Associations Between Vitamin K and Suicide Attempts in Patients with Depression: A Case-Control Study.

Background: Hypovitaminosis K has been linked to depression and suicide, but epidemiological research is scarce. This study aimed to explore the association among vitamin K with depression and suicidal attempts. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study involving 146 cases with a history of suicidal attempts and 149 subjects without a lifetime history of suicidal attempts. The levels of thyroid hormones, lipid profile, inflammatory cytokines, and vitamins were measured. Results: Subjects who had suicidal attempts presented with a significant decrease in FT4, TC, vitamin D, and vitamin K but increased CRP levels. In these variables, vitamin K has a better diagnostic value for suicidal attempts in depressed patients, with a sensitivity of 0.842 and a specificity of 0.715. Correlation analysis suggested that vitamin K was significantly and positively related to FT4, TC, LDL, and sdLDL. Multivariate analysis showed that serum vitamin K level predicts suicidal attempts in depressive patients (OR = 0.614, P = 0.004, 95% CI 0.153-0.904). Moreover, a negative correlation between vitamin K and suicidal attempts was also noted for partial FT4, CRP, and vitamin D strata analysis. Conclusion: Our study suggests that low vitamin K levels were correlated with suicidal attempts in patients with depression, indicating that vitamin K deficiency might be a biological risk factor for depression.

Rapid LC-MS/MS detection of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in dried blood spots.

BACKGROUND: The detection of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) from dried blood spots (DBS) has been widely studied. However, the existing pretreatment methods suffer from limitations in terms of throughput (usually exceeding 2 h), complexity (involving liquid-liquid extraction or solid-phase extraction), and contamination (including multiple steps of organic solvent evaporation). RESULTS: We first released 25OHD from DBS samples by 50% acetonitrile solution through ultrasonication. Subsequently, the cold-induced phase separation technique was introduced for in-situ concentration and purification. Afterward, the PTAD derivatization of 25OHD was performed directly, profiting from the high acetonitrile content in the concentrated solution. In the end, the resulting solution was submitted to LC-MS/MS for quantification. The established LC-MS/MS methodology possessed favorable analytical performance, possessing lower limit of quantification of 1 ng/mL pointing to plasma, accuracy of 86.8-110.1% and imprecision of 5.4-16.8%. Method comparison with plasma samples demonstrated that over 93% of the detections met the acceptance limit for cross-validation of ±20%. SIGNIFICANCE AND NOVELTY: The novel sample preparation can be finished within 15 min and eliminated the traditional steps of extraction and organic solvent evaporation. Based on this high-throughput, reliable and applicable LC-MS/MS method, the detection of 25OHD in DBS samples can be better achieved for clinical patients and researchers with relevant demands.

Evaluation of Vitamin D Status and the Analysis of Risk Factors of Vitamin D Deficiency in Twin Pregnancies.

OBJECTIVE: Optimization of maternal vitamin D (VD) status has beneficial effects on pregnancies, but little is known about it of twin pregnancies (TP). Our aim was to promote the current understanding of VD status and its associated factors in TP. METHODS: We performed liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry to quantify 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] and used the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method to detect vitamin D binding protein (VDBP) in 218 singleton pregnancies (SP) and 236 TP. RESULTS: Levels of 25(OH)D and VDBP were higher in TP than SP. The 25(OH)D, free 25(OH)D, C-3 epimer of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [epi-25(OH)D], and VDBP all increased with gestational progress. Age, body mass index, and hemoglobin level were associated with VD deficiency (VDD). Analysis of covariance demonstrated that the 25(OH)D and VDBP of TP and SP still showed differences after adjusting for the above associated factors. CONCLUSION: Differences in VD status were found in SP and TP, suggesting that the assessment of VD status in TP should be treated with caution. High VDD prevalence is observed among pregnant Chinese women, and it is recommended to promote evaluation for VDD.

