The blood-testis barrier (BTB) is formed by a tight network of Sertoli cells (SCs) to limit the movement of reproductive toxicants from the blood into the male genital tract. Transporters expressed at the basal membranes of SCs also influence the disposition of drugs across the BTB. The reversible, non-hormonal contraceptive, H2-gamendazole (H2-GMZ), is an indazole carboxylic acid analog that accumulates over 10 times more in the testes compared to other organs. However, the mechanism(s) by...

IMPORTANCE: Recurrent respiratory tract infection (RRTI) is common in children. Inappropriate RRTI treatment will lead to asthma and other diseases, thereby seriously affecting the growth and physical health of children. Immune function modulation can prevent and alleviate childhood RRTI. Yupingfeng (YPF), a patented traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has immunomodulatory effects and is widely used in China to treat children with RRTI.

Prothrombin time (PT), first used in 1935, is the most commonly employed marker of coagulopathy to assess bleeding tendency. It is a screening test and measures the time in seconds to the formation of a clot after platelet-poor plasma has been mixed with a thromboplastin reagent consisting of tissue factor, lipids and calcium chloride ions. The International Normalized Ratio (INR) is a standardized number based on the PT of the patient. It is used by clinicians to measure the effectiveness of...

Opioid abuse and addiction have become a global pandemic, posing tremendous health and social burdens. The rewarding effects and the occurrence of withdrawal symptoms are the two mainstays of opioid addiction. Mu-opioid receptors (MORs), a member of opioid receptors, play important roles in opioid addiction, mediating both the rewarding effects of opioids and opioid withdrawal syndrome (OWS). The underlying mechanism of MOR-mediated opioid rewarding effects and withdrawal syndrome is of vital...