Pharmacological and mechanistic aspects of quercetin in osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis (OP) is a bone disease associated with increasing age. Currently, the most common medications used to treat OP are anabolic agents, anti-resorptive agents, and medications with other mechanisms of action. However, many of these medications have unfavorable adverse effects or are not intended for long-term use, potentially exerting a severe negative impact on a patient's life and career and placing a heavy burden on families and society. There is an urgent need to find new drugs that can replace these and have fewer adverse effects. Quercetin (Que) is a common flavonol in nature. Numerous studies have examined the therapeutic applications of Que. However, a comprehensive review of the anti-osteoporotic effects of Que has not yet been conducted. This review aimed to describe the recent studies on the anti-osteoporotic effects of Que, including its biological, pharmacological, pharmacokinetic, and toxicological properties. The outcomes demonstrated that Que could enhance OP by increasing osteoblast differentiation and activity and reducing osteoclast differentiation and activity via the pathways of Wnt/ß-catenin, BMP/SMAD/RUNX2, OPG/RANKL/RANK, ERK/JNK, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and transcription factors. Thus, Que is a promising novel drug for the treatment of OP.

Fabricating cholyglycine-glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase conjugates for cholyglycine detection.

To establish cholyglycine (CG) detection via enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) was used as a reporter enzyme to prepare hapten-enzyme conjugate. Gel electrophoresis and UV scanning demonstrated that G6PD was successfully labeled with cholyglycine and CG-G6PD conjugate was obtained. Furthermore, the effects of various parameters on the preparation of CG-G6PD conjugates were investigated. Consequently, CG amount, NADH, D-glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), phosphate buffer and the pH, and ionic strength of solution had important effects on the residual activity of CG-G6PD. Moreover, CG amount, the pH, and G6P played important roles in changing CG labeling location on G6PD. Using the CG-G6PD conjugate as test kit, the cholyglycine-EMIT calibration curve was established, which could be employed in clinical detection of cholyglycine. This study provides some valuable information for preparing hapten-G6PD conjugates. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Fabricating cholyglycine-glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase conjugates for cholyglycine detection.

To establish cholyglycine (CG) detection via enzyme-multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) was used as a reporter enzyme to prepare hapten-enzyme conjugate. Gel electrophoresis and UV scanning demonstrated that G6PD was successfully labeled with cholyglycine, and CG-G6PD conjugate was obtained. Furthermore, the effects of various parameters on the preparation of CG-G6PD conjugates were investigated. Consequently, CG amount, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, d-glucose-6-phosphate (G6P), phosphate buffer and the pH, and ionic strength of solution had important effects on the residual activity of CG-G6PD. Moreover, CG amount, the pH, and G6P played important roles in changing CG labeling location on G6PD. Using the CG-G6PD conjugate as test kit, the cholyglycine-EMIT calibration curve was established, which could be employed in clinical detection of cholyglycine. This study provides some valuable information for preparing hapten-G6PD conjugates.

IVS8+1 DelG, a Novel Splice Site Mutation Causing DFNA5 Deafness in a Chinese Family.

BACKGROUND: Nonsyndromic hearing loss (NSHL) is highly heterogeneous, in which more than 90 causative genes have currently been identified. DFNA5 is one of the deafness genes that known to cause autosomal dominant NSHL. Until date, only five DFNA5 mutations have been described in eight families worldwide. In this study, we reported the identification of a novel pathogenic mutation causing DFNA5 deafness in a five-generation Chinese family. METHODS: After detailed clinical evaluations of this family, the genomic DNA of three affected individuals was selected for targeted exome sequencing of 101 known deafness genes, as well as mitochondrial DNA and microRNA regions. Co-segregation analysis between the hearing loss and the candidate variant was confirmed in available family members by direct polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-Sanger sequencing. Real-time PCR (RT-PCR) was performed to investigate the potential effect of the pathogenic mutation on messenger RNA splicing. RESULTS: Clinical evaluations revealed a similar deafness phenotype in this family to that of previously reported DFNA5 families with autosomal dominant, late-onset hearing loss. Molecular analysis identified a novel splice site mutation in DFNA5 intron 8 (IVS8+1 delG). The mutation segregated with the hearing loss of the family and was absent in 120 unrelated control DNA samples of Chinese origin. RT-PCR showed skipping of exon 8 in the mutant transcript. CONCLUSIONS: We identified a novel DFNA5 mutation IVS8+1 delG in a Chinese family which led to skipping of exon 8. This is the sixth DFNA5 mutation relates to hearing loss and the second one in DFNA5 intron 8. Our findings provide further support to the hypothesis that the DFNA5-associated hearing loss represents a mechanism of gain-of-function.

Review and analysis on the meridian research of China over the past sixty years.

The meridian research situation and various meridian hypotheses of China in the past sixty years between 1950 and 2013 are summarized in the paper; possible existed problems in the process of current meridian research are analyzed. Based on previous research results, we proposed that the essence of meridian can not be explained by the reductive analysis method, meridian research should be carried out under the guidance of overall concept of Chinese medicine theory. In this paper, combined with coherence theory of biophoton, we put forward the quantum interference hypothesis of meridian, which provides a possible research idea for meridian study.