ObjectiveFor prepubertal and urgently treated malignant tumor patients, ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation represent more appropriate fertility preservation methods. Current clinical practices often involve freezing ovarian tissue with high concentrations of cryoprotectants (CPAs) and thawing with water baths. These processes lead to varying degrees of toxicity and devitrification damage to ovarian tissue. Therefore, this paper proposes optimized methods for vitrification of ovarian tissues based on sodium alginate hydrogel encapsulation and magnetic induction nanowarming technology. MethodsFirstly, the study investigated the effects of sodium alginate concentration, the sequence of hydrogel encapsulation and CPAs loading on vitrification efficiency of encapsulated ovarian tissue. Additionally, the capability of sodium alginate hydrogel encapsulation to reduce the required concentration of CPAs was validated. Secondly, a platform combining water bath and magnetic induction nanowarming was established to rewarm ovarian tissue under various concentrations of magnetic nanoparticles and magnetic field strengths. The post-warming follicle survival rate, antioxidant capacity, and ovarian tissue integrity were evaluated to assess the efficacy of the method. ResultsThe study found that ovarian tissue encapsulated with 2% sodium alginate hydrogel exhibited the highest follicle survival rate after vitrification. The method of loading CPAs prior to encapsulation proved more suitable for ovarian tissue cryopreservation, effectively reducing the required concentration of CPAs by 50%. A combination of 8 g/L Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles and an alternating magnetic field of 300 Gs showed optimal warming effectiveness for ovarian tissue. Combining water bath rewarming with magnetic induction nanowarming yielded the highest follicle survival rate, enhanced antioxidant capacity, and preserved tissue morphology. ConclusionSodium alginate hydrogel encapsulation of ovarian tissue reduces the concentration of CPAs required during the freezing process. The combination of magnetic induction nanowarming with water bath provides an efficient method ovarian tissue rewarming. This study offers novel approaches to optimize ovarian tissues vitrification.

OBJECTIVE: Glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis (GIOP) is a common complication of prolonged glucocorticoid therapy. Chlorogenic acid (CGA), a polyphenol with antioxidant properties that is extracted from traditional Chinese medicines such as Eucommiae Cortex, has potential anti-osteoporotic activity. This study aimed to investigate the possible effects of CGA on GIOP in mice and murine long bone osteocyte Y4 (MLO-Y4) cells and explore the underlying molecular mechanisms. METHODS: The protective effects of CGA were initially evaluated in the GIOP mouse model induced by dexamethasone (Dex). The micro-computed tomography, hematoxylin-eosin staining, silver nitrate staining, and serum detection were used to assess the efficacy of CGA for improving bone formation in vivo. Then, network pharmacology analysis was used to predict the potential targets and molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic efficacy of CGA against GIOP. After that, 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate staining, flow cytometry, real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and Western blotting were used to verify the mechanisms of CGA against GIOP in vitro. RESULTS: Animal experiments showed that CGA treatment effectively attenuated Dex-induced decreases in bone mass and strength and improved disrupted osteocyte morphology in mice. The protein-protein interaction analysis highlighted erb-b2 receptor tyrosine kinase (ERBB2), which is also known as human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), caspase-3, kinase insert domain receptor, matrix metallopeptidase 9, matrix metallopeptidase 2, proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Src, and epidermal growth factor receptor as core targets. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis revealed several significantly enriched pathways (P < 0.05), including the ERBB, phosphoinositide 3 kinase-AKT serine/threonine kinase 1 (AKT), and mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase (mTOR) pathways. Cellular experiments verified that CGA enhanced bone formation and promoted autophagy while inhibiting apoptosis in MLO-Y4 cells exposed to Dex, which was associated with the upregulated expression of HER2 and activation of the HER2/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. CONCLUSION CGA exerted anti-osteoporotic effects against GIOP, partially through targeting osteocytes and modulating the HER2/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. Please cite this article as: Xie AN, Zhang SZY, Zhang Y, Cao JL, Wang CL, Wang LB, Wu HJ, Zhang J, Dai WW. Chlorogenic acid mitigates glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis via modulation of HER2/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(6):670-682.