Gut-microbiome-expressed 3ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase degrades estradiol and is linked to depression in premenopausal females.

Estradiol decline can result in depressive disorders in females; nevertheless, the causes of this decline are unclear. In this study, we isolated estradiol-degrading Klebsiella aerogenes from the feces of premenopausal females with depression. In mice, gavaging with this strain led to estradiol decline and depression-like behaviors. The gene encoding the estradiol-degrading enzyme in K. aerogenes was identified as 3ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3ß-HSD). Heterologously expressing 3ß-HSD resulted in Escherichia coli obtaining the ability to degrade estradiol. Gavaging mice with 3ß-HSD-expressing E. coli decreased their serum estradiol levels, causing depression-like behaviors. The prevalence of K. aerogene and 3ß-HSD was higher in premenopausal women with depression than in those without depression. These results suggest that the estradiol-degrading bacteria and 3ß-HSD enzymes are potential intervention targets for depression treatment in premenopausal women.

Rapid Derivatization of Phenolic and Oxime Hydroxyl with Isonicotinoyl Chloride under Aqueous Conditions and Its Application in LC-MS/MS Profiling Multiclass Steroids.

Quantification of steroids possesses a crucial clinical value in early diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of various endocrine diseases. However, it is still challenging to realize feasible analysis of estrogens, androgens, progestogens, and corticoids within one single workflow. In this study, two derivatization reactions were newly designed for improvement: (1) acylation of phenolic hydroxyl on estrogens with isonicotinoyl chloride (INC) under the catalysis of 4-dimethylaminopyridine and (2) post-modification of oxime hydroxyl on hydroxylamine-pretreated ketosteroids with INC. Both reactions could conduct instantaneously at room temperature under aqueous conditions. Moreover, the resulting phenolic-INC and oxime-INC esters exhibited favorable MS responses. Through integrating these derivatization strategies with cold-induced phase separation technology, a feasible LC-MS/MS method was developed for simultaneous quantification of 15 multiclass steroids with proper sample consumption (50 µL serum), satisfying sensitivity (lower limit of quantitation at 0.01-5.00 ng/mL) and high throughput (40 min for sample-preparation). The practical applicability was tested by detecting 30 real samples from pregnant and non-pregnant women. The obtained results showed a good agreement with a previous validated methodology.

Raised circulating soluble growth differentiation factor 15 is negatively associated with testosterone level in hypogonadic men with type 2 diabetes.

AIMS: Epidemiological studies consistently show that decreases in serum testosterone level are observed more frequently in men with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), while clinical investigations have demonstrated that an increased level of circulating growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) are also related closely to T2DM. The aim of this study was to examine the potential relationship between serum GDF-15 levels and hypogonadism in Chinese male patients with T2DM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 305 T2DM men were recruited between July 2020 and August 2021. GDF-15 and total testosterone concentrations were quantified by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and LC/MS mass spectrometry, respectively. Multiple linear regression analysis, logistic regression, and restricted cubic splined models were used to examine the correlation between GDF-15 levels and hypogonadism in these patients. RESULTS: When compared with T2DM patients without hypogonadism circulating GDF-15 levels were significantly higher in the hypogonadism group [1081.83 (746.79,1539.94) versus 779.49 (548.46,1001.27), p < 0.001] and were associated positively with hypogonadism in unadjusted and fully adjusted multivariate regression models (p < 0.01). The fully adjusted regression coefficients with 95% confidence intervals for circulating GDF-15 and testosterone deficiency were -1.795 (-2.929, -0.661). Serum GDF-15 levels were also associated positively with testosterone deficiency in each logistic regression model (p < 0.05), while after adjustment for all risk factors, the same findings were obtained in the restricted cubic splined models (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In hypogonadal men with T2DM, an elevated serum GDF-15 level is associated negatively with serum testosterone concentration. GDF-15 may be a novel cytokine related to T2DM men with hypogonadism.

