Primary osteosarcoma of the kidney: A case report.

Primary renal osteosarcoma is an exceedingly rare subtype of renal malignancy, noted for its aggressive nature and often fatal outcome. The scarcity and severity of this condition have resulted in a dearth of reliable methods for early diagnosis and effective treatment. The present article contributes to the existing body of knowledge by presenting a comprehensive clinical case of a 46-year-old male patient with primary renal osteosarcoma. The detailed analysis of the clinical features, imaging characteristics, treatment approaches and prognosis of the patient in the present case aimed to enhance the understanding of renal osteosarcoma and inform clinical decision-making. The patient initially presented with painless hematuria, and further diagnostic work-up, including imaging and pathology, confirmed the diagnosis of primary renal osteosarcoma.

Mechanisms of heavy metal-induced rhizosphere changes and crop metabolic evolution: The role of carbon materials.

To investigate the effects of modified carbon-based materials on soil environmental remediation and crop physiological regulation, this research relied on rice pots with lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) composite contamination. Dolomite, montmorillonite, attapulgite and sepiolite modified biochar with different doses have been developed to explore the mechanisms on heavy metal passivation, nutrient improvement, microbial activation, and crop growth. The results indicated that the modified materials effectively reduced heavy metal bioavailability and accumulation in plant tissues through adsorption complexation. Specifically, under montmorillonite and sepiolite modified treatments, the Grains-Pb content significantly decreased by 29.23-30.31% and 27.49-30.58%, compared to the control group (CK). Meantime, carbon-based materials increased available nutrient levels, providing a biological substrate for soil microorganisms metabolism. The content of ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) and available phosphorus (AP) in different proportions of montmorillonite modified biochar increased by 10.99-13.98% and 55.76-77.86%, respectively, compared to CK. Furthermore, sepiolite modified biochar enhanced bacterial community diversity, significantly improving the tolerance and resistance of bacterial communities such as Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria to heavy metals. Meanwhile, carbon-based materials enhanced community stability and network complexity, improving microbial stress resistance to adverse environments. In summary, montmorillonite and sepiolite modified biochar regulated microbial community interaction mechanisms by mitigating the physiological toxicity of heavy metals. This process enhanced soil available nutrients and ecological function stability, which had significant implications for improving crop growth and quality.

Engineered biochars for simultaneous immobilization of as and Cd in soil: Field evidence.

Agricultural soil contamination by potentially toxic elements (PTEs) such as arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) poses a serious threat to food security. Immobilization serves as a widely used approach for the remediation of PTEs contaminated soils, nevertheless, the long-term effectiveness for the simultaneous immobilization of both cations and oxyanions remains a challenge. In order to effectively enhance the synergistic immobilization effect of soil As and Cd contaminated by multiple elements and improve the ecological environment of farmland. In this study, a typical polluted tailings area farmland was selected for situ immobilization experiments, and biochar was prepared from cow manure (CMB), rice straw (RSB), and pine wood (PWB) as raw materials. On this basis, the pristine biochar was modified with ferric chloride (F), potassium permanganate (K), magnesium chloride (M), and aluminum chloride (A), respectively. Furthermore, the immobilization effect of modified biochar on As-Cd and the stress effect on soil respiration were investigated. The results showed that CMB and RSB reduced the bioavailability of heavy metals, potassium permanganate has strong oxidizing properties, and the strong oxidability of potassium permanganate stimulated the generation of more oxygen-containing functional groups on the surface of biochar, thereby enhancing the adsorption and complexation effect of modified materials on As and Cd. Among them, the extracted Cd concentration of Diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (DTPA) in KCMB and KRSB in 2020 decreased by 8.23-43.12% and 9.67-35.29% compared to other treatments, respectively. Meanwhile, the KCMB and KRSB treatments also reduced the enrichment of As and Cd in plant tissues. In addition, the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content in KCMB treatment was relatively high, and the carbon stability of the material was weakened. Simultaneously, the soil respiration emission of KCMB treatment was increased by 5.63% and 11.93% compared to KRSB and KPWB treatments, respectively. In addition, the structural equation also shows that DOC has a large positive effect on soil respiration. In summary, the KRSB treatment effectively achieve synergistic immobilization of As-Cd and provide important guiding significance for green and low-carbon remediation of polluted farmland.

Machine learning discrimination of Gleason scores below GG3 and above GG4 for HSPC patients diagnosis.

