Co-sleeping with pets, stress, and sleep in a nationally-representative sample of United States adults.

This cross-sectional study tested the direct and stress-buffering effects of co-sleeping with pets on human sleep characteristics in a nationally-representative sample of United States adults. Participants completed questionnaires assessing their sleep characteristics, including perceived sleep quality, perceived sleep efficiency, insomnia severity, and multidimensional sleep health. We evaluated whether co-sleeping with pets was associated with sleep characteristics and whether co-sleeping with pets moderated the association of stress and sleep characteristics.

Role of zinc in female reproduction.

Zinc is a critical component in a number of conserved processes that regulate female germ cell growth, fertility, and pregnancy. During follicle development, a sufficient intracellular concentration of zinc in the oocyte maintains meiotic arrest at prophase I until the germ cell is ready to undergo maturation. An adequate supply of zinc is necessary for the oocyte to form a fertilization-competent egg as dietary zinc deficiency or chelation of zinc disrupts maturation and reduces the oocyte quality.

Oviductal extracellular vesicles interact with the spermatozoon's head and mid-piece and improves its motility and fertilizing ability in the domestic cat.

Fertilization and early embryo development are regulated by a unique maternal-gamete/embryo cross-talk within the oviduct. Recent studies have shown that extracellular vesicles (EVs) within the oviduct play important roles in mediating this developmental process. Here, we examined the influence of oviductal EVs on sperm function in the domestic cat.

Lack of anti-tumor activity with the β-catenin expression inhibitor EZN-3892 in the C57BL/6J Min/+ model of intestinal carcinogenesis.

Background: Previously, we showed that short-term inhibition of β-catenin expression and reversal of aberrant β-catenin subcellular localization by the selective COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib is associated with adenoma regression in the C57BL/6J Min/+ mouse. Conversly, long-term administration resulted in tumor resistance, leading us to investigate alternative methods for selective β-catenin chemoprevention. In this study, we hypothesized that disruption of β-catenin expression by EZN-3892, a selective locked nucleic acid (LNA)-based β-catenin inhibitor, would counteract the tumorigenic effect of Apc loss in Min/+ adenomas while preserving normal intestinal function.

Estrogen receptor α or β loss in the colon of Min/+ mice promotes crypt expansion and impairs TGFβ and HNF3β signaling.

Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC)-regulated Wnt and transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) signaling cooperate in the intestine to maintain normal enterocyte functions. Human clinical trials showed that estrogen [17β-estradiol (E2)], the ligand of nuclear receptors estrogen receptor α (ERα) and ERβ, inhibited colorectal cancer (CRC) in women. Consistent with this finding, we reported that E2, ERα and ERβ suppressed intestinal tumorigenesis in the C57BL/6J-Min/+ (Min/+) mouse, a CRC model.