Quantification of immunosuppressants from one 3.2 mm dried blood spot by a novel cold-induced phase separation based LC-MS/MS method.

Dried blood spots (DBS) have been regarded as a promising alternative for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of immunosuppressants (ISDs) for over fifteen years. Nonetheless, there are still three main issues impeding its preference: (i) the requirement of relatively large disc; (ii) the controversial and intricate desorption approaches; (iii) the lack of feasible extraction strategies. For improvement, this work described a new LC-MS/MS method realizing quantification of four ISDs from one piece of 3.2 mm DBS. During sample pretreatment, a modified approach (infiltrating the DBS in pure water before adding acetonitrile and zinc sulfate as protein-precipitators) was developed to completely dissociate the targets from filter paper. Afterward, effective enrichment and purification of the targets were achieved by using cold-induced phase separation technique. Benefiting from these novelties, the method exhibited satisfying throughput (15 min for sample preparation), applicability (consuming only one 3.2 mm disc), reliability (82.3-107.8% for accuracy and <14.3% for precision) and sensitivity (lower limit of quantification of 0.5, 7.6, 0.7 and 0.8 ng mL-1 for tacrolimus, cyclosporine A, everolimus and sirolimus, respectively). Without hematocrit correction, the method showed favorable interchangeability to the certified whole blood method through analyzing 120 paired clinical samples. By taking ±20% of the mean as the limit of acceptance for cross validation, over 90% of the detection met the criterion. It can be expected the developed method is able to further promote the popularization of DBS-based TDM for ISDs in practice.

3ß-Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase expressed by gut microbes degrades testosterone and is linked to depression in males.

Testosterone deficiency can lead to depressive symptoms in humans; however, the causes of this deficiency are incompletely understood. Here, we isolated Mycobacterium neoaurum from the fecal samples of testosterone-deficient patients with depression and showed that this strain could degrade testosterone in vitro. Furthermore, gavaging rats with M. neoaurum reduced their serum and brain testosterone levels and induced depression-like behaviors. We identified the gene encoding 3ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3ß-HSD) as the enzyme causing testosterone degradation. Introducing 3ß-HSD into Escherichia coli enhanced its ability to degrade testosterone. Gavaging rats with 3ß-HSD-producing E. coli reduced their serum and brain testosterone levels and caused depression-like behaviors. Finally, compared with 16.67% of participants without depression, 42.99% (46/107) of the fecal samples of patients with depression harbored 3ß-HSD, and 60.87% (28/46) of these fecal samples expressed 3ß-HSD. These results suggest that 3ß-HSD expressed by gut microbes may be associated with depressive symptoms due to testosterone degradation.

Trimethylamine-N-Oxide and Precursors as Novel Potential Biomarkers for Anxiety Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety disorder (AD) is closely related to changes in the composition of the gut microbiota, and changes in gut microbiota abundance affect the synthesis of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO). OBJECTIVE: To explore whether TMAO is related to and serves as a potential biomarker for the diagnosis of AD. METHODS: The concentrations of TMAO, choline, and betaine were analyzed in 60 patients with AD and 60 control individuals using a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method. RESULTS: Compared with controls, TMAO was significantly reduced in patients with AD. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that decreased TMAO concentrations were associated with an increased risk of AD. The multiplication of TMAO and its precursors (choline and betaine) produced the best AUC for the diagnosis of AD (AUC = 0.847; 95% CI, 0.780-0.914; P <.001). CONCLUSION: The decrease of TMAO concentration is related to the increase of anxiety disorder. TMAO and precursors could be identified as novel potential biomarkers for the diagnosis of AD.

Cold-induced phase separation for the simple and reliable extraction of sex hormones for subsequent LC-MS/MS analysis.

