A common fungicide tebuconazole promotes colitis in mice via regulating gut microbiota.

As a common fungicide, tebuconazole are ubiquitous in the natural environment and poses many potential risks. In this study, we examined the effects of exposure to tebuconazole on colitis in mice and explored its underlying mechanism. Specifically, exposure to tebuconazole could cause structural damage and inflammatory cell infiltration in colon tissue, activate the expression of inflammation-related genes, disrupt the expression of barrier function-related genes, and induce the colonic inflammation in mice.

Reversal of alopecia areata, osteoporosis follow treatment with activation of Tgr5 in mice.

Background: Alopecia areata is an autoimmune hair loss disease with infiltration of pro-inflammatory cells into hair follicles. The role of Tgr5 in dermatitis has attracted considerable attention. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of Tgr5 in the development of Alopecia areata.

Perinatal exposure to Bisphenol S (BPS) promotes obesity development by interfering with lipid and glucose metabolism in male mouse offspring.

Bisphenol S (BPS), a substitute of bisphenol A (BPA), is widely used for manufacturing different polymers. Due to its wide range of applications, BPS has been frequently detected in the foodstuffs, environment and human blood and excreta. In this study, we examined the effects of the perinatal exposure to BPS on obesity development using H NMR based on metabolomics strategy combined with gene expression analysis in male mouse offspring at a dosage of 100 ng/g bw/day.

Aquaporin-4 expression dynamically varies after acute spinal cord injury-induced disruption of blood spinal cord barrier in rats.

The blood-spinal cord barrier (BSCB) changes badly after spinal cord injury (SCI), and it is an important pathophysiological basis of SCI secondary damage. Aquaporin-4 (AQP4), one of the transmembrane proteins in spinal cord, has been shown to be closely related to the development of the BSCB and edema. We established a SCI model in rats using a free-falling weight drop device to subsequently investigate AQP4 expression.

Expression of TGF-β1/mTOR signaling pathway in pathological scar fibroblasts.

The aim of the present study was to detect the expression of the key molecules, including transforming growth factor‑β1 (TGF-β1), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (Akt) of TGF‑β1/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway in pathological scar fibroblasts. Immunofluorescence, reverse transcription‑polymerase chain reaction (RT‑PCR) and western blot analysis were used to detect the expression of the key molecules TGF‑β1, PI3K, Akt, mTOR in fibroblasts of normal skin tissue and pathological scar tissue. Immunofluorescence showed that the expression of TGF‑β1, PI3K and Akt was significantly enhanced (P<0.

Effect of Wubeizi ointment aqueous solution on the expression of type I and III procollagen genes in keloid fibroblasts.

We evaluated the effect of Wubeizi (WBZ) ointment on keloids. Keloid-derived fibroblast primary cultures were used to evaluate the effect of the different concentration of WBZ ointment on the expression of type I and III procollagen in keloid fibroblast primary cultures using dot blot assay. Type I and II precollagen cDNA probes labeled with non-radioactive digoxin were used for dot blot.

Effects of resveratrol on the proliferation, apoptosis and telomerase ability of human A431 epidermoid carcinoma cells.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of resveratrol on cell apoptosis, ability of telomerase and the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) protein expression in human A431 epidermoid carcinoma cells. A431 cells were treated with different concentrations of resveratrol, and the cell appearance was then observed under a microscope. In addition, the cell proliferation was examined using an MTT assay, and the ability of telomerase was detected using telomeric repeat amplification protocol-polymerase chain reaction-ELISA.

Resveratrol Inhibits Proliferation and Induces Apoptosis of Pathological Scar Fibroblasts Through the Mechanism Involving TGF-β1/Smads Signaling Pathway.

The objective of this study was to determine the effect of resveratrol (Res) treatment on pathological scar fibroblasts and the changes in TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway. For this purpose, cultured pathological scar fibroblasts were treated with various concentrations of Res (10, 50, and, 100 µmol/l), and the morphological changes in target cells were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The cellular proliferation was assessed by MTT assay; the mRNA and protein expressions of TGF-β1 and Smad-2,3,4,7 were determined by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and immunofluorescence assay, respectively.