The effect of methyltestosterone (MT) on sex differentiation and growth in juvenile yellow perch (Perca flavescens).

A study was conducted to evaluate the gonad differentiation of juvenile yellow perch (YP, Perca flavencens) and determine the latest labile period related to hormone treatment. Juvenile fish were subjected to two dietary concentrations of methyltestosterone (MT; 20 and 50 mg/kg feed) for 60 days in three (3) age groups of 38-, 46-, and 67-days post-hatching (dph), where control group were fed with standard commercial feed. Following a 10-month on-growing period, sex phenotypes were determined by gross and histological gonad morphology.

Ginsenoside regulates Treg/Th17 cell ratio and inhibits inflammation to treat COPD.

Several studies have suggested an involvement of the immune system in the occurrence and development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the mechanism is still unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the mechanism of ginsenoside in inhibiting inflammation by regulating FOXP3 in COPD. : Eighty COPD patients were selected and 35 healthy people were enrolled in the study to determine clinical efficacy, observation index, and SGRQ scores.

Onset of Coronary Heart Disease is Associated with HCMV Infection and Increased CD14 CD16 Monocytes in a Population of Weifang, China.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) infection and peripheral blood CD14 CD16 monocytes in the pathogenesis of coronary heart disease (CHD), and to elucidate the mechanism of pathogenesis in CHD by analyzing the correlation between infection, inflammation, and CHD, to provide a basis for the prevention, evaluation, and treatment of the disease.

Methods: In total, 192 patients with CHD were divided into three groups: latent CHD, angina pectoris, and myocardial infarction. HCMV-IgM and -IgG antibodies were assessed using ELISA; CD14 CD16 monocytes were counted using a five-type automated hematology analyzer; mononuclear cells were assessed using fluorescence-activated cell sorting; and an automatic biochemical analyzer was used to measure the levels of triglyceride, cholesterol, high- and low-density lipoprotein cholesterols, lipoprotein, hs-CRp and Hcy.

Effects of intraperitoneal hydrogen injection on nitric oxide synthase mRNA and malondialdehyde following limb ischemia-reperfusion in rabbits.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of intraperitoneal hydrogen (H2) injection on the mRNA expression levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) as well as the serum malondialdehyde (MDA) level in a rabbit model of limb ischemia-reperfusion (I/R)-induced skeletal muscle injury.

Methods: To establish the hind limb I/R animal model, 30 rabbits were randomly assigned to one of 3 groups: sham, I/R, and ischemia-reperfusion + H2 (IRH). An intraperitoneal injection of H2 was given to the IRH group, while an equivalent amount of air was given to the sham and I/R groups.

Down-regulation of aquaporin3 expression by lipopolysaccharide via p38/c-Jun N-terminal kinase signalling pathway in HT-29 human colon epithelial cells.

Aim: To investigate the influence of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) through the p38/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signalling pathway on aquaporin 3 (AQP3) expression in HT-29 human colon epithelial cells.

Methods: HT-29 cells were treated with LPS, and then the membrane localisation of AQP3 was examined by immunofluorescence staining. The mRNA and protein expression of AQP3 with LPS exposure was measured by real-time reverse transcription-PCR and Western blot, respectively.

Molecular cloning and mRNA expression of the peptidoglycan recognition protein gene HcPGRP1 and its isoform HcPGRP1a from the freshwater mussel Hyriopsis cumingi.

Peptidoglycan recognition proteins (PGRPs) are innate immune molecules that have been structurally conserved throughout evolution in invertebrates and vertebrates. In this study, peptidoglycan recognition protein HcPGRP1 and its isoform HcPGRP1a were identified in the freshwater mussel Hyriopsis cumingii. The full-length cDNAs of HcPGRP1 (973 bp) and HcPGRP1a (537 bp) encoded polypeptides with 218 and 151 amino acids, respectively.

Quantitative guidelines for the prediction of ultrasound contrast agent destruction during injection.

Experiments and theory were undertaken on the destruction of ultrasound contrast agent microbubbles on needle injection, with the aim of predicting agent loss during in vivo studies. Agents were expelled through a variety of syringe and needle combinations, subjecting the microbubbles to a range of pressure drops. Imaging of the bubbles identified cases where bubbles were destroyed and the extent of destruction.

Melatonin ameliorates bisphenol A-induced DNA damage in the germ cells of adult male rats.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is a well-known endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC) that has received particular attention because of its widespread distribution in humans. Due to its chemical similarity to diethylstilbestrol, which is carcinogenic to mammals, the possible genotoxicity of BPA has already largely been evaluated. However, the results are still inconclusive and controversial.

NF-kappaB is involved in inhibition of lipoxin A4 on dermal inflammation and hyperplasia induced by mezerein.

The mechanisms by which lipoxin A(4) (LXA(4)) inhibit skin inflammation remain unclear. In the present studies, the ear inflammatory model was induced by topical application of mezerein. Treatment of the mouse ear with LXA(4) exhibited the inhibitory effects on oedema, neutrophil infiltration, vascular permeability, expressions of interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6 and IL-8 mRNA, DNA-binding activity of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), and on dermal hyperplasia.