Sex hormones, including androgens, estrogens, and progestogens, are important biomarkers for various diseases. Quantification of sex hormones is typically conducted by LC-MS/MS. At present, most methods require liquid-liquid extraction or solid phase extraction for sample preparation. However, these pretreatments are prone to compromise LC-MS/MS throughput. To improve on the current standard practices, we investigated cold-induced phase separation for sex hormone extraction. After protein precipitation with acetonitrile and adjusting the solution constitution with water, samples were stored at -30°C for 10 min to generate two distinct phases: an acetonitrile-rich layer on top of a water-rich layer. During this process, the hydrophobic sex hormones spontaneously separate into the upper layer. This simple and reliable cold-induced phase separation-based LC-MS/MS methodology was used here to simultaneously detect estrone, estradiol, estriol, testosterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone, progesterone, and 17-hydroxyprogesterone in serum. Validation of this method indicated satisfactory performance, including acceptable linearity, accuracy, precision, and tractability. Compared with the mainstream liquid-liquid extraction-based method, this new method exhibits significant progress in throughput, which shortens the time cost of sample preparation from 90 to 40 min. We propose that this method can be an excellent alternative for sex hormone analysis in routine clinical laboratories.

Influence of Tacrolimus on Serum Vitamin A Levels in Patients after Renal Transplantation.

OBJECTIVE: Patients after renal transplantation exhibit high levels of vitamin A, which has been previously suspected to be related with immunosuppressive medication. However, this possibility has not yet been systematically studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Altogether, 116 patients were included and divided into 2 groups based on serum creatinine levels. The mean values of vitamin A levels between the 2 groups were compared using the Student's t-test. The Pearson's correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the association between vitamin A and tacrolimus. RESULTS: Elevated vitamin A levels were found in both groups, and patients with kidney dysfunction after transplantation showed higher levels of vitamin A than patients with recovered kidney function. Most important, we could not identify any significant correlations between vitamin A level and tacrolimus for both groups. After long-term and short-term monitoring for different patients, obvious individual differences emerged. Such results generally ruled out previous suspicions regarding causality between immunosuppressive medication (tacrolimus) and vitamin A elevation after renal transplantation. CONCLUSION: Patients after renal transplantation showed higher serum vitamin A levels than people with a normal medical exam, even if their graft function was restored. The cause of this abnormality did not seem to be related with tacrolimus.

[Effects of two Streptomyces strains on growth and physiological properties of Gerbera jamesonii]. / ä¸¤æ ªé“¾éœ‰èŒå¯¹éžæ´²èŠç”Ÿé•¿å’Œç”Ÿç†ç”ŸåŒ–æŒ‡æ ‡çš„å½±å“.

We applied different concentrations of spore suspension of Streptomyces exfoliatus FT05W and S. cyaneus ZEA17I to inoculate Gerbera jamesonii to screen for the most effective application concentration. We aimed to explore the effects of two Streptomyces strains on growth and physiological properties of G. jamesonii, and to provide scientific evidence for the application of Streptomyces in G. jamesonii production. The results showed that different concentrations of S. exfoliatus FT05W and S. cyaneus ZEA17I spore suspension could effectively promote the growth of G. jamesonii. In general, S. exfoliatus FT05W performed better than S. cyaneus ZEA17I. S. exfoliatus FT05W (1×109 CFU·mL-1) could significantly increase the height and crown width of G. jamesonii respectively by 30.2% and 41.5%. Meanwhile, it increased the length and width of the stem. When treated by S. exfoliatus FT05W (1×109 CFU·mL-1), the content of chlorophyll in G. jamesonii was significantly increased by 65.2%, root activity was significantly increased by 103.3%, and the superoxide dismutase activity was increased by 84.4%. The malondialdehyde content in G. jamesonii was maintained at a low level when treated with the two Streptomyces strains. In summary, S. exfoliatus FT05W and S. cyaneus ZEA17I could effectively promote the growth and physiological properties of G. jamesonii, which could further contribute to its resistance to stress. Therefore, S. exfoliatus FT05W had the potential as a bio-fertilizer for G. jamesonii to solve cultivation obstacles.

