[Buyang Huanwu Decoction promotes arteriogenesis after hindlimb ischemia in mice by activating PDGF signaling pathway].

This study aims to investigate the effect of Buyang Huanwu Decoction on blood flow recovery and arteriogenesis after hindlimb ischemia in mice via the platelet-derived growth factor(PDGF) signaling pathway. Forty C57BL/6 mice were randomized into model(clean water, 10 mL·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)), beraprost sodium(positive control, 18 µg·kg~(-1)·d~(-1)), and low-, medium-, and high-dose(10, 20, and 40 g·kg~(-1)·d~(-1), respectively) Buyang Huanwu Decoction groups(n=8). The hindlimb ischemia model was established by femoral artery ligation. The mice were administrated with corresponding agents by gavage daily for 14 days after ligation. For laser Doppler perfusion imaging, the mice were anesthetized and measured under a Periscan PSI imager. The density of capillary and arterio-le in the ischemic gastrocnemius was measured using immunofluorescence staining of the frozen tissue sections. Western blot was employed to determine the expression of PDGF subunit B(PDGFB), phosphorylated mitogen extracellular kinase(p-MEK), MEK, phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase(p-ERK), and ERK. Real-time PCR was employed to determine the mRNA level of PDGFB. The Buyang Huanwu Decoction-containing serum was used to treat the vascular smooth muscle cells(VSMCs) in hypoxia at doses of 10% and 20%. The proliferation and migration of VSMCs was assessed in vitro. The results showed that compared with the model group, beraprost sodium and Buyang Huanwu Decoction enhanced the blood flow recovery, increased the capillary and arteriole density, and up-regulated the protein levels of PDGFB, p-MEK, p-ERK, and mRNA levels of PDGFB, with the medium-dose Buyang Huanwu Decoction demonstrating the most significant effect. The 10% Buyang Huanwu Decoction-containing serum enhanced the proliferation and migration of VSMCs. Our findings demonstrate that Buyang Huanwu Decoction up-regulates PDGFB transcription and activates PDGF signaling pathway to promote arteriogenesis and blood flow recovery in ischemic gastrocnemius.

Different effects of maternal homocysteine concentration, MTHFR and MTRR genetic polymorphisms on the occurrence of fetal aneuploidy.

RESEARCH QUESTION: Do maternal homocysteine (Hcy) concentrations, MTHFR and MTRR genes have effects on the occurrence of fetal aneuploidy? DESIGN: A total of 619 aneuploidy mothers and 192 control mothers were recruited in this study. Differences in distributions of maternal MTHFR 677C>T, MTHFR 1298A>C and MTRR 66A>G genetic polymorphisms and maternal Hcy concentrations between aneuploidy mothers and control mothers were analysed. RESULTS: The maternal MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism was found to be a risk factor for the occurrence of many fetal non-mosaic aneuploidies studied here, including trisomies 13, 15, 16, 18, 21, 22, TRA and TS. The maternal MTHFR 1298A>C polymorphism was found to be a risk factor specifically associated with the occurrence of fetal trisomy 15 and fetal TS. The maternal MTRR 66A>G polymorphism was found to be a risk factor only specifically associated with the occurrence of fetal trisomy 21. The Hcy concentrations of mothers of trisomies 22, 21, 18, 16, 15 and TS fetuses were significantly higher than the Hcy concentrations of control mothers. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, data suggested an association between these maternal polymorphisms and the susceptibility of fetal non-mosaic trisomy and Turner syndrome. However, these three maternal polymorphisms had different associations with the susceptibility of different fetal aneuploidies, and the elevated maternal Hcy concentration appeared to be a likely risk factor for fetal Turner syndrome and fetal trisomies.

Nicotine Ingestion Reduces Heart Rate Variability in Young Healthy Adults.

