[Morinda officinalis how extract up-regulates the expression of SPAG11T and inhibits that of miR-210 in the testis tissue of varicocele rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of morinda officinalis how (MOH) on SPAG11T and microRNA-210 (miR-210) in the testis tissue of SD rats with varicocele (VC). METHODS: Forty SD rats were randomly divided into four groups of an equal number: blank control, VC model control, low-dose MOH and high-dose MOH. The rats in the former two groups were treated intragastrically with normal saline and those in the latter two with MOH extract at 200 and 400 mg/kg/d, respectively, all for 30 days. Then, the testis tissues of the rats were harvested for measurement of the levels of SOD, MDA and AI and determination of the expressions of vimentin, sperm-associated antigen 11T (SPAG11T) protein and RNA, and miR-210. RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in the testicular and epididymal weights among the four groups of rats (P > 0.05). Compared with the rats in the VC model control group, those in the MOH groups showed a remarkably increased SOD content (P < 0.05) but a decreased MDA level and AI in the testis tissue (P < 0.05). The expression of vimentin mRNA in the testis tissue was significantly reduced in the VC model control in comparison with that in the blank control group (0.18 ± 0.03 vs 1.00 ± 0.02), but dramatically up-regulated after treated with low-dose MOH (0.68 ± 0.07) and high-dose MOH (0.92 ± 0.08) (F = 432.901, P< 0.01). The level of SPAG11T mRNA was also remarkably decreased in the VC model control group compared with the blank controls (0.32 ± 0.04 vs 1.00 ± 0.05), but markedly elevated after treated with low-dose MOH (0.61 ± 0.09) and high-dose MOH (0.82 ± 0.13) (F = 117.423, P< 0.01). The level of testicular miR-210, however, was significantly increased in the VC model controls compared with the blank controls (1.39 ± 0.12 vs 1.00 ± 0.06), but decreased in both the low-dose MOH (1.17 ± 0.08) and high-dose MOH groups (1.09 ± 0.08) (F = 36.136, P< 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: MOH extract can up-regulate the expressions of vimentin and SPAG11T and inhibit that of miR-210 in the testis tissue of varicocele rats.

[Comparison between peel and pulp of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus by UPLC fingerprint and multicomponent quantitative analysis].

Twenty batches of Aurantii Fructus Immaturus(AFI) were collected, with their peel and pulp taken as research objects. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography(UPLC) fingerprints of peel and pulp of AFI were established with 17 common peaks in peel and 10 in pulp. Six kinds of flavonoids were identified, i.e., narirutin, naringin, rhoifolin, hesperidin, neohesperidin and nobiletin. The Similarity Evaluation System for Chromatographic Fingerprint of Traditional Chinese Medicine was employed for similarity analysis, which showed that the chromatographic peaks of peel and pulp were basically similar to their respective reference fingerprints, with all similarities greater than 0.90. The similarity between peel and pulp of the same batch of AFI ranged from 0.850 to 0.983. Cluster analysis(CA), principal component analysis(PCA), and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis(OPLS-DA) were conducted on the common peaks of peel and pulp of AFI with SPSS 17.0 and SIMCA 14.1. Combined with the reference fingerprints, these analyses revealed 12 differential components regarding peel and pulp. Further, the content of the 6 flavonoids and synephrine was determined. The proposed method integrating UPLC fingerprint and multicomponent quantitative analysis is applicable to the quality evaluation of AFI. The results provide a certain basis for the scientific connotation about the appearance characteristic of AFI.