Objective To study the inhibitory effect of Pharbitidis Semen on rat hepatoma induced by N-nitrosodiethylamine ( NDEA) . Methods SD rats were divided into normal control group, model control group and Pharbitidis Semen group. In model control group and Pharbitidis Semen group, 0. 01% NDEA was applied for 90 days to induce hepatoma, and rats in Pharbitidis Semen group concomitantly received feed containing 6% Pharbitidis Semen at the dosage of 40 g·kg-1 ·d-1 . Thirty days after the hepatoma inducement and Pharbitidis Semen administration, the rats were sacrificed to observe the pathological changes in liver, number of hepatoma nodules and liver weight. The changes of liver/body weight, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), γ-glutamyl transferase (γ-GT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) were compared. One-way ANOVA (LSD Test) was employed for statistical analysis. Results In the normal control group, the number of hepatoma nodules was 0. 0±0. 0, the liver weight was (9. 87±1. 30) g, the ratio of liver/body weight was (2. 62±0. 24)% and the level of serum ALT was (64. 10±12. 71) U·L-1,γ-GT was (0. 80± 0. 42) U·L-1, and ALP was (121. 20±37. 57) U·L-1. In the model control group, the number of hepatoma nodules was (27. 4±9. 5), the liver weight was (21. 38±7. 29) g, the ratio of liver/body weight was (5. 82±2. 31)%, the level of serum ALT was (175. 70±48. 75) U·L-1, γ-GT was (41. 80±15. 38) U·L-1, and ALP was (200. 50±35. 78) U·L-1. In the Pharbitidis Semen group, the number of hepatoma nodules was (8. 6± 5. 3), the liver weight was (13. 91±3. 55) g, the ratio of liver/body weight was (3. 86±0. 76)% and the level of serum ALT was (113.10±45.35) U·L-1, γ-GT was (13. 40± 6. 15) U·L-1, and ALP was (155. 80±30. 26) U·L-1. The results showed that all indices of Pharbitidis Semen group were higher than those of the normal control group, and lower than those of the model control group (P<0. 01 or P<0. 05). Conclusion Pharbitidis Semen can reduce NDEA-induced injury to the liver cells, and inhibit the overgrowth of the hepatoma.

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the 5-item version of the international index of erectile function (IIEF-5) as a method to differentiate the causes of vasculogenic erectile dysfunction (ED).

METHODSIn all, 103 ED patients (mean age 46.8 +/- 18.7) were reviewed by IIEF-5. Penile blood flow was also assessed in each patient after an intracavernosal injection (ICI) and audio-visual sex stimulation by duplex Doppler ultrasonography. The 99mTc-(113m)In dual radioisotope test was performed to confirm specific vascular causes in the vasculogenic ED cases. Kruskal-Wallis TEST was employed to compare the scores of IIEF-5 with the results of ICI, duplex Doppler ultrasonography and the 99mTC-(113m)In dual radioisotope test.

RESULTSOf the total number of ED cases, 37 (37/103, 35.9%) were nonvasculogenic, 18 (18/103, 17.5%) arteriogenic, 35 (35/103, 34.0%) venogenic and 13 (13/103, 12.6%) combined vasculogenic. There was no significant difference in the IIEF-5 scores either between the vasculogenic group and the non-vasculogenic one (P = 0.253) or among different groups of the vasculogenic ED patients.

CONCLUSIONIIEF-5 cannot be used as a tool for differential diagnosis of vasculogenic ED, or to compare its specific vascular causes, nor can the scores of IIEF-5 reflect penile vascular conditions.

Adult ; Humans ; Impotence, Vasculogenic ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Penis ; diagnostic imaging ; Smoking ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Ultrasonography