Around the whole world, smoking is considered harmful to human health, such as increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD, such as coronary heart disease and stroke) and lung cancer. The purpose of this study was to explore whether nicotine, the main component of tobacco, has adverse effects on heart rate variability (HRV) in adolescents, so as to remind adolescents not to smoke and not to take pleasure in abusing nicotine. In this study, 40 male and 40 female young healthy nonsmoking subjects were selected to analyze the changes of HRV after taking 4 mg nicotine orally. We found that nicotine reduced HRV in young healthy male and female subjects, and there was no gender difference in this effect (P > 0.05). In conclusion, smoking is harmful to the cardiac system of young people, especially when nicotine content ≥4 mg dosage.

Environmental disappearance of acetochlor and its bioavailability to weed: A general prototype for reduced herbicide application instruction.

The consecutive application of herbicide acetochlor has resulted in the widespread drug resistance of weeds and the high risks to environment and human health. To assess environmental behaviors and minimal dosage of acetochlor application in the realistic soil, we systematically investigated the acetochlor adsorption/desorption, mobility, leaching, degradation, weed bioavailability and lethal dosage of acetochlor in three soil types including Nanjing (NJ), Yancheng (YC) and Yingtan (YT). Under the same conditions (60% moisture and darkness), acetochlor had a half-life of disappearance 3 days in NJ, 4.9 days in YC and 25.7 days in YT soils. The HRLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS analyses identified ten metabolites and eight conjugates generated through dealkylation, hydroxylation, thiol conjugation and glycosylation pathways. The acetochlor adsorption to soils ranked in the order of YT > YC > NJ and was committed to the Freundlich model. By examining the effects of soil moisture, microbial activity, illumination/darkness, etc. on acetochlor degradation in soils, we showed that the chemical metabolisms could undergo multiple processes through soil microbial degradation, hydrolysis or photolysis-mediated mechanisms. The longitudinal migration assay revealed that acetochlor leaching ability in the three soils was YT > YC > NJ, which was negatively associated with the order of adsorption behavior. Four kinds of weed were grown in the acetochlor-contaminated NJ soil. The lethal concentrations for the weed plantlets were 0.16-0.3 mg/kg, much lower than the dosage of realistic field application. Overall, our work provided novel insights into the mechanism for acetochlor behaviors in soils, the natural degradation process in the environment, and the lethal concentration to the tested weed plants.

Physiochemical assessment of environmental behaviors of herbicide atrazine in soils associated with its degradation and bioavailability to weeds.

Atrazine residue in soil is one of the serious environmental problems and continues to risk ecosystem and human health. To address the environmental behaviors and dissipation of atrazine and better manage the application of atrazine in reality, we comprehensively investigated the adsorption and desorption, migration ability, and vanishing of atrazine in three distinct soils in China including Jiangxi (JX, pH 5.45, TOC 0.54%), Nanjing (NJ, pH 6.15, TOC 2.13%), and Yancheng (YC, pH 8.60, TOC 0.58%) soils. The atrazine adsorptive capacity to the soils was arranged in the order of NJ > YC > JX. The leaching assay with profiles of the soils showed strong migration, suggesting it had a high bioavailability to weeds and potential for underground water contamination. We further investigated the effects of environmental factors such as soil moisture, microbial activity and photolysis on atrazine degradation and showed that the degradation of atrazine in the soil mainly underwent the abiotic process, most likely through hydrolysis and photolysis-mediated mechanisms, and to less extend through soil microbial catabolism. Using HRLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS and by comparing the measured and theoretical m/z values and fragmentation data, ten metabolites comprising eight degraded products and two conjugates were characterized. Atrazine existing in the soils and sprayed coordinately blocked the growth of three common weeds, which prompted us to use the minimal atrazine in practice to control the waste of the pesticide and its impact on the environment. Overall, our work provided an insight into the mechanisms for the degradation of atrazine residues in the soils and contributed to the environmental risk assessment of the pesticide and management in its application control in the crop rotation and safe production.

Reduced phytotoxicity of propazine on wheat, maize and rapeseed by salicylic acid.

