Prenatal High-Sucrose Diet Induced Vascular Dysfunction of Renal Interlobar Arteries in the Offspring via PPARγ-RXRg-ROS/Akt Signaling.

SCOPE: Prenatal nutrition imbalance correlates with developmental origin of cardiovascular diseases; however whether maternal high-sucrose diet (HS) during pregnancy causes vascular damage in renal interlobar arteries (RIA) from offspring still keeps unclear. METHODS AND RESULTS: Pregnant rats are fed with normal drinking water or 20% high-sucrose solution during the whole gestational period. Swollen mitochondria and distributed myofilaments are observed in vascular smooth muscle cells of RIA exposed to prenatal HS. Maternal HS increases phenylephrine (PE)-induced vasoconstriction in the RIA from adult offspring. NG-Nitro-l-arginine (L-Name) causes obvious vascular tension in response to PE in offspring from control group, not in HS. RNA-Seq of RIA is performed to reveal that the gene retinoid X receptor g (RXRg) is significantly decreased in the HS group, which could affect vascular function via interacting with PPARγ pathway. By preincubation of RIA with apocynin (NADPH inhibitor) or capivasertib (Akt inhibitor), the results indicate that ROS and Akt are the vital important factors to affect the vascular function of RIA exposure to prenatal HS. CONCLUSION: Maternal HS during the pregnancy increases PE-mediated vasoconstriction of RIA from adult offspring, which is mainly related to the enhanced Akt and ROS regulated by the weakened PPARγ-RXRg.

Neutrophil count is a useful marker to predict the severity of preeclampsia.

BACKGROUND: At present, pre-eclampsia is a growing concern and still a diagnostic challenge for obstetricians. AIMS: This study aimed to evaluate whether the relationship of second trimester of pregnancy neutrophil count differed among pregnancies with mild preeclampsia, severe preeclampsia, and healthy status and explore whether or not neutrophil count in the second trimester of pregnancy would be useful as new predictors of subsequent preeclampsia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study involved 933 pregnancies from 1 January 2018 to 30 January 2021, comprising 396 healthy pregnancies, 222 pregnancies with mild preeclampsia, and 315 pregnancies with severe preeclampsia. The relationship between preeclampsia and neutrophil count was analyzed by multiple logistic regression. In addition, maternal placental tissues of three groups were immunohistochemically stained for myeloperoxidase (MPO). RESULTS: Neutrophil count was significantly higher in pregnancies with preeclampsia (including pregnancies with mild and severe preeclampsia) than that in healthy pregnancies. The neutrophil count level was prominently higher in patients with severe preeclampsia compared with those with mild preeclampsia (p < .001). The neutrophil count level was significantly positively associated with preeclampsia after adjusting for gestational week at time of blood sampling, BMI, and age (ß:1.23; 95%CI:1.09-1.36; p < .0001). In addition, MPO expressions of placental tissues in preeclamptic groups were significantly increased than these in healthy pregnant controls (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Increased neutrophil count in the second trimester of pregnancy was significantly positively associated with preeclampsia. Hence, neutrophil count plays a role in predicting the severity of preeclampsia. At the same time, it may be an independent predictor of subsequent preeclampsia.Abbreviations: BMI: body mass index; MPO: myeloperoxidase.

Prenatal High-Sucrose Diet Induced Vascular Dysfunction in Thoracic Artery of Fetal Offspring.

SCOPE: Maternal nutrition during pregnancy is related to intrauterine fetal development. The authors' previous work reports that prenatal high sucrose (HS) diet impaired micro-vascular functions in postnatal offspring. It is unclear whether/how prenatal HS causes vascular injury during fetal life. METHODS AND RESULTS: Pregnant rats are fed with normal drinking water or 20% high-sucrose solution during the whole gestational period. Pregnant HS increases maternal weight before delivery. Fetal thoracic aorta is separated for experiments. Angiotensin II (AII)-stimulated vascular contraction of fetal thoracic arteries in HS group is greater, which mainly results from the enhanced AT1 receptor (AT1R) function and the downstream signaling. Nifedipine significantly increases vascular tension in HS group, indicating that the L-type calcium channels (LTCCs) function is strengthened. 2-Aminoethyl diphenylborinate (2-APB), inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate receptors (IP3Rs) inhibitor, increases vascular tension induced by AII in HS group and ryanodine receptors-sensitive vascular tone shows no difference in the two groups, which suggested that the activity of IP3Rs-operated calcium channels is increased. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that prenatal HS induces vascular dysfunction of thoracic arteries in fetal offspring by enhancing AT1R, LTCCs function and IP3Rs-associated calcium channels, providing new information regarding the impact of prenatal HS on the functional development of fetal vascular systems.

Mechanisms of Active Substances in a Dielectric Barrier Discharge Reactor: Species Determination, Interaction Analysis, and Contribution to Chlorobenzene Removal.

