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This study aimed to study the expression of homeobox (HOX)A11-AS1 (HOXA11 antisense RNA) long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) and the expression of homeobox A (HOXA9, HOXA10, HOXA11, and HOXA13) genes in the eutopic (EU) and ectopic (EC) endometria of women with peritoneal endometriosis. A total of 30 women undergoing laparoscopic surgery for peritoneal endometriosis and 15 infertile women without endometriosis were enrolled in this study. Peritoneal EC tissue samples were obtained through surgery. The EU tissues were obtained by curettage. The EC and EU lncRNA and messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels were measured using real-time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction. The HOXA11-AS1 lncRNA and HOXA9, HOXA10, HOXA11, and HOXA13 mRNA were expressed at significantly lower levels in the EU than in the EC, that is, in women with peritoneal endometriosis (P < .05). The expression levels of HOXA10 and HOXA11 in the EU were significantly lower in women with peritoneal endometriosis compared to the control group participants (P < .05), whereas the levels of lncRNA (HOXA11-AS1), HOXA9, and HOXA13 did not differ significantly between the 2 patient groups (P > .05). In conclusion, the study findings suggest that HOXA11-AS1 lncRNA may play a role in the development of peritoneal endometriosis, but HOXA11-AS1 may not influence endometrial receptivity in endometriosis-associated infertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Infertility remains a significant global burden over the years. Reproductive surgery is an effective strategy for infertile women. Early prediction of spontaneous pregnancy after reproductive surgery is of high interest for the patients seeking the infertility treatment. However, there are no high-quality models and clinical applicable tools to predict the probability of natural conception after reproductive surgery., Methods: The eligible data involving 1013 patients who operated for infertility between June 2016 and June 2021 in Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital in China, were randomly divided into training and internal testing cohorts. 195 subjects from the Linyi People's Hospital in China were considered for external validation. Both univariate combining with multivariate logistic regression and the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) algorithm were performed to identify independent predictors. Multiple common machine learning algorithms, namely logistic regression, decision tree, random forest, support vector machine, k-nearest neighbor, and extreme gradient boosting, were employed to construct the predictive models. The optimal model was verified by evaluating the model performance in both the internal and external validation datasets., Results: Six clinical indicators, including female age, infertility type, duration of infertility, intraoperative diagnosis, ovulation monitoring, and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) level, were screened out. Based on the logistic regression model's superior clinical predictive value, as indicated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) in both the internal (0.870) and external (0.880) validation sets, we ultimately selected it as the optimal model. Consequently, we utilized it to generate a web-based nomogram for predicting the probability of spontaneous pregnancy after reproductive surgery. Furthermore, the calibration curve, Hosmer-Lemeshow (H-L) test, the decision curve analysis (DCA) and clinical impact curve analysis (CIC) demonstrated that the model has superior calibration degree, clinical net benefit and generalization ability, which were confirmed by both internal and external validations., Conclusion: Overall, our developed first nomogram with online operation provides an early and accurate prediction for the probability of natural conception after reproductive surgery, which helps clinicians and infertile couples make sensible decision of choosing the mode of subsequent conception, natural or IVF, to further improve the clinical practices of infertility treatment., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Liu, Wang, He, Wang, Liu, Xie and Bao.)

Background: About 10% of individuals undergoing in vitro fertilization encounter recurrent implantation failure (RIF), which represents a worldwide social and economic concern. Nevertheless, the critical genes and genetic mechanisms underlying RIF are largely unknown., Methods: We first obtained three comprehensive microarray datasets "GSE58144, GSE103465 and GSE111974". The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) evaluation, enrichment analysis, as well as efficient weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA), were employed for distinguishing RIF-linked hub genes, which were tested by RT-qPCR in our 30 independent samples. Next, we studied the topography of infiltration of 22 immune cell subpopulations and the association between hub genes and immune cells in RIF using the CIBERSORT algorithm. Finally, a novel ridge plot was utilized to exhibit the potential function of core genes., Results: The enrichment of GO/KEGG pathways reveals that Herpes simplex virus 1 infection and Salmonella infection may have an important role in RIF. After WGCNA, the intersected genes with the previous DEGs were obtained using both variance and association. Notably, the subsequent nine hub genes were finally selected: ACTL6A, BECN1, SNRPD1, POLR1B, GSK3B, PPP2CA, RBBP7, PLK4, and RFC4, based on the PPI network and three different algorithms, whose expression patterns were also verified by RT-qPCR. With in-depth analysis, we speculated that key genes mentioned above might be involved in the RIF through disturbing endometrial microflora homeostasis, impairing autophagy, and inhibiting the proliferation of endometrium. Furthermore, the current study revealed the aberrant immune infiltration patterns and emphasized that uterine NK cells (uNK) and CD4 + T cells were substantially altered in RIF endometrium. Finally, the ridge plot displayed a clear and crucial association between hub genes and other genes and key pathways., Conclusion: We first utilized WGCNA to identify the most potential nine hub genes which might be associated with RIF. Meanwhile, this study offers insights into the landscape of immune infiltration status to reveal the underlying immune pathogenesis of RIF. This may be a direction for the next study of RIF etiology. Further studies would be required to investigate the involved mechanisms., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Liu, Lai, Qu, Liu, Zhang, Zhao, He, Sun and Bao.)

