The circadian clock is an important internal time regulatory system for a range of physiological and behavioral rhythms within living organisms. Testosterone, as one of the most critical sex hormones, is essential for the development of the reproductive system, maintenance of reproductive function, and the overall health of males. The secretion of testosterone in mammals is characterized by distinct circadian rhythms and is closely associated with the regulation of circadian clock genes. Here we review the central and peripheral regulatory mechanisms underlying the influence of circadian clock genes upon testosterone synthesis. We also examined the specific effects of these genes on the occurrence, development, and treatment of common male diseases, including late-onset hypogonadism, erectile dysfunction, male infertility, and prostate cancer.
Testosterone/metabolism* ; Humans ; Male ; Circadian Clocks/genetics* ; Circadian Rhythm Signaling Peptides and Proteins/metabolism* ; Circadian Rhythm/physiology* ; Hypogonadism/metabolism* ; Erectile Dysfunction/metabolism* ; Infertility, Male/metabolism* ; Prostatic Neoplasms/metabolism* ; Men's Health

Objective To investigate the clinical and genetic features of children with 3-methylcrotonyl-coenzyme A carboxylase deficiency(MCCD).Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted on the clinical manifestations and genetic testing results of six children with MCCD who attended Children's Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University from January 2018 to October 2023.Results Among the six children with MCCD,there were 4 boys and 2 girls,with a mean age of 7 days at the time of attending the hospital and 45 days at the time of confirmed diagnosis.Of all children,one had abnormal urine odor and five had no clinical symptoms.All six children had increases in blood 3-hydroxyisovaleryl carnitine and urinary 3-hydroxyisovaleric acid and 3-methylcrotonoylglycine,and five of them had a reduction in free carnitine.A total of six mutations were identified in the MCCC1 gene,i.e.,c.1630del(p.R544Dfs*2),c.269A>G(p.D90G),c.1609T>A(p.F537I),c.639+2T>A,c.761+1G>T,and c.1331G>A(p.R444H),and three mutations were identified in the MCCC2 gene,i.e.,c.838G>T(p.D280Y),c.592C>T(p.Q198*,366),and c.1342G>A(p.G448A).Among these mutations,c.269A>G(p.D90G)and c.1609T>A(p.F537I)had not been previously reported in the literature.There was one case of maternal MCCD,and the child carried a heterozygous mutation from her mother.Five children with a reduction in free carnitine were given supplementation of L-carnitine,and free carnitine was restored to the normal level at the last follow-up visit.Conclusions This study identifies two new mutations,c.269A>G(p.D90G)and c.1609T>A(p.F537I),thereby expanding the mutation spectrum of the MCCC1 gene.A combination of blood amino acid and acylcarnitine profiles,urine organic acid analysis,and genetic testing can facilitate early diagnosis and treatment of MCCD,and provide essential data for genetic counseling.

Objective To investigate the distribution and antimicrobial susceptibility of clinically isolated bacteria from intensive care units(ICUs)in hospitals of Hunan Province Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System from 2012 to 2021.Methods According to China Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System,data of clinically isolated bacterial strains and antimicrobial susceptibility testing results of bacteria from ICUs reported by all member units of Hunan Province Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System were analyzed with WHONET 2022 software.Results From 2012 to 2021,the total number of bacteria isolated from ICUs of member units of the Hunan Province Antimi-crobial Resistance Surveillance System was 5 777-22 369,with Gram-negative bacteria accounting for 76.1％-78.0％annually.Staphylococcus aureus ranked first among isolated Gram-positive bacteria each year.The top 5 bacteria among Gram-negative bacteria were Acinetobacter baumannii,Klebsiella pneumoniae,Escherichia coli,Pseudo-monas aeruginosa,and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia.Detection rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus showed a downward trend year by year.No Staphylococcus spp.were found to be resistant to vancomycin,teico-planin and linezolid.Detection rates of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecalis and vancomycin-resistant Entero-coccus faecium were 0.6-1.1％and 0.6％-2.2％,respectively.Resistance rates of Escherichia coli and Kleb-siella pneumoniae to imipenem were 3.1％-5.7％and 7.7％-20.9％,respectively.Resistance rates of Pseudo-monasaeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii to imipenem were 24.6％-40.1％and 76.1％-80.9％,respective-ly.Detection rates of carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa declined year by year.Acinetobacter baumannii maintained high susceptibility to polymyxin B,with resistance rate＜10％.Conclusion Antimicrobial resistance of bacteria from ICUs is serious.Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriales has an upward trend after 2019.It is nece-ssary to strengthen the surveillance of bacterial resistance and carry out multidisciplinary collaboration.

