Method for quantitative extraction of copper hydroxide nanoparticles from farmland soil.

With the development of nanotechnology, nano-pesticides have been developed and show better application effects than traditional pesticides, which have a good development prospect. Copper hydroxide nanoparticles (Cu(OH)2 NPs) are one of the specific fungicides. However, there is still no reliable method to evaluate their environmental processes, which is essential for the broad application of new pesticides. Since soil is a vital link between pesticides and crops, this study took linear and slightly soluble Cu(OH)2 NPs as the research object and established a method to quantitatively extract Cu(OH)2 NPs from the soil. Five essential parameters in the extraction process were optimized first, and then the extraction effect of this optimal method was further tested under different nanoparticles and soil conditions. The optimal extraction method was determined, including (i) Dispersant: 0.2 % carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) with a molecular weight of 250,000; (ii) Mixing conditions of soil and dispersant: water bath shaking for 30 min, water bath ultrasonication for 10 min (energy of the ultrasonication = 6 kJ/ml); (iii) Phase separation conditions: settlement for 60 min; (iv) Solid-to-liquid ratio: 1:20; (v) 1 extraction cycle. After optimization, 81.5 % of the supernatant was Cu(OH)2 NPs, and 2.6 % was dissolved copper ions (Cu2+). This method showed good applicability to different concentrations of Cu(OH)2 NPs and different farmland soils. It also showed significant differences in the extraction rates of copper oxide nanoparticles (CuO NPs), Cu2+, and other copper sources. The addition of a small amount of silica was confirmed to improve the extraction rate of Cu(OH)2 NPs. The establishment of this method lays the foundation for the quantitative analysis of nano-pesticides and other non-spherical and slightly soluble nanoparticles.

Vigilin interacts with ER-ß to protect against palmitic acid-induced granulosa cells apoptosis via inhibiting calcineurin-mediated Drp1 signaling pathway.

BACKGROUND: Hypercholesterolemia is one of the causes of female infertility, and as a common fatty acid in follicular fluid, palmitic acid (PA) level plays a vital role in granule cell which is closely related to the developmental potential of follicle. METHODS: The ovarian granulosa cell-like human granulosa (KGN) cell line and the immortalized normal ovarian surface epithelial cell line (IOSE80) were used to verify the effect of PA on cell viability and apoptosis by MTT and flow cytometry assay, respectively. Then mitochondria damage was confirmed by mitochondrial membrane potential, mitochondrial ROS detection assay and western blot in KGN cells. Thorough luciferase reporter assay and RIP-qPCR, the relationship between vigilin and ER-ß was investigated. RESULTS: In our study, PA induced mitochondrial damage-mediated cell apoptosis of KGN cells was dose-dependently, while PA shown no effects on in IOSE80 cells. Then the role of calcineurin (CnA)-mediated Drp1 signaling pathway on KGN cells was confirmed by treating with Mdivi-1 or FK506T. In addition, the changed level of vigilin and ER-ß was observed in cell apoptosis of KGN cells induced by PA. By transfecting vigilin vector or ER-ß vector into KGN cells, respectively, vigilin and ER-ß were demonstrated to regulate the apoptosis of KGN cells. And vigilin was a binding protein of ER-ß mRNA. CONCLUSION: Vigilin could interact with ER-ß mRNA to promote ER-ß expression. And Vigilin/ ER-ß relieve the mitochondrial damage and cell apoptosis induced by PA through regulating CnA-mediated Drp1 signaling pathway, which revealed the mechanism and strategy of hypercholesterolemia in female infertility.

The role of FTO variants in the susceptibility of polycystic ovary syndrome and in vitro fertilization outcomes in Chinese women.

We investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene (rs9926289 A/G, rs79206939 A/G, rs9930506 A/G, rs8050136 A/C, and rs1588413 C/T) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), as well as outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF). A case-control study consisting of 147 PCOS patients and 120 healthy controls was conducted. FTO SNPs were genotyped by PCR to determine allelic frequencies, and IVF outcomes were analyzed. The results showed that FTO rs8050136 (p = .025) and rs1588413 (p = .042) were significantly associated with PCOS susceptibility, and women with risk alleles were often found to be obese (p < .05). For SNP rs8050136, women with AA + AC genotypes had higher body mass indexes (BMIs), oral glucose tolerance test/2 h (OGTT) levels and implantation rates but lower follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) day progesterone levels and ovulation numbers (all p < .05) than those with the CC genotype. For SNP rs1588413, women carrying risk alleles exhibited higher BMIs, implantation rate, and levels of luteinizing hormone (LH), estradiol, and OGTT/2 h (all p < .05) compared with those with non-risk genotypes. Therefore, these findings suggest that rs8050136 and rs1588413 are associated with PCOS susceptibility, and that women with risk alleles have less ovulation numbers but higher implantation rates than those with other genotypes.

The association between androgen receptor gene CAG polymorphism and polycystic ovary syndrome: a case-control study and meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: Many studies have been carried out to confirm the relationship between androgen receptor gene CAG repeat polymorphism and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), without consistent results. Hence we conducted the current study to research this relationship. METHODS: 224 Chinese Han women with PCOS and 223 in vitro fertilization and embryo transplantation (IVF-ET) infertile women with tubal factor or male infertility served as the controls were recruited in our study. PCR-based assays were applied to genotype the (CAG)n repeat alleles. A meta-analysis including 1,536 PCOS patients and 1,807 controls was conducted to produce a pooled estimate. RESULTS: We observed that the CAG bi-allelic mean lengths were similar in PCOS patients and controls (22.65 ± 2.5 vs. 23.09 ± 2.1, P = 0.116). When CAG bi-allelic were divided into two categories (mean repeats ≤22, >22), the short AR-CAG bi-allelic showed more frequent in PCOS group than in controls (56.25% vs 29.14%, P < 0.001). Further analysis presented that, in PCOS, there was a lower mean CAG repeat lengths in mean bi-allelic lengths (22.3 ± 2.5 vs. 23.9 ± 2.2, P = 0.008) and long bi-allelic lengths (24.3 ± 1.4 vs. 25.9 ± 1.6, P = 0.05) among patients with testosterone less than 0.7 ng/ml compared with those whose testosterone was more than 0.7 ng/ml. Besides, the testosterone were positively correlated with the CAG polymorphism (r = 0.237, P = 0.008), which accorded with our meta-analysis results. CONCLUSIONS: The distribution of AR-CAG allele differed between PCOS patients and controls, and polymorphism of CAG repeat lengths may contribute to hyperandrogenism in PCOS.