Propazine belongs to the triazine herbicide family and widely used in the farmland for crop production. Recent studies have shown that the residue of propazine in environment is accumulative. This inevitably results in accumulation of propazine in crops. Therefore, reduction of propazine toxicity and accumulation in crops is critically important. In this study, the growth of wheat, maize and rapeseed was significantly inhibited by 2, 8 and 0.4 mg kg-1 propazine in soils. The chlorophyll content of the three crops also showed significant decrease, while the electrolyte permeability, a biomarker of cellular damage, increased in the plant cells. However, when plants were sprayed with 5 mg L-1 of salicylic acid (SA), the propazine phytotoxicity of the crops was relieved, with increased chlorophyll content and reduced electrolyte permeability of all crops. Meanwhile, the activities of peroxidase (POD) and glutathione transferase (GST) remained lower. The propazine accumulation in the crops and the residues in the soil were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The concentration of propazine in plants and soils treated by SA was less than that of the untreated control. Six propazine degraded products (derivatives) in rhizosphere of wheat were characterized using ultraperformance liquid chromatography with a quadrupole-time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometer. Our work indicates that the improved growth of crops was possibly due to the acceleration of propazine degradation by salicylic acid.

Parental Genetic Variants, MTHFR 677C>T and MTRR 66A>G, Associated Differently with Fetal Congenital Heart Defect.

BACKGROUND: Congenital heart defect (CHD) is one of the most common birth defects in the world. The methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) and methionine synthase reductase (MTRR) genes are two of the most important candidate genes for fetal CHD. However, the correlations between the two genes and fetal CHD were inconsistent in various reports. Therefore, this study is aimed to evaluate the parental effects of the two genes on fetal CHD via three genetic polymorphisms, MTHFR 677C>T (rs1801133), MTHFR 1298 A>C (rs1801131), and MTRR 66A>G (rs1801394). METHODS: Parents with pregnancy history of fetal CHD were divided into two subgroups: ventricular septal defect (VSD) (21) and non-VSD groups (78). VSD, non-VSD, and 114 control parents (controls) were analyzed in this study. Genotyping of these genetic polymorphisms was done by sequencing. RESULTS: The MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism of either mothers or fathers was independently associated with fetal non-VSD (P < 0.05) but not VSD, while the MTRR 66A>G polymorphism was independently associated with fetal VSD (P < 0.05) but not non-VSD. No significance was found for MTHFR 1298A>C polymorphism. CONCLUSION: In either maternal or paternal group, the MTHFR 677C>T polymorphism was independently related to fetal non-VSD, while the MTRR 66A>G polymorphism was independently related to fetal VSD.

Detection of fetal epigenetic biomarkers through genome-wide DNA methylation study for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis.

The discovery of cell-free DNA fetal (cff DNA) in maternal plasma during pregnancy provides a novel perspective for the development of non­invasive prenatal diagnosis (NIPD). Against the background of maternal DNA, the use of the relatively low concentration of cff DNA is limited in NIPD. Therefore, in order to overcome the complication of the background of maternal DNA and expand the scope of cff DNA application in clinical practice, it is necessary to identify novel universal fetal­specific DNA markers. The GeneChip Human Promoter 1.0R Array set was used in the present study to analyze the methylation status of 12 placental tissue and maternal peripheral blood whole­genome DNA samples. In total, 5 fetus differential hypermethylation regions and 6 fetus differential hypomethylation regions were identified. In order to verify the 11 selected methylation regions and detect the differential CpG sites in these regions, a bisulfate direct sequencing strategy was used. In total, 87 fetal differential methylation CpG sites were identified from 123 CpG sites. The detection of fetal differential methylation DNA regions and CpG sites may be instrumental in the development of efficient NIPD and in the expansion of its application in other disorders.

