Objective To apply MR diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to quantitatively analyze cervical spinal cord injury without radiographic abnormality (CSCIWORA). Methods 15 patients with CSCIWORA and 20 healthy controls were scanned with MRI of conventional scans and DTI. The fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were measured. Results FA and ADC of the patients were (0.475±0.109) and (1.438±0.252)×10-3 mm2/s, respectively. Whereas, they were (0.604±0.096) and (1.371±0.280)×10-3 mm2/s in the controls. Compared with the controls, the FA was less (P<0.05) in the patients, but the ADC was not significantly different (P=0.267). The fiber tracking (FT) showed the abnormality of white matter fiber tracts of cervical spinal cord in the patients. Conclusion DTI can detect the CSCIWORA, and FT can directly display the injuries of white matter fiber tracts of cervical spinal cord, which provide more information to evaluate the clinical severity of CSCIWORA.

Adenocarcinoma ; secondary ; Aged, 80 and over ; Cryptorchidism ; pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; pathology ; Testicular Neoplasms ; secondary

Trauma, tumor, disease and congenital abnormalities may lead to genital organ damage or function failure, and consequently the requirement of its reconstruction. Tissue engineering follows the principles of cell transplantation, materials science and engineering toward the development of biological substitutes that would restore and maintain normal function. These new techniques have been recently introduced into the field of andrology. Based on the latest advances, the present paper afferds a general prospect of the future direction of the development of tissue engineering in andrology.
Genitalia, Male ; surgery ; Humans ; Male ; Penis ; surgery ; Tissue Engineering ; Urethra ; surgery

Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) has a close relation with prostate cancer. It is involved not only in angiogenesis, cell proliferation/survival and glucose metabolism but also in p53, p21 and signal transduction pathway in prostate cancer. Further studies of HIF-1 may yield new approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. We present a review of the structure and biological functions of HIF-1 and its relation with prostate cancer.
Humans ; Hypoxia-Inducible Factor 1 ; physiology ; Male ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; metabolism ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo explore the effect of the binding ability of the dihydrotestosterone(DHT) in prostate.

METHODSTwenty-two normal prostate tissues taken from accident-death corpses without serious diseases, and cytosolic and nuclear fractions were prepared with all the endogenous hormone removed from the cytosolic and nuclear fractions by ether stripping. The content of the bound 3H-DHT was assayed by adding 3H-DHT.

RESULTSThe average DHT-binding capacity of the DHT-binding protein in prostate was (0.0263 +/- 0.0047) nmol/g wet tissue. The DHT-binding capacities of cytosolic and nuclear fractions were (0.0103 +/- 0.0015) nmol/g wet tissue and (0.0155 +/- 0.0035) nmol/g wet tissue respectively, and the difference between them was very significant(P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONSThe DHT-binding capacity of the DHT-binding protein in prostate is high and maintaining the high DHT level facilitates the effect of DHT.

Adult ; Cell Nucleus ; metabolism ; Cytoplasm ; metabolism ; Dihydrotestosterone ; metabolism ; Humans ; Male ; Prostate ; metabolism ; Protein Binding

OBJECTIVETo construct a eukaryotic expression vector carrying human VEGF RNAi and to study the effect of RNA interference on VEGF expression in prostate carcinoma.

METHODSVEGF RNAi was synthesized, inserted into the RNA interference eukaryotic expression vector, and confirmed by the result sequencing. The vector was transfected into prostate cancer PC-3, the VEGF expression detected by Western blot and the cell inhibiting rate determined by MTT.

RESULTSThe VEGF RNAi eukaryotic expression vector was successfully constructed. Compared with the empty vector group and the control group, the amount of VEGF protein expression was obviously decreased in the VEGF RNAi group. The inhibiting rates were 23.5% , 33. 5% and 40. 8% at 24, 48 and 72 h respectively.

CONCLUSIONVEGF RNAi can inhibit the protein expression and growth of PC-3, which provides an experimental base for the biological therapy of prostate cancer.

Cell Line, Tumor ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Male ; Neoplasms, Hormone-Dependent ; genetics ; metabolism ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; genetics ; metabolism ; RNA Interference ; Transfection ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; biosynthesis ; genetics

BACKGROUNDRecent studies have suggested that estrogens are involved in normal and abnormal prostate growth, though their exact role is still controversial. Oestrogens exert inhibitory and stimulatory effects on prostate gland, but the expression of oestrogen receptor-alpha (ERalpha) and oestrogen receptor-beta (ERbeta) in malignant prostate tissue remains unresolved. We determined ERalpha and ERbeta in prostate cancer and investigated the relationship between expression of ER and pathological features of prostate carcinoma.

METHODSThirty-two cases of prostate cancer, 12 cases of normal prostate tissue and 32 cases of benign prostate hyperplasia were analyzed for the expression of ERalpha and ERbeta using semiquantitative, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and the products sequenced.

RESULTSComparisons of the normal, hyperplastic and tumour prostate tissues indicated an overexpression of ERalpha in tumour specimens (P < 0.01). However, the expression of ERbeta significantly reduced in tumour tissues compared with normal and hyperplastic specimens (P < 0.01), suggesting that severe pathological features of prostate cancer were associated with lower ERbeta expression. Spearman analysis showed negative correlation between ERbeta expression and tumour stage, grade (-0.67, -0.43, respectively, both P < 0.05), and a positive correlation between ERalpha expression and tumour stage, grade (0.51, 0.57, respectively, both P < 0.01). Our analysis also showed that hormone refractory, prostate cancer, compared with hormone dependent, prostate cancer, displayed a decreased expression of ERbeta (P < 0.01) and an increased expression of ERalpha.