Objective:To investigate the effects of Xiongcan Yishen Formula(XYF)on ferroptosis in mouse TM3 Leydig cells after oxidative stress injury(OSI)induced by H2O2.Methods:An oxidative stress injury model was established in mouse TM3 Leydig cells using H2O2 induction.The modeled TM3 cells were randomly divided into OSI group,XYF group,the ferroptosis inhibitor Ferrostatin-1(F-1)group,and F-1+XYF group,which were respectively intervened with blank serum,20%drug-containing serum,2μmol/L F-1,and2μmol/L F-1+20%drug-containing serum.A control group(normal TM3 cells+blank serum)was also set up.The morphology of cells in each group was observed,and the levels of testosterone,superoxide dismutase(SOD),reactive oxygen spe-cies(ROS),malondialdehyde(MDA),ferritin heavy chain 1(FTH1),solute carrier family 7 member 11(SLC7A11),glutathione(GSH),glutathione peroxidase 4(GPX4),fatty acid CoA ligase 4(FACL4),total iron ions,and ferrous ions were detected.Re-sults:Compared with the model group,the control group showed significantly decreased expression of ROS,MDA,FACL4,total iron,and ferrous ions(P<0.05),and significantly increased levels of testosterone,SOD,GSH,FTH1,SLC7A11,and GPX4(P<0.05).The male silkworm kidney-tonifying formula group significantly promoted testosterone secretion by TM3 cells and upregulated the expression of FTH1,SLC7A11,GPX4,GSH,and SOD in TM3 cells(P<0.05),while significantly downregulating ROS,MDA,FACL4,total iron ions,and ferrous ions(P<0.05).Conclusion:Following H2O2 exposure,oxidative stress can induce ferroptosis in mouse TM3 Leydig cells.XYF can antagonize OSI and ferroptosis in TM3 cells by activating the SLC7A11/GSH/GPX4 axis,which may underlie the mechanism of XYF in the treatment of male late-onset hypogonadism.

Objective: Retrospective analysis of the efficacy and influencing factors of bladder preservation integrated therapy for unresectable invasive bladder cancer confined to the pelvis was done, also including the bladder function preservation and adverse effects analysis. Methods: Sixty-nine patients with unresectable locally invasive bladder cancer who received radiotherapy-based combination therapy from March 1999 to December 2021 at our hospital were selected. Among them, 42 patients received concurrent chemoradiotherapy, 32 underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapyand 43 with transurethral resection of bladder tumors (TURBT) prior to radiotherapy. The late adverse effect of radiotherapy, preservation of bladder function, replase and metastasis and survival were followed-up. Cox proportional hazards models were applied for the multifactorial analysis. Results: The median age was 69 years. There were 63 cases (91.3%) of uroepithelial carcinoma, 64 of stage Ⅲ and 4 of stage Ⅳ. The median duration of follow-up was 76 months. There were 7 grade 2 late genito urinary toxicities, 2 grade 2 gastrointestinal toxicities, no grade 3 or higher adverse events occurred. All patients maintained normal bladder function, except for 8 cases who lost bladder function due to uncontrolled tumor in the bladder. Seventeen cases recurred locally. There were 11 cases in the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group with a local recurrence rate of 26.2% (11/42) and 6 cases in the non-concurrent chemoradiotherapy group with a local recurrence rate of 22.2% (6/27), and the difference in local recurrence rate between the two groups was not statistically significant (P=0.709). There were 23 cases of distant metastasis (including 2 cases of local recurrence with distant metastasis), including 10 cases in the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group with a distant metastasis rate of 23.8% (10/42) and 13 cases in the non-concurrent chemoradiotherapy group with a distant metastasis rate of 48.1% (13/27), and the distant metastasis rate in the non-concurrent chemoradiotherapy group was higher than that in the concurrent chemoradiotherapy group (P=0.036). The median 5-year overall survival (OS) time was 59 months and the OS rate was 47.8%. The 5-year progression-free survival (PFS) time was 20 months and the PFS rate was 34.4%. The 5-year OS rates of concurrent and non-concurrent chemoradiotherapy group were 62.9% and 27.6% (P<0.001), and 5-year PFS rates were 45.4% and 20.0%, respectively (P=0.022). The 5-year OS rates of with or without neoadjuvant chemotherapy were 78.4% and 30.1% (P=0.002), and the 5-year PFS rates were 49.1% and 25.1% (P=0.087), respectively. The 5-year OS rates with or without TURBT before radiotherapy were 45.5% and 51.9% (P=0.233) and the 5-year PFS rates were 30.8% and 39.9% (P=0.198), respectively. Multivariate Cox regression analysis results showed that the clinical stage (HR=0.422, 95% CI: 0.205-0.869) was independent prognostic factor for PFS of invasive bladder cancer. The multivariate analysis showed that clinical stages (HR=0.278, 95% CI: 0.114-0.678), concurrent chemoradiotherapy (HR=0.391, 95% CI: 0.165-0.930), neoadjuvant chemotherapy (HR=0.188, 95% CI: 0.058-0.611), and recurrences (HR=10.855, 95% CI: 3.655-32.638) were independent prognostic factors for OS of invasive bladder cancer. Conclusion: Unresectable localized invasive bladder cancer can achieve satisfactory long-term outcomes with bladder-preserving combination therapy based on radiotherapy, most patients can retain normal bladder function with acceptable late adverse effects and improved survival particularly evident in patients with early, concurrent chemoradiotherapy and neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
Humans ; Aged ; Treatment Outcome ; Retrospective Studies ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Chemoradiotherapy/methods* ; Urinary Bladder Neoplasms/radiotherapy* ; Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols/therapeutic use* ; Neoplasm Staging

