Previous studies have shown that craniofacial bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) have a strong osteogenic potential. However, the mechanism by which BMSCs of various embryonic origins develop diverse osteogenic potentials remains unclear. To investigate the mechanisms regulating osteoblast differentiation in two different types of BMSCs, we compared the temporal and spatial mRNA and protein expression patterns of Satb2 and its downstream gene Hoxa2 by using real-time polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting and fluorescent immunostaining in mandible BMSCs (M-BMSCs) and tibia BMSCs (T-BMSCs) undergoing osteoblast differentiation. Higher levels of alkaline phosphatase, greater calcium accumulation and earlier expression of Runx2 were observed in osteogenic-induced M-BMSCs compared with T-BMSCs. Low levels of Satb2 were detected in both types of uninduced BMSCs but the majority of SATB2 was located in the nuclei of M-BMSCs. Notably, Satb2 was expressed earlier in M-BMSCs and Hoxa2, a downstream target of Satb2, was not expressed in uninduced M-BMSCs or during osteoblast differentiation, just as during embryonic mandible development. In contrast, Hoxa2 was reactivated in T-BMSCs during osteoblast differentiation. Based on these results, we conclude that SATB2 plays a different role during osteoblast differentiation of M-BMSCs and T-BMSCs. The earlier activation of Satb2 expression in M-BMSCs compared with T-BMSCs might explain the stronger osteogenic potential of M-BMSCs.

BackgroundGestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is a pregnancy complication that is diagnosed by the novel onset of abnormal glucose intolerance. Our study aimed to investigate the changes in human breast milk metabolome over the first month of lactation and how GDM affects milk metabolome.Material/MethodsColostrum, transition milk, and mature milk samples from women with normal uncomplicated pregnancies (n=94) and women with GDM-complicated pregnancies (n=90) were subjected to metabolomic profiling by the use of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).ResultsFor the uncomplicated pregnancies, there were 59 metabolites that significantly differed among colostrum, transition milk, and mature milk samples, while 58 metabolites differed in colostrum, transition milk, and mature milk samples from the GDM pregnancies. There were 28 metabolites that were found to be significantly different between women with normal pregnancies and women with GDM pregnancies among colostrum, transition milk, and mature milk samples.ConclusionsThe metabolic profile of human milk is dynamic throughout the first months of lactation. High levels of amino acids in colostrum and high levels of saturated fatty acids and unsaturated fatty acids in mature milk, which may be critical for neonatal development in the first month of life, were features of both normal and GDM pregnancies.

The Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway contributes to the maintenance of pluripotency and partial reprogramming of stem cells. Postnatal neural crest cells (NCCs) can differentiate into odontoblast-like cells due to their multi-potential property, but further endeavors need to be made to promote odontogenic differentiation of hair follicle neural crest cells (hfNCCs). This study investigated whether the Wnt pathway activator lithium chloride (LiCl) promotes odontoblast differentiation of hfNCCs. Change of proliferation, β-catenin and pluripotency markers of hfNCCs were examined after treatment with LiCl. An in vitro odontoblast differentiation model of hfNCCs was built using dental cell conditioned media (DC-CM). The effects of LiCl on odontoblast differentiation of hfNCCs showed that proliferation and expression of β-catenin in the cytosolic and nuclear compartments were increased in the LiCl-treated hfNCCs, and the pluripotency marks, Oct4, Klf4, Sox2 and Nanog, were more highly expressed in the LiCl-treated group than in the control group. The odontoblast markers such as DSP, DMP1 and Runx2, could be detected in hfNCCs induced by DC-CM, but in LiCl -treated group all three markers had stronger expression. Expression of β-catenin in the nuclear of LiCl-treated hfNCCs induced by DC-CM was higher than in the other groups. The data indicate that the Wnt pathway activator LiCl can promote proliferation and odontoblast differentiation of hfNCCs, and chemical approaches are of benefit in obtaining more desirable seed cell types for cell-based therapies.

Objective. To investigate the effect of low-dose aspirin combined with vitamin E on the incidence of intrauterine growth restriction and hemorheological indexes of pregnant women in patients with gestational hypertension. Method. 134 elderly patients with chronic urticaria treated in our hospital from November 2017 to November 2020 were studied. According to the treatment methods, they were randomly divided into observation and control groups. There were 67 patients in the observation group, aged 20-37 years, with an average of ( 25.7 ± 2.75 ) years. There were 67 patients in the control group, aged 21-35 years, with an average of ( 26.3 ± 3.17 ) years. No significant difference was observed between the two groups ( P > 0.05 ). Results. The number of cases with postpartum hemorrhage and intrauterine growth restriction in the observation group was less than that in the control group. The total incidence rate was lower than that in the control group. There were significant differences in the above results ( P < 0.05 ). The number of patients with preterm birth in the observation group was less than that in the control group, but there was no significant difference in the results ( P > 0.05 ). The head circumference, abdominal circumference, biparietal diameter, and femoral length diameter in the control and observation groups increased significantly after treatment ( P < 0.05 ). Compared with the control group, the head circumference, abdominal circumference, biparietal diameter, and femoral diameter in the observation group increased more after treatment, and the results were statistically poor ( P < 0.05 ). The systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure in the control and observation groups decreased significantly after treatment, and the results were statistically different ( P < 0.05 ). Compared with the control group, the systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and mean arterial pressure in the observation group decreased more after treatment. The results were statistically different ( P < 0.05 ). The plasma viscosity levels, whole blood high shear viscosity, and whole blood low shear viscosity in the control and observation groups decreased significantly after treatment, and the results were statistically different ( P < 0.05 ). Compared with the control group, plasma viscosity levels, whole blood high shear viscosity, and whole blood low shear viscosity in the observation group decreased more after treatment, and the results were statistically different ( P < 0.05 ). The control and observation groups’ fetal systolic/diastolic pressure and pulsatile index decreased significantly after treatment, and the results were statistically different ( P < 0.05 ). Compared with the control group, the fetal systolic/diastolic blood pressure and pulsatile index in the observation group decreased more after treatment, and the results were statistically poor ( P < 0.05 ). Conclusion. Low-dose aspirin combined with vitamin E is effective in treating intrauterine growth restriction in patients with gestational hypertension. It can effectively control the blood pressure and blood flow of patients and newborns and improve pregnancy outcomes without increasing the incidence of adverse reactions. It is worthy of clinical promotion.