OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of Guilu Taohong Formula on semen quality in varicocele (VC) models of rats, and to explore its possible mechanism. METHODS: Forty-eight male SD rats were randomly divided into four groups (sham group, model group, Guilu Taohong Formula group and L-carnitine group). After the establishment of models, the rats were treated with intragastric administration for eight consecutive weeks. The general condition of the rats was observed. After the gavage, the testicular and epididymal indices were calculated. Semen quality was assessed using an automatic semen analyzer. Apoptosis of testicular cells was assessed by TUNEL staining. And the expression levels of B-cell lymphocytoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2-associated X protein (Bax) and cysteine aspartate protease-3 (caspase-3) in testicular tissue were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: Compared with the sham group, testicular index, epididymal index, sperm concentration, the percentage of progressive motility of sperm (PR%) and the expression level of Bcl-2 decreased in model group(P<0.01). An increased apoptosis rate of spermatogenic cells and the expression levels of Bax and caspase-3 proteins were observed in model group as well(P<0.01). Compared with the model group, the testicular index, epididymal index, sperm concentration, PR% and the expression level of Bcl-2 in Guilu Taohong Formula group increased significantly (P<0.05, P<0.01). A decreased apoptosis rate of spermatogenic cells and the expression levels of Bax and caspase-3 proteins were detected in Guilu Taohong Formula group as well(P<0.01). Similarly, the L-carnitine group showed increased testicular index, epididymal index, sperm concentration, PR% and the expression level of Bcl-2 protein (P<0.05, P<0.01), where showed decreased apoptosis rate of spermatogenic cells and the expression levels of Bax and caspase-3 proteins compared with model group (P<0.01, P<0.05). CONCLUSION Guilu Taohong Formula improves semen quality in VC model rats and reduces the apoptosis rate of spermatogenic cells in testicular tissue, which may be related to the promotion of Bcl-2 protein expression and the inhibition of Bax and caspase-3 protein expression levels.
Male ; Animals ; Varicocele/drug therapy* ; Rats ; Apoptosis/drug effects* ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use* ; Semen Analysis ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein/metabolism* ; Caspase 3/metabolism* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2/metabolism* ; Disease Models, Animal ; Spermatozoa/drug effects* ; Testis/drug effects*

Non-syndromic oral cleft (NSOC), a common birth defect, remains to be a critical public health problem in China. In the context of adjustment of childbearing policy for two times in China and the increase of pregnancy at older childbearing age, NSOC risk prediction will provide evidence for high-risk population identification and prenatal counseling. Genome-wide association study and second generation sequencing have identified multiple loci associated with NSOC, facilitating the development of genetic risk prediction of NSOC. Despite the marked progress, risk prediction models of NSOC still faces multiple challenges. This paper summarizes the recent progress in research of NSOC risk prediction models based on the results of extensive literature retrieval to provide some insights for the model development regarding research design, variable selection, model-build strategy and evaluation methods.
Humans ; Cleft Palate/genetics* ; Cleft Lip/genetics* ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Risk Factors ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide

UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS metabonomics technology was used to clarify the metabolic regulation pathways by which Platycodon total saponins (PTS) exert antitussive and expectorant effects in a mouse cough model, in which coughing is induced by concentrated ammonia, and in a phenol red excretion model. After approval by the Experimental Animal Ethics Committee of Jiangxi University of Chinese Medicine (Approval No. JZLLSC-20190235), the mice were randomly divided into a normal group, a model group, a positive drug group and a PTS group. Endogenous metabolites in mouse serum were identified by UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS. Principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were used for multivariate analysis. Metabolic pathways were analyzed by the Metaboanalyst platform. The results show that PTS can significantly prolong the cough latent period and cough frequency of mice, and significantly increase phenol red excretion. UHPLC-Q-TOF/MS identified 19 metabolites related to cough, and PTS significantly decreased 16 of them; 17 metabolites related to expectoration were identified, and PTS decreased the levels of all. Metabolic pathway analysis showed that linoleic acid metabolism, arachidonic acid metabolism and glycerophospholipid metabolism were the main pathways involved in serum metabolite changes in this mouse cough model. Linoleic acid metabolism, phenylalanine, tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis, arachidonic acid metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism and α-linolenic acid metabolism were the main pathways involved in serum metabolite changes in the phenol red excretion model. This study is the first to elucidate the regulation of antitussive and expectorant metabolic pathways and the effect of PTS on these pathways.