To examine miR-148a expression in the serum of patients with endometriosis (EMS), and to further explore the target of miR-148a in HS832.Tc cells and the effect of miR-148a on the proliferation of Hs832.Tc cells. The serum of non-EMS patients and EMS patients were collected and real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) was used to detect miR-148a in serum. The EMS cell line Hs832.Tc was cultured and transfected with miR-148aminic, miR-148a inhibitor to construct over expressing and interfering cell lines. Cell viability and apoptosis were detected. The dual luciferase assay identified a target relationship between miR-148a and ADAMTS5 and whether miR-148a regulates proliferation of endometriosis cells via ADAMTS5 was further validated. Compared with normal subjects, miR-148a was significantly reduced in serum of EMS patients (p<0.05). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for miR-148a for diagnosis of EMS was 0.91, which was statistically significant (p<0.01). The proliferation of Hs832.Tc cells was significantly inhibited and the cell apoptosis was increased after miR-148a over expression. The proliferation of Hs832.Tc cells was promoted and apoptosis was reduced by miR-148a down regulation. The dual luciferase report demonstrates that ADAMTS5 is a target gene of miR-148a. The addition of ADAMTS5 can directly promote apoptosis of Hs832.Tc cells. The expression of miR-148a in serum of EMS patients was decreased, and miR-148a targets ADAMTS5 to promote apoptosis in EMS cells.

Objective: To determine quercetin and kaempferol in the plant of genus Dysosma that come from different species, different plant parts or different growing areas, which provide the basis of rational utilization of Dysosma plants., Method: The analysis was performed on a Diamonsil C18 column (4.6 mm x 150 mm, 5 microm) eluted with the mobile phase of methanol-water containing 0.1% phosphoric acid (60:40). The flow rate was 1 mL x min(-1), the detection wavelength was 360 nm; and the column temperature was set at 25 degrees C., Result: The linear ranges of quercetin and kaempferol are 0.22-1.1 microg and 0.42-2.1 microg. The average recoveries of quercetin and kaempferol are 97.1% (RSD 1.4%) and 99.6% (RSD 2.4%); respectively., Conclusion: The contents of flavones in different species of Dysosma are significantly different.

Objective: To investigate the origin of medicinal plants in Guizhou province, revise the incorrectly recorded species, and correct the erroneous and incomplete Latin names., Method: Examination was implemented on species, Latin name and geographical distribution of medicinal plants recorded in 'Medicinal Material Resources of Guizhou'., Result: It was found that 98 species and 4 varieties were absent in Guizhou province or their Latin names were incorrect in 17 families., Conclusion: The origin of medicinal plants in Guizhou province was studied and the incorrect Latin names were revised. It provides a basis for standardization of medicinal plants in Guizhou province.

Objective: To introduce species and geographic distribution of large-flowered taxa of Epimedium L. in China., Methods: Resources investigation and taxonomy study., Results: There are 27 species large-flowered taxa of Epimedium in China., Conclusion: 13 species in Sichuan, 9 species in Hubei, 8 species in Guizhou, 4 species in Hunan, 3 species in Guangxi, 2 species in Chongqing, 2 species in Yunnan, 1 species in Jiangxi, 1 species in Shanxi, 1 species in Jilin, 1 species in Liaoning and 1 species in Heilongjiang.