Does vitamin D have a potential role in precocious puberty? A meta-analysis.

Background: Precocious puberty, one of the common pediatric endocrine system diseases, has been related to reduced adult height, adverse psychological outcomes and long-term health consequences. Previous findings have found that low levels of vitamin D appear to be associated with the characteristics of precocious puberty such as early menarche. However, the effect of vitamin D on precocious puberty remains controversial. Methods: The published literature was searched from PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CNKI, Wan Fang and VIP databases up to October 2022. A randomized effect model was used to perform a meta-analysis to evaluate differences in vitamin D concentration between precocious puberty subjects and normal subjects, the risk of precocious puberty in subjects with low vitamin D levels, and the effect of supplementation of vitamin D on subjects with precocious puberty on medication. Results: Our study found that precocious puberty subjects had lower serum vitamin D levels than the normal population (standardized mean difference (SMD) = -1.16 ng ml-1 and 95% confidence interval (CI) = -1.41 and -0.91 ng ml-1). Meanwhile, the lower level of vitamin D was associated with the risk of precocious puberty (odd ratio (OR) = 2.25 and 95% CI = 1.66 and 3.04). Moreover, compared with gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue (GnRHa) intervention alone, subjects receiving GnRHa + vitamin D intervention had significantly lower luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and estradiol levels and bone age, and higher predicted adult height (PAH). Conclusions: Vitamin D may have a potential role in precocious puberty and more data from large clinical trials are needed to confirm the findings.

Amelioration effects of the soybean lecithin-gallic acid complex on iron-overload-induced oxidative stress and liver damage in C57BL/6J mice.

CONTEXT: Gallic acid (GA) and lecithin showed important roles in antioxidant and drug delivery, respectively. A complex synthesized from GA and soybean lecithin (SL-GAC), significantly improved bioavailability of GA and pharmacological activities. However, the antioxidant activity of SL-GAC and its effect on iron-overload-induced liver injury remains unexplored. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the antioxidant properties of SL-GAC in vitro and in mice, and its remediating effects against liver injury by iron-overloaded. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In vitro, free radical scavenging activity, lipid peroxidation inhibition, and ferric reducing power of SL-GAC were measured by absorbance photometry. In vivo, C57BL/6J mice were randomized into 4 groups: control, iron-overloaded, iron-overloaded + deferoxamine, and iron-overloaded + SL-GAC. Treatments with deferoxamine (150 mg/kg/intraperitioneally) and SL-GAC (200 mg/kg/orally) were given to the desired groups for 12 weeks, daily. Iron levels, oxidative stress, and biochemical parameters were determined by histopathological examination and molecular biological techniques. RESULTS: In vitro, SL-GAC showed DPPH and ABTS free radicals scavenging activity with IC50 values equal to 24.92 and 128.36 µg/mL, respectively. In C57BL/6J mice, SL-GAC significantly reduced the levels of serum iron (22.82%), liver iron (50.29%), aspartate transaminase (25.97%), alanine transaminase (38.07%), gamma glutamyl transferase (42.11%), malondialdehyde (19.82%), total cholesterol (45.96%), triglyceride (34.90%), ferritin light chain (18.51%) and transferrin receptor (27.39%), while up-regulated the levels of superoxide dismutase (24.69%), and glutathione (11.91%). CONCLUSIONS: These findings encourage the use of SL-GAC to treat liver injury induced by iron-overloaded. Further in vivo and in vitro studies are needed to validate its potential in clinical medicine.

Valeriana jatamansi Jones Inhibits Rotavirus-Induced Diarrhea via Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/Protein Kinase B Signaling Pathway.