Prenatal diagnosis for a Chinese family with a de novo DMD gene mutation: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) usually have severe and fatal symptoms. At present, there is no effective treatment for DMD, thus it is very important to avoid the birth of children with DMD by effective prenatal diagnosis. We identified a de novo DMD gene mutation in a Chinese family, and make a prenatal diagnosis. METHODS: First, multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) was applied to analyze DMD gene exon deletion/duplication in all family members. The coding sequences of 79 exons in DMD gene were analyzed by Sanger sequencing in the patient; and then according to DMD gene exon mutation in the patient, DMD gene sequencing was performed in the family members. On the basis of results above, the pathogenic mutation in DMD gene was identified. RESULTS: MLPA showed no DMD gene exon deletion/duplication in all family members. Sanger sequencing revealed c.2767_2767delT [p.Ser923LeufsX26] mutation in DMD gene of the patient. Heterozygous deletion mutation (T/-) at this locus was observed in the pregnant woman and her mother and younger sister. The analyses of amniotic fluid samples indicated negative Y chromosome sex-determining gene, no DMD gene exon deletion/duplication, no mutations at c.2767 locus, and the inherited maternal X chromosome different from that of the patient. CONCLUSION: The pathogenic mutation in DMD gene, c.2767_2767delT [p.Ser923LeufsX26], identified in this family is a de novo mutation. On the basis of specific conditions, it is necessary to select suitable methods to make prenatal diagnosis more effective, accurate, and economic.

A novel missense mutation of NDP in a Chinese family with X-linked familial exudative vitreoretinopathy.

Familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR) is a hereditary ocular disorder characterized by a failure of peripheral retinal vascularization. In this report, we describe a novel missense mutation of the Norrie disease gene (NDP) in a Chinese family with X-linked FEVR. Ophthalmologic evaluation was performed on four male patients and seven unaffected individuals after informed consent was obtained. Venous blood was collected from the 11 members of this family, and genomic DNA was extracted using standard methods. The coding exons 2 and 3 and their corresponding exon-intron junctions of NDP were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and then subjected to direct DNA sequencing. A novel missense mutation (c.310A>C) in exon 3, leading to a lysine-to-glutamine substitution at position 104 (p.Lys104Gln), was identified in all four patients with X-linked FEVR. Three unaffected female individuals (III2, IV3, and IV11) were found to be carriers of the mutation. This mutation was not detected in other unaffected individuals. The mutation c.310A>C (p.Lys104Gln) in exon 3 of NDP is associated with FEVR in the studied family. This result further enriches the mutation spectrum of FEVR.

Study of genetic diversity of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor loci in the Tujia ethnic minority.

The aim of this study was to analyze the genetic profiles of 14 killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genes and 2 pseudogenes of 124 individuals from Tujia ethnic minority residing in Enshi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture of Hubei province of China and investigate the genetic relationships between the Tujia ethnic minority and other reported groups for the first time. Sequence specific primer amplification (PCR-SSP) methods were used to genotype the 14 KIR genes and 2 pseudogenes. The observed carrier frequencies (OF) and the gene frequencies (GF) of the KIR genes were measured. Neighbor-joining (N-J) tree and the principal component analysis (PCA) plot were constructed. All individuals were typed positive for the three framework loci KIR3DL3, 2DL4 and 3DL2, as well as for pseudogene KIR3DP1. The gene frequencies of the other KIR genes ranged from 9% in KIR2DS2 to 98% in KIR2DP1 and KIR3DL1. The present study of the KIR genes may be a powerful tool for enriching the Chinese ethnical gene information resources of the KIR gene pool, as well as for the anthropological research.

Clinical and molecular cytogenetic analyses of four patients with imbalanced translocations.

BACKGROUND: Chromosomal abnormalities that result in genomic imbalances are main causes of congenital and developmental anomalies including intellectual disability and multiple congenital malformations. In this report we describe four patients from three families with imbalanced translocations. Only a small percentage of imbalanced translocation individuals can be born to live, most of them were aborted in embryonic period. It is of great significances to precisely analysis the chromosome variation to study the relationship between genotype and phenotype. RESULTS: Four patients showed common clinical manifestations including delayed growth, intellectual disability, language barrier and facial dysmorphisms. In addition to the above features, lower limbs dysplasia and both foot eversion were found in patient 1, brachydactylic hand, cerebellar ataxia and congenital heart defects were also found in patient 4. Conventional karyotype analysis revealed abnormal karyotypes 46, XX, der (6) t (6: 10) (p23; q24), 46, XX, der (20) t (3; 20) (p23; p13) and 46, XX, der (22) t (3; 22) (q27; q13.3) in the four patients, respectively. Array-CGH analyses confirmed 23.6 Mb duplication on 10q25.1-q26.3 and 0.9 Mb deletions on 6p25.3, 19.9 Mb duplication on 3p24.3-p26.3 and 0.25 Mb deletion on 20p13 and 12.5 Mb duplication on 3q27.2-q29 and 1.9 Mb deletions on 22q13.2-q13.33 in the four patients, respectively. CONCLUSION: Parents with balanced translocation are passed the imbalanced chromosome to patient, and the partial monosomy and partial trisomy lead to multiple congenital malformations of four patients.

