Analysis of international competitiveness of the China's licorice industry from the perspective of global trade.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Licorice is a multi-purpose plant raw material, which is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry and food industry, cosmetic industry, etc. It has a wide application in various countries and regions around the world.

Aim Of Study: This paper studied the trade situation of licorice-related products among major countries and regions in the world, providing a practical reference for the sustainable development of the global licorice industry.

Fasting improves tolerance to acute hypoxia in rats.

Acute high-altitude illness seriously threatens the health and lives of people who rapidly ascend to high altitudes, but there is currently no particularly effective method for the prevention or treatment of acute high-altitude illness. In the present study, we found that fasting preconditioning effectively improved the survival rate of rats exposed to a simulated altitude of 7620 m for 24 h, and a novel animal model of rapid adaptation to acute hypoxia was established. Compared with control treatment, fasting preconditioning activated AMPK, induced autophagy, decreased ROS levels, and inhibited NF-κB signaling in the cardiac tissues of rats.

Elevated ROS depress mitochondrial oxygen utilization efficiency in cardiomyocytes during acute hypoxia.

Mitochondria are important sites for the production of ATP and the generation of ROS in cells. However, whether acute hypoxia increases ROS generation in cells or affects ATP production remains unclear, and therefore, monitoring the changes in ATP and ROS in living cells in real time is important. In this study, cardiomyocytes were transfected with RoGFP for ROS detection and MitGO-Ateam2 for ATP detection, whereby ROS and ATP production in cardiomyocytes were respectively monitored in real time.

Comparison of hypoxic effects induced by chemical and physical hypoxia on cardiomyocytes.

The degree and duration of chemical hypoxia induced by sodium dithionite (NaSO) have not been reported. It is not yet clear how much reduction in the O concentration (physical hypoxia) can lead to hypoxia in cultured cardiomyocytes. In this study, oxygen microelectrodes were used to measure changes in the O concentration in media containing different concentrations of NaSO.

Mitochondrial electron transport chain, ROS generation and uncoupling (Review).

The mammalian mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) includes complexes I‑IV, as well as the electron transporters ubiquinone and cytochrome c. There are two electron transport pathways in the ETC: Complex I/III/IV, with NADH as the substrate and complex II/III/IV, with succinic acid as the substrate. The electron flow is coupled with the generation of a proton gradient across the inner membrane and the energy accumulated in the proton gradient is used by complex V (ATP synthase) to produce ATP.

Identification of differential gene expression profile from peripheral blood cells of military pilots with hypertension by RNA sequencing analysis.

Background: Elevated blood pressure is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is also an important factor in global mortality. Military pilots are at high risk of cardiovascular disease because they undergo persistent noise, high mental tension, high altitude hypoxia, high acceleration and high calorie diet. Hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease in military pilots.

Simulated microgravity hampers Notch signaling in the fight against myocardial ischemia‑reperfusion injury.

The gravitational field is an important determinant of cardiovascular function. Exposure to microgravity during spaceflight may lead to a series of maladaptive alterations in the cardiovascular system. The authors have previously demonstrated that microgravity can increase the susceptibility to myocardial ischemia‑reperfusion (IR) injury under simulated microgravity.

Glycosylated CD147 reduces myocardial collagen cross-linking in cardiac hypertrophy.

The mechanism of transition from chronic pressure overload-induced cardiac hypertrophy to heart failure is still unclear. Angiotensin II (Ang II) may be an important factor that mediates the transition in the end-stage of cardiac hypertrophy. In the present study, Goldblatt two-kidney one-clip (2K1C) rat model was used to simulate Ang II-induced hypertension.

Simulated microgravity increases myocardial susceptibility to ischemia-reperfusion injury via a deficiency of AMP-activated protein kinase.

Gravitation is an important factor in maintaining cardiac contractility. Our study investigated whether simulated microgravity increases myocardial susceptibility to ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. Using the Langendorff-perfused heart model with 300 beats/min pacing, 4-week tail suspension (SUS) and control (CON) male Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 10 rats/group) were subjected to 60 min of left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) occlusion followed by 120 min of reperfusion.