Animals ; Chlorogenic Acid/therapeutic use* ; Osteoporosis/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction/drug effects* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Mice ; Glucocorticoids/adverse effects* ; Receptor, ErbB-2/metabolism* ; Proto-Oncogene Mas ; Dexamethasone/adverse effects* ; Osteocytes/drug effects* ; Osteogenesis/drug effects* ; Male ; Cell Line ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Humans

OBJECTIVE: To explore and quantify the association of hot night exposure during the sperm development period (0-90 lag days) with semen quality. METHODS: A total of 6,640 male sperm donors from 6 human sperm banks in China during 2014-2020 were recruited in this multicenter study. Two indices (i.e., hot night excess [HNE] and hot night duration [HND]) were used to estimate the heat intensity and duration during nighttime. Linear mixed models were used to examine the association between hot nights and semen quality parameters. RESULTS: The exposure-response relationship revealed that HNE and HND during 0-90 days before semen collection had a significantly inverse association with sperm motility. Specifically, a 1 °C increase in HNE was associated with decreased sperm progressive motility of 0.0090 (95% confidence interval [ CI]: -0.0147, -0.0033) and decreased total motility of 0.0094 (95% CI: -0.0160, -0.0029). HND was significantly associated with reduced sperm progressive motility and total motility of 0.0021 (95% CI: -0.0040, -0.0003) and 0.0023 (95% CI: -0.0043, -0.0002), respectively. Consistent results were observed at different temperature thresholds on hot nights. CONCLUSION Our findings highlight the need to mitigate nocturnal heat exposure during spermatogenesis to maintain optimal semen quality.
Humans ; Male ; Semen Analysis ; Adult ; Sperm Motility ; Hot Temperature/adverse effects* ; China ; Middle Aged ; Spermatozoa/physiology* ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVE: Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to ultrafine particulate matter (UPM, aerodynamic diameter < 0.1 µm) is associated with adverse cardiovascular events. Previous studies have found that Shenlian (SL) extract possesses anti-inflammatory and antiapoptotic properties and has a promising protective effect at all stages of the atherosclerotic disease process. In this study, we aimed to investigated whether SL improves UPM-aggravated myocardial ischemic injury by inhibiting inflammation and cell apoptosis. METHODS: We established a mouse model of MI+UPM. Echocardiographic measurement, measurement of myocardialinfarct size, biochemical analysis, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), histopathological analysis, Transferase dUTP Nick End Labeling (TUNEL), Western blotting (WB), Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and so on were used to explore the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of SL in vivo and in vitro. RESULTS: SL treatment can attenuate UPM-induced cardiac dysfunction by improving left ventricular ejection fraction, fractional shortening, and decreasing cardiac infarction area. SL significantly reduced the levels of myocardial enzymes and attenuated UPM-induced morphological alterations. Moreover, SL significantly reduced expression levels of the inflammatory cytokines IL-6, TNF-α, and MCP-1. UPM further increased the infiltration of macrophages in myocardial tissue, whereas SL intervention reversed this phenomenon. UPM also triggered myocardial apoptosis, which was markedly attenuated by SL treatment. The results of in vitro experiments revealed that SL prevented cell damage caused by exposure to UPM combined with hypoxia by reducing the expression of the inflammatory factor NF-κB and inhibiting apoptosis in H9c2 cells. CONCLUSION Overall, both in vivo and in vitro experiments demonstrated that SL attenuated UPM-aggravated myocardial ischemic injury by inhibiting inflammation and cell apoptosis. The mechanisms were related to the downregulation of macrophages infiltrating heart tissues.