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center phase Ⅱ clinical trial design was used in this study to recruit subjects who were in line with the syndrome of excess heat and fire toxin, and were diagnosed as recurrent oral ulcers, gingivitis, and acute pharyngitis. A total of 240 cases were included and randomly divided into a placebo group and a Huanglian Jiedu Pills group. The clinical efficacy of Huanglian Jiedu Pills in treating the syndrome of excess heat and fire toxin was evaluated by using the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) syndrome scale. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) was used to determine and evaluate the levels of adenosine triphosphate(ATP), 4-hydroxynonenal(4-HNE), and adrenocorticotropic hormone(ACTH) in plasma of the two groups before and after administration and to predict their application value as clinical biomarkers. The results showed that the disappearance rate of main symptoms in the Huanglian Jiedu Pills group was 69.17%, and that in the placebo group was 50.83%. The comparison between the Huanglian Jiedu Pills group and the placebo group showed that 4-HNE before and after administration was statistically significant(P<0.05). The content of 4-HNE in the Huanglian Jiedu Pills group decreased significantly after administration(P<0.05), but that in the placebo group had no statistical significance and showed an upward trend. After administration, the content of ATP in both Huanglian Jiedu Pills group and placebo group decreased significantly(P<0.05), indicating that the energy metabolism disorder was significantly improved after administration of Huanglian Jiedu Pills and the body's self-healing ability also alleviated the increase in ATP level caused by the syndrome of excess heat and fire toxin to a certain extent. ACTH in both Huanglian Jiedu Pills group and placebo group decreased significantly after administration(P<0.05). It is concluded that Huanglian Jiedu Pills has a significant clinical effect, and can significantly improve the abnormal levels of ATP and 4-HNE in plasma caused by the syndrome of excess heat and fire toxin, which are speculated to be the effective clinical biomarkers for Huanglian Jiedu Pills to treat the syndrome of excess heat and fire toxin.
Humans ; Adrenocorticotropic Hormone ; Hot Temperature ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Adenosine Triphosphate

The present study aimed to explore the underlying mechanism of Wuling Capsules in the treatment of hepatic fibrosis(HF) through network pharmacology, molecular docking, and animal experiments. Firstly, the chemical components and targets of Wuling Capsules against HF were searched from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform(TCMSP), Traditional Chinese Medicines Integrated Database(TCMID), GeneCards, and literature retrieval. The protein-protein interaction(PPI) network analysis was carried out on the common targets by STRING database and Cytoscape 3.9.1 software, and the core targets were screened, followed by Gene Ontology(GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analyses. Enrichment analysis was conducted on the core targets and the "drug-core component-target-pathway-disease" network was further constructed. Subsequently, molecular docking between core components and core targets was conducted using AutoDock Vina software to predict the underlying mechanism of action against HF. Finally, an HF model induced by CCl_4 was constructed in rats, and the general signs and liver tissue morphology were observed. HE and Masson staining were used to analyze the liver tissue sections. The effects of Wuling Capsules on the levels of inflammatory factors, hydroxyproline(HYP) levels, and core targets were analyzed by ELISA, RT-PCR, etc. A total of 445 chemical components of Wuling Capsules were screened, corresponding to 3 882 potential targets, intersecting with 1 240 targets of HF, and 47 core targets such as TNF, IL6, INS, and PIK3CA were screened. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis showed that the core targets mainly affected the process of cell stimulation response and metabolic regulation, involving cancer, PI3K-Akt, MAPK, and other signaling pathways. Molecular docking showed that the core components of Wuling Capsules, such as lucidenic acid K, ganoderic acid B, lucidenic acid N, saikosaponin Q2, and neocryptotanshinone, had high affinities with the core targets, such as TNF, IL6 and PIK3CA. Animal experiments showed that Wuling Capsules could reduce fat vacuole, inflammatory infiltration, and collagen deposition in rat liver, decrease the levels of inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, IL-6, and HYP, and downregulated the expressions of PI3K and Akt mRNA. This study suggests that the anti-HF effect of Wuling Capsules may be achieved by regulating the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, reducing the levels of TNF-α and IL-6 inflammatory factors, and inhibiting the excessive deposition of collagen.
Animals ; Rats ; Interleukin-6 ; Network Pharmacology ; Animal Experimentation ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; Molecular Docking Simulation ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt ; Liver Cirrhosis/genetics* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Capsules ; Class I Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases ; Collagen ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology*