CONCLUSIONSERalpha and ERbeta may play important roles in the development of prostate cancer. The decrease in ERbeta expression is associated with higher Gleason grade tumours and prostate cancer with higher metastatic potential. The loss of ERbeta could be one of the key processes leading to uncontrolled growth of prostate epithelial cells.

Estrogen Receptor alpha ; genetics ; Estrogen Receptor beta ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; blood ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; blood ; metabolism ; pathology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

OBJECTIVETo study significance and limitations of the ratio of free to total prostate specific antigen (f/t PSA) in differential diagnosis between prostate cancer and benign prostatehyperplasia (BPH) with total PSA (tPSA) levels between 4 and 10 ng/ml.

METHODSWe analysed retrospectively 180 prostate cancer and BPH patients who were diagnosed and treated in our hospital from October 1998 to October 2002 and had serum tPSA levels between 4 and 10 ng/ml. Of the 180 patients, 36 (20%) were histologically confirmed as prostate cancer and 144 (80%) BPH. The tPSA and free PSA (fPSA) in serum were measured by micropartical enzyme immunoassay. Prostate volume was measured by transabdominal ultrasonography. We chose Student's t-test for comparison between prostate cancer and BPH groups. The correlation between prostate volume and f/t PSA was analyzed using Pearson's correlation coefficient.

RESULTSThe mean values of tPSA and f/t PSA were 6.75 ng/ml and 0.17 in patients with prostate cancer, 6.48 ng/ml and 0.25 in patients with BPH. The mean value of tPSA wasn't significantly different between patients with prostate cancer and BPH (P > 0.05). However, the mean value of f/t PSA of patients with prostate cancer was significantly lower than that of patients with BPH (P < 0.01). Furthermore, there were significant and positive correlation between prostate volume and f/t PSA in both groups with prostate cancer and BPH (prostate cancer group's correlation coefficient (r = 0.50, P < 0.01); BPH group (r = 0.24, P < 0.01). There was significant difference in f/t PSA between prostate cancer and BPH patients with prostate volumes more than 40 cm(3) (P < 0.05), but not between these two groups with prostate volumes more than 40 cm(3) (P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe f/t PSA is significant in differential diagnosis between prostate cancer and BPH with tPSA levels between 4 and 10 ng/ml. But prostate volume has an effect on f/tPSA. The f/tPSA has diagnostic value of differentiation only when the prostate volume is less than 40 cm(3).

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Biomarkers, Tumor ; blood ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Kidney ; diagnostic imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; blood ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; diagnosis ; diagnostic imaging ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Ultrasonography

AIMTo investigate the ultrastructural changes of penile corpus cavernosum and tunica albuginea in rats treated with castration or finasteride.

METHODSEighteen male Sprague-Dawley rats of nine weeks old were randomly divided into three groups with 6 rats each. Group A served as the control, Group B was castrated and Group C, treated with finasteride. Four weeks later, rats were anesthetized and blood samples obtained for the determination of serum testosterone (T) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels; penile tissues were taken for scanning electron microscopy.

RESULTSThe T, free T and DHT levels in Group B and the DHT level in Group C were significantly lower than those in Group A (P<0.05). The tunica albuginea was significantly thinner in Group B than that in Group A (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference between Group C and Group A (P>0.05). Elastic fibers in the tunica albuginea of Group A were very rich and arranged regularly and undulatedly, but in Group B, most of the elastic fibers were replaced by collagenous fibers. In Group C, the tunica albuginea was mainly composed of thick and irregular-arranged collagenous fibers. In Group A, there were abundant smooth muscle fibers in the trabeculae of corpus cavernosum, but they were much less in Group C and scarce or even disappeared in Group B. In Groups B and C, the diminished/disappeared smooth muscle fibers were replaced by irregularly arranged collagenous fibers.

CONCLUSIONIn rats, androgen is essential for maintaining the normal structure of penile tunica albuginea and corpus cavernosum.

Animals ; Dihydrotestosterone ; blood ; Enzyme Inhibitors ; pharmacology ; Finasteride ; pharmacology ; Male ; Microscopy, Electron, Scanning ; Orchiectomy ; Penis ; pathology ; ultrastructure ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Testosterone ; blood ; deficiency

AIMTo explore the changes of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expressions in cryptorchid children and their clinical significance.

METHODSThe level of serum EGF was measured by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and the expression of EGFR by immunohistochemistry.

RESULTS(1) The level of serum EGF was significantly lower in cryptorchid children than in normal subjects at age group of 5-9 years (P<0.01) and 10-14 years (P<0.01), (2) The level of EGF was significantly lower in boys with impalpable testis than in those with extracanalicular and intracanalicular testes (P<0.01), (3) The serum EGF level increased significantly 6 months after orchiopexy (P<0.05), (4) The EGFR expression in testicular Leydig's cells was lower in 2 approximately 4 year-old boys than in those over 5 years (P<0.05) and (5) the EGFR expression was less positive in the impalpable group and the intracanalicular group than that of the extracanalicular group (P<0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe EGF and EGFR expressions may correlate with the age and the position of testes; orchiopexy improves the EGF and EGFR expressions in cryptorchid boys.

Adolescent ; Aging ; Biomarkers ; analysis ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cryptorchidism ; blood ; metabolism ; pathology ; Epidermal Growth Factor ; blood ; metabolism ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Leydig Cells ; metabolism ; pathology ; Male ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; blood ; metabolism