Animals ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Particulate Matter/adverse effects* ; Mice ; Male ; Inflammation/drug therapy* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Myocardial Ischemia/drug therapy* ; Cell Line

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the impact of foam macrophages (FMs) on the intracellular survival of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) and identify the molecular mechanisms influencing MTB survival. METHODS: An in vitro FM model was established using oleic acid induction. Transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses were conducted to identify the key molecular pathways involved in FM-mediated MTB survival. RESULTS: Induced FMs effectively restricted MTB survival. Transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling revealed distinct changes in gene and metabolite expression in FMs during MTB infection compared with normal macrophages. Integrated analyses identified significant alterations in the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling pathway, indicating that its activation contributes to the FM-mediated restriction of MTB survival. CONCLUSIONS FMs inhibit MTB survival. The cAMP signaling pathway is a key contributor. These findings enhance the understanding of the role of FMs in tuberculosis progression, suggest potential targets for host-directed therapies, and offer new directions for developing diagnostic and therapeutic strategies against tuberculosis.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis/physiology* ; Transcriptome ; Metabolomics ; Foam Cells/microbiology* ; Humans ; Metabolome ; Tuberculosis/microbiology* ; Gene Expression Profiling

Objective:To investigate the pathways involved in bisphenol S(BPS)and bisphenol F(BPF)induced male reproductive injury by bioinformatics methods and experimental verification.Methods:Bioinformatics analysis was conducted to screen the genes related to male reproductive system diseases associated with BPF and BPS from the Comparative Toxicogenomics Database(CTD).Functional enrichment using Gene Ontology(GO)and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG)pathway enrichment analysis were performed to predict potential signaling pathways and key genes.Cell counting kit-8(CCK-8)method was used to assess the cell viability in various groups treated with different concentrations of BPS and BPF(1×10-3,1×10-2,1×10-1,1×100,1×101,and 1×102 μmol·L-1).TM3 cells were divided into control group(0.1％DMSO),different doses of BPS groups,and different doses of BPF groups.The cells were treated with 20,40,and 80 μmol·L-1 of BPS and BPF for 72 h,respectively.Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR)and Western blotting method were used to detect the expression levels of key genes mRNA and proteins in various groups.Results:The bioinformatics analysis results revealed that 507 and 447 male systemic disease genes related to BPS and BPF were screened by CTD,respectively.The GO enrichment analysis results showed that the selected genes were primarily enriched in biological processes(BP)such as reproductive system development and reproductive structure development.The KEGG pathway analysis results indicated that these genes were significantly enriched in signaling pathways such as phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B(PI3K/AKT),hypoxia-inducible factor-1(HIF-1),and cellular senescence(P＜0.001).The CCK-8 method results showed that compared with control group,the cell viabilities in 1× 102 μmol·L-1 BPF and BPS groups were significantly decreased(P＜0.05),while the viabilities of TM3 cells in other groups had no significant changes(P＞0.05).After BPS treatment,compared with control group,the expression levels of PI3K,AKT,hypoxia-inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α),and CREB-binding protein(CBP)mRNA in low,medium,and high doses of BPS groups were decreased(P＜0.05),the expression levels of PI3K protein were decreased(P＜0.05),the expression levels of B-cell lymphoma-2-associated X protein(Bax)protein were increased(P＜0.05),and the expression levels of serine protease inhibitor clade B,member 10(SERPINB10)mRNA were increased(P＜0.01);the expression levels of Bax and intraflagellar transport 80 homolog(IFT80)mRNA in the cells in medium and high doses of BPS groups were increased(P＜0.05);the expression levels of B-cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2)mRNA and protein in low and high doses of BPS groups were decreased(P＜0.05);the expression levels of additional sex combs like 2(ASXL2)mRNA in low and medium doses of BPS groups were decreased(P＜0.01).After BPF treatment,compared with control group,the expression levels of Bcl-2,HIF-1α,and structural maintenance of chromosomes protein 1B(SMC1B)mRNA in low,medium,and high doses of BPF groups were decreased(P＜0.05),and the expression levels of IFT80 mRNA(P＜0.01)and Bax protein(P＜0.01)were increased;the expression levels of PI3K,AKT,and ring finger protein 130(RNF130)mRNA in low and high doses of BPF groups were decreased(P＜0.05);the expression level of CBP mRNA in medium dose of BPF group was decreased(P＜0.05),while the expression level of RNF130 mRNA was increased(P＜0.05);the expression levels of PI3K and Bcl-2 proteins in high dose of BPF group were decreased(P＜0.05).Conclusion:BPF and BPS may cause cell cytotoxicity and impair male reproductive health through PI3K/AKT and HIF-1 signaling pathways.RNF130 and SMC1B may be important targets for their induction of male reproductive toxicity.

