,with significant differences in prevalence rates across different countries.From 1990 to 2021,there was a slight increase in global ASPR,with an average annual percentage change(AAPC)of 0.06%.Females experienced a smaller increase than males based on AAPC(0.04%vs 0.07%).There was reduction in ASPR in preschool and school-aged groups,with an AAPC of-0.02%,while there was a significant increase in ASPR in adolescence,with an AAPC of 0.07%.ASPR decreased in regions with low-middle and low levels of SDI,with an AAPC of-0.02%and-0.04%,respectively,while it increased in regions with middle SDI,with an AAPC of 0.24%.Conclusions There is a consistent increase in the ASPR of TTH in children and adolescents aged 0-19 years globally,with significant differences across sexes,age groups,SDI regions and countries/territories.

We investigated the impact and predictive value of bladder function in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) on the efficacy of transurethral prostatectomy. Symptomatic, imaging, and urodynamic data of patients who underwent transurethral prostatectomy at West China Hospital of Sichuan University (Chengdu, China) from July 2019 to December 2021 were collected. Follow-up data included the quality of life (QoL), International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), and IPSS storage and voiding (IPSS-s and IPSS-v). Moreover, urinary creatinine (Cr), nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and prostaglandin estradiol (PGE2) were measured in 30 patients with BPH and 30 healthy participants. Perioperative indicators were determined by subgroup analyses and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Among the 313 patients with BPH included, patients with severe micturition problems had more improvements but higher micturition grades postoperatively than those with moderate symptoms. Similarly, good bladder sensation, compliance, and detrusor contractility (DC) were predictors of low postoperative IPSS and QoL. The urinary concentrations of BDNF/Cr, NGF/Cr, and PGE2/Cr in patients were significantly higher than those in healthy participants (all P < 0.001). After evaluation, only DC was significantly related to both urinary indicators and postoperative recovery of patients. Patients with good DC, as predicted by urinary indicators, had lower IPSS and IPSS-v than those with reduced DC at the 1st month postoperatively (both P < 0.05). In summary, patients with impaired bladder function had poor recovery. The combined levels of urinary BDNF/Cr, NGF/Cr, and PGE2/Cr in patients with BPH may be valid predictors of preoperative bladder function and postoperative recovery.

italic>Lonicera Linn. is the largest genus of family Caprifoliaceae, which has a long history and abundant resources in China. Due to its ornamental and medicinal properties, the species of Lonicera shows outstanding economic value. However, affected by the huge demand and high price stimulation, there is a serious mixing phenomenon on the market. In this study, high-throughput sequencing technology was used to analyze the analysis of L. angustifolia Wallich ex Candolle var. myrtillus (Hook. f. & Thomson) Q. E. Yang, L. myrtillus Hook. f. et Thoms. var. cyclophylla Rehd, L. szechuanica Batal and L. tangutica Maxim to sequence and assemble their chloroplast (CP) genomes, and to conduct structural comparisons and phylogenetic studies. The results showed that the chloroplast genomes of the four species showed a typical circular tetrad structure, with a total length of 154 608-163 413 bp and a total GC content of 37.93%-38.42%. A total of 128-129 genes were annotated, including 83-84 protein-coding genes, 8 rRNA genes, and 37 tRNA genes. A total of 53-68 SSRs and 133-745 long repeats were detected by chloroplast repeat structure analysis. Phylogenetic studies showed that 21 species of Lonicera medicinal plants could be significantly clustered into one branch, among which the relatives of L. angustifolia and L. szechuanica were close, and the kinship of L. myrtillus and L. tangutica was close. This study is the first comprehensive study of the chloroplast genome and phylogenetic relationship of Loicera species, and the experimental results provide a scientific basis for revealing the genetic information, species evolution and genetic diversity of Lonicera species.

【Objective】 To investigate the influence of dyslipidemia during pregnancy on postpartum glucose and lipid metabolism in gestational diabetes mellitus(GDM) patients. 【Methods】 A total of 416 GDM women were recruited. They were followed up and completed postpartum reexamination. According to the specific normal reference value of pregnant lipid level, those GDM women were divided into two groups: normal lipid group(n = 82) and dyslipidemia group (n = 334) .The general demographic data of 4-12 weeks after delivery were collected. OGTT, insulin and lipids level were measured, and the differences of postpartum glucose and lipid metabolism parameters between the two groups were compared. 【Results】 The abnormal rate of glucose metabolism in the early postpartum period of GDM women was 38.5%, and the incidence of dyslipidemia was 34.4%. The levels of postpartum TC, TG and LDL-c in the dyslipidemia group during pregnancy were significantly higher than those in the group with normal blood lipid during pregnancy, and the proportion of postpartum dyslipidemia in patients with high TG and high LDL-c during pregnancy was significantly higher. Correlation analysis showed that TG and HDL-c during pregnancy were positively correlated and negatively correlated with postpartum fasting blood glucose and HOMA-IR, respectively. 【Conclusion】 The dyslipidemia during pregnancy in patients with GDM is related to the disorder of glucose and lipid metabolism in the early postpartum period.