5-(2-carboxyethenyl) isatin derivative induces G2/M cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human leukemia K562 cells.

Our previous study successfully identified that the novel isatin derivative (E)-methyl 3-(1-(4-methoxybenzyl)-2,3-dioxoindolin-5-yl) acrylate (HKL 2H) acts as an anticancer agent at an inhibitory concentration (IC50) level of 3nM. In this study, the molecular mechanism how HKL 2H induces cytotoxic activity in the human chronic myelogenous leukemia K562 cells was investigated. Flow cytometric analysis showed that the cells were arrested in the G2/M phase and accumulated subsequently in the sub-G1 phase in the presence of HKL 2H. HKL 2H treatment down-regulated the expressions of CDK1 and cyclin B but up-regulated the level of phosphorylated CDK1. Annexin-V staining and the classic DNA ladder studies showed that HKL 2H induced the apoptosis of K562 cells. Our study further showed that HKL 2H treatment caused the dissipation of mitochondrial membrane potential, activated caspase-3 and lowered the Bcl-2/Bax ratio in K562 cells, suggesting that the HKL 2H-causing programmed cell death of K562 cells was caused via the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. Taken together, our data demonstrated that HKL 2H, a 5-(2-carboxyethenyl) isatin derivative, notably induces G2/M cell cycle arrest and mitochondrial-mediated apoptosis in K562 cells, indicating that this compound could be a promising anticancer candidate for further investigation.

DNA methylation study of fetus genome through a genome-wide analysis.

BACKGROUND: DNA methylation is a crucial epigenetic modification of the genome which is involved in embryonic development, transcription, chromatin structure, X chromosome inactivation, genomic imprinting and chromosome stability. Consistent with these important roles, DNA methylation has been demonstrated to be required for vertebrate early embryogenesis and essential for regulating temporal and spatial expression of genes controlling cell fate and differentiation. Further studies have shown that abnormal DNA methylation is associated with human diseases including the embryonic development diseases. We attempt to study the DNA methylation status of CpG islands in fetus related to fetus growth and development. METHODS: GeneChip® Human Tiling 2.0R Array set is used for analysis of methylated DNA in a whole-genome wide in 8 pairs amniotic fluid and maternal blood DNA samples. RESULTS: We found 1 fetus hypermethylation DNA markers and 4 fetus hypomethylation DNA markers though a Genome-wide analysis. These DNA markers all found to be associated with the critical genes for fetus growth and development (SH2D3C gene, EML3 gene, TRIM71 gene, HOXA3 gene and HOXA5 gene). CONCLUSIONS: These genes can be used as a biomarker for association studying of embryonic development, pathological pregnancy and so on. The present study has provided new and fundamental insights into the roles that DNA methylation has in embryonic development and in the pathological pregnancy.

[Analysis of CYP17A1 gene mutation in a child patient with 17 alpha-hydroxylase/17, 20-lyase deficiency].