Steroid profile analysis by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in second-trimester pregnant women for trisomy 21 screening.

BACKGROUND: Trisomy 21 is a serious chromosome abnormality. The conventional Down's screening test is the most widely used for trisomy 21 screening. However, this method could lead to a higher false positive rate. Therefore, we aim to analyze steroid profile in second-trimester pregnant women and identify novel serum biomarkers of trisomy 21. METHODS: We employed an LC-MS/MS method to measure the steroid profile. The concentrations and product-to-substrate ratios in 71 second-trimester pregnant women were determined and statistically analyzed to identify novel biomarkers for trisomy 21 screening. RESULTS: We found that there were significant differences in levels of E3, 11-deoxycortisol, and 11-deoxycortisol /17-hydroxyprogesterone between two groups. The OPLS-DA plots revealed obvious separation between two groups. Combining VIP analysis (VIP > 1.0) with volcano plot (P < 0.05 and fold change >1.2 or < 0.83), 11-deoxycortisol was identified as a novel biomarker for trisomy 21. After controlling for confounders, we found 11-deoxycortisol was associated with trisomy 21 (adjusted P = 0.009), and the fully adjusted OR (95 % CI) was 0.098 (0.016-0.593) in highest quartile versus lowest quartile of 11-deoxycortisol (P = 0.011). CONCLUSIONS: Steroid profile analysis for the first time showed that steroid hormones perturbations occurred in pregnant women carrying a fetus affected by trisomy 21 and decreased 11-deoxycortisol levels were associated with trisomy 21.

Clinical characteristics and co-infections of 354 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 in Wuhan, China: a retrospective cohort study.

From December 2019, a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, caused an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan city and rapidly spread throughout China and globally. However, the clinical characteristics and co-infection with other respiratory pathogens of patients with COVID-19 and the factors associated with severity of COVID-19 are still limited. In this retrospective cohort study, we included 354 inpatients with COVID-19 admitted to Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University from February 4, 2020 to February 28, 2020. We found levels of interleukin-6, interleukin-10, C-reactive protein, D-dimer, white blood cell count and neutrophil count were clearly elevated in males and critical cases compared with females and severe and mild cases, respectively. However, lymphopenia was more severe in males than females and levels of tumor necrosis factor alpha were reduced significantly in critical cases than severe and mild cases. 23.5% of severe cases and 24.4% of critical cases were co-infected with other respiratory pathogens. Additionally, stepwise multivariable regression analysis suggested that co-infection, lymphocyte count and levels of D-dimer were associated with severity of COVID-19.These findings provide crucial clues for further identification of the mechanisms, characteristics and treatments of patients with COVID-19.

Effects of Atypical Antipsychotics on Neuroactive Vitamins in Patients With Schizophrenia.

In schizophrenia, neuroactive vitamins A/D/E play vital neuroprotective roles in its pathophysiological processes. During medical treatment, atypical antipsychotics, including aripiprazole, amisulpride, olanzapine, and paliperidone, were widely used at present. However, their impact on vitamin metabolism in vivo remained unclear. In this study, we conducted a case-control research to investigate the impacts of antipsychotics on vitamin metabolism. Schizophrenic patients (n = 163), who were divided into 5 groups (aripiprazole group, amisulpride group, olanzapine group, paliperidone group, nonmedication group) according to their different medication patterns, and healthy controls (n = 75) were involved. The concentrations of vitamin A/D/E and antipsychotics were measured using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry methods. Compared with healthy controls, significantly lower vitamin D and E concentrations were found in the nonmedication group after covariance analysis adjusting for age, sex, albumin, bilirubin, triglyceride, and cholesterol. We found that aripiprazole could affect vitamin D concentrations in vivo, and a positive correlation between aripiprazole concentrations and vitamin D concentrations (r = 0.319, P = 0.025) was observed in aripiprazole group. Such result revealed the very first observation for the influence of atypical antipsychotics medication toward vitamin status in vivo. Our study showed that low concentrations of vitamin D and E in vivo could be associated with schizophrenia, suggesting that hypovitaminosis may lead to a vulnerability to schizophrenia. More importantly, aripiprazole may potentially benefit the patients through improving their vitamin D status in vivo.

