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Fertility and Sterility Mar 2021To explore the association of circadian rhythm disruption with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and the potential underlying mechanism in ovarian granulosa cells (GCs).
OBJECTIVE
To explore the association of circadian rhythm disruption with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and the potential underlying mechanism in ovarian granulosa cells (GCs).
DESIGN
Multicenter questionnaire-based survey, in vivo and ex vivo studies.
SETTING
Twelve hospitals in China, animal research center, and research laboratory of a women's hospital.
PATIENTS/ANIMALS
A total of 436 PCOS case subjects and 715 control subjects were recruited for the survey. In vivo and ex vivo studies were conducted in PCOS-model rats and on ovarian GCs collected from women with PCOS and control subjects.
INTERVENTION(S)
The PCOS rat model was established with the use of testosterone propionate.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)
Assay for transposase-accessible chromatin with high-throughput sequencing (ATAC-seq), RNA sequencing, rhythmicity analysis, functional enrichment analysis.
RESULT(S)
There was a significant correlation between night shift work and PCOS. PCOS-model rats presented distinct differences in the circadian variation of corticotropin-releasing hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, prolactin, and a 4-h phase delay in thyrotropic hormone levels. The motif enrichment analysis of ATAC-seq revealed the absence of clock-related transcription factors in specific peaks of PCOS group, and RNA sequencing ex vivo at various time points over 24 hours demonstrated the differential rhythmic expression patterns of women with PCOS. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analysis further highlighted metabolic dysfunction, including both carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism and the tricarboxylic acid cycle.
CONCLUSION(S)
There is a significant association of night shift work with PCOS, and genome-wide chronodisruption exists in ovarian GCs.
Topics: Adult; Animals; Animals, Newborn; Chronobiology Disorders; Circadian Rhythm; Female; Granulosa Cells; Humans; Melatonin; Middle Aged; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome; Pregnancy; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Shift Work Schedule; Sleep Disorders, Circadian Rhythm; Surveys and Questionnaires; Testosterone Propionate; Young Adult
PubMed: 33358334
DOI: 10.1016/j.fertnstert.2020.08.1425 -
Phytomedicine : International Journal... Oct 2021Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a clinical syndrome with reproductive and endocrine disorders. Berberine is a monomer from Chinese herbs such as Coptis chinensis,...
BACKGROUND
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a clinical syndrome with reproductive and endocrine disorders. Berberine is a monomer from Chinese herbs such as Coptis chinensis, whose effect on improving ovulation and endometrial receptivity of PCOS is uncertain.
PURPOSE
To evaluate the effect of berberine on improving PCOS and explore the mechanism.
METHODS
The rat model of PCOS was induced by intraperitoneal injection of testosterone propionate. Then they was divided into model (Mod) group, low-dose of berberine (BL) group, high-dose of berberine (BH) group and metformin (Met) group as well as a control (Con) group was established. Ovary morphology, hormone level, glucolipid metabolism were measured. UID-mRNA-seq of ovary tissue was conducted to seek the mechanism of berberine on improving ovulation. Three biomarkers of endometrial receptivity were also examined in endometrium by immunohistochemistry.
RESULTS
The number of cystic follicles was increased while the number of corpus luteum was decreased in the rats of Mod group. These changes could be reversed by high-dose of berberine intervention. Berberine could also decrease the levels of serum luteinizing hormone (LH) and total cholesterol (TC) in PCOS rats. Meanwhile, berberine improved the impairment of abnormal oral glucose tolerance without affecting fasting insulin level and Homeostasis model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Luteinizing hormone/ choriogonadotropin receptor (LHCGR) and cytochrome P450 Family 19 Subfamily A Member 1 (CYP19A1) were focused via RNA-seq of ovary. Protein expression in ovary and mRNA expression in granulosa cell of LHCGR and CYP19A1 were decreased in Mod group and rescued by the intervention of berberine. A decrease of endometrial thickness and an increase of integrin αvβ3 and lysophosphatidic acid receptor 3 (LPAR3) protein expression were observed in Mod group, which could be also reversed by berberbine.
CONCLUSIONS
Berberine could improve ovulation in PCOS and the mechanism might be associated with up-regulating LHCGR and CYP19A1. Berberine could also improve endometrial receptivity through down-regualting αvβ3 and LPAR3.
Topics: Animals; Berberine; Endometrium; Female; Metformin; Ovulation; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome; Rats
PubMed: 34333328
DOI: 10.1016/j.phymed.2021.153654 -
Cell Death & Disease Jun 2022Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is an age-related disease in men characterized by the growth of prostate cells and hyperproliferation of prostate tissue. This...
Benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) is an age-related disease in men characterized by the growth of prostate cells and hyperproliferation of prostate tissue. This condition is closely related to chronic inflammation. In this study, we highlight the therapeutic efficacy of ellagic acid (EA) for BPH by focusing on the AR signaling axis and STAT3. To investigate the effect of EA on BPH, we used EA, a phytochemical abundant in fruits and vegetables, to treat testosterone propionate (TP)-induced BPH rats and RWPE-1 human prostate epithelial cells. The EA treatment reduced prostate weight, prostate epithelial thickness, and serum DHT levels in the TP-induced BPH rat model. In addition, EA improved testicular injury by increasing antioxidant enzymes in testis of the BPH rats. EA reduced the protein levels of AR, 5AR2, and PSA. It also induced apoptosis by regulating Bax, Bcl_xL, cytochrome c, caspase 9, and caspase 3 with increasing mitochondrial dynamics. Furthermore, EA reduced the expression of IL-6, TNF-α, and NF-κB, as well as phosphorylation of STAT3 and IκBα. These findings were also confirmed in TP-treated RWPE-1 cells. Overall, our data provide evidence of the role of EA in improving BPH through inhibition of AR and the STAT3 pathway.
Topics: Androgens; Animals; Ellagic Acid; Humans; Hyperplasia; Male; Plant Extracts; Prostate; Prostatic Hyperplasia; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; STAT3 Transcription Factor; Testosterone Propionate
PubMed: 35715415
DOI: 10.1038/s41419-022-04995-3 -
PloS One 2022Testosterone undecanoate is a hormone agent with long-acting potential and is used for testosterone replacement therapy for hypogonadism. This study was designed to...
Testosterone undecanoate is a hormone agent with long-acting potential and is used for testosterone replacement therapy for hypogonadism. This study was designed to investigate application of testosterone undecanoate in maintaining high androgen levels for inducing benign prostatic hyperplasia more conveniently than that for testosterone propionate. We conducted two-part studies to determine the optimal dosage and dosing cycle for efficient and stable induction of benign prostatic hyperplasia using testosterone undecanoate. In the injection dosage substudy, single testosterone undecanoate dose (125, 250, 500, 750, or 1000 mg/kg body weight) was administered, and the optimal concentration was determined for 8weeks by measuring changes in testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and 5-alpha reductase levels. And then, testosterone undecanoate was administered at the optimal dose at intervals of 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks for 12weeks to induce benign prostatic hyperplasia. The injection dosage substudy showed dose-dependently higher and more stable levels of testosterone in groups administrated testosterone undecanoate than in groups administered testosterone propionate. In the injection cycle substudy, testosterone undecanoate-administered group stably maintained high levels of testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, and 5-alpha reductase compared with testosterone propionate-administered group for the same injection cycle; moreover, the prostate measurements, an important sign of benign prostatic hyperplasia, were significantly increased. Based on these two substudies, we determined the optimal conditions for inducing benign prostatic hyperplasia stably and more conveniently than that for testosterone propionate. This study suggests an extended application of testosterone undecanoate for inducing benign prostatic hyperplasia that can improve research reliability considering the half-life of testosterone as well as injection dosage and concentration.
Topics: Animals; Cholestenone 5 alpha-Reductase; Dihydrotestosterone; Humans; Male; Prostatic Hyperplasia; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Reproducibility of Results; Testosterone; Testosterone Propionate
PubMed: 35584179
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268695 -
Poultry Science Jan 2021There is a critical need for a rapid and simple method of qualitative and quantitative analysis of testosterone propionate (TP) and nandrolone (NT) residues in duck...