OBJECTIVE: To analyze CYP17A1 gene mutations in a child patient with 17 alpha-hydroxylase/17, 20-lyase deficiency (17OHD), and to review characteristics of CYP17A1 gene mutations in Chinese patients with 17OHD. METHODS: Clinical data were collected. PCR and DNA sequencing were performed to detect mutations in the patient. RESULTS: The patient has presented classical features of 17OHD including hypertension, hypokalemia, decreased sex hormones and plasma cortisol, and elevated blood adrenocorticotrophic hormone. A compound heterozygous mutation c.987C>A and c.985del was detected in the CYP17A1 gene, which resulted in two premature stop codons at positions 328 and 417. CONCLUSION: A compound mutation, c.987C>A and c.985del, has been identified in a patient with 17OHD. Among CYP17A1 gene mutations identified in Chinese patients, missence mutations have been most common, and exons 5 and 8 have been the mutation hotspots.

[Efficiency of multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification combined with short tandem repeat linkage analysis for the prenatal diagnosis for Duchenne muscular dystrophy].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficiency of multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) combined with short tandem repeat (STR) linkage analysis for the prenatal diagnosis for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). METHODS: Gender of the fetus was first determined by the presence of Y chromosome sex-determining gene (SRY). Subsequently, combined MLPA and STR linkage analysis were applied for the probands, pregnant women and fetuses in 45 affected families. RESULTS: Among the 45 families, 31 SRY-positive fetuses were identified, among whom six were diagnosed with DMD. For 14 SRY-negative fetuses, four were diagnosed as carriers. The remainders were normal. CONCLUSION: MLPA can detect mutations in the exons of dystrophin gene, whilst STR linkage analysis can determine whether the fetus has inherited the maternal X chromosome bearing the mutant gene. As the result, the method can detect affected fetuses in which no exonic mutations are detected with MLPA. By combining the two methods, the diagnostic rate for DMD can be greatly improved.

[Association of methionine synthase reductase gene polymorphism with unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between the polymorphism of methionine synthase reductase (MTRR) A66G and the susceptibility to unexplained repeated spontaneous abortion (URSA). METHODS: Total of 200 Henan Han couples with URSA (URSA group) and 76 Henan Han healthy couples without URSA (control group) were enrolled in this study. Their MTRR A66G genotypes were determined by PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). RESULTS: (1) The allele frequencies of MTRR A66G: the frequencies of allele A and allele G in URSA group were 76.5% (153/200) in husband and 72.8% (146/200) in wife, 23.5% (47/200) in husband and 27.2% (54/200) in wife, respectively. The frequencies of allele A and allele G in control group were 78.9% (60/76) in husband and 78.3% (59/76) in wife, 21.1% (16/76) in husband and 21.7% (16/76) in wife, respectively. The frequencies of allele A and allele G were not significantly different between female and male subjects within the same experimental group (P > 0.05), and also there were not significantly different between the same gender subjects at URAS and control groups (P > 0.05). (2) The genotype frequencies of MTRR A66G: the frequencies of genotype AA, AG and GG in URSA group were 57.0% (114/200) in husband and 52.0% (104/200) in wife, 39.0% (78/200) in husband and 41.5% (83/200) in wife, 4.0% (8/200) in husband and 6.5% (13/200) in wife, prepectively. The frequencies of genotype AA, AG and GG in control group were 59.2% (45/76) in husband and 59.2% (50/76) in wife, 39.5% (30/76) in husband and 38.2% (29/76) in wife; 1.3% (1/76) in husband and 2.6% (2/76) in wife, prepectively. The frequencies of genotype AA, AG and GG were not significantly different between female and male subjects within the same group (P > 0.05), and also there were not significantly different between the same gender subjects at URSA and control groups (P > 0.05).(3)Combined genotype of couples: the combined genotype frequencies of GG + GG, GG + AG, GG + AA, AG + AG, AG + AA and AA + AA in URSA group were 1.0% (2/200), 2.5% (5/200), 6.0% (12/200), 20.0% (40/200), 38.0% (76/200), and 32.5% (65/200), prepectively; the combined genotype frequencies in control group were 0, 1.3% (1/76), 2.6% (2/76), 17.1% (13/76), 42.1% (32/76), 36.8% (28/76), prepectively. The combined genotype analysis between the two groups were also not significantly different (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The polymorphism of MTRR A66G gene was not associated with the susceptibility to URSA (P > 0.05), and so it was not the inherited genetic risk factor of URSA.