Several typical active substances (•NO, •NO2, H2O2, O3, •OH, and O2-•), directly or indirectly play dominant roles during dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reaction. This study measured these active substances and removed them by using radical scavengers, such as catalase, superoxide dismutase, carboxy-PTIO (c-PTIO), tert-butanol (TBA), and MnO2 in different reaction atmospheres (air, N2, and O2). The mechanism for chlorobenzene (CB) removal by plasma in air atmosphere was also investigated. The production of O═NOO-• generated by •NO took around 75% of the total production of O═NOO-•. Removing •NO increased the O3 amount by about 80% likely because of the mutual inhibition between O3 and reactive nitrogen species in or out of the discharge area. The quantitative comparison of •OH and H2O2 revealed that the formation of •OH was 3.06-4.65 times that of H2O2 in these reaction atmospheres. Calculation results showed that approximately 1.61% of H2O was used for O3 generation. Ionization patterns affected the form of solid deposits during the removal of CB in N2 and O2 atmospheres caused by Penning ionization and thermal radiation tendencies, respectively. Correlation analysis results suggested the macroscopic synergistic or inhibitory effects happened among these active substances. A zero-dimensional reaction kinetics model was adopted to analyze the reactions during the formation of active substances in DBD, and the results showed good consistency with experiments. The interactions of each active substance were clarified. Finally, a response surface method model was developed to predict CB removal by the DBD plasma process. Stepwise regression analysis results showed that CB removal was affected by the contents of different active substances in air, N2 atmosphere, and O2 atmosphere, respectively: O2-•, •OH, and O3; H2O2, O═NOO-•, and O3; •OH and O3.

MicroRNA-138 inhibits SOX12 expression and the proliferation, invasion and migration of ovarian cancer cells.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the expression and biological functions of microRNA (miR)-138 in ovarian cancer at the tissue and cellular levels, as well as its underlying mechanisms. A total of 47 patients with ovarian cancer were included in the present study. Ovarian cancer tissues were subjected to staging classification according to the FIGO 2000 criteria. Lymphatic metastasis was also examined. Ovarian cancer A2780 cells were transfected using liposomes. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to measure the expression of miR-138. A Cell-Counting Kit 8 assay was used to examine cell viability, while a Transwell assay was employed to study cell invasion and migration. The effects of miR-138 on SOX12 protein expression were examined by western blot analysis. A dual luciferase reporter assay was performed to identify the direct interaction between miR-138 and SOX12 gene. Expression of miR-138 was downregulated in ovarian cancer tissues. The level of miR-138 in patients with ovarian cancer with lymphatic metastasis was significantly lower compared with patients without lymphatic metastasis. However, expression of miR-138 was not associated with the stage of ovarian cancer. Upregulation of miR-138 inhibited the proliferation and suppressed the invasion and migration of A2780 cells. SOX12 promoted the proliferation, invasion and migration of A2780 cells. In addition, miR-138 downregulated the expression of SOX12 via binding with the 3'-UTR of SOX12 gene. The present study demonstrates that miR-138 expression is downregulated in ovarian cancer tissues and miR-138 acts as a tumor suppressor gene by inhibiting SOX12 expression and the proliferation, invasion and migration of ovarian cancer cells.

Application effect of single balloon catheters in labor induction of pregnant women in late-term pregnancy and their influences on stress and inflammatory responses.

This study was designed to evaluate the application effect of single balloon catheters and dinoprostone on promoting cervical ripening of pregnant women in late-term pregnancy and their influences on stress and inflammatory responses. A total of 160 pregnant women with indications of labor induction were included and randomly divided into the control (n=80) and observation (n=80) groups. Patients in the control group received labor induction by administration of dinoprostone at the vaginal vault, while those in the observation group received labor induction by domestic single balloon catheters. Cervical ripening (Bishop score), means of pregnancy, the total stage of labor, maternal and child complications, and Apgar scores of newborn infants at 1 min after delivery between the two groups were compared. At the prenatal and postpartum 12, 24 and 48 h, the levels of cortisol (COR), norepinephrine (NE) and ß-endorphin (ß-EP), were detected using radioimmunoassay, and those of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Cervical Bishop scores in the two groups after intervention were significantly higher than those before intervention, and the score of the observation group was significantly higher than that of the control group. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). In the observation group, the total stage of labor was significantly shortened, the Apgar score of the newborn infant at 1 min after delivery was increased compared with those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The delivery rate of cesarean section in the observation group was lower than that in the control group, the overall incidence rate of perinatal complications was decreased, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). The levels of stress and inflammatory response markers at 12 h after delivery in the two groups reached the peak, and then declined (P<0.05). The levels of stress and inflammatory response markers at each time-point after delivery in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The results showed that the single balloon catheter promotes cervical ripening, improves pregnancy outcomes and reduces the stress and inflammatory responses of pregnant women in late-term pregnancy, and is better than dinoprostone and has better application and promotion values.