This study aims to develop machine learning (ML)-assisted models for analyzing datasets related to Gleason scores in prostate cancer, conducting statistical analyses on the datasets, and identifying meaningful features. We retrospectively collected data from 717 hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (HSPC) patients at Yunnan Cancer Hospital. Of these, data from 526 patients were used for modeling. Seven auxiliary models were established using Logistic Regression (LR), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Random Forest (RF), Decision Tree (DT), Extreme gradient boosting tree (XGBoost), Adaptive Boosting (Adaboost), and artificial neural network (ANN) based on 21 clinical biochemical indicators and features. Evaluation metrics included accuracy (ACC), precision (PRE), specificity (SPE), sensitivity (SEN) or regression rate(Recall), and f1 score. Evaluation metrics for the models primarily included ACC, PRE, SPE, SEN or Recall, f1 score, and area under the curve(AUC). Evaluation metrics were visualized using confusion matrices and ROC curves. Among the ensemble learning methods, RF, XGBoost, and Adaboost performed the best. RF achieved a training dataset score of 0.769 (95% CI: 0.759-0.835) and a testing dataset score of 0.755 (95% CI: 0.660-0.760) (AUC: 0.786, 95%CI: 0.722-0.803), while XGBoost achieved a training dataset score of 0.755 (95% CI: 95%CI: 0.711-0.809) and a testing dataset score of 0.745 (95% CI: 0.660-0.764) (AUC: 0.777, 95% CI: 0.726-0.798). Adaboost scored 0.789 on the training dataset (95% CI: 0.782-0.857) and 0.774 on the testing dataset (95% CI: 0.651-0.774) (AUC: 0.799, 95% CI: 0.703-0.802). In terms of feature importance (FI) in ensemble learning, Bone metastases at first visit, prostatic volume, age, and T1-T2 have significant proportions in RF's FI. fPSA, TPSA, and tumor burden have significant proportions in Adaboost's FI, while f/TPSA, LDH, and testosterone have the highest proportions in XGBoost. Our findings indicate that ensemble learning methods demonstrate good performance in classifying HSPC patient data, with TNM staging and fPSA being important classification indicators. These discoveries provide valuable references for distinguishing different Gleason scores, facilitating more accurate patient assessments and personalized treatment plans.

Construction and validation of a prediction model for inguinal lymph node metastasis of penile malignancy.

Background: Penile squamous cell carcinoma is a relatively rare malignancy among male malignancies, there are more than 30,000 new cases and more than 10,000 deaths of penile cancer annually. In patients with penile malignancy, inguinal lymph node metastasis (ILNM) significantly reduces patient survival. Thus, we identified the risk factors for ILNM in penile malignancies, aiming to develop a precise prediction model. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 112 male patients with penile cancer. All subjects underwent penile surgery and inguinal lymphadenectomy at the same time, and postoperative pathology confirmed ILNM. Fisher's exact test, t-test, and Wilcoxon rank sum test were used to assess differences in demographic information and clinical features between the two groups, followed by logical least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression analysis to determine risk factors of ILNM. The prediction model was constructed using nomogram. Results: LASSO regression revealed that age [ß=-0.005, odds ratio (OR) =0.995], smoking history (ß=-0.006, OR =0.994) and interleukin 2 (IL-2) level (ß=-0.0112, OR =0.989) were protective against ILNM. However, lymph node diameter (ß=0.3117, OR =1.366), T-stage (ß=0.1254, OR =1.134), fibrinogen (ß=0.0377, OR =1.038), IL-4 level (ß=0.004, OR =1.001), and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (ß=0.0355, OR =1.034) were risk factors for developing ILNM. When assessing the risk of metastasis, it is crucial to balance these factors. The aforementioned characteristics were utilized to establish the predictive model, which demonstrated a good predictive ability with an area under the curve (AUC) value of 0.81. Moreover, internal leave-one-way cross-validation was used to construct a nomogram showing consistency, with an AUC of 0.75. Conclusions: The diagnosis of ILNM in penile malignant tumors can be predicted through clinicopathological features, biochemical tests, and prediction models based on tumor markers.

Identification of prostate cancer bone metastasis related genes and potential therapy targets by bioinformatics and in vitro experiments.

