ObjectiveTo observe the effect of Zhuluan decoction on the ovarian reserve function of rats with cyclophosphamide-induced premature ovarian insufficiency， and explore the protective mechanism of Zhuluan decoction in the rat model of premature ovarian insufficiency based on the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinases/protein kinase B/mammalian target of rapamycin （PI3K/Akt/mTOR） signaling pathway. MethodSixty female SD rats were randomly divided into normal group （n=10） and model group （n=50）. The model group was given intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide （50 mg·kg^-1 loading dose on the 1^st day+8 mg·kg^-1 low-dose maintenance on the 2^nd–15^th days）. After successfully modeling， the rats were randomly divided into model group， positive drug （progynova） group （0.1 mg·kg^-1·d^-1）， and low-， medium-， and high-dose Zhuluan decoction groups （14， 28， 56 g·kg^-1·d^-1 ）， with 10 rats in each group. The model group and the normal group were given equal volume of distilled water by gavage， once a day， continuous administration for 21 d. The estrous cycle and body weight of rats in each group were detected， and the ovarian organ index and uterine organ index were calculated. The ovarian tissue pathology and ovarian follicle counts at all levels were determined by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining. The content of the serum antimullerian hormone （AMH）， follicle-stimulating hormone （FSH）， luteinizing hormone （LH）， and inhibin-B （INH-B） of rats was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）， and the protein expression levels of PI3K， Akt， mTOR in the rat ovarian tissue were determined by Western blot. The microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3B （LC3B） protein expression in the rat ovarian tissue was determined by immunohistochemistry. ResultAs compared with the blank group， the estrous cycle of rats in the model group was disordered， the body weight， ovarian organ index， and uterine organ index decreased， the number of primordial follicles decreased， and the number of secondary follicles and atretic follicles increased. In the model group， FSH increased （P<0.01）， LH increased （P<0.05）， AMH level decreased （P<0.05）， the protein expression levels of PI3K， Akt， and mTOR in the ovarian tissue decreased （P<0.01）， and the protein expression level of LC3B increased significantly （P<0.01）. As compared with the model group， the above indexes were improved in the progynova group and different doses of Zhuluan decoction groups， the content of AMH increased （P<0.05）， and FSH decreased （P<0.05）. In the progynova group and different doses of Zhuluan decoction groups， the protein expression level of LC3B decreased obviously （P<0.01）， and the protein expression levels of PI3K， Akt， and mTOR all showed an increasing trend. Moreover， there was a statistically significant difference in the progynova group and low- and medium-dose Zhuluan decoction groups （P<0.05）. ConclusionZhuluan decoction may inhibit the occurrence of excessive autophagy in ovarian granulosa cells by activating the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway， thereby reversing the effect of modeling on ovarian reserve in rats.

ObjectiveTo study the protective effect of Shoutaiwan-containing serum on the human chorionic trophoblast cells （HTR-8/Svneo） exposed to hydrogen peroxide （H₂O₂） via the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 （Nrf2） signaling pathway and to decipher the underlying mechanism. MethodThe H₂O₂ solutions of 25， 50， 100， 200， 400 μmol·L^-1 were used to treated the HTR-8/Svneo cells. The cell counting kit-8 （CCK-8） was employed to measure the proliferation of the cells and further determine the optimal concentration of H₂O₂ solution for modeling and the drug-containing serum. The cells were divided into a blank group， a model group， a dydrogesterone group， and a Shoutaiwan group. The effect of drug-containing serum on H₂O₂-induced proliferation of HTR-8/Svneo cells was detected by CCK-8 assay. The intracellular reactive oxygen species （ROS） in each group was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Western blot was employed to determine the protein levels of Nrf2， heme oxygenase-1 （HO-1）， quinone oxidoreductase 1 （NQO1）， cysteine-containing aspartate-specific protease-3 （Caspase-3）， and B cell lymphoma/leukemia-2 （Bcl-2）. Cellular immunofluorescence was employed to detect the expression of Nrf2 and Bcl-2. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） was carried out to examine the mRNA level of Nrf2， Caspase-3， and Bcl-2 associated X protein （Bax）. ResultThe optimal concentration of H₂O₂ for modeling was 50 μmol·L^-1， and the optimal concentration of drug-containing serum was 10%. Compared with the blank group， the modeling decreased the proliferation of cells （P<0.01）， increased the intracellular ROS （P<0.01）， down-regulated the protein levels of Nrf2， HO-1， NQO1， and Bcl-2 （P<0.05， P<0.01）， up-regulated the protein levels of Caspase-3 and Bax （P<0.01）， down-regulated the mRNA level of Nrf2 （P<0.01）， and up-regulated the mRNA levels of Caspase-3 and Bax （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， Shoutaiwan-containing serum increased the proliferation of cells （P<0.01）， reduced the intracellular ROS （P<0.01）， up-regulated the protein levels of Nrf2， HO-1， NQO1， and Bcl-2 （P<0.01）， down-regulated the protein levels of Caspase-3 and Bax （P<0.05， P<0.01）， up-regulated the mRNA level of Nrf2 （P<0.05）， and down-regulated the mRNA levels of Caspase-3 and Bax （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionShoutaiwan-containing serum can inhibit H₂O₂-induced apoptosis by activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway and has protective effect on human chorionic trophoblast cells.