With the increasing incidence and prevalence of male sexual dysfunction, andrologists are more and more in need of accurate and efficient tools to assess therapeutic efficacy and patients' satisfaction and to help patients achieve satisfactory treatment results. This article summarizes some of the most commonly used questionnaires for the diagnosis and assessment of the treatment of male sexual dysfunction, including International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF), Erection Hardness Score (EHS), Quality of Erection Questionnaire (QEQ), Erectile Dysfunction Inventory of Treatment Satisfaction (EDITS), Treatment Satisfaction Scale (TSS), Self-Esteem and Relationship (SEAR), Premature Ejaculation Profile (PEP), Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT), Index of Premature Ejaculation (IPE), Arabic Index of Premature Ejaculation (AIPE), Aging Male Symptoms Scale (AMS), Androgen Deficiency in the Aging Male (ADAM), and Symptomatic Inventory for Screening Late-Onset Hypogonadism in Males (SILOH), and presents an overview on their clinical application.
Erectile Dysfunction ; Humans ; Male ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective To investigate the anti-fibrogenesis property of imatinib mesylate in a rat model of liver fibrosis induced by carbon tetrachloride/olive oil and its effect on the expression of trans- forming growth factor(TGF)-?1.Methods Rat liver fibrosis was induced by intraperitoneal administra- tion of carbon tetrachloride and olive oil mixture twice a week for eight weeks.Imatinib mesylate was given 20 mg/kg daily by oral lavage.The control rats received saline by oral iavage.Liver collagen depo- sition was evaluated by immunohistochemistry with Masson staining.The activation of hepatic stellate cells was detemined by the immunohistoehemistry staining of?-smooth muscle actin.The mRNA expres- sions of TGF-?1,c-Abl and TIMP-1 were measured by RT-PCR.While protein expressions of TGF-?1, phosphorylated platelet-derived growth factor receptor and c-Abl were detected by Western blot and im- munohistochemical staining.Hepatic hydroxyproline content was also quantified.Results The collagen deposition[(16.23?1.01)%vs(25.61?0.92)%]and the number of activated HSCs(10.52?1.33vs 13.10?1.21)were reduced in the imatinib mesylate treatment group compared with the control group by 35% and 20%,respectively(P

0.05),Glibenclamide(0.1?mol/L,1?mol/L,10?mol/L) increased cell′s apoptosis by2.35,2.71,2.94 folders(P

Objective To explore the diagnostic value of plasma fetal DNA level in preeclampsia.Methods Thirty cases of pregnant women with preeclampsia(at 33 weeks and 3 days) and 30 cases of normal pregnant women(at 34 weeks and 3 days) were selected.All the pregnant women carried a male fetus by B-ultrasound,and were sampled at gestational 20 weeks,third trimester and at 1 hour,3 hours,6 hours after delivery.SRY levels in maternal blood were quantitated by polymerase chain reaction(QF-PCR).The endotheliotoxin(ET) level was measured with RIA.Results (1) Mean fetal DNA level of patients with preeclampsia at 20 weeks of gestation was(316?61)copy/ml.They were(266?79)copy/ml,(396?91)copy/ml,(165?43) copy/ml for light and severe preeclampsia women and normal pregnant women,respectively.Maternal blood fetal DNA levels in pregnant women with preeclampsia at 20-weeks of gestation were significantly higher than those normal pregnant women(P

Biomarkers ; analysis ; Biopsy ; Child ; Female ; Fluid Therapy ; Humans ; Kidney Diseases ; etiology ; Rhabdomyolysis ; diagnosis ; etiology ; therapy ; Virus Diseases ; complications

Cryptogenic Organizing Pneumonia ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Hot Temperature ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Qi ; Yin-Yang

Objective To investigate the effect of cognitive intervention on language function and quality of life (QOL) in elderly patients with post-stroke aphasia.Methods Fifty-five elderly patients with post-stroke aphasia were randomly divided into the control group (n =27) and the experimental group (n=28).The control group received comprehensive treatment including speech-language therapy (SLT),while the experimental group was subjected to additional cognitive intervention.All patients were enrolled in an eight-week rehabilitation program.The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) was used to assess cognitive function,a device for diagnosis and treatment of language disorders,ZM 2.1,was used to evaluate language function,and the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) (Chinese version) was used to assess quality of life (QOL),before and after treatment.Results After treatment,MMSE scores,language function scores in all categories and QOL scores in all dimensions improved in both groups (P＜0.05 for both).Furthermore,after treatment,there were significant differences between the two groups in MMSE scores of orientation,recall,attention and calculation,and in scores of overall language ability and the individual categories (P＜0.05 for all).Scores of the experimental group vs.the control group for the individual categories of language function were as follows:simple instructions (76.6 ± 14.1 vs.67.4± 19.3),complex instructions (66.1±12.8 vs.58.2±14.9),yes or no (72.5±12.1 vs.63.0±14.1),naming (55.0 19.5 vs.43.3±22.2),simple comprehension (67.5±21.4 vs.55.620.6),complex comprehension (44.8±17.0 vs.35.0±18.9),listening and reading words (65.4±16.7 vs.53.7±19.3),calculation (39.3±25.8 vs.25.9±19.2),memory (36.4±18.7 vs.26.3±17.8),matching (75.9±18.6 vs.65.3±17.1),simple general knowledge (68.3±18.2 vs.58.0±19.5),complex general knowledge (58.7±17.4 vs.50.0±13.3),orientation (70.7±19.6 vs.60.5±17.2) and comparison (59.9± 14.6 vs.50.2±17.5) (P＜0.05 for all).There were significant differences between the two groups in emotional function (66.7±18.2 vs.53.1±21.2),general health (67.2±12.6 vs.60.7±9.8),mental health (71.0±5.6 vs.63.1±4.2),social functioning (64.7±9.0 vs.59.3±10.2) and vitality (55.4±14.8 vs.46.9±15.6) (P＜0.05 for all).Conclusions Cognitive intervention combined with SLT can contribute to the recovery of language function and the improvement of QOL in elderly patients with post-stroke aphasia.