Objective:To study the characteristics of oral microbiota in patients with periodontitis and its effects on Toll-like recep-tors(TLRs)signaling pathway and levels of inflammatory factors.Methods:Fifty patients with periodontal disease who received treatment in our hospital from January 2021 to September 2023 were selected as the trial group,and 50 healthy physical examination people during the same period were selected as the control group.Subgingival microbiota was cultured and gingival crevicular fluid samples were collected.Subgingival bacterial diversity was detected by 16S rRNA,interleukin-6(IL-6),IL-1β and tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)levels in gingival crevicular fluid were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay,and TLRs signaling path-way was detected by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction.Results:The subgingival Simpson index in the trial group was higher than that in the control group.Subgingival microbiota was significantly separated between the two groups,and the relative abundance of Prevotella,Hemophilus and Veillonella were significantly different(P＜0.05).The number of microbiota in the trial group was higher than that in the control group(P＜0.05).The levels of IL-6,IL-1β,TNF-α and mRNA relative expression of TLRs signaling pathway in gingival crevicular fluid in trial group were higher than those in control group(P＜0.05).The levels of IL-6,IL-1β and TNF-α in gingival crevicular fluid of patients with periodontal disease were positively correlated with the number of microbiota of Parvobacteria,Tenella forsythiae,Prevotella intermedia and Porphyromonas gingivalis.Logistic regression analysis showed that the number of microbiota of Parvobacteria,Tenneella forsythiae,Prevotella intermedia and Porphyromonas gingivalis were independent factors influencing the high expression of IL-6,IL-1β and TNF-α.Conclusion:In periodontitis patients,the subgingi-val microbiota was changed,the mRNA expression of TLRs signaling pathway and the expression of inflammatory factors were in-creased,and the number of subgingival microbiota was significantly correlated with the expression of inflammatory factors.

Aim To investigate the effects of m6A demethylase ALKBH5 on cardiomyocytes pyroptosis in mice with myocardial infarction(MI).Methods The MI model of left anterior descending coronary artery ligation surgery was established by knocking down ALKBH5 using adeno-associated virus,and the hypox-ia model of mouse cardiomyocytes(HL-1)was estab-lished by knocking down small interfering RNA.The effects of ALKBH5 on the pyroptosis of MI mice and hypoxic HL-1 cells were observed.Subsequently,mechanism studies were conducted at the cellular lev-el,and the binding of ALKBH5 and IGF2BP2 to NL-RP3 mRNA was detected through RNA pull down and RNA immunoprecipitation(RIP)experiments.The MeRIP-qPCR method was used to determine the effects of ALKBH5 on the mRNA m6A level of NLRP3.Acti-nomycin D for RNA stability experiments were conduc-ted to detect the effects of ALKBH5 and IGF2BP2 on the stability of NLRP3 mRNA.Results Knocking down ALKBH5 in vivo and in vitro both inhibited NL-RP3 inflammasome activation and alleviated pyroptosis in MI mice and hypoxic HL-1 cells.Mechanistically,the results showed that NLRP3 mRNA could bind to ALKBH5 protein in HL-1 cells;knocking down ALK-BH5 could increase the m6A level of NLRP3 and re-duce the stability of NLRP3 mRNA;subsequently,it was confirmed that NLRP3 mRNA and IGF2BP2 pro-tein bound to each other;knocking down IGF2BP2 in-creased the mRNA stability of NLRP3.The Rescue ex-periment showed that knocking down IGF2BP2 re-versed the decrease in NLRP3 mRNA expression caused by knocking down ALKBH5.Conclusions ALKBH5 mediated m6A modification of NLRP3 pro-motes cardiomyocytes pyroptosis in mice with myocardi-al infarction.

