Effect of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on Improving the Cognitive Function in Major and Minor Depression.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on improving the cognitive function in minor depression (MiD) and major depression (MaD). The study will constitute a placebo-controlled single-blind parallel-group randomized controlled trial. The selected participants will be randomly allocated into one of two parallel groups with a 1:1 ratio: the CBT-based group and the general health education group. CBT significantly alleviated depressive symptoms of MiD and MaD at 12 weeks (p < 0.001), and the treatment effect was maintained for at least 12 months (p < 0.001). Interestingly, CBT significantly promotes more cognitive function of MiD and partial cognitive function of MaD at 12 weeks in the intervention group than in the control group (p < 0.01). CBT can alleviate depressive symptoms of both minor and MaDs. The effectiveness of CBT is different on improving the cognitive function in MiD and MaD.

d-Fagomine Attenuates High Glucose-Induced Endothelial Cell Oxidative Damage by Upregulating the Expression of PGC-1α.

d-Fagomine, an analogue of 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ), has been shown to have hypoglycemic activity. This study is aimed at investigating if d-fagomine could attenuate high glucose-induced oxidative stress in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and elucidate the underlying mechanism. Our results showed that d-fagomine reduced intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. It also reversed the decrease of superoxide dismutases (SOD) and glutathione reductase (GR) activity, suggesting an inhibitory effect of d-fagomine on oxidative damage in HUVECs. d-Fagomine restored the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential, implying its protective role on mitochondrial function. In addition, d-fagomine activated the AMPK signaling pathway through LKB1, increased the expression of SIRT1 and PGC-1α, and attenuated the inhibitory effect on SIRT1 and PGC-1α activity caused by AMPK and SIRT1 inhibitor. d-Fagomine attenuated high glucose-induced oxidative stress in HUVECs through the AMPK/SIRT1/PGC-1α pathway.

[Correlation of oxidative stress with sperm DNA integrity and semen parameters in infertile men with varicocele].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship of oxidative stress with DNA integrity and semen parameters in infertile men with varicocele (VC). METHODS: This prospective study included 98 infertile males with VC. According to the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the semen, we divided the patients into a high ROS group (n=44) and a low ROS group (n=54), determined the sperm DNA fragmentation index (DFI), motility and morphology, and analyzed their correlation with ROS in the two groups of patients. RESULTS: Compared with the patients of the low ROS group, those of the high ROS group showed a significantly higher DFI (27.38±8.10 vs 34.49±6.05, P=0.039) and a higher concentration of seminal leukocytes (ï¼»0.65±0.15ï¼½×106/ml vs ï¼»0.86±0.41ï¼½×106/ml, P=0.022), but lower sperm motility (ï¼»36.16±22.83ï¼½% vs ï¼»18.22±25.21ï¼½%, P=0.017), percentage of progressively motile sperm (ï¼»23.34±11.53ï¼½% vs ï¼»16.34±9.22ï¼½%, P=0.041), sperm curvilinear velocity (ï¼»27.03±6.21ï¼½ vs ï¼»20.62±4.38ï¼½ µm/s, P=0.013), and sperm linearity (ï¼»29.75±8.24ï¼½% vs ï¼»18.30±7.93ï¼½%, P=0.024). Spearman correlation analysis indicated that the ROS level was correlated positively with the concentration of seminal leukocytes (r=0.41, P<0.01) and DFI (r=0.21, P=0.006), but negatively with sperm curvilinear velocity (r=－0.24, P=0.017), linearity (r=－0.24, P=0.021), motility (r=－0.31, P=0.002), and the percentage of progressively motile sperm (r=－0.41, P=0.012). Additionally, the sperm DFI manifested a significant negative correlation with sperm motility (r=－0.29, P<0.01) and the percentage of progressively motile sperm (r=－0.34, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The level of seminal ROS is positively correlated with the sperm DFI in infertile men with varicocele, and both the ROS level and DNA integrity are associated with semen parameters.