Clinical Value of Serum Anti-Mullerian Hormone and Inhibin B in Prediction of Ovarian Response in Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

The present study aimed to investigate the clinical value of serum anti-mullerian hormone（AMH） and inhibin B（INHB） in predicting the ovarian response of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome（PCOS）. A total of 120 PCOS patients were enrolled and divided into three groups in terms of the ovarian response： a low-response group（n=36）, a normal-response group（n=44）, and a high-response group（n=40）. The serum AMH and INHB levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay（ELISA）. The follicle stimulating hormone（FSH）, luteinizing hormone（LH）, and estradiol（E2） levels were determined by chemiluminescence microparticle immunoassay. The correlation of the serum AMH and INHB levels with other indicators was analyzed. A receiver operating characteristic（ROC） curve was established to analyze the prediction of ovarian response by AMH and INHB. The results showed that there were significant differences in age, body mass index（BMI）, FSH, total gonadotropin-releasing hormone（Gn RH）, LH, E2, and antral follicle counts（AFCs） between the groups（P〈0.05）. The serum AMH and INHB levels were increased significantly with the ovarian response of PCOS patients increasing（P〈0.05）. The serum AMH and INHB levels were negatively correlated with the age, BMI, FSH level, Gn, and E2 levels（P〈0.05）. They were positively correlated with the LH levels and AFCs（P〈0.05）. ROC curve analysis of serum AMH and INHB in prediction of a low ovarian response showed that the area under the ROC curve（AUC） value of the serum AMH level was 0.817, with a cut-off value of 1.29 ng/m L. The sensitivity and specificity were 71.2% and 79.6%, respectively. The AUC value of serum INHB was 0.674, with a cut-off value of 38.65 ng/m L, and the sensitivity and specificity were 50.7% and 74.5%, respectively. ROC curve analysis showed when the serum AMH and INHB levels were used to predict a high ovarian response, the AUC value of the serum AMH level was 0.742, with a cut-off value of 2.84 ng/m L, and the sensitivity and specificity were 72.7% and 65.9%, respectively; the AUC value of the serum INHB level was 0.551 with a cut-off of 45.76 ng/m L, and the sensitivity and specificity were 76.3% and 40.2%, respectively. It was suggested the serum AMH and INHB levels have high clinical value in predicting the ovarian response of PCOS patients.

Molecular characterization and developmental expression patterns of thyroid hormone receptors(TRs) and their responsiveness to TR agonist and antagonist in Rana nigromaculata

Considering some advantages of Rana nigromaculata as an experimental species, we propose that this species, like Xenopus laevis, could be used to assay thyroid hormone（TH） signaling disrupting actions. To validate the utilizability of R. nigromaculata, we investigated the responsiveness of R. nigromaculata to a TH receptor（TR） agonist（T3） and antagonist（amiodarone） by analyzing expression, based on characterizing TR cDNA and developmental expression patterns. With high levels of identity with the corresponding genes in X. laevis, both TRα and TRβ in R. nigromaculata exhibited roughly similar developmental expression patterns to those of X. laevis, in spite of some species-specific differences. Both TRα and TRβ expression had greater changes in the liver and intestine than in the tail and brain during metamorphosis. T3 exposure for 2 days induced more dramatic increases of TRβ expression in stage 27 than in stage34 tadpoles but not in stage 42 tadpoles, showing that the responsiveness of R. nigromaculata to TH decreased with development and disappeared at the onset of metamorphic climax.Corresponding to greater changes of TRβ expression in the liver and intestine than in the tail and brain during metamorphosis, the liver and intestine had higher responsiveness to exogenous T3 than the tail and brain. Amiodarone inhibited T3-induced TRβ expression. Our results show that R. nigromaculata can be used as a model species for assaying TH signaling disrupting actions by analyzing TRβ expression, and intestine tissues at stage 27 are ideal test materials due to high responsiveness and easy accessibility.

AtGGM2014, an Arabidopsis gene co-expression network for functional studies

Gene co-expression networks provide an important tool for systems biology studies. Using microarray data from the Array Express database, we constructed an Arabidopsis gene co-expression network, termed At GGM2014, based on the graphical Gaussian model, which contains 102,644 co-expression gene pairs among 18,068 genes. The network was grouped into 622 gene co-expression modules. These modules function in diverse house-keeping, cell cycle, development, hormone response, metabolism, and stress response pathways. We developed a tool to facilitate easy visualization of the expression patterns of these modules either in a tissue context or their regulation under different treatment conditions. The results indicate that at least six modules with tissue-specific expression pattern failed to record modular regulation under various stress conditions. This discrepancy could be best explained by the fact that experiments to study plant stress responses focused mainly on leaves and less on roots, and thus failed to recover specific regulation pattern in other tissues. Overall, the modular structures revealed by our network provide extensive information to generate testable hypotheses about diverse plant signaling pathways. At GGM2014 offers a constructive tool for plant systems biology studies.

The role of central nervous system on hypoglycemia and the feasibility of the brain theory in traditional Chinese medicine on treatment of diabetes mellitus

The central nervous system （CNS） plays a key regulatory role in glucose homeostasis. In particular, the brain is important in initiating and coordinating protective counterregulatory responses when blood glucose levels fall. This may due to the metabolic dependency of the CNS on glucose, and protection of food supply to the brain. In healthy subjects, blood glucose is normally maintained within a relatively narrow range. Hypoglycemia in diabetic patients can increase the risk of complications, such as heart disease and diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The clinical research finds that the use of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has a positive effect on the treatment of hypoglycemia. Here the authors reviewed the current understanding of sensing and counterregulatory responses to hypoglycemia, and discuss combining traditional Chinese and Western medicine and the theory of iatrogenic hypoglycemia in diabetes treatment. Furthermore, the authors clarify the feasibility of treating hypoglycemia on the basis of TCM theory and CNS and have an insight on its clinical practice.