AIM: To investigate the influencing factors of punctate staining of corneal epithelium in patients wearing orthokeratology.METHOD: Data of 280 cases wearing orthokeratology were collected, including 185 cases in the group without corneal staining and 95 cases in the group with corneal staining. All patients were examined for general distant vision, intraocular pressure, slit lamp, fundus examination after mydriasis, comprehensive optometry, corneal topography, corneal thickness, corneal endothelium, axial length, Schirmer Ⅰtest(SⅠt)before wearing lenses, meibomian gland loss score before wearing lenses, eccentric distance, interleukin-2(IL-2)in tear, tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α)content analysis and so on. The influencing factors of corneal epithelium punctate staining were analyzed by univariate and multivariate Logistic regression.RESULTS: There were significant differences in preoperative diopter, preoperative meibomian gland deletion score, IL-2, TNF-α and lens sediment between the two groups(all P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that diopter before wearing lenses was a protective factor for corneal epithelium punctate staining. Before wearing lenses, the loss of meibomian gland score, IL-2, TNF-α and lens deposits were the risk factors of corneal epithelium punctate staining. In the detection of corneal epithelium punctate staining, the comprehensive advantage of lens deposits was obvious, the specificity of lens deposits was higher, and the sensitivity of IL-2 was the highest. CONCLUSIONS: Before wearing lenses, diopter is the protective factor of corneal epithelium punctate staining, and the loss of meibomian gland score, IL-2, TNF-α and lens deposits are the risk factors of corneal epithelium punctate staining.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of resveratrol (RSV) on the proliferation of multiple myeloma (MM) cells and its molecular mechanism. METHODS: MM cells (MM1.S, RPMI-8226 and U266) were treated with different concentrations of RSV for 24-72 h. The effect of RSV on the proliferation of MM cells was detected by CCK-8 (cell counting kit-8) assay. RPMI-8226 cells were divided into RSV, miR-21 mimic, RSV+miR-21 mimic, miR-21 inhibitor and RSV+miR-21 inhibitor groups, and transfected with corresponding plasmids. The cell cycle distribution of each group was detected by flow cytometry with propidium iodide (PI) single staining. The cell apoptosis of each group was detected by AnnexinV-FITC/PE-PI double staining. The expression of miR-21 in MM cells treated with RSV and the expression of KLF5 mRNA in each group were detected by qRT-PCR. The expression of KLF5 protein in each group was detected by Western blot. RESULTS: RSV inhibited the proliferation and induced apoptosis of MM cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. After the MM cells were treated with RSV, the number of cells in sub-G₁ phase was increased, and that in G₂/M phase was decreased. Moreover, RSV significantly downregulated the expression of miR-21 in MM cells, and the inhibitory effect of miR-21 mimic on KLF5 expression in MM cells was counteracted by RSV. CONCLUSION RSV may inhibit the proliferation and induce apoptosis of MM cells by inhibiting miR-21 and up-regulating KLF5 expression.
Humans ; Resveratrol/pharmacology* ; Multiple Myeloma/metabolism* ; Cell Proliferation ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Apoptosis ; MicroRNAs/genetics*

There is still a serious challenge of the measurement of critical quality attributes (CQAs) related to clinical efficacy for Chinese materia medica manufacturing. To overcome this challenge, an integrated strategy of biosensor and ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was proposed using Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills as a trial. Firstly, an original biosensor was created using a semiconductor chip material high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) as the transducer and the macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) as the identification element. By this MIF-HEMT biosensor, the efficacy on stoke of different components from Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills was measured. It was clear that all three components of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills had strong therapeutic effects on stroke, especially the section A, the K_D of which reached to 8.722×10^-10 g·mL^-1. Furthermore, MIF-HEMT biosensor integrated UPLC-MS/MS was introduced to identify the efficacy CQAs of different components of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills. As a result, 19 potential CQAs, such as albiforin, paeoniflorin, and prim-O-glucosylcimifugin, were measured as the efficacy CQAs of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills on stroke treatment by MIF. These results provided vital measurement techniques and methodological guidance for the CQAs study of Tongren niuhuang qingxin pills intervention in MIF-induced stroke treatment. This also provided an essential guideline for the efficient utilization and quality control measurement of high-quality classical recipes.