The aetiology of bone metastasis in prostate cancer (PCa) remains unclear. This study aims to identify hub genes involved in this process. We utilized machine learning, GO, KEGG, GSEA, Single-cell analysis, ROC methods to identify hub genes for bone metastasis in PCa using the TCGA and GEO databases. Potential drugs targeting these genes were identified. We validated these results using 16 specimens from patients with PCa and analysed the relationship between the hub genes and clinical features. The impact of APOC1 on PCa was assessed through in vitro experiments. Seven hub genes with AUC values of 0.727-0.926 were identified. APOC1, CFH, NUSAP1 and LGALS1 were highly expressed in bone metastasis tissues, while NR4A2, ADRB2 and ZNF331 exhibited an opposite trend. Immunohistochemistry further confirmed these results. The oxidative phosphorylation pathway was significantly enriched by the identified genes. Aflatoxin B1, benzo(a)pyrene, cyclosporine were identified as potential drugs. APOC1 expression was correlated with clinical features of PCa metastasis. Silencing APOC1 significantly inhibited PCa cell proliferation, clonality, and migration in vitro. This study identified 7 hub genes that potentially facilitate bone metastasis in PCa through mitochondrial metabolic reprogramming. APOC1 emerged as a promising therapeutic target and prognostic marker for PCa with bone metastasis.

Bioaccumulation mediated by water solubility leads to differences in the acute toxicity of organophosphorus insecticides to zebrafish (Danio rerio).

The use of some organophosphate insecticides is restricted or even banned in paddy fields due to their high toxicity to aquatic organisms. The aim of this study is to elucidate the main pathways and target organs of organophosphate insecticide toxicity to fish exposed via different routes by integrating histopathological and biochemical techniques. Using malathion as the model drug, when the dosage is 20-60 mg/L, the toxicity of whole body and head immersion drugs to zebrafish is much higher than that of trunk immersion drugs. A dose of 21.06-190.44 mg/kg of malathion feed was fed to adult zebrafish. Although the dosage was already high, no obvious toxicity was observed. Therefore, we believe that the drug mainly enters the fish body through the gills. When exposed to a drug solution of 20 mg/L and 60 mg/L, the fish showed significant neurological behavioral abnormalities, and the pathological damage to key organs and brain tissue was the most severe, showing obvious vacuolization and the highest residual amount (8.72-47.78 mg/L). The activity of acetylcholinesterase was the most inhibited (54.69-74.68%). Therefore, brain tissue is the key toxic target organ of malathion in fish. In addition, we compared the bioaccumulation effects of different water-soluble organophosphorus insecticides in fish and their toxic effects. We found that the higher the water solubility of organophosphorus insecticides, the lower their toxicity to fish.

The boom era of emerging contaminants: A review of remediating agricultural soils by biochar.

Emerging contaminants (ECs) are widely sourced persistent pollutants that pose a significant threat to the environment and human health. Their footprint spans global ecosystems, making their remediation highly challenging. In recent years, a significant amount of literature has focused on the use of biochar for remediation of heavy metals and organic pollutants in soil and water environments. However, the use of biochar for the remediation of ECs in agricultural soils has not received as much attention, and as a result, there are limited reviews available on this topic. Thus, this review aims to provide an overview of the primary types, sources, and hazards of ECs in farmland, as well as the structure, functions, and preparation types of biochar. Furthermore, this paper emphasizes the importance and prospects of three remediation strategies for ECs in cropland: (i) employing activated, modified, and composite biochar for remediation, which exhibit superior pollutant removal compared to pure biochar; (ii) exploring the potential synergistic efficiency between biochar and compost, enhancing their effectiveness in soil improvement and pollution remediation; (iii) utilizing biochar as a shelter and nutrient source for microorganisms in biochar-mediated microbial remediation, positively impacting soil properties and microbial community structure. Given the increasing global prevalence of ECs, the remediation strategies provided in this paper aim to serve as a valuable reference for future remediation of ECs-contaminated agricultural lands.

Mechanism of clay mineral modified biochar simultaneously immobilizes heavy metals and reduces soil carbon emissions.