Aim To investigate the effect of oroxylin A(OA)on apoptosis in Ishikawa cell line of endometrial cancer and the underlying mechanism through the phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/protein kinase B(PI3K/AKT)signaling pathway.Methods Ishikawa cells were treated with different concentrations of OA(0,4,8,10,12,and 20 μmol·L-1)for 24 h-72 h,the cell viability was detected by CCK-8 assay,apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry,and the protein ex-pression levels of B-cell lymphoma-2(Bcl-2),Bcl-2-associated X protein(Bax),PI3K/AKT,recombinant cytochrome P450 1B1(CYP1B1),and catechol-O-methyltransferase(COMT)were detected by Western blot technique.Results OA inhibited the prolifera-tion of Ishikawa cells in a concentration-and time-de-pendent manner.Compared with the blank control group,the expression of Bax protein increased signifi-cantly,while the expression of Bcl-2 protein decreased significantly with the increase of OA concentration.The expression of COMT protein increased significant-ly,while the expression of CYP1B1 protein decreased significantly.PI3K/AKT:IGF-1(PI3 K agonist)sup-plementation reversed the effect,the expression of COMT protein significantly decreased,and the expres-sion of CYP1B1 protein significantly increased.Con-clusions OA exerts anti-tumor effects in Ishikawa cells of endometrial cancer,which may be related to cell apoptosis mediated by the inhibition of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.

Objective:To explore the mechanism of curcumin (Cur) in intervening leukemia based on transcriptomics and network pharmacology.Methods:(1) Cell proliferation experiment: Leukemia MV-4-11 cells were cultured in vitro and divided into the control group (DMSO), 15 μmol/L curcumin group (Cur 15 μmol/L), and 20 μmol/L curcumin group (Cur 20 μmol/L). The CFSE method by flow cytometry was used to determine the inhibitory effect of curcumin on the growth of leukemia MV-4-11 cells at 0, 24, and 48 hours. (2) Network pharmacology analysis: the Smiles number of curcumin was obtained using the PubChem database. The targets of curcumin were retrieved from SwissTargetPrediction, SEA, TTD, and CTD platforms. Leukemia-related targets were screened using Genecards, OMIM, TTD, and CTD databases, and the intersection targets of curcumin-leukemia were further collected. (3) Transcriptomics and network pharmacology analysis: RNA from MV-4-11 cells in the control group and Cur group was collected, transcriptome sequencing was performed, and the common targets of differential genes in network pharmacology and transcriptomics were collected. The STRING website and Cytoscape software were used to construct a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network for the intersection targets. The David database and micro-bioinformatics were used for enrichment analysis based on gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) databases. Finally, the core targets and main pathways of curcumin in anti-leukemia were screened out.Results:(1) Compared with the control group, 15 μmol/L and 20 μmol/L curcumin significantly inhibited the proliferation of MV-4-11 cells (all P<0.05). (2) Network pharmacology analysis showed 1 209 curcumin drug targets and 7 702 leukemia-related targets, with 901 intersection targets for curcumin′s anti-leukemia effect. (3) Transcriptome sequencing showed 14 714 genes expressed in the curcumin group and 13 689 genes in the control group, with a total of 3 064 differentially expressed genes, including 2 189 up-regulated genes and 875 down-regulated genes. There were 182 intersection targets between network pharmacology and transcriptomics. KEGG enrichment results indicated that the anti-leukemia targets of curcumin were mainly related to cancer signaling pathways, phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase signaling pathway (PI3K-Akt) signaling pathway, and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway. Conclusions:This study obtained the gene expression profile of curcumin acting on leukemia and elaborated the molecular mechanism of inhibiting leukemia cell proliferation, which is mainly involved in cancer signaling pathways, PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, etc., indicating that the inhibitory effect of curcumin on leukemia is multi-faceted and multi-level.