There is a critical need for a rapid and simple method of qualitative and quantitative analysis of testosterone propionate (TP) and nandrolone (NT) residues in duck meat. In this study, we applied surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) coupled multivariate analysis for the classification and detection of TP and NT residues in duck meat. A total of 294 duck meat extract samples were obtained from duck breast meats based on a LC-MS/MS sample preparation method with slight modification including 102 duck meat extract samples without TP and NT, 43 duck meat samples containing TP, 47 duck meat extract samples containing NT, and 102 duck meat extract samples containing TP and NT. Raw Raman spectra were pretreated by using adaptive iteratively reweighted penalized least squares (airPLS), normalization and first derivative, and then the score values of first 10 principal components were selected as the inputs of the developed models. A particle swarm optimization-support vector classification (PSO-SVC) model was created to classify all the duck meat samples into the 4 groups (i.e., control group, TP group, NT group, and TP combined with NT group) with the classification accuracies of 99.49 and 100% for training set and test set, respectively. Furthermore, 2 least squares support vector regression (LS-SVR) models were developed to predict the TP values in samples with a determination coefficient (R) value of 0.9316, root mean square error (RMSE) value of 2.1739, and ratio of prediction to deviation (RPD) value of 3.2189 for the test set, and NT values in samples with an R value of 0.9038, RMSE value of 2.2914, and RPD value of 2.9701 for the test set. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy technology, in combination with multivariate analysis, has the potential to become the qualitative and quantitative analysis tool for TP and NT residues in duck meat extract.
Topics: Animals; Chromatography, Liquid; Ducks; Food Technology; Least-Squares Analysis; Meat; Multivariate Analysis; Nandrolone; Spectrum Analysis, Raman; Testosterone Propionate
PubMed: 33357693
DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2020.10.018 -
Materials (Basel, Switzerland) Oct 2022Testosterone (17β-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3-one) is the primary naturally occurring anabolic-androgenic steroid. The crystal structures of three short esterified forms of...
Testosterone (17β-hydroxyandrost-4-en-3-one) is the primary naturally occurring anabolic-androgenic steroid. The crystal structures of three short esterified forms of testosterone, including propionate, phenylpropionate, and isocaproate ester, were determined via single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Furthermore, all the samples were investigated using powder X-ray diffraction, and their structural features were described and evaluated in terms of crystal energies and Hirshfeld surfaces. They were also compared with the base form of testosterone (without ester) and the acetate ester. Moreover, from a pharmaceutical perspective, their solubility was evaluated and correlated with the length of the ester.
PubMed: 36295310
DOI: 10.3390/ma15207245 -
Biology Jul 2020Placental mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Since preeclampsia is a hyperandrogenic state, we hypothesized that...
Placental mitochondrial dysfunction plays a central role in the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. Since preeclampsia is a hyperandrogenic state, we hypothesized that elevated maternal testosterone levels induce damage to placental mitochondria and decrease bioenergetic profiles. To test this hypothesis, pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were injected with vehicle or testosterone propionate (0.5 mg/kg/day) from gestation day (GD) 15 to 19. On GD20, the placentas were isolated to assess mitochondrial structure, copy number, ATP/ADP ratio, and biogenesis (Pgc-1α and Nrf1). In addition, in vitro cultures of human trophoblasts (HTR-8/SVneo) were treated with dihydrotestosterone (0.3, 1.0, and 3.0 nM), and bioenergetic profiles using seahorse analyzer were assessed. Testosterone exposure in pregnant rats led to a 2-fold increase in plasma testosterone levels with an associated decrease in placental and fetal weights compared with controls. Elevated maternal testosterone levels induced structural damage to the placental mitochondria and decreased mitochondrial copy number. The ATP/ADP ratio was reduced with a parallel decrease in the mRNA and protein expression of Pgc-1α and Nrf1 in the placenta of testosterone-treated rats compared with controls. In cultured trophoblasts, dihydrotestosterone decreased the mitochondrial copy number and reduced PGC-1α, NRF1 mRNA, and protein levels without altering the expression of mitochondrial fission/fusion genes. Dihydrotestosterone exposure induced significant mitochondrial energy deficits with a dose-dependent decrease in basal respiration, ATP-linked respiration, maximal respiration, and spare respiratory capacity. In summary, our study suggests that the placental mitochondrial dysfunction induced by elevated maternal testosterone might be a potential mechanism linking preeclampsia to feto-placental growth restriction.
PubMed: 32698476
DOI: 10.3390/biology9070176 -
International Journal of Reproductive... May 2023The male reproductive system undergoes several adverse age-related changes like decreased hormone synthesis, sperm count, and testicular alteration that can impact on...
BACKGROUND
The male reproductive system undergoes several adverse age-related changes like decreased hormone synthesis, sperm count, and testicular alteration that can impact on fertility.
OBJECTIVE
The study aims to investigate the effects of testosterone propionate (TP), and ayurvedic formulation (SB) on D-galactose (D-gal) induced reproductive aging in male Wistar rats.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
60 male Wistar rats were divided into 10 groups of 6 animals. Reproductive aging was induced by D-gal (150 mg/kg Bwt) exposure for 60 days. The rats were then treated by post and combination treatment with TP (2 mg/kg Bwt) and SB (6.75 mg/kg Bwt). Then sperm parameters, reproductive hormones, inflammatory markers, testicular antioxidant enzymes, steroidogenic enzymes, and histological manifestation of testis were evaluated.