Efficient extraction and sensitive LC-MS quantification of hydroxytyrosol in wine, oil and plasma.

Hydroxytyrosol (HT) possesses significant biological activity. However, the methodologies for its quantification always suffered from low sensitivity, intricate treatment and high sample consumption. Here, we presented the very first attempt for specific extraction of HT through cis-diol recognition mechanism. By using easily prepared zirconia as dispersive solid phase extraction medium, HT from small amount of wine (10 µL), oil (20 mg) and plasma (100 µL) was efficiently purified within ten minutes. Coupled with LC-MS/MS analysis, the method limit of detection (LOD) could reach 1 ng/mL in wine, 0.5 µg/kg in oil and 0.1 ng/mL in plasma. Profited by this superior method, HT analysis was successfully performed in diverse wine and oil products as well as human plasma samples after intake of extra virgin olive oil. In addition, we further confirmed the endogenous HT was undetectable from routine human plasma even after upgrading the detection sensitivity through post isonicotinoyl chloride derivatization.

LC-MS/MS determination of plasma catecholamines after selective extraction by borated zirconia.

For the first time, boronate affinity chromatography and metal oxide affinity chromatography mechanisms for cis-diol-compounds extraction are simultaneously realized on a single material, termed borated zirconia. This material was prepared by hydrolyzing zirconium butoxide with boric acid under non-aqueous environment. The diameter of formed particles is around 200 nm. By extracting catechol under different pH conditions or with phosphate ion competition, the dual affinity mechanisms of borated zirconia are confirmed. Benefiting from such unique feature, borated zirconia can function well under neutral condition. By using borated zirconia for dispersive solid phase extraction, specific capture of cis-diol-containing catecholamines, including epinephrine (E), norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA), was achieved. A reliable LC-MS/MS method was established and validated for quantification of these target analytes in plasma samples after derivatisation with benzoyl chloride. The linear ranges are 0.010-0.200 ng·mL-1 for E and DA, and 0.050-1.000 ng·mL-1 for NE. The limits of quantification are 0.008, 0.020 and 0.004 ng·mL-1 for E, NE and DA respectively. By analyzing samples from healthy volunteers and schizophrenia patients, the plasma concentrations of E, NE and DA were found to be higher for the latter. Graphical AbstractSchematic representation of boronate combined metal oxide affinity chromatography (BMOAC) extraction of cis-diol catecholamines from human plasma by borated zirconia following with benzoyl chloride derivatization and LC-MS determination.

An LC/MS/MS method for analyzing the steroid metabolome with high accuracy and from small serum samples.

Analyzing global steroid metabolism in humans can shed light on the etiologies of steroid-related diseases. However, existing methods require large amounts of serum and lack the evaluation of accuracy. Here, we developed an LC/MS/MS method for the simultaneous quantification of 12 steroid hormones: testosterone, pregnenolone, progesterone, androstenedione, corticosterone, 11-deoxycortisol, cortisol, 17-hydroxypregnenolone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, estriol, and estradiol. Steroids and spiked internal standards in 100 µl serum were extracted by protein precipitation and liquid-liquid extraction. The organic phase was dried by evaporation, and isonicotinoyl chloride was added for steroid derivatization, followed by evaporation under nitrogen and redissolution in 50% methanol. Chromatographic separation was performed on a reverse-phase PFP column, and analytes were detected on a triple quadrupole mass spectrometer with ESI. The lower limits of quantification ranged from 0.005 ng/ml for estradiol to 1 ng/ml for cortisol. Apparent recoveries of steroids at high, medium, and low concentrations in quality control samples were between 86.4% and 115.0%. There were limited biases (-10.7% to 10.5%) between the measured values and the authentic values, indicating that the method has excellent reliability. An analysis of the steroid metabolome in pregnant women highlighted the applicability of the method in clinical serum samples. We conclude that the LC/MS/MS method reported here enables steroid metabolome analysis with high accuracy and reduced serum consumption, indicating that it may be a useful tool in both clinical and scientific laboratory research.