Nitric Oxide Protects L-Type Calcium Channel of Cardiomyocyte during Long-Term Isoproterenol Stimulation in Tail-Suspended Rats.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) on L-type calcium channel (LTCC) gating properties of cardiomyocytes during long-term isoproterenol (ISO) stimulation. Expression and activity of nNOS as well as S-nitrosylation of LTCC α1C subunit significantly decreased in the myocardium of SUS rats. Long-term ISO stimulation increased ROS in cardiomyocytes of SUS rats.

[Effects of tamoxifen on CD147 glycosylation and MMPs in the diabetic rat myocardium].

Objective: Over the last few decades, diabetic cardiomyopathy has been identified as a significant contributor in cardiac morbidity. However, the mechanisms of diabetic cardiomyopathy have not been clarified.

Methods: In the present study, a diabetic rat model was induced by the intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin.

Thymosin alpha 1 suppresses proliferation and induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells through PTEN-mediated inhibition of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway.

Thymosin alpha 1 (Tα1), an immunoactive peptide, has been shown to inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis in human leukemia, non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, and other human cancers. However, the response and molecular mechanism of breast cancer cells exposed to Tα1 remain unclear. PTEN, a tumor suppressor gene, is frequently mutated in a variety of human cancers.

ROS-Induced Nuclear Translocation of Calpain-2 Facilitates Cardiomyocyte Apoptosis in Tail-Suspended Rats.

Isoproterenol (ISO) induced nuclear translocation of calpain-2 which further increased susceptibility of cardiomyocyte apoptosis in tail-suspended rats. The underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In the present study, the results showed that ISO (10 nM) significantly elevated NADPH oxidases (NOXs) activity and NOXs-derived ROS productions which induced nuclear translocation of calpain-2 in cardiomyocytes of tail-suspended rats.

Nuclear Translocation of Calpain-2 Mediates Apoptosis of Hypertrophied Cardiomyocytes in Transverse Aortic Constriction Rat.

Apoptosis of cardiomyocytes plays an important role in the transition from cardiac hypertrophy to heart failure. Hypertrophied cardiomyocytes show enhanced susceptibility to apoptosis. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the susceptibility to apoptosis and its mechanism in hypertrophied cardiomyocytes using a rat model of transverse abdominal aortic constriction (TAC).

Impaired translocation of GLUT4 results in insulin resistance of atrophic soleus muscle.

Whether or not the atrophic skeletal muscle induces insulin resistance and its mechanisms are not resolved now. The antigravity soleus muscle showed a progressive atrophy in 1-week, 2-week, and 4-week tail-suspended rats. Hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp showed that the steady-state glucose infusion rate was lower in 4-week tail-suspended rats than that in the control rats.

[Dynamic assembly of intercalated disc during postnatal development in the rat myocardium].

The intercalated disc (ICD) complex of cardiomyocyte consists of fascia adherens, desmosomes and gap junctions which are mainly constructed by their transmembrane proteins: N-cadherin (N-cad), desmoglein-2 (DSG2) and connexin 43 (Cx43), respectively. The aim of this study was to observe the dynamic changes in colocalization of N-cad, DSG2 and Cx43 with each other in the rat left ventricular myocardium at 1, 7, 14, 28 and 90 day(s) after birth (P1, P7, P14, P28 and P90) using immunofluorescent staining. The results showed that, N-cad, DSG2 and Cx43 located all around the plasma membrane at the P1.

Multisite phosphorylation of Bcl-2 via protein kinase Cδ facilitates apoptosis of hypertrophic cardiomyocytes.

Activated protein kinase Cδ (PKCδ) associated with cardiac hypertrophy moves from the cytoplasm to the mitochondria and subsequently triggers the apoptotic signalling pathway. The underlying mechanisms remain unknown. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether mitochondrial translocation of PKCδ phosphorylates multiple sites of Bcl-2, resulting in an imbalance between Bcl-2 and Bak or Bax, thus enhancing the susceptibility of hypertrophic cardiomyocytes to angiotensin II (AngII)-induced apoptosis.

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus nonstructural protein 4 antagonizes beta interferon expression by targeting the NF-κB essential modulator.

