Publications by authors named "Wenhan Lu"

Excessive gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is considered to be an initiating factor in the etiology of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). GnRH neuronal axons terminate at the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus and median eminence, where tanycytes, specialized glial cells, have been proposed to modulate GnRH secretion through plasticity. However, the precise role of the "GnRH-tanycyte unit" during the pathological state of PCOS has not been thoroughly explored.

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Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a complex neuroendocrine disorder characterized by dysregulation of the hypothalamus. Both electroacupuncture (EA) and manual acupuncture (MA) have demonstrated therapeutic efficacy in the treatment of PCOS through improvements in hypothalamic function. However, the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood.

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  • Follicular tracking is usually done with ultrasound, but it has limited resolution; a new high-resolution imaging technique using near-infrared II (NIR-II) luminescence imaging has been developed for better visualization of ovarian follicles.
  • This approach utilizes an FDA-approved contrast agent, indocyanine green (ICG) conjugated with hCG, allowing targeted monitoring of early follicles and avoiding damage from other imaging methods like CT scans.
  • Results indicate that the NIR-II imaging can accurately identify follicles as small as 50 µm and also effectively detect ovarian tumors and micro-metastatic lesions, presenting a promising tool for infertility assessment and surgical guidance.
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Normal perception of visual information relies not only on the quantity and quality of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), but also on the integrity of the visual pathway, within which RGC central projection predominates. However, the exact changes of RGC central projection under particular pathological conditions remain to be elucidated. Here, we report a whole-brain clearing method modified from iDISCO for 3D visualization of RGC central projection.

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  • The study focused on the human lens, highlighting its complex structure and the need for insights into its 3D cellular organization as it ages.
  • Researchers used various tissue transparency methods to analyze human lenses from infants to seniors, revealing consistent equator proportions but different cellular patterns depending on age.
  • Notable findings included increased accumulation of equatorial epithelium in adolescents and changes in cell composition, alongside a molecular analysis that showed variations in specific proteins across different age groups.
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While respiratory diseases such as COPD and asthma share many risk factors, most studies investigate them in insolation and in predominantly European ancestry populations. Here, we conducted the most powerful multi-trait and -ancestry genetic analysis of respiratory diseases and auxiliary traits to date. Our approach improves the power of genetic discovery across traits and ancestries, identifying 44 novel loci associated with lung function in individuals of East Asian ancestry.

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A biological system's internal morphological structure or function can be changed as a result of the mechanical effect of focused ultrasound. Pulsed low-intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) has mechanical effects that might induce follicle development with less damage to ovarian tissue. The potential development of LIFU as a non-invasive method for the treatment of female infertility is being considered, and this study sought to explore and confirm that LIFU can activate ovarian follicles.

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: We previously found that cimifugin has a potent antiallergic inflammatory effect in atopic dermatitis (AD). However, whether cimifugin has an antipruritic effect in AD was unknown. : Mouse scratching behavior tests were performed to verify the proposed antipruritic effect of cimifugin on DNFB- or FITC-mediated AD.

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DNA sample contamination is a major issue in clinical and research applications of whole-genome and -exome sequencing. Even modest levels of contamination can substantially affect the overall quality of variant calls and lead to widespread genotyping errors. Currently, popular tools for estimating the contamination level use short-read data (BAM/CRAM files), which are expensive to store and manipulate and often not retained or shared widely.

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  • The study shows how humanized ACE2 interacts with a pseudovirus that has Spike proteins, highlighting the importance of type 2 innate lymphoid cells in the early stages of viral infection.
  • These results are crucial for creating mucosal vaccines, which target infection prevention right at the entry points of the virus.
  • This research also suggests potential new treatment methods for managing COVID-19 both before and after infection.
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Aims: Cachexia, a metabolic syndrome, affects 21 % of patients suffering from ischemic encephalopathy. However, the specific mechanism and prevention measures are still unclear. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) have been proven to reduce inflammatory cytokine levels during ischemic events, but whether they have a protective effect against cachexia after hypoxic-ischemic brain damage (HIBD) remains unclear.

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DNA sample contamination is a major issue in clinical and research applications of whole genome and exome sequencing. Even modest levels of contamination can substantially affect the overall quality of variant calls and lead to widespread genotyping errors. Currently, popular tools for estimating the contamination level use short-read data (BAM/CRAM files), which are expensive to store and manipulate and often not retained or shared widely.

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The permeability of iris blood vessels has an important role in maintaining aqueous humor (AH) homeostasis, contributing to variation in iris volume and probably the pathogenesis of angle closure glaucoma. This study investigates the permeability of the iris microvasculature to plasma-derived protein and correspond it with the morphologic characteristics of vascular mural cells (MCs). Twenty-two enucleated porcine eyes were used in this study.

