Testosterone deficiency aggravates diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by inducing hepatocyte ferroptosis via targeting BMAL1 in mice.

Background: Testosterone deficiency is linked to an increased prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), although the mechanisms underlying this association are not fully understood. Ferroptosis, a regulated cell death pathway driven by iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, has been suggested to play a role in NAFLD pathogenesis. Since testosterone deficiency is associated with lipid disorders and iron deposition, we hepothesize that ferroptosis may be involved in the pathogenesis of diet-induced NAFLD exacerbated by testosterone deficiency.

Dysregulation of Ceramide Metabolism Is Linked to Iron Deposition and Activation of Related Pathways in the Aorta of Atherosclerotic Miniature Pigs.

The miniature pig is a suitable animal model for investigating human cardiovascular diseases. Nevertheless, the alterations in lipid metabolism within atherosclerotic plaques of miniature pigs, along with the underlying mechanisms, remain to be comprehensively elucidated. In this study, we aim to examine the alterations in lipid composition and associated pathways in the abdominal aorta of atherosclerotic pigs induced by a high-fat, high-cholesterol, and high-fructose (HFCF) diet using lipidomics and RNA-Seq methods.

Single-nucleus RNA sequencing reveals cell type-specific transcriptome alterations of Down syndrome hippocampus using the Dp16 mouse model.

Background: Down syndrome (DS), the most frequently occurring human chromosomal disorder, is caused by trisomy 21. The exact molecular effects of trisomy on certain cell populations in the brain remain poorly understood.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of trisomy on the transcriptomes of various types of neurons and nonneuronal cells in the hippocampus.

Plumbagin rescues the granulosa cell's pyroptosis by reducing WTAP-mediated N6-methylation in polycystic ovary syndrome.

The survival of ovary granulosa cells (GC) is critical in the initiation and progression of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) in females. Here, we found that the PCOS process is accompanied by massive GC pyroptosis resulting from Caspase-1 inflammasome activation. Administration of plumbagin, an effective compound isolated from plant medicine, can prevent the pyroptosis of GC and the onset of PCOS.

Letrozole Supplementation and the Increased Risk of Elevated Progesterone Levels on Trigger Day.

Although using letrozole (LE) during fertilisation and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF/ICSI) has many advantages, it remains unclear whether LE induces an increase in progestogen during the late follicular phase. The objective of this study was to investigate whether progesterone levels increased under antagonist protocols supplemented with LE on the trigger day using a retrospective cohort study. The study included 1,133 women who underwent IVF/ICSI cycles from January 2018 to June 2020.

Smilax glabra Roxb. flavonoids protect against pathological cardiac hypertrophy by inhibiting the Raf/MEK/ERK pathway: In vivo and in vitro studies.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Smilax glabra Roxb., the dry rhizome of Sarsaparilla, which is also known as Tu fuling (TFL) in China, is a well-known traditional CHINESE medicine that is widely used for detoxication, relieving dampness and as a diuretic. We have previously shown that the extracted TFL flavonoids (designated TFLF) possess anti-cardiac hypertrophy effects in vitro.

Effects of oral contraceptives plus orlistat in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome and overweight/obesity: A meta-analysis.

Aim: This meta-analysis was conducted to compare the effect and safety of oral contraceptive pills (OCP) plus orlistat with OCP alone in clinical, hormonal, and lipid metabolism outcomes in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and overweight/obesity.

Methods: Pubmed, Embase, Web of Science, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and SinoMed were systematically reviewed. A random-effects or fixed-effects model was used to pool the estimate.

Testosterone deficiency accelerates early stage atherosclerosis in miniature pigs fed a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet: urine H NMR metabolomics targeted analysis.

To gain insights into the role of testosterone in the development of atherosclerosis and its related metabolic pathways, we applied a proton nuclear magnetic resonance (H NMR)-based metabolomics approach to investigate urine metabolic profiles in miniature pigs fed a high-fat and high-cholesterol (HFC) diet among intact male pigs (IM), castrated male pigs (CM) and castrated male pigs with testosterone replacement (CMT). Our results showed that testosterone deficiency significantly increased atherosclerotic lesion areas, intima-media thickness, as well as serum lipid levels in the CM pigs. Moreover, seventeen significantly changed metabolites were identified in both IM vs.

