Proline improves the developmental competence of in vitro matured porcine oocytes by enhancing mitochondrial function.

The in vitro maturation of oocytes is essential to embryo engineering. Mitochondrial function is essential for both oocyte maturation and the acquisition of developmental potential. In this study, we focused on proline, a natural antioxidant with permeability-protective properties; we hypothesized that proline could enhance porcine oocytes maturation in vitro by improving mitochondrial function.

Comparative analysis of chromatin accessibility in porcine oocytes from follicles of different sizes.

Chromatin accessibility and transcription levels during oocyte growth are important for oocyte maturation and subsequent development. However, chromatin accessibility changes in porcine oocytes during growth are unclear. The present study demonstrated that porcine oocytes derived from large follicles (LFO) exhibited higher developmental capacity than those derived from small follicles (SFO).

Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D mediates the association between heavy metal exposure and cardiovascular disease.

Background: Mediation analysis aims to determine how intermediate variables affect exposure to disease. In this study, 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) was evaluated to assess its role in mediating heavy metal exposure and cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods: A total of 9,377 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the years 2011-2018 were included.

Cytotoxic plicamine alkaloids from the whole plants of .

Phytochemical investigation on the 80% EtOH extract of the whole plants of afforded three new 4a--plicamine-type alkaloids, zephyranthines A-C (). Structural elucidation of all the compounds were performed by spectral methods such as 1D and 2D (HH COSY, HMQC, and HMBC) NMR spectroscopy, in addition to high resolution mass spectrometry. All the alkaloids were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against six glioma cell lines (CHG5, SH-SY5Y, SHG44, U251, U343, and GL15).