Heavy metal pollution in farmland soil has become increasingly severe, and multi-element composite pollution has brought enormous harm to human production and life. Environmental changes in cold regions (such as freeze-thaw cycles and dry-wet alternations) may increase the potential physiological toxicity of heavy metals and exacerbate pollution risks. In order to reveal the effectiveness of sepiolite modified biochar in the remediation of the soil contaminated with lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and chromium (Cr), the rice husk biochar pyrolyzed at 500 and 800 °C were selected for remediation treatment (denoted as BC500 and BC800). Meanwhile, different proportions of sepiolite were used for modification (biochar: sepiolite = 1: 0.5 and 1: 1), denoted as MBC500/MBC800 and HBC500/HBC800, respectively. The results showed that modified biochar with sepiolite can effectively improve the immobilization of heavy metals. Under natural conservation condition, the amount of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA) extractable Pb in BC500, MBC500, and HBC500 decreased by 5.95, 12.39, and 13.55%, respectively, compared to CK. Freeze-thaw cycles and dry-wet alternations activated soil heavy metals, while modified biochar increased adsorption sites and oxygen-containing functional groups under aging conditions, inhibiting the fractions transformation of heavy metals. Furthermore, freeze-thaw cycles promoted the decomposition and mineralization of soil organic carbon (SOC), while sepiolite hindered the release of active carbon through ion exchange and adsorption complexation. Among them, and the soil dissolved organic carbon (DOC) content in HBC800 decreased by 49.39% compared to BC800. Additionally, the high-temperature pyrolyzed biochar (BC800) enhanced the porosity richness and alkalinity of material, which effectively inhibited the migration and transformation of heavy metals compared to BC500, and reduced the decomposition of soil DOC.

Revised Tunable Q-Factor Wavelet Transform for EEG-Based Epileptic Seizure Detection.

Electroencephalogram (EEG) signals are an essential tool for the detection of epilepsy. Because of the complex time series and frequency features of EEG signals, traditional feature extraction methods have difficulty meeting the requirements of recognition performance. The tunable Q-factor wavelet transform (TQWT), which is a constant-Q transform that is easily invertible and modestly oversampled, has been successfully used for feature extraction of EEG signals. Because the constant-Q is set in advance and cannot be optimized, further applications of the TQWT are restricted. To solve this problem, the revised tunable Q-factor wavelet transform (RTQWT) is proposed in this paper. RTQWT is based on the weighted normalized entropy and overcomes the problems of a nontunable Q-factor and the lack of an optimized tunable criterion. In contrast to the continuous wavelet transform and the raw tunable Q-factor wavelet transform, the wavelet transform corresponding to the revised Q-factor, i.e., RTQWT, is sufficiently better adapted to the nonstationary nature of EEG signals. Therefore, the precise and specific characteristic subspaces obtained can improve the classification accuracy of EEG signals. The classification of the extracted features was performed using the decision tree, linear discriminant, naive Bayes, SVM and KNN classifiers. The performance of the new approach was tested by evaluating the accuracies of five time-frequency distributions: FT, EMD, DWT, CWT and TQWT. The experiments showed that the RTQWT proposed in this paper can be used to extract detailed features more effectively and improve the classification accuracy of EEG signals.

Exposure of zebrafish (Danio rerio) to trans-2-hexenal induces oxidative stress and protein degeneration of the gill.

Trans-2-hexenal (T2H) has great commercial value for development as a biopesticide, but its toxicity risk to nontarget organisms is unknown. Here, the toxicity and underlying mechanism of T2H on zebrafish (Danio rerio) were investigated. The LC50 (48 h) of T2H on zebrafish is 4.316 µg/mL, and the aldehyde group is essential to its toxicity. In 14-day chronic toxicity tests, 0.432 µg/mL T2H resulted in a higher mortality of zebrafish than the control group. Furthermore, the sensitivity of zebrafish to different administration methods was gill administration>oral administration>transdermal administration>intravenous injection. T2H induced significant cell death and ROS generation in zebrafish gill cells in a concentration-dependent manner. After treatment with 4.316 µg/mL T2H, the expression of oxidative stress-related genes (nrf2, gstp1, keap1b, sod1 and sod2) and the content of malondialdehyde (MDA) were up-regulated. Incubation with T2H caused an immediate denaturation of gill protein, which was aggravated with increasing dose of T2H. We also found that T2H at 21.225 mg/mL significantly reduced the in vitro activity of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH). Among the three amino acids tested, T2H was only found to react with methionine and glycine to form adducts, which may be the basis of the protein denaturation. This study confirmed that T2H could induce oxidative stress and protein denaturation in zebrafish gills, providing important information for risk assessment of T2H exposure.

Toxicological differences of trifloxystrobin and kresoxim-methyl on zebrafish in various levels of exposure routes, organs, cells and biochemical indicators.