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  • Genome-wide association studies have identified many common genetic variants tied to human diseases, but the exploration of rare genetic variations has been limited.
  • This study analyzes exome-sequencing data from 394,841 individuals in the UK Biobank to assess the impact of rare coding variations across 4,529 phenotypes, linking genetic associations to their frequency and potential harmfulness.
  • The findings contribute to our understanding of genetic factors in health and disease, offering a public dataset and tools like the Genebass browser for researchers to investigate rare variant associations.
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Primary congenital glaucoma (PCG), a developmental glaucoma occurring due to angle anomaly, earns growing concerns among ophthalmologists for its vision-damaging attribute. The incidence of PCG varies among races and geographic regions and is mostly genetically associated. Theories have been posed in attempt to address the etiology of this congenital maldevelopment and in the meanwhile providing evidence for feasibility of PCG surgeries.

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  • Simulation studies are essential for testing statistical models used in analyzing complicated survival data, especially when dealing with competing risks and clustering.
  • The article guides researchers on generating competing risks data and inducing cluster-level correlation, specifically for randomized clinical trials involving binary treatments.
  • It reviews various methods, including the frailty model, probability transform, and Moran's algorithm, to create complex survival outcomes while maintaining specified levels of correlation.
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Background: For primary angle-closure and angle-closure glaucoma, the fact that refractive error sometimes deviates from predictions after intraocular lens (IOL) implantation is familiar to cataract surgeons. Since controversy remains in the accuracy of IOL power calculation formulas, both traditional and network meta-analysis on formula accuracy were conducted in patients with primary angle-closure conditions.

Methods: A comprehensive literature search was conducted through Aug 2022, focusing on studies on intraocular lens power calculation in primary angle-closure (PAC) and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG).

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During human evolution, major changes in our societal conditions and environment took place without sufficient time for concomitant genetic alterations, leading to out of step adaptation and diseases in women. We first discuss recent societal adaptation mismatch (menstrual bleeding; increases in cancers of reproductive organs, endometriosis; mother's nursing; polycystic ovarian syndrome; transgenerational epigenetic modifications), followed by Darwinian out of step adaptation (labor difficulties; sex chromosomes, human diseases and sex disparity in genomic DNA). We discuss the evolutionary basis of menstrual bleeding, followed by recent increases in cancers of reproductive organs and endometriosis.

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Background: Low-frequency electroacupuncture (EA) has been shown to ameliorate obesity and reproductive dysfunctions in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and further explorations in PCOS-like rats showed that EA could affect white adipose tissue. However, the function and neuromodulation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in PCOS and after EA treatment have remained unknown. The present study focused on the role of BAT in PCOS-like rats and its relationship with EA and characterized the three-dimensional (3D) innervation of BAT associated with activation molecules.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how different survival models perform in cluster randomized trials, especially when there are competing risks.
  • It finds that using a sandwich variance estimator helps maintain accuracy with larger clusters, but can lead to bias in smaller samples.
  • The analysis shows that the marginal Fine and Gray model often has better power than other models, particularly when competing events are frequent, and applies these findings to a real trial on elder injury reduction.
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Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects 8%-15% of reproductive-age women and is associated with reproductive disorders, abdominal obesity, hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Acupuncture, as a traditional physical therapy method, could affect various metabolic disorders such as obesity, hyperplasia, gout, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases in clinical practice. Moreover, electroacupuncture (EA) has been shown to decrease body weight in rats with PCOS; however, the mechanism of weight loss and the relationship between adipose tissue and gut microbiota remain unclear.

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The growing need for viewing the detailed 3D structures of various tissues and organs requires advanced tissue processing and imaging techniques. However, light scattering by tissues hinders detailed structural observations. To overcome this, the emerging technique of "tissue optical clearing" has been flourishing in recent decades, providing excellent opportunities for imaging deep, micro-scale structures of various organs, or even of the whole body.

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Acupuncture has been used for treating various medical conditions in traditional Chinese medicine. Both manual and electro-acupuncture stimulate specific acupoints to obtain local and systemic biological effects, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here, we used three-dimensional tissue-clearing technology to study acupoints on the Ren meridian of mice to reveal the distribution, density, branching, and relationships between blood vessels and nerves.

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Low-frequency electro-acupuncture (EA) has been shown to restore ovulation in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and previous animal experiments showed that EA improves ovarian blood flow and angiogenesis. We performed EA for 4 weeks in dihydrotestosterone (DHT)-induced PCOS-like rats and investigated the three-dimensional (3D) ovarian innervation to determine the role of innervation in folliculogenesis and vascularity. Ovarian tissues were made transparent following the CUBIC 3D tissue-clearing protocol and were immunostained using antibodies against platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 and tyrosine hydroxylase to visualize the ovarian vasculature and innervation, respectively.

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