[Effects of berberine on LPS /NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways in PCOS model rats].

Objective: To investigate the effects of berberine on glucose and lipid metabolism, sex hormone binding protein, adiponectin (LPS), NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways in polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) model rats. Methods: Female SD rats were randomly divided into control group, PCOS model group, berberine (0.216 g/kg) group, metformin (0.135 g/kg) group and Dyne-35 (0.18 mg/kg) group, 10 rats in each group. The rats in PCOS model group were treated with letrozole 1 mg.kg-1 by ig for 3 weeks. After 28 days of drug intervention, the body constitution, ovarian and uterine indexes of the rats were detected, and the changes in the number of ovarian follicles were observed by HE staining. The levels of serum sex hormone, glucose and insulin, triglyceride and cholesterol, sex hormone-binding protein and adiponectin were determined by ELISA, and the protein expressions of p38-MAPK, C-Jun and NF-κB in ovarian tissues were determined by Western blot. Results: Compared with control group, body weight of model group was increased (P＜0.05), and uterine index was decreased (P＜0.05); The number of follicles was increased (P＜0.05). Serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone (T) and LH/FSH ratio were increased (P＜0.05), follicular estrogen (FSH) level was decreased (P＜0.05), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), fasting insulin and insulin index (HOMA) were increased (P＜ 0.05). The content of sex hormone binding protein (SHBG) was decreased and the content of adiponectin (LPS) was increased (P＜0.05). The protein expressions of p38-MAPK, c-Jun and NF-κB in ovarian tissue were up-regulated (P＜0.05). Compared with model group, in berberine group, the uterine index and the number of secondary follicles were increased(P＜0.05), the serum levels of luteinizing hormone (LH) , testosterone (T) and the ratio of LH/FSH were decreased (P＜0.05), and the protein expression levels of p38-MAPK and NF-κB in ovarian tissue were down-regulated (P＜0.05), which were similar to those of Dyne-35 group. Berberine significantly decreased serum triglyceride (TG), insulin level and insulin index (P＜0.05), increased serum SHBG level and decreased serum LPS level (P＜0.05), which were similar to those of metformin. Conclusion: Berberine can regulate sex hormone disorder and insulin resistance (IR) in PCOS rats by down-regulating the expressions of p38-MAPK and NF-κB protein in ovarian tissues and decreasing the serum content of LPS.

Expression of growth­regulated oncogene­1, hepatocyte growth factor, platelet­derived growth factor­AA and soluble E­selectin and their association with high­risk human papillomavirus infection in squamous cell carcinoma of the uterine cervix.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical significance and prognostic value of growth­regulated oncogene­1 (GRO­1), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), platelet­derived growth factor­AA (PDGF­AA), soluble E­selectin (sE­selectin) and high­risk human papillomavirus (HPV; types 16, 18/45, 31 and 33/52/58/67) infection in cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC). A total of 426 cases were enrolled in the present study, of which 292 cases were patients with CSCC, 43 were patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and 91 were healthy controls. Luminex xMAP technology was used to detect the serum levels of GRO­1, HGF, PDGF­AA and sE­selectin in all cases and two­channel fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to determine HPV DNA in cervical scrapings from CSCC and CIN patients. The results demonstrated that the serum levels of GRO­1, HGF and sE­selectin were significantly higher in patients with CSCC compared with patients with CIN and the healthy controls (P<0.0001). Compared with the CIN patients, the HPV positive rate in the CSCC patients significantly increased (P=0.013). The four factors were correlated with certain clinicopathological variables of CSCC patients to a certain degree (P<0.05) and the levels of HGF were closely associated with HPV infection (P=0.039). The receiver operating characteristic curves demonstrated that HGF obtained the highest diagnostic value compared with the other three factors. Multivariate Cox regression analysis demonstrated that the serum levels of HGF (P<0.0001), FIGO stage (P<0.0001) and pelvic lymph node metastasis (P=0.001) were independent prognostic factors in patients with CSCC, while high­risk HPV infection did not show any significance in this analysis. These results demonstrated that HGF may be a useful prognostic biomarker rather than high­risk HPV types in patients with CSCC.

[Effect of autologous bone marrow stem cell transplantation on renal function following renal ischemic-reperfusion in rabbits].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of autologous bone marrow stem cell (BMSC) transplantation via the renal artery on renal function recovery following renal ischemic-reperfusion (I/R) injury in rabbits. METHODS: BMSCs were collected and isolated from rabbits. Twenty-eight rabbits were subjected to renal pedicle clamping for 105 min and randomized subsequently into transplantation group and control group. BMSCs or saline were injected into the kidney via the renal artery, respectively. Before and 1, 3, 5, 7, 14, 21, and 28 days after I/R injury the venous blood was collected to measure the serum levels of SCr and BUN, and the renal tissue was sampled for pathological observation. RESULTS: One and 3 days after I/R injury, serum Cr and BUN levels increased significantly to the highest level in both groups. On the 7th day serum Cr and BUN levels in the transplantation group were lower than those in control group and remained so till the end of the experiment. On the 28th day, the levels of serum Cr (90.1+/-11.1 micromol/L) and BUN (8.0+/-1.5 mmol/L) in the transplantation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (135.6+/-32.5 micromol/L and 10.9+/-2.5 mmol/L, respectively, P<0.05). Pathological observation of the renal tissue revealed renal tubular epithelial cell degeneration, necrosis and abscission. CONCLUSION: BMSC transplantation can accelerate renal function repair after acute tubular necrosis resulting from I/R injury, and decrease serum Cr and BUN levels in early stage following the injury.