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Background: It is controversial whether Tai Chi (TC) benefits breast cancer survivors (BCS) on quality of life (QoL). We therefore undertook a meta-analysis to assess this question.

Aims: This study aimed to examine the methylation status of the CYP19A1 promoter region in Chinese polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) patients. Methods: A case-control study was designed that involved 10 PCOS patients and 10 controls. Ovary tissues obtained from 10 women with PCOS and 10 healthy controls were matched for body mass index and age. Methylation of CYP19A1 promoter was detected by methylation-specific PCR. CYP19A1 expression was measured by real-time PCR and Western blotting. Results: The methylation level of CYP19A1 promoter in PCOS samples was significantly higher than in controls (0.698 ± 0.192 vs. 0.210 ± 0.064, p < 0.01). A significant downregulation of CYP19A1 mRNA and protein expression levels was observed in PCOS ovary tissues. Furthermore, the scatter plot revealed that promoter methylation was inversely correlated with CYP19A1 mRNA level (Pearson's correlation -0.820, p < 0.01). Conclusion:CYP19A1 expression is frequently repressed in PCOS ovaries due to the promoter hypermethylation. CYP19A1 promoter hypermethylation may play a key role in the pathogenesis of PCOS.

Previous studies of microarrays have produced mass data that are far from fully applied. To make full use of the available mass data and to avoid redundancy and unnecessary waste, we employed bioinformatics tools GeneSifter and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) to mine and annotate 45 microarrays related to endometrium receptivity from GEO (Gene Expression Omnibus) database. In total, 1543 gene sets were found to express differentially, of which 148 highly regulated genes were listed as potential biomarkers of the receptive endometrium. The function and pathway analysis identified the differentially expressed genes primarily involved in immune response and cell cycle. Two networks related to the cardiovascular system and cancers were generated within the genes which changed more than 10-fold. Nine genes were validated by real-time polymerase chain reaction. It was a meaningful exploration of the existing data to acquire useful and reliable information, and our results undoubtedly provided valuable clues for further studies.