27In our in vivo study, the reduced free Ts level in the diabetic rats could be related to oxidative stress (as shown by a decrease in TAC, GPx, and GR activities and increase in MDA levels) and induced downregulation of testicular StAR and P450scc mRNA levels. Our Cyclopamine results demonstrated that StAR gene expression was more vulnerable to oxidative stress damage than P450scc (66% vs. 20% decrease in mRNA expression, respectively). The diminished expression

of StAR results in decreased substrate cholesterol availability for steroidogenesis. The treatment of the diabetic rats with MAE markedly increased the mRNA level of StAR and thereafter Ts production. The antioxidant Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical and free radical scavenging activity of MAE as indicated in this study may decrease the inhibitory and genotoxic effect of oxidative stress on StAR Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical gene expression. It has been reported that elevated levels of ROS and lipid peroxidation may be involved in the reduced

steroidogenic potency of cultured rat leydig cells.28 Our findings confirm and expand the role of oxidative stress in Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the development of testicular complication under diabetic condition. Conclusion Our results indicated that MAE had not only hypoglycemic and antioxidant activities but also androgenic properties in the diabetic rats. The androgenic activity of MAE is probably due to the upregulation of StAR gene expression. The administration of MAE to experimental models of diabetes can effectively attenuate oxidative stress-mediated testosterone depletion. Acknowledgment This study was supported by grant No. 89-01-01-2518 from the Office Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Conflict of Interest: None declared.
Background: Hyaline cartilage defects exhibit a major challenge in the field of orthopedic surgery owing to its limited repair capacity. On the other hand, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)

Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical are regarded as potent cells with a property of cartilage regeneration. We aimed to optimize marrow-derived TW 37 MSC chondrogenic culture using a small bioactive molecule referred to as BIO. Methods: MSCs from the marrow of NMRI mice were extracted, culture-expanded, and characterized. Micro-mass culture was then established for chondrogenic differentiation (control group). The cultures of MSC in chondrogenic medium supplemented with 0.01, 0.05, 0.1, and 1 µM BIO were taken as the experimental groups. Cartilage differentiation was examined by both histological sections and real-time PCR for Sox9, aggrecan, and collagen II at different time points. Moreover, the involvement of the Wnt pathway was investigated. Results: Based on histological sections, there was seemingly more intense metachromatic matrix produced in the cultures with 0.01 µM BIO.