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Studies have demonstrated that LIN28 is expressed in the CNS and may exert protective effects on neurons. However, it remains unknown whether LIN28 regulates ferroptosis in the context of epilepsy. In this study, we established an epilepsy model by culturing hippocampal neurons from rats in a magnesium-free (Mg2+-free) medium. In Mg2+-depleted conditions, hippocampal neurons exhibited reduced LIN28 expression, heightened miR-142-5p expression, decreased glutathione peroxidase (GPX) activity and expression, elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA), resulting in a significant decline in cell viability and an increase in ferroptosis. Conversely, overexpression of LIN28 reversed these trends in the mentioned indices. Altogether, this study reveals that LIN28 may exert neuroprotective effects by inhibiting the miR-142-5p expression and suppressing ferroptosis in hippocampal neurons induced by Mg2+-free via increasing GPX4 expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, public health interventions have resulted in a 30-year increase in women's life expectancy. However, women's health has not increased when socioeconomic status is ignored. Women's health has become a major public health concern, for those women from developing countries are still struggling with infectious and labor-related diseases, and their counterparts in developed countries are suffering from physical and psychological disorders. In recent years, complementary and alternative medicine has attracted wide attentions with regards to maintaining women's health. Acupuncture, a crucial component of traditional Chinese medicine, has been used to treat many obstetric and gynecological diseases for thousands of years due to its analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects and its effects on stimulating the sympathetic/parasympathetic nervous system. To fully understand the mechanism through which acupuncture exerts its effects in these diseases would significantly extend the list of available interventions and would allow for more reasonable advice to be given to general practitioners. Therefore, by searching PubMed and CNKI regarding the use of acupuncture in treating obstetric and gynecological diseases, we aimed to summarize the proven evidence of using acupuncture in maintaining women's health by considering both its effectiveness and the underlying mechanisms behind its effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work delivers a report on development of atomic mobility description with quantified uncertainties directly from concentration profiles via the Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm as implemented in HitDIC software, which was demonstrated in fcc Cu–Ni–Sn ternary system. Different from the traditional mobility evaluation, the present new strategy started from the collection and review of all the concentration profiles available in the literature. Based on the collected concentration profiles, the atomic mobility descriptions and the corresponding quantified uncertainties in fcc Cu–Ni–Sn ternary and its sub-binary systems were directly evaluated. The reliability of the obtained mobility descriptions was firstly validated by the good agreement between the simulated and measured composition profiles, as well as by the calculated and reported inter-, tracer and intrinsic diffusivities. The fit of diffusion quantities to the experimental results as predicted by the present mobilities was also found to be generally better than previous traditional assessments, further verifying the accuracy of the present mobility descriptions. Moreover, the estimated mobility uncertainties suggest that the stability and reliability of mobility descriptions highly depend on the quantity and quality of the input concentration profiles. The successful demonstration of the present work indicates that the high-quality atomic mobility database in various alloys can be efficiently established by combining the HitDIC software and reliable concentration profiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we show that during normal rat pregnancy, there is a gestational stage-dependent decrease in androgen receptor (AR) abundance in the gravid uterus and that this is correlated with the differential expression of endometrial receptivity and decidualization genes during early and mid-gestation. In contrast, exposure to 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and insulin (INS) or DHT alone significantly increased AR protein levels in the uterus in association with the aberrant expression of endometrial receptivity and decidualization genes, as well as disrupted implantation. Next, we assessed the functional relevance of the androgen-AR axis in the uterus for reproductive outcomes by treating normal pregnant rats and pregnant rats exposed to DHT and INS with the anti-androgen flutamide. We found that AR blockage using flutamide largely attenuated the DHT and INS-induced maternal endocrine, metabolic, and fertility impairments in pregnant rats in association with suppressed induction of uterine AR protein abundance and androgen-regulated response protein and normalized expression of several endometrial receptivity and decidualization genes. Further, blockade of AR normalized the expression of the mitochondrial biogenesis marker Nrf1 and the mitochondrial functional proteins Complexes I and II, VDAC, and PHB1. However, flutamide treatment did not rescue the compromised mitochondrial structure resulting from co-exposure to DHT and INS. These results demonstrate that functional AR protein is an important factor for gravid uterine function. Impairments in the uterine androgen-AR axis are accompanied by decreased endometrial receptivity, decidualization, and mitochondrial dysfunction, which might contribute to abnormal implantation in pregnant PCOS patients with compromised pregnancy outcomes and subfertility. Key messages: The proper regulation of uterine androgen receptor (AR) contributes to a normal pregnancy process, whereas the aberrant regulation of uterine AR might be linked to polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)-induced pregnancy-related complications. In the current study, we found that during normal rat pregnancy there is a stage-dependent decrease in AR abundance in the gravid uterus and that this is correlated with the differential expression of the endometrial receptivity and decidualization genes Spp1, Prl, Igfbp1, and Hbegf. Pregnant rats exposed to 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and insulin (INS) or to DHT alone show elevated uterine AR protein abundance and implantation failure related to the aberrant expression of genes involved in endometrial receptivity and decidualization in early to mid-gestation. Treatment with the anti-androgen flutamide, starting from pre-implantation, effectively prevents DHT + INS-induced