Trifloxystrobin (TRI) and kresoxim-methyl (KRE), as quinone outside inhibitor fungicides (QoIs), have broad applications due to their effective activity against fungi. Excessive usages of agrochemicals trigger environmental risks, such as aquatic organisms (fish). Research performed in recent years has focused on the ecotoxicology of TRI and KRE in fish containing histologic morphology, enzyme activity, protein and gene expression under chronic toxicity conditions, whereas less is known about the underlying mechanisms of toxicity and differences between TRI and KRE in fish under acute toxicity conditions. In the present study, in comparison to different exposure routes [whole-body exposure (WBE), head exposure (HE), trunk exposure (TE), and Oral administration (OA)], the external substances TRI and KRE entered the fish body mainly via gill organs and led to fish toxicity. Furthermore, gill organs and gill cells were vulnerable to TRI and KRE exposure, which indicated that the gill is a vital impaired organ. The 96 h-LC50 (sublethal concentration) value of KRE was 289.8 µg L-1 (R2 = 0.9855) with an approximate 10-fold difference in TRI toxicity. The cytotoxicity exposed to TRI was higher than that in KRE at the same concentration. The potential mechanisms of toxic differences could be various toxic effects in terms of MCIII (mitochondrial complex III) activity, ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) content, MA (mitochondrial activity), ROS (reactive oxygen species) levels, and cellular respiration. Furthermore, the disorder in MCIII activity was probably the main potential mechanisms of toxic differences. To some extent, this research provides not only new insight into the underlying toxic mechanism of TRI and KRE in fish but also a basis for the guidance of agrochemicals considering aquatic risks.

Dual-signal amplification electrochemical sensing for the sensitive detection of uranyl ion based on gold nanoparticles and hybridization chain reaction-assisted synthesis of silver nanoclusters.

Herein, a dual-signal amplification electrochemical sensing has been proposed for the ultrasensitive detection of uranyl ions (UO22+) by integration of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) and hybridization chain reaction (HCR)-assisted synthesis of silver nanoclusters (AgNCs). In this sensing platform, AuNPs are used as an ideal signal amplification carrier, aiming at increasing the loads of UO22+-specific DNAzyme on the gold electrode. In the presence of UO22+, UO22+-specific DNAzyme can be activated, leading to the cleavage of substrate strands (S-DNA). Then, HCR is triggered to produce long dsDNA through hybridization the probe with the ssDNA on the electrode surface. As a result, an amplified electrochemical response can be detected by inserting a large amount of AgNCs generated in situ using dsDNA as template. Featured with amplification efficiency, good specificity and high sensitivity, the strategy could quantitatively detect UO22+ down to 6.2 pM with a linear calibration range from 20 pM to 5000 pM. The proposed sensing platform has been also successfully demonstrated the practical application of detecting UO22+, indicating that the developed method has the potential applications and can open up a new avenue for highly sensitive detection of UO22+ in environmental monitoring.

Curcumin regulates EZH2/Wnt/ß-Catenin pathway in the mandible and femur of ovariectomized osteoporosis rats.

Osteoporosis (OP) behaves in different manners in different parts of the skeleton. This study aims to investigate the effects of curcumin on bone mass of the mandibular and femur from ovariectomized OP rats and to validate whether enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2)/Wnt/ß-Catenin pathway is involved in this process. Curcumin was administered intragastrically into ovariectomized rats for 12 weeks. The bone parameters and the morphology of the trabecular bone of the left mandible and left femur were assessed by micro-computed tomography assay. Morphological changes of the left mandible and left femur were evaluated by hematoxylin and eosin staining. The mRNA levels of EZH2, ß-Catenin, and Runx2 in the right mandible and right femur were examined by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction. Immunohistochemistry was performed to assess EZH2 expression. Both the mandible and femur exhibited OP-like changes in ovariectomized rats, while the mandible bone resorption was less than the femur bone resorption. Curcumin intragastric administration improved bone microstructure and promoted bone formation in the mandible and femur. Curcumin inhibited EZH2 mRNA level and induced that of ß-Catenin and Runx2 in the mandible and femur. Collectively, curcumin exerts protective effects against OP, possibly by regulating the EZH2/Wnt/ß-Catenin pathway.

Estimation of Peanut Leaf Area Index from Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Multispectral Images.