Plumbagin inhibits proliferation and promotes apoptosis of ovarian granulosa cells in polycystic ovary syndrome by inactivating PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is recognized as a general endocrine disease and reproductive disorder. Although evidence indicates that PCOS has a complex etiology and genetic basis, the pathogenic mechanisms and signal pathway in PCOS remain unclear. In this study, the normal structure of follicle and corpus luteum were observed, and no cyst nor hyperemia was observed under the light microscopic study with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining.

Comparative analysis of the down syndrome hippocampal non-coding RNA transcriptomes using a mouse model.

Background: Down syndrome (DS), caused by trisomy 21, is the most common human chromosomal disorder. Hippocampal abnormalities have been believed to be responsible for the DS developmental cognitive deficits. Cumulative evidences indicated that non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) participated in brain development and function.

[The regulatory mechanism of Raf/MEK/ERK pathway on the rat cardiac hypertrophy induced by transverse aortic constriction].

Objective: To investigate the mRNA, protein expression levels and the phosphorylation levels of key factors in rapidly accelerated fibrosarcoma/mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular regulated protein kinases (Raf/MEK/ERK) pathway, and to clarify the regulatory function of Raf/MEK/ERK pathway in myocardial hypertrophy.

Methods: Twenty SD rats were divided into sham-operated group and model group. The myocardial hypertrophy model was established by transverse aortic constriction (TAC).

Differential metabolic and hepatic transcriptome responses of two miniature pig breeds to high dietary cholesterol.

Aims: Pigs are increasingly used as human metabolic disease models; however, there is insufficient research on breed-related genetic background differences. This study aimed to investigate the differential metabolic responses to high-fat and high-cholesterol (HFC) diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) of two miniature pig breeds and explore the molecular mechanisms involved.

Main Methods: Male Wuzhishan (WZSP) and Tibetan pigs (TP) were randomly fed either a standard or an HFC diet for 24 weeks.

Transcriptome profiling reveals multiple pathways responsible for the beneficial metabolic effects of Smilax glabra flavonoids in mouse 3T3-L1 adipocytes.

Smilax glabra Roxb. (SG) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine that has been extensively used as both food and folk medicine in many countries. Although many beneficial health effects of SG and its primary components have been reported, their action on adipocyte function remains unknown.

Correction to: Transcriptomic analysis of hepatic responses to testosterone deficiency in miniature pigs fed a high-cholesterol diet.

Following the publication of the original article [1], it was reported that the accession number given in the 'Data accessibility' declaration, GSE65696, is incorrect.

Cascade R-CNN: High Quality Object Detection and Instance Segmentation.

In object detection, the intersection over union (IoU) threshold is frequently used to define positives/negatives. The threshold used to train a detector defines its quality. While the commonly used threshold of 0.

Hypolipidemic effect of pure total flavonoids from peel of Citrus (PTFC) on hamsters of hyperlipidemia and its potential mechanism.

Citrus is a group of popular fruit that includes oranges, lemons, limes and grapefruit but research of its peel on hyperlipidemia and its mechanism is rare reported. We examined the effect of pure total flavonoids from peel of Citrus (PTFC), an extract from the peel of Citrus Changshan-huyou which is a popular fruit in China, on hamsters with hyperlipoidemia induced by high-fat diet (HFD). We found that PTFC significantly reduced levels of serum cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and improved levels of alanine transaminase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST) and Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) which associated with liver function in golden hamsters.

Learning Complexity-Aware Cascades for Pedestrian Detection.

The problem of pedestrian detection is considered. The design of complexity-aware cascaded pedestrian detectors, combining features of very different complexities, is investigated. A new cascade design procedure is introduced, by formulating cascade learning as the Lagrangian optimization of a risk that accounts for both accuracy and complexity.

Total flavonoids from Smilax glabra Roxb blocks epithelial-mesenchymal transition and inhibits renal interstitial fibrosis by targeting miR-21/PTEN signaling.