defects in endometrial receptivity and decidualization gene expression, restores uterine mitochondrial homeostasis, and increases the pregnancy rate and the numbers of viable fetuses. This study adds to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying poor pregnancy outcomes in PCOS patients and the possible therapeutic use of anti-androgens, including flutamide, after spontaneous conception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, eight solid-state diffusion couples in fcc ternary Cu-Ni-Al alloys at 1073, 1173 and 1273 K were prepared, and the corresponding composition profiles were measured with an electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA) technique. Based on the measured composition profiles and HitDIC software, a set of reliable atomic mobility descriptions in the fcc Cu-Ni-Al system were directly established, from which the composition- and temperature-dependent interdiffusion coefficient matrices were evaluated. Then, the three-dimensional (3D) main interdiffusivity surfaces for fcc Cu-Ni-Al systems were constructed. The diffusion rate of Al is faster than that of Ni. Both the main interdiffusivities of Al and Ni increase with the increase of Al concentration but decrease with Ni concentration. The reliability of the evaluated interdiffusivities was first validated by reproducing the measured composition profiles and interdiffusion fluxes. After that, the interdiffusivities and corresponding uncertainties at intersection points of diffusion couples were evaluated by using the Matano–Kirkaldy method combined with distribution functions. Especially all the interdiffusion coefficients estimated from the present mobility parameters are within the bounds of the uncertainties, which further quantitatively verified the reliability of the present mobility descriptions. The accuracy of the as-determined mobility is further highlighted via combining with the reported thermodynamic descriptions, which enables an accurate prediction of the volume of Ni3Al precipitates in the Cu-Ni-Al alloy during artificial aging. The present work indicates that with the accurate thermodynamic as well as boundary mobility descriptions, reliable ternary mobility descriptions can be achieved by combining the diffusion couple experiments with the HitDIC modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work sought to evaluate the effects of three androgen indexes of free testosterone (FT), total testosterone (TT), and free-androgen index (FAI) on clinical phenotype, endocrine metabolic disorders, and fertility outcomes in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. The data in this study came from a large, multicenter, randomized double-blind controlled clinical trial involving 1000 infertile PCOS patients. Baseline phenotypic, endocrine, and metabolic parameters and fertility outcomes undergoing ovulation induction were collected. FAI is superior to FT, and FT is superior to TT in terms of their correlation with anthropometric parameters and metabolic profile. FT and TT were significantly positively correlated with LH/FSH. FAI and FT were significantly correlated with the incidence of metabolic syndrome. FAI, FT, and TT were significantly positively correlated with polycystic ovary morphology and menstrual period. FAI was significantly related ovulations per cycle, pregnancy, conception, and live birth rates. After adjusting for age, the increased FT level was significantly related to the decreased rates of ovulations per cycle, conception, and pregnancy. FAI is superior to FT and FT is superior to TT in terms of their correlation with phenotypic and metabolic parameters in PCOS patients. FAI and FT are important factors related to the fertility outcomes of infertile PCOS patients. Clinical trial registration number: NCT01573858. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we report the isolation and structure elucidation of 12 known compounds ( B 1-12 b ); eleven compounds ( B 1-11 b ) were isolated for the first time from I L. latifolium i . Part of EtOAc soluble fraction (72.6 g) was subjected to silica gel (200-300 mesh) column chromatography and eluted with an isocratic elution system of dichloromethane-methanol-water (7:3:0.5) to give one fraction (Fr. 1). Subfraction 1-3 was eluted on a Dubhe C18 column and purified on a Megress C18 column to give compounds B 10 b (88.5 mg), B 11 b (4.3 mg), and B 12 b (14.5 mg). After concentration in vacuum, the combined extract (360 g) was suspended in H SB 2 sb O and partitioned with petroleum ether, EtOAc, and I n i -BuOH successively to give dried petroleum ether, EtOAc, I n i -BuOH, and H SB 2 sb O fractions. [Extracted from the article]

Aim: To compare the effect of a single session of acupuncture with either low-frequency electrical or manual stimulation on insulin sensitivity and molecular pathways in the insulin-resistant dihydrotestosterone-induced rat polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) model. Both stimulations cause activation of afferent nerve fibers. In addition, electrical stimulation causes muscle contractions, enabling us to differentiate changes induced by activation of sensory afferents from contraction-induced changes. Materials and Methods: Control and PCOS rats were divided into no-stimulation, manual-, and electrical stimulation groups and insulin sensitivity was measured by euglycemic hyperinsulinemic clamp. Manually stimulated needles were rotated 180° ten times every 5 min, or low-frequency electrical stimulation was applied to evoke muscle twitches for 45 min. Gene and protein expression were analyzed by real-time PCR and Western blot. Results: The glucose infusion rate (GIR) was lower in PCOS rats than in controls. Electrical stimulation was superior to manual stimulation during treatment but both methods increased GIR to the same extent in the post-stimulation period. Electrical stimulation decreased mRNA expression of Adipor2, Adrb1, Fndc5, Erk2, and Tfam in soleus muscle and increased ovarian Adrb2 and Pdf. Manual stimulation decreased ovarian mRNA expression of Erk2 and Sdnd. Electrical stimulation increased phosphorylated ERK levels in soleus muscle. Conclusions: One acupuncture session with electrical stimulation improves insulin sensitivity and modulates skeletal muscle gene and protein expression more than manual stimulation. Although electrical stimulation is superior to manual in enhancing insulin sensitivity during stimulation, they are equally effective after stimulation indicating that it is activation of sensory afferents rather than muscle contraction per se leading to the observed changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article "Enhanced insulin sensitivity and acute regulation of metabolic genes and signaling pathways after a single electrical or manual acupuncture session in female insulin-resistant rats" that was published in the 2014 issue of the journal is presented.