BACKGROUND:Pancreatic stelate cels transforming growth factor β1/Smads signaling pathway activation is probably a main molecular mechanism of pancreatic fibrosis. If this pathway can be blocked, the progression of fibrosis of tissues with chronic pancreatitis wil be inhibited. OBJECTIVE:To study the inhibitory effect of colchicine on transforming growth factor β1/Smads pathway in chronic pancreatitis rat models. METHODS:Healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into colchicines-treated group and chronic pancreatitis group. After successful establishment of rat models of chronic pancreatitis, the rats in the colchicines-treated group were intraperitonealy injected with colchicine 150 μg/kg daily. The rats in the chronic pancreatitis group were intraperitonealy injected with equal volume of physiological saline daily. Pancreatic tissues were colected after 3 months. Hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe histopathological changes of pancreatic tissue. Immunohistochemical staining was used to detect the expressions of transforming growth factor β1 in pancreatic tissue. Western blot assay was utilized to detect the expressions of P-Smad2, P-Smad3 and α-SMA protein in pancreatic stelate cels. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Hematoxylin-eosin staining results revealed that compared with the colchicines-treated group, glandular tissue had reduced, while fibrous connective tissue and inflammatory cels had increased obviously and replaced the pancreatic gland tissue in the chronic pancreatitis group. Immunohistochemical staining results demonstrated that the expression levels of transforming growth factor β1 and the index of positive cels were significantly lower in the colchicines-treated group than those in the chronic pancreatitis group (P < 0.05). Western blot assay results revealed that the results of P-Smad2/β-actin, P-Smad3/β-actin andα-SMA/β-actin in pancreatic stelate cels were significantly lower in the chronic pancreatitis group than those in the colchicines-treated group (P < 0.05). Results suggested that colchicine could inhibit the activity of transforming growth factor β1/Smads pathway and pancreatic tissue fibrosis in chronic pancreatitis rats. Therefore, colchicine can be used as a new candidate therapeutic scheme for chronic pancreatitis fibrosis.

Objective:To observe the effect of the proteininhibitor of activated STAT 3 (PIAS3) on the proliferation and apopto-sis of U251 glioma cells after PIAS3 expression was inhibited by RNAi. Methods: Three RNAi expression vectorstargeting PIAS3 were constructed and transfected into CHG-5 cells by liposomein vitro. The most efficient RNAi vector was subsequently selected by examiningthe mRNA expressions of PIAS3 in the transfected cells by semi-quantitativeRT-PCR. The selected RNAi vector was then transfected into U251 cells. After 48h of transfection, the mRNA and protein expressions of PIAS3 in glioma cellswere examined by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and western blot. Apoptosis wasobserved by flow cytometry using a double-staining method with FITC-con-jugatedannexin V and PI. Flow cytometry was also applied in cell cycle assay. Results:RNAidownregulated the mRNA (P<0.01) and protein (P<0.01) expressionsof PIAS3 in transfected cells.RNAi promoted the resistance of U251 cells to apoptosisand subsequently al-tered the cell cycle. A high percentage of G2 phaseand a low percentage of Sphase were observed in U251 cells. Conclusion:The down-regulation of PIAS3arrested U251 cells in the G2 phase andinduced the resistance of U251 cells to apoptosis.

Objective To detect content of 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy benzoic acid by RP-HPLC and observe the inhibitory effect of phloroglucinol on catecholamine-O-methyl transferase (COMT). Methods This study used the principle of 3,4-dihydroxy benzoic acid transforming to 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy benzoic acid under COMT’ s catalytic action. COMT (20 μL) was extracted from mouse liver homogenate. In a reaction system,10 μL catecol (1í10-3 mol·L-1 ) and 10 μL phloroglucinol (5í10-3 , 1í10-3 and 2í10-4 mol·L-1 ,respectively) were added. Products were determined by RP-HPLC to analyze effects of 4-hydroxy-3-methoxy benzoic acid on COMT. Results Phloroglucinol had inhibitory effect on COMT activity at concentrations of 5í10-3 mol·L-1 ,1í10-3 mol·L-1 and 2 í10-4 mol ·L-1 ,with the inhibition rate being 25. 3% ,17. 6% and 8. 9% ,respectively. Conclusion Phloroglucinol has an inhibitory effect on COMT activity,which is weaker than the effect of catechol of the same concentration.