The aim of the study is to explore the effects and mechanism of the action of ligustrazine on isoprenaline-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Primary culture of neonatal rat cardiomyocytes was used as the model, and isoprenaline was used to induce cardiomyocyte hypertrophy. Effects of different dosages of ligustrazine polysaccharide on the cardiomyocyte were observed. RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of atrial natriuretic factor (ANP) mRNA, and Western blot analysis was used to detect the CaN protein level in cardiomyocytes. After treating with ligustrazine, the significant increase of MDA content and decrease of SOD activity were inhibited in supernatant. Compared to the control group, ANP mRNA in isoprenaline-treated cardiomyocytes was significantly increased (P < 0.05); compared to the isoprenaline group, ANP mRNA was significantly decreased in all ligustrazine groups (P < 0.01). In all ligustrazine groups, the CaN expression was inhibited in isoprenaline-treated cardiomyocytes in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, ligustrazine has protective effects on isoprenaline-induced neonatal rat cardiomyocyte, which may be related to the decrease of CaN expression.

Purpose Low levels of serum hCG during the first trimester is regarded as a predictor of miscarriage. This study was designed to examine whether variance in chorionic gonadotrophin β5 (Cgb5) gene confers risk to recurrent spontaneous abortions (RSA) in Chinese women. Methods We recruited a total of 454 RSA subjects and 460 controls from our medical center between the years 2010 to 2013. rs7260002, which resides in the promoter region of Cgb5, was genotyped through direct sequencing. Results The carriers with the minor allele of rs7260002 had reduced risk of RSA (P=0.018; P adjusted=0.032; OR: 0.76; 95 % CI: 0.61-0.96). Genotype frequency was further analyzed under additive, recessive, and dominant models. Significant differences between the RSA subjects and controls were detected under additive and recessive models (P additive= 0.040; P recessive=0.010). Conclusions The current study identified a protective allele of the Cgb5 gene against RSA. Functional studies are required to elucidate the effect of the identified SNP on CGB expression and HCG hormone activity.

No abstract