Leaf area index (LAI) is used to predict crop yield, and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) provide new ways to monitor LAI. In this study, we used a fixed-wing UAV with multispectral cameras for remote sensing monitoring. We conducted field experiments with two peanut varieties at different planting densities to estimate LAI from multispectral images and establish a high-precision LAI prediction model. We used eight vegetation indices (VIs) and developed simple regression and artificial neural network (BPN) models for LAI and spectral VIs. The empirical model was calibrated to estimate peanut LAI, and the best model was selected from the coefficient of determination and root mean square error. The red (660 nm) and near-infrared (790 nm) bands effectively predicted peanut LAI, and LAI increased with planting density. The predictive accuracy of the multiple regression model was higher than that of the single linear regression models, and the correlations between Modified Red-Edge Simple Ratio Index (MSR), Ratio Vegetation Index (RVI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), and LAI were higher than the other indices. The combined VI BPN model was more accurate than the single VI BPN model, and the BPN model accuracy was higher. Planting density affects peanut LAI, and reflectance-based vegetation indices can help predict LAI.

S-Vacancy induced indirect-to-direct band gap transition in multilayer MoS2.

Two-dimensional (2D) MoS2 has various potential applications due to its attractive band gap of 1.29-1.90 eV and unique photoelectric properties. Furthermore, it is well-known that multilayer and bulk MoS2 structures possess an indirect band gap. In this paper, however, our first-principles calculations demonstrated that the creation of S vacancies in the multilayer and bulk MoS2 structures can achieve indirect-to-direct band gap transition, leading to a decrease in the band gap energies from 0.984-1.542 eV to 0.629-0.971 eV. Although the generation of Mo vacancies cannot cause such indirect-to-direct band gap transition, the Mo vacancies also decrease the band gap energies of the multilayer and bulk MoS2 structures to 0.369-0.460 eV. Furthermore, the band gap energy of the vacancy-defected multilayer MoS2 decreases with the increasing number of layers. Optical properties are also remarkably affected by atomic vacancies, that is, the absorption edges in the defect structures of MoS2 present a redshift and significantly enhance the visible light absorption compared to the corresponding pristine structures. These findings provide a novel approach to tuning the electronic structure and dielectric properties of MoS2 for specific future applications.

Role of autophagy and apoptosis in atrophic epithelium in oral submucous fibrosis.

Oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) is a serious, potentially malignant oral disorder. It is histopathologically characterized by chronic inflammation and atrophic epithelium accompanied by the accumulation of collagen fibers in the lamina propria. The molecular mechanisms leading to atrophic epithelium remain poorly understood. Therefore, the present study investigated the role of autophagy and apoptosis in atrophic epithelium in OSF. The expression of Caspase-3 and autophagy-related proteins (LC3 and P62) in OSF epithelial tissues was quantified by immunohistochemistry. The analysis demonstrated that, compared with normal oral mucosal tissues, autophagy and apoptosis increased with the progression of OSF. Flow cytometry and Western blotting showed that arecoline induces apoptosis in human oral keratinocytes (HOKs) in a time-dependent manner in vitro. Arecoline-induced autophagy was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy and Western blotting. When chloroquine was used as an inhibitor of autophagy, the apoptosis rate and Caspase-3 expression decreased compared with the use of arecoline alone. Thus, autophagy and apoptosis may be involved in atrophic epithelium in OSF, and arecoline-induced autophagy promotes apoptosis in HOKs.

[Effects of curcumin on EZH2 mRNA expression in the mandible and femur of ovariectomized osteoporosis rats].

PURPOSE: To study the effects of curcumin on EZH2 mRNA expression in the mandible and femur of ovariectomized osteoporosis rats,and to investigate its protective effect and mechanism. METHODS: Thirty female 6-month old SD rats were randomly divided into sham group,OVX group and experimental group. The rats in the experimental groups were given curcumin (110 mg/kg) by intragastric administration after ovariectomy, while rats in the sham group and OVX group were given the same dosage of carboxymethylcellulose sodium solution, once a day for 12 weeks. All rats were sacrificed after the last intragastric administration. The serum samples were collected for detemination of biochemistrical parameters. Micro-CT was used for bone parameters and the morphology of the trabecular bone of the left mandibles and femurs. The expression level of EZH2mRNA in right mandible and femurs tissue was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). SPSS22.0 software package was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The expression of EZH2mRNA in the OVX group was significantly higher than the sham group (P<0.05). Compared with the OVX group,curcumin increased BMD and improved bone microstructure, decreased serum contents of alkaline phosphatase,and down-regulated the expression levels of EZH2mRNA in bone tissues of rats with osteoporosis (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Curcumin can effectively prevent the lose of bone volume of ovariectomized rats, and repaire bone microstructure. Its mechanism is related with down -regulation of EZH2mRNA.