Lentiviral-Transduced Ectopic Expression of Androgenic Hormone in a Crustacean Hematopoietic Primary Cell Culture

Novel monosex biotechnologies in crustacean aquaculture involve the induction of sex reversal through manipulations of the androgenic gland (AG), and its most prominent factor, the insulin-like androgenic gland (IAG) hormone, during early developmental stages. In the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii, all-female populations are desirable for aquaculture, since the females can be stocked at higher densities and exhibit more uniform growth than males. Recently, a novel biotechnology for all-female aquaculture was developed based on injection into post-larvae of suspended primary AG cells from mature M. rosenbergii males. However, this biotechnology depends on the availability of appropriate male donors and it requires delicate surgical procedures on the small endocrine AG to produce appropriate quantities of cells for the sex manipulation. We therefore established a new platform for the production of M. rosenbergii IAG (Mr-IAG) in hematopoietic cells. The method rests on the induction of ectopic Mr-IAG expression under the white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) immediate-early 1 (IE1) promoter via a novel lentiviral vector. Our results demonstrate that M. rosenbergii primary cells infected with the Mr-IAG lentiviruses are capable of transcription, translation, and secretion of Mr-IAG in culture. Our new platform, which produces easy-to-harvest cells in abundance, could replace the AG cells used in the first step of the above-mentioned biotechnology for all-female aquaculture and, importantly, pave the way for producing monosex populations in other edible crustacean aquaculture species. In addition, a lentiviral system for crustacean cells provides a useful tool for basic and applied research in crustacean species.

Sexual motivation: problem solved and new problems introduced

BackgroundDuring the past 50 years, motivational studies have evolved from the logical inference of logically required “intervening variables” to explain behavioral change, to electrophysiological and molecular analyses of the mechanisms causing such changes.AimThe purpose of this review article is two-fold: first to describe the logic of sexual motivation in a way that applies to laboratory animals as well as humans, and the second is to address some of the problems of sexual motivation experienced by men.ResultsWhen problems of motivational mechanisms are stripped down to their essentials, as performed in the laboratory animal models and are available for reductionistic studies, then the problems can be solved with certainty, as illustrated in the first part of this review. However, with respect to human sexual motivation, the various determinants which include so many behavioral routes and so many brain states come into play, that definite conclusions are harder to come by, as illustrated in the second part of this review.ConclusionsThis review highlights a number of key questions that merit further investigation. These include (a) What mechanisms do cultural and experiential influences interact with androgenic hormone influences on human sexual motivation? (b) How would epigenetic effects in the human brain related to changes in motivation be investigated? (c) What are the effects of unpredictable traumatic and stressful human experiences on sexual motivation; (d) How such mechanisms are activated upon unpredictable traumatic and stressful insults? (e) What are the outstanding differences between sexual motivational drive and motivations driven by homeostatic systems such as hunger and thirst?

Effect of Myoinositol and Metformin in combination on clinical and hormonal profile in patients of polycystic ovarian syndrome

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) also known as hyperandrogenic anovulation syndrome or Stein – Leventhal syndrome is an endocrine disorder, characterized by anovulation, oligomenorrhea, amenorrhea, features of androgenic hormone excess (hirsutism, acne, alopecia, seborrhea) and insulin resistance. The global prevalence ranges from 2.2% to 26%. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted from December 2015 to December 2016 in Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial medical college and associated Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar memorial hospital, Raipur (C.G.) after obtaining permission of ethical committee of the institute to evaluate the effect of myoinositol and metformin on clinical profile in patients of polycystic ovarian syndrome. 70 women were included in the study who received a combination of myoinositol 600mg and metformin 500mg (twice a day) for 3 months for the management of PCOS. Prior to the start of the therapy, a detailed history and baseline investigations were recorded. Cases were reassessed at the end of three months of therapy for evaluation of change in clinical and hormonal profile.Results: 90.09% (63/70) cases showed improvement in the menstrual complaints. Spontaneous onset of menses occurred in all the cases presented with amenorrhea, in nearly 90% within 2 months of start of treatment. Regularization of cycles was observed in nearly 50% of patients with infrequent menses. Amongst all the cases with cutaneous manifestations, maximum improvement was seen in cases of acne (4/6) i.e. 66.66%. 25% (5/20) patients with infertility conceived during the study period.Conclusions: Myoinositol with metformin in combination has resulted in significant improvement in the clinical profile with reduction in individual drug dosage in cases with PCOS.

Anti-Proliferative Effects of HBX-5 on Progression of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), an age-dependent disorder with a prevalence percentage of 60% in the 60s, has been found to involve an androgenic hormone imbalance that causes confusion between cell apoptosis and proliferation. Because general medications for BPH treatment have undesirable side effects, the development of effective alternative medicines has been considered. HBX-5 is a newly developed formula with the aim of improving BPH, and is composed of nine medicinal herbs. BPH was induced in the rats by intramuscular injection of testosterone propionate after castration. Rats were divided into six groups, and the efficacy of HBX-5 on testosterone-induced BPH in rats was estimated. In addition, RWPE-1 and WPMY-1 cells were used to demonstrate the effect of HBX-5 on BPH in vitro model. Compared with the control group, HBX-5 administration group suppressed BPH manifestations, such as excessive development of prostate, and increase of serum dihydrotestosterone and 5α-reductase concentrations. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that HBX-5 significantly decreased the expression of androgen receptor (AR) and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). In addition, results of RWPE-1 and WPMY-1 cells showed that HBX-5 inhibited the over-expression of AR and PSA in DHT-induced prostate hyperplastic microenvironments.