Background: Smilax glabra Roxb, a traditional Chinese herb, has been widely used in folk medicine. The current study was performed to investigate the protective effect of S. glabra Roxb extract, pure total flavonoids from Smilax glabra Roxb (PTFS), on renal interstitial fibrosis (RIF) and its underlying mechanism.

Body composition, serum lipid levels, and transcriptomic characterization in the adipose tissue of male pigs in response to sex hormone deficiency.

It is known that the male hypogonadism plays an important role in regulating adipose metabolism. In the present study, fifteen pairs of full male sibs were divided into a castrated group and an intact group with a paired experiment design. The pigs were slaughtered at an age of 175days.

Genome-wide genetic structure and differentially selected regions among Landrace, Erhualian, and Meishan pigs using specific-locus amplified fragment sequencing.

As typical Chinese indigenous pig breeds, Erhualian and Meishan have been widely used to produce new strain or breed in the world. However, the genetic basis of characteristics of these pig breeds is still limited. Moreover, considering cost and output of sequencing, it is necessary to further develop cost-effective method for pig genome screening.

Testosterone Deficiency Induces Changes of the Transcriptomes of Visceral Adipose Tissue in Miniature Pigs Fed a High-Fat and High-Cholesterol Diet.

Testosterone deficiency causes fat deposition, particularly in visceral fat, and its replacement might reverse fat accumulation, however, the underlying mechanisms of such processes under diet-induced adiposity are largely unknown. To gain insights into the genome-wide role of androgen on visceral adipose tissue (VAT), RNA-Seq was used to investigate testosterone deficiency induced changes of VAT in miniature pigs fed a high-fat and high-cholesterol (HFC) diet among intact male pigs (IM), castrated male pigs (CM), and castrated male pigs with testosterone replacement (CMT) treatments. The results showed that testosterone deficiency significantly increased VAT deposition and serum leptin concentrations.

Long Noncoding RNA and mRNA Expression Profiles in the Thyroid Gland of Two Phenotypically Extreme Pig Breeds Using Ribo-Zero RNA Sequencing.

The thyroid gland is an important endocrine organ modulating development, growth, and metabolism, mainly by controlling the synthesis and secretion of thyroid hormones (THs). However, little is known about the pig thyroid transcriptome. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate gene expression and play critical roles in many cellular processes.

Effect of testosterone deficiency on cholesterol metabolism in pigs fed a high-fat and high-cholesterol diet.

Background: Testosterone deficiency is associated with increased serum cholesterol levels. However, how testosterone deficiency precisely affects cholesterol metabolism remains unclear. Therefore, in the current study, we examined the effect of testosterone deficiency on cholesterol metabolism and liver gene expression in pigs fed a high-fat and high-cholesterol (HFC) diet.

Transcriptomic analysis of hepatic responses to testosterone deficiency in miniature pigs fed a high-cholesterol diet.

Background: Recent studies have indicated that low serum testosterone levels are associated with increased risk of developing hepatic steatosis; however, the mechanisms mediating this phenomenon have not been fully elucidated. To gain insight into the role of testosterone in modulating hepatic steatosis, we investigated the effects of testosterone on the development of hepatic steatosis in pigs fed a high-fat and high-cholesterol (HFC) diet and profiled hepatic gene expression by RNA-Seq in HFC-fed intact male pigs (IM), castrated male pigs (CM), and castrated male pigs with testosterone replacement (CMT).

Results: Serum testosterone levels were significantly decreased in CM pigs, and testosterone replacement attenuated castration-induced testosterone deficiency.

Involvement of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors in cardiac and vascular remodeling in a novel minipig model of insulin resistance and atherosclerosis induced by consumption of a high-fat/cholesterol diet.

Background: A long-term high-fat/cholesterol (HFC) diet leads to insulin resistance (IR), which is associated with inflammation, atherosclerosis (AS), cardiac sympathovagal imbalance, and cardiac dysfunction. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) and nuclear factor ĸB (NF-κB) are involved in the development of IR-AS. Thus, we elucidated the pathological molecular mechanism of IR-AS by feeding an HFC diet to Tibetan minipigs to induce IR and AS.