Next-generation sequencing has revolutionized family-based association tests for rare variants. As the lower power of genome wide association study for detecting casual rare variants, methods aggregating effects of multiple variants have been proposed, such as burden tests and variance component tests. This paper summarizes the methods of rare variants association test that can be applied for family data, introduces their principles, characteristics and applicable conditions and discusses the shortcomings and the improvement of the present methods.
Computer Simulation ; Family Relations ; Genetic Association Studies ; Genetic Variation ; Genome-Wide Association Study/methods* ; Humans

OBJECTIVE: To explore the association between de novo mutations (DNM) and non-syndromic cleft lip with or without palate (NSCL/P) using case-parent trio design. METHODS: Whole-exome sequencing was conducted for twenty-two NSCL/P trios and Genome Analysis ToolKit (GATK) was used to identify DNM by comparing the alleles of the cases and their parents. Information of predictable functions was annotated to the locus with SnpEff. Enrichment analysis for DNM was conducted to test the difference between the actual number and the expected number of DNM, and to explore whether there were genes with more DNM than expected. NSCL/P-related genes indicated by previous studies with solid evidence were selected by literature reviewing. Protein-protein interactions analysis was conducted among the genes with protein-altering DNM and NSCL/P-related genes. R package "denovolyzeR" was used for the enrichment analysis (Bonferroni correction: P=0.05/n, n is the number of genes in the whole genome range). Protein-protein interactions among genes with DNM and genes with solid evidence on the risk factors of NSCL/P were predicted depending on the information provided by STRING database. RESULTS: A total of 339 908 SNPs were qualified for the subsequent analysis after quality control. The number of high confident DNM identified by GATK was 345. Among those DNM, forty-four DNM were missense mutations, one DNM was nonsense mutation, two DNM were splicing site mutations, twenty DNM were synonymous mutations and others were located in intron or intergenic regions. The results of enrichment analysis showed that the number of protein-altering DNM on the exome regions was larger than expected (P < 0.05), and five genes (KRTCAP2, HMCN2, ANKRD36C, ADGRL2 and DIPK2A) had more DNM than expected (P < 0.05/(2×19 618)). Protein-protein interaction analysis was conducted among forty-six genes with protein-altering DNM and thirteen genes associated with NSCL/P selected by literature reviewing. Six pairs of interactions occurred between the genes with DNM and known NSCL/P-related genes. The score measuring the confidence level of the predicted interaction between RGPD4 and SUMO1 was 0.868, which was higher than the scores for other pairs of genes. CONCLUSION Our study provided novel insights into the development of NSCL/P and demonstrated that functional analyses of genes carrying DNM were warranted to understand the genetic architecture of complex diseases.
Asians ; Case-Control Studies ; Cleft Lip/genetics* ; Cleft Palate/genetics* ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genome-Wide Association Study ; Genotype ; Humans ; Mutation ; Parents ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Whole Exome Sequencing

Child ; Consensus ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Respiratory System

Objective:To evaluate the clinical effect of anterior clinoid process grinding in the treatment of ophthalmic / superior clinoid process aneurysms and sellar tumors.Methods:The clinical data of 16 patients who underwent anterior clinoid process grinding in Sanbo Brain Hospital, Capital Medical University from January 2015 to July 2021 were analyzed retrospectively. There were 1 patient with recurrent craniopharyngioma, 1 patient with recurrent pituitary adenoma, 13 patients with aneurysms, and 1 patient with suprasellar granulosa cell tumor combined with ophthalmic aneurysm of right internal carotid artery. The Modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score was used to evaluate the situation at discharge and in the medium-and-long term.Results:Sixteen patients underwent anterior clinoidprocess grinding. At discharge and the latest follow-up, the mRS scores of the patients were 0-2. A total of 15 aneurysms were treated, and there were no symptoms of visual loss or visual field defect after operation. No cerebrospinal fluid leakage occurred in all patients.Conclusions:The grinding of anterior clinoid process can effectively and fully stretch the optic nerve and internal carotid artery, and can observe the tumor neck at the lower end of pituitary stalk and the ocular segment/superior clinoid process of internal carotid artery under direct vision. It is one of the important auxiliary methods for the treatment of sellar lesions.

Objective:To explore the etiology and treatment of craniopharyngioma with aneurysm.Methods:Seven cases of craniopharyngioma with aneurysm from March 2014 to October 2019 treated in Sanbo Brain Hospital, Capital Medical University were retrospectively analyzed. Among the 7 patients, there were 5 males and 2 females. There were 4 cases of recurrent craniopharyngiomas, 1 case of primary tumor and 2 cases of non-recurrence tumor. Three patients with blood blister-like aneurysms were treated with microsurgical suture after craniopharyngioma resection. Among the three cases with internal carotid artery fusiform aneurysm, 1 case underwent craniopharyngioma resection after internal maxillary artery-radial artery-middle cerebral artery bypass and isolation of the aneurysm; 1 case only underwent internal maxillary artery-radial artery-middle cerebral artery bypass and isolation of the aneurysm for non-recurrence tumor; 1 case underwent craniopharyngioma resection and dynamic observation of aneurysm. One case with a cystic aneurysm of the middle cerebral artery was clipped and the craniopharyngioma did not relapse.Results:All patients had no serious postoperative complications. During the follow-up period, there was no recurrence of craniopharyngioma, no recurrence of treated aneurysms, and the stability of aneurysms was observed.Conclusions:Inflammatory stimulation of craniopharyngioma cystic fluid and operation itself are the important reasons for the occurrence of aneurysms after craniopharyngioma surgery. Choosing appropriate surgical methods can complete the removal of craniopharyngioma and the treatment of aneurysms at one time.