RESULTS
Exposure of D-gal caused significant (p 0.001) decrease in serum testosterone (T), testicular steroidogenic, and antioxidant enzymes. Administration of TP increased the serum T level, testicular antioxidant enzymes, and spermatogenic profile at a significant level of (p 0.001) compared to D-gal. Further, the SB treatment significantly (p 0.001) elevated the serum T level, sperm count, testicular antioxidant enzymes, steroidogenic enzymes, when compared to D-gal.
CONCLUSION
Both the treatment of TP and SB treatments recovered the reproductive impairments caused by D-gal. However, exogenous T supplementation via TP administration is associated with various side effects during long-term use. SB is an Ayurvedic formulation having a long history of usage in India. The current findings suggest that the SB may be used as a good alternative for potentiating reproductive function in aging males.
PubMed: 37260551
DOI: 10.18502/ijrm.v21i4.13270 -
Journal of Toxicologic Pathology Jan 2022We investigated the morphological effects of testosterone on placental development in a rat model of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Testosterone propionate (TP),...
We investigated the morphological effects of testosterone on placental development in a rat model of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Testosterone propionate (TP), which was subcutaneously administered to pregnant rats with 5 mg/animal from gestation day (GD) 14 to GD 18, induced a maternal weight reduction without mortality or clinical signs from GD 19 onwards. A decrease in fetal and placental weight, an increase in intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) rates, and histological changes in the placenta were observed on GD 21 but not on GD15 or 17. Histopathologically, on GD 21, the trophoblast septa thickened, and the maternal sinusoids were narrowed in the labyrinth zone, resulting in a small placenta. Additionally, the placental weight, thickness, and histological morphology in the labyrinth zone on GD 21 in the TP-treated group were nearly identical to those on GD 17 in the control and TP-treated groups. Therefore, it was assumed that the testosterone-induced small placenta was induced in association with the developmental inhibition of the fetal part of the placentas from GD 17 onwards.
PubMed: 35221494
DOI: 10.1293/tox.2021-0035 -
Balkan Medical Journal Mar 2023Various studies have reported the effects of testosterone on different cell types, yet bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells’ cellular responses to testosterone...
Testosterone Propionate Promotes Proliferation and Viability of Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells while Preserving Their Characteristics and Inducing Their Anti-Cancer Efficacy.
BACKGROUND
Various studies have reported the effects of testosterone on different cell types, yet bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells’ cellular responses to testosterone remain unknown.
AIMS
To investigate the effects of testosterone propionate, an oil-soluble short-acting form of testosterone, on human bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells’ proliferation and viability after 24 hours of incubation. We also investigated the impact of testosterone propionate on bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell’s polarization and cytotoxicity on K562 leukemia cell line.
STUDY DESIGN
In vitro study.
METHODS
We expanded commercially available bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells in vitro and treated them with testosterone propionate at concentrations ranging from 10-10 M for 24 hours. Ideal concentration was determined by evaluating cellular viability and proliferation with Annexin V/Propidium Iodide assay and carboxyfluorescein succinimidyl ester staining. The characteristic features of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells were evaluated by immunophenotyping and investigating their differentiation capacities. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells’ cytotoxic properties upon testosterone propionate treatment were determined by co-culturing the cells with K562 cells and with confocal imaging investigating polarization.
RESULTS
Testosterone propionate promoted proliferation and maintained the viability of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem at 10 M concentration. Further evaluations were conducted with the determined dose. The results showed that, apart from promoting mesenchymal stem cells’ polarization and increasing their cytotoxicity on K562 cells, testosterone propionate did not alter differentiation capacities of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells and certain cell surface markers, but led to a significant increase in HLA-DR expression.
CONCLUSION
The findings reveal that testosterone propionate promotes the proliferation and survival of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells in a dose-dependent manner without hampering their differentiation capacities, induces their polarization to the pro-inflammatory phenotype, and increases their cytotoxicity on the K562 cell line.
Topics: Humans; Testosterone Propionate; Mesenchymal Stem Cells; Cell Differentiation; Neoplasms; Cell Proliferation
PubMed: 36748249
DOI: 10.4274/balkanmedj.galenos.2022.2022-10-21