Unlabelled: Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is a highly infectious pathogen that causes severe diseases in pigs and great economic losses to the swine industry worldwide. Type I interferons (IFNs) play a crucial role in antiviral immunity. In the present study, we demonstrated that infection with the highly pathogenic PRRSV strain JXwn06 antagonized type I IFN expression induced by poly(I·C) in both porcine alveolar macrophages (PAMs) and blood monocyte-derived macrophages (BMo).

Tetanic contraction induces enhancement of fatigability and sarcomeric damage in atrophic skeletal muscle and its underlying molecular mechanisms.

Muscle unloading due to long-term exposure of weightlessness or simulated weightlessness causes atrophy, loss of functional capacity, impaired locomotor coordination, and decreased resistance to fatigue in the antigravity muscles of the lower limbs. Besides reducing astronauts' mobility in space and on returning to a gravity environment, the molecular mechanisms for the adaptation of skeletal muscle to unloading also play an important medical role in conditions such as disuse and paralysis. The tail-suspended rat model was used to simulate the effects of weightlessness on skeletal muscles and to induce muscle unloading in the rat hindlimb.

[In vitro heart models simulating in vivo cardiac ischemia-reperfusion injury].

The aim of this study was to compare in vivo and several in vitro cardiac ischemia-reperfusion (I-R) myocardial injury models, and choose a superior in vitro cardiac I-R model. Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly grouped into in vivo, Langendorff, Langendorff + pacing, and working heart groups. Left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery was ligated for 60 min and then reperfused for 120 min in in vivo and in vitro rat hearts.

[Depressed cardiac output at higher pacing rate in isolated working heart of rat].

Objective: To observe the regulation of heart rate to cardiac pump function in the phase of negative force-frequency relationship and their possible mechanisms.

Methods: The left ventricular pressure, aortic pressure, and cardiac output were measured in isolated working heart of rat from 240 to 300 beats/min of pacing rate.

Results: Cardiac output of isolated working heart was decreased by a proximally 20% (P < 0.

[Autophagic flux of cardiomyocytes from 20-week transverse abdominal aortic constriction rats].

Cardiac autophagy dramatically increases in heart failure induced by sustained pressure overload. However, it has not yet been addressed if enhanced autophagy plays a role in protecting myocardium or mediating progression from compensative hypertrophy to heart failure. The aim of the present study was to detect autophagic flux of cardiomyocytes from 20-week transverse abdominal aortic constriction (TAC) rats.

[Four-week simulated weightlessness increases the expression of atrial natriuretic peptide in the myocardium].

One of the major circulatory changes that occur in human during space flight and simulated weightlessness is a cerebral redistribution of body fluids, which is accompanied by an increase of blood volume in the upper body. Therefore, atrial myocardium should increase the secretion of atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), but the researches lack common conclusion until now. The present study was to investigate the expression level of ANP in simulated weightlessness rats, and to confirm the changes of ANP by observing the associated proteins of soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment protein receptors (SNAREs).

[Metabolites of long-time preserved-acutely isolated rat cardiomyocytes affect L-type Ca(2+) channel current].

The variability of peak current of L-type calcium channel (I(Ca,L)) shows an increase in cardiomyocytes after 6 h of preservation when the acutely isolated cardiomyocytes are preserved in a small volume buffer solution. The mechanism of the increased variability of I(Ca,L) is not clear. In order to obtain more accurately and stably experimental data of I(Ca,L), the aim of this study was to observe the pH changes of preservation buffer solution with acutely isolated rat cardiomyocytes, and the effects of pH changes on the shape of cardiomyocytes, the function of mitochondria and the gating property of L-type calcium channel.

Enhanced N-terminal degradation of troponin I blunts cardiac function responsiveness to isoproterenol in 4-week tail-suspended rats.

The N-terminal extension of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is important in regulating cardiac function. Although the normal rat myocardium shows some cTnI N-terminal degradation (cTnI-ND), exposure to 4 weeks of tail-suspension markedly increased cTnI-ND. We hypothesized that the increased cTnI-ND in tail-suspended rats may affect cardiac function, particularly during β-adrenergic (β-A) stimulation.