Rotavirus (RV), as the main cause of diarrhea in children under 5 years, contributes to various childhood diseases. Valeriana jatamansi Jones is a traditional Chinese herb and possesses antiviral effects. In this study we investigated the potential mechanisms of V. jatamansi Jones in RV-induced diarrhea. MTT assay was performed to evaluate cell proliferation and the diarrhea mice model was constructed using SA11 infection. Mice were administered V. jatamansi Jones and ribavirin. Diarrhea score was used to evaluate the treatment effect. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was performed to detect the level of cytokines. Western blot and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR were used to determine protein and mRNA levels, respectively. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was applied to detect the pathological change of the small intestine. TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling was conducted to determine the apoptosis rate. The results showed V. jatamansi Jones promoted MA104 proliferation. V. jatamansi Jones downregulated phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and protein kinase B (AKT) in protein level, which was consistent with the immunohistochemistry results. Moreover, V. jatamansi Jones combined with ribavirin regulated interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß), interferon γ, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor α, and IL-10, and suppressed secretory immunoglobulin A secretion to remove viruses and inhibit dehydration. V. jatamansi Jones + ribavirin facilitated the apoptosis of small intestine cells. In conclusion, V. jatamansi Jones may inhibit RV-induced diarrhea through PI3K/AKT signaling pathway, and could therefore be a potential therapy for diarrhea.

Screening compounds of Chinese medicinal herbs anti-Marek's disease virus.

CONTEXT: Marek's disease (MD) seriously threatens the world poultry industry and has resulted in great economic losses. Chinese medicinal herbs are a rich source for lead compounds and drug candidates for antiviral treatments. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the anti-MDV activity and mechanism of 20 compounds extracted from Chinese medicinal herbs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Antiviral assay, time of addition experiments, and virucidal assay were performed on chicken embryo fibroblast cells. The 50% cytotoxic concentration and 50% effective concentration were determined and, accordingly, selectivity index and inhibition ratio were calculated. RESULTS: Antiviral assay showed dipotassium glycyrrhizinate (DG) and sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) exhibited significantly inhibitory activity against MDV in a dose-dependent manner. EC50 of DG and STS were 893.5 ± 36.99 µg/mL and 54.82 ± 2.99 µg/mL, and selective index (SI) were >3.36 and >9.12, respectively. Time of addition experiment and virucidal assay demonstrated DG inhibited viral replication in the full replication cycle and inactivated MDV particles in non-time-dependent manner, but STS interfered with the early stage of MDV replication and inactivated MDV particles in a time-dependent manner. Moreover, both DG and STS promoted apoptosis of cells infected by MDV. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: DG and STS have great potential for developing new anti-MDV drugs for clinic application.

Effects of sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate against Marek's disease virus in experimentally infected chickens.

Chickens experimentally infected with Marek's disease virus J-1 strain were used to evaluate the anti-Marek's disease virus (MDV) activity of sodium tanshinone IIA sulfonate (STS) in vivo. Chickens in same group were kept in one pen and control group chickens were housed in negative pressure isolator. Chickens were treated with different dose of STS or ABOB for 21 consecutive days. Peripheral T lymphocyte proliferation, expression level of IFN-γ and IL-10 in serum, and MDV load in spleen were determined. The results showed that the treatments with STS and ABOB could significantly increase stimulating index (SI) of peripheral T lymphocytes while the SI is dropping due to the MDV infection, SI of chickens in STS prevention groups were significantly higher than that in STS treatment group and ABOB group (P<0.05 or P<0.01); IFN-γ and IL-10 level of chickens in STS groups were higher than that in other groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01). The results of qPCR demonstrated that STS could inhibit the virus replication in spleen of chickens infected with MDV. These findings indicated that STS can be potentially applied as an anti-MDV drug and set a solid basis for further investigating the antiviral mechanisms of STS.

Blockade of paeoniflorin on sodium current in mouse hippocampal CA1 neurons.

AIM: To study the blockade of paeoniflorin (Pae) on I(Na) in the acutely isolated hippocampus neurons of mice. METHODS: The whole-cell patch clamp technique was used. RESULTS: Pae inhibited I(Na) in frequency-dependent and concentration-dependent manners, with an IC50 of 271 micromol/L. Pae 0.3 mmol/L shifted the activation potential of the maximal I(Na) from -40 mV to -30 mV, shifted the steady-state activation and inactivation curves toward more positive and negative potentials by 10.8 mV, and 18.2 mV, respectively, and postponed the recovery of I(Na) inactivation state from (4.2+/-0.7) ms to (9.8+/-1.2) ms. CONCLUSION: Pae inhibited I(Na) in mouse hippocampus neurons.