ObjectiveTo explore the effect of Xiao Xianxiongtang （XXXT） on the transforming growth factor （TGF）-β₁-induced invasion， metastasis， and epithelial-mesenchymal transition （EMT） of gastric cancer MGC-803 cells and the underlying mechanism. MethodThe molecular docking between XXXT and nuclear factor of activated T cells （NFAT） was performed by CB-DOCK （http：//clab.labshare.cn/cb-dock/）. The invasion and metastasis model of MGC-803 cells was established with 10 μg·L^-1 TGF-β₁. MGC-803 cells were classified into blank group， model group， 0.1 g·L^-1 XXXT group， 0.2 g·L^-1 XXXT group， and 0.4 g·L^-1 XXXT group. For further clarifying the key role of Wnt5a/Ca²⁺/NFAT signaling pathway in the inhibition of XXXT on gastric cancer， MGC-803 cells were transfected with Wnt5a overexpression plasmid， and then the cells were classified into blank plasmid group， Wnt5a-OE group， blank plasmid + XXXT （0.4 g·L^-1） group， and Wnt5a-OE + XXXT （0.4 g·L^-1） group. Cell viability was determined by cell counting kit-8 （CCK-8） assay， cell invasion and migration ability by Transwell invasion assay and wound healing assay， expression of EMT-related proteins （E-cadherin， N-cadherin， Vimentin， Snail） and Wnt5a/Ca²⁺/NFAT signaling pathway-related key proteins ［Wnt5a， calcineurin （CaN）， NFAT1， and p-NFAT1］ by Western blot， and changes in intracellular Ca²⁺ concentration by immunofluorescence assay. ResultMolecular docking suggested that XXXT acted on Wnt5a/Ca²⁺/NFAT signaling pathway. XXXT （0.1， 0.2， 0.4 g·L^-1） significantly promoted the loss of MGC-803 cell viability （P<0.05，P<0.01）. It inhibited cells from invading the transwell lower chamber and slowed down the healing of cell wounds in a dose-dependent manner （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Moreover， it promoted the expression of E-cadherin while suppressed the expression of N-cadherin， Vimentin， and Snail （P<0.05， P<0.01）. Further experiments showed that XXXT could inhibit the expression of Wnt5a， CaN， NFAT1， and p-NFAT1， and reduce the nuclear expression of NFAT1 and the transcription activity mediated by NFAT1， so as to reduce the cellular Ca²⁺ concentration （P<0.05， P<0.01）. XXXT can reverse the effect of Wnt5a （P<0.05， P<0.01）. ConclusionXXXT can attenuate the invasion， metastasis， and EMT of MGC-803 cells via the Wnt5a/Ca²⁺/NFAT pathway， thereby weakening the tumor-promoting effect of TGF-β₁. In summary， XXXT may exert therapeutic effect on gastric cancer by regulating the invasion， metastasis， and EMT of gastric cancer cells.

Tumor is one of the diseases that seriously endanger human health， and how to treat tumor effectively is still one of the important problems in the field of medicine. At present， most of the radiotherapies and chemical drugs for cancer have serious side effect despite of an obvious efficacy. With a unique syndrome differentiation treatment system and overall concept， traditional Chinese medicine has become the key research and development object of antitumor drugs due to many advantages， such as multiple channels， multiple levels， multiple links， multiple targets and less toxicity， and could can fully mobilize the immune and epidemic prevention mechanism of the body. A large number of studies have shown that Xiao Xianxiongtang and its effective ingredients have obvious antitumor effect. Many doctors have applied Xiao Xianxiongtang and modified formulas in clinical treatment of tumors， and relevant pharmacological studies have also confirmed the effectiveness of this formula， but with a lack of systematic summary of its effective ingredients and its mechanism of action. Now， with alkaloids， ketones， sterols and phenols in Xiao Xianxiongtang as the starting point， this study mainly focuses on inhibition of tumor cell proliferation， invasion and migration， induction of tumor cell apoptosis and autophagy， inhibition of tumor cell cycle， enhancement of tumor cell sensitivity， inhibition of tumor angiogenesis and regulation of immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment from two ways to sort out composition， function and mechanism of drugs. In this paper， effective components， main targets and mechanism of intervention in the tumor development of Xiao Xianxiongtang were reviewed， in order to provide a new idea for subsequent antitumor research and development of this prescription.