An LC-MS/MS analysis for seven sex hormones in serum.

BACKGROUND: Comprehensive serum sex hormone profiling is essential for monitoring the occurrence and development of many related diseases. However, the current methods for multi-class sex hormone detection were always lack of Standard Reference Material (SRM) certification and suffered from large sample consumption. For improvement, we developed a new liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method focused on SRM certification and minimization of serum consumption for simultaneous quantification of seven mainstream serum sex hormones including estrogens (estrone E1, estradiol E2 and estriol E3), androgens (testosterone T, androstenedione AD, dehydroepiandrosterone DHEA) and progestogens (progesterone P). METHODS: To achieve one-batch analysis, a straightforward strategy was designed and carefully optimized. Schematically, serum was firstly spiked with isotope-labeled internal standards. Then, liquid-liquid extraction was performed with methyl tert-butyl ether. After drying under nitrogen, dansyl chloride was introduced for derivatization. Finally, the mixture was submitted to LC-MS/MS for quantification. RESULTS: The limit of quantification was 0.005 ng/mL for E1, E2 and E3, 0.01 ng/mL for T, P and AD, 0.25 ng/mL for DHEA. Inter- and intra-assay CVs were less than 11.8%. The selectivity was proved satisfactory by interference spiking tests. With systematical SRM validation, the mean bias of -5.4 to 4.7% was observed, which indicated excellent method reliability. We found significant positive bias in chemiluminescence immunoassay (CLIA) detection comparing with current method, which promoted us to reconsider our previous results on sex hormone regulation in male patients with coronary atherosclerotic disease. After redetecting the related samples, modified and improved conclusions were proposed. CONCLUSIONS: A LC-MS/MS method for multi-class serum sex hormone profiling was developed with SRM certification and minimized serum consumption. Taking advantages of such reliable method, the previous CLIA-based research findings on sex hormone regulation in male patients with coronary atherosclerosis were modified and improved after redetecting the same sample-pool.

ITF promotes migration of intestinal epithelial cells through crosstalk between the ERK and JAK/STAT3 pathways.

Intestinal trefoil factor (ITF), a member of the trefoil factor family, is a "Super-protective factor" for intestinal mucosal protection. This study was designed to explore the mechanism by which ITF promotes intestinal epithelial cell migration. Intestinal epithelial cells were treated with the human ITF (hITF). Phospho-ERK, phospho-STAT3 Tyr(705), and phospho-STAT3 Ser(727) levels were detected at different time points by western blot. To assess the potential crosstalk between the ERK and JAK/STAT3 pathways, HT-29 cells were treated with the MEK-inhibitor, U0126, and phosphor-STAT3 levels were evaluated. Conversely, cells were treated with the JAK-inhibitor, AG490, and ERK-activity was evaluated. Transwell assay was performed to investigate the effect of the crosstalk on the cell motility. MMP-2 and MMP-9 transcription was analyzed by quantitative real-time PCR. E-cadherin degradation was detected by immunofluorescence. Our results indicate that hITF simultaneously activated the ERK and JAK/STAT3 pathways and a crosstalk was detected between the two pathways. hITF increased cell migration. This effect was abolished by U0126 and AG490 treatment. hITF increased MMP2 and MMP9 mRNA levels and E-cadherin degradation and U0126 and AG490 abolished this effect of hITF. In conclusion, the hITF-induced crosstalk between the ERK and JAK/STAT3 pathways is associated with intestinal epithelial cell migration.