Effects of treadmill exercise on anxiety-like behavior in association with changes in estrogen receptors ERα, ERß and oxytocin of C57BL/6J female mice.

Exercise can reduce the incidence of stress-related mental diseases, such as depression and anxiety. Control group was neither exposed to CVMS nor TRE (noCVMS/noTRE). Females were tested and levels of serum17-beta-oestradiol (E2), estrogen receptors α immunoreactive neurons (ERα-IRs), estrogen receptors ß immunoreactive neurons (ERß-IRs) and oxytocin immunoreactive neurons (OT-IRs) were measured. The results showed there's increased anxiety-like behaviors for mice from CVMS/noTRE, CVMS/higher speed TRE (CVMS/HTRE) and noCVMS/HTRE groups when they were put in open field and elevated maze tests. They had lower serum E2 levels than mice from CVMS/low-moderate speed TRE (CVMS/LMTRE), noCVMS/LMTRE and noCVMS/noTRE groups. The three groups of CVMS/noTRE, CVMS/HTRE and noCVMS/HTRE mice had more ERα-IRs and less ERß-IRs in the medial preoptic area (mPOA), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and medial amygdala (MeA), hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and supraoptic nucleus (SON). The number of OT-IRs in PVN and SON of CVMS/noTRE, CVMS/HTRE and noCVMS/HTRE mice was also lower than that of mice from CVMS/LMTRE, noCVMS/LMTRE and noCVMS/noTRE groups. Interestingly, CVMS/LMTRE and noCVMS/LMTRE mice were similar to noCVMS/noTRE mice in that they did not show anxiety, while CVMS/HTRE and noCVMS/HTRE mice did not, which were similar to the mice in CVMS/noTRE. We propose that LMTRE instead of HTRE changes the serum concentration of E2. ERß/ERα ratio and OT level in the brain may be responsible for the decrease in anxiety-like behavior in female mice exposed to anxiety-inducing stress conditions.

Effects of paternal electromagnetic pulse exposure on the reproductive endocrine function of male offspring: a pilot study.

Many studies indicate that parental exposure to an electromagnetic field (EMF) can cause long-term toxicity to the health of the offspring. While concerns have been focused on maternal influence, much less is known regarding the effects of paternal factors. Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a special and widely used type of EMF. The present study was designed to investigate the effects of paternal EMP exposure on the reproductive endocrine function of the male rat offspring. Male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly exposed to EMP at 200 kV m-1 for 0, 100 or 400 pulses before mating. The adult male offspring were sacrificed and the structural changes of testes, levels of serum steroid hormones, sperm characteristics, reproductive behaviors, content of the reproductive endocrine-related neurotransmitter GABA and expression of the GABAA receptor were analyzed. The results showed that paternal exposure induced a decrease of testosterone (T), sperm quantity and acrosin activity in the male offspring (p < 0.05). It did not show significant changes in the structure of testes, sperm deformity frequency and reproductive behaviors compared with the sham-exposed group. The content of GABA and the protein and mRNA expression of the hypothalamic GABAA receptor protein increased in the EMP exposure group (p < 0.05). In conclusion, our study shows that under these experimental conditions EMP had a certain degree of influence on the reproductive endocrine function of the male rat offspring, and the hypothalamic GABAA receptor may be involved in the reproductive toxicity of the male offspring.

[ZO-1 gene methylation status and its clinical significance in children with non-Hodgkin lymphoma].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the methylation status of zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) gene promoter and its clinical significance in children with stage IV non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and to provide a basis for further etiological study and early diagnosis of this disease. METHODS: Fifty-five children with a confirmed diagnosis of stage IV NHL (40 cases of T-NHL and 15 cases of B-NHL) were selected as the case group, and 20 children with diseases other than hematologic malignancies were selected as the control group. Bone marrow samples were collected from these subjects. Methylation-specific PCR (MS-PCR) was applied to evaluate the methylation status of ZO-1 gene promoter, and the integrated optical density (IOD) was determined. RT-PCR was used to measure the mRNA expression of ZO-1. RESULTS: MS-PCR showed that the methylated bands of ZO-1 gene promoter were found in 39 (70.9%) of 55 patients in the case group before treatment, while no ZO-1 gene promoter methylation was detected in the control group. With close tracking of 47 cases in the study group, consisting of 32 cases of T-NHL and 15 cases of B-NHL, the rates of ZO-1 gene promoter methylation prior to treatment were 72% and 67%, respectively, (P>0.572). The cases of T-NHL and B-NHL showed no significant changes in methylation rate in the early and middle phases of chemotherapy (P>0.05), but they showed significant changes in methylation rate in the late phase of chemotherapy (P<0.05). RT-PCR showed that the NHL cases carrying methylated ZO-1 gene had no mRNA expression of ZO-1, while all children in the control group had mRNA expression of ZO-1. There was no linear relationship between the total number of peripheral blood leukocytes and ZO-1 gene IOD (r=0.093, P=0.575); a positive correlation was found between the number of malignant cells in bone marrow and ZO-1 gene IOD (r=0.669, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: ZO-1 gene shows a hypermethylation status in children with NHL, and the methylation level is positively correlated with the number of malignant cells in bone marrow. ZO-1 may be used as a novel molecular marker in early diagnosis, outcome assessment, prognostic evaluation, and detection of minimal residual disease.

Effects of electromagnetic pulse on polydactyly of mouse fetuses.

There is an increasing public concern regarding potential health impacts from electromagnetic radiation exposure. Embryonic development is sensitive to the external environment, and limb development is vital for life quality. To determine the effects of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) on polydactyly of mouse fetuses, pregnant mice were sham-exposed or exposed to EMP (400 kV/m with 400 pulses) from Days 7 to 10 of pregnancy (Day 0 = day of detection of vaginal plug). As a positive control, mice were treated with 5-bromodeoxyuridine on Days 9 and 10. On Days 11 or 18, the fetuses were isolated. Compared with the sham-exposed group, the group exposed to EMP had increased rates of polydactyly fetuses (5.1% vs. 0.6%, P < 0.05) and abnormal gene expression (22.2% vs. 2.8%, P < 0.05). Ectopic expression of Fgf4 was detected in the apical ectodermal ridge, whereas overexpression and ectopic expression of Shh were detected in the zone of polarizing activity of limbs in the EMP-exposed group and in the positive control group. However, expression of Gli3 decreased in mesenchyme cells in those two groups. The percentages of programmed cell death of limbs in EMP-exposed and positive control group were decreased (3.57% and 2.94%, respectively, P < 0.05, compared with 7.76% in sham-exposed group). In conclusion, polydactyly induced by EMP was accompanied by abnormal expression of the above-mentioned genes and decreased percentage of programmed cell death during limb development.