Priapism attributable to an anticoagulant drug has rarely been reported. Although the pathophysiology of this type of priapism is not well understood, most investigators contend that thromboembolic phenomena play either a causative or supportive role. We describe a case of priapism associated with the discontinuation of oral warfarin.
Heparin ; Humans ; Priapism ; Research Personnel ; Warfarin

We describe a case of temporary ischemic change of the glans penis after circumcision. A 36-year-old male exhibited an ischemic change in the color of the glans penis the day after receiving a dorsal penile nerve block for circumcision. After the third day, the color of the glans changed from black to dark brown. After 7 days, the glans returned to near normal skin color without other sequelae.
Adult ; Circumcision, Male ; Female ; Humans ; Ischemia ; Lidocaine ; Male ; Nerve Block ; Penis ; Pudendal Nerve ; Skin

PURPOSE: There have been reports that a higher serum level of selenium is related to a lower incidence of prostate cancer. Serum leptin and IGF-1 are factors related to metabolic syndromes which are also known to be related to prostate cancer, and the higher their levels, the higher the possibility of prostate carcinogenesis. Thus, we measured the serum levels of leptin and IGF-1 in rats that were given selenium-rich hot spring water to drink in an attempt to elucidate the role of selenium on prostate cancer prevention. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of twelve white SD rats was included in the study, and they were further divided into a control group (Group 1, n=6) induced to drink normal saline, and those rats that drank selenium-rich hot spring water for 4 weeks (Group 2, n=6). The hot spring water that we used was from the Kum-jin region of Korea, which contains a rich supply of the minerals selenium, vanadium, calcium and magnesium. The concentration of selenium in the hot spring water was 480 microgram/l. The two groups were each given 50 ml/day of normal saline or selenium-rich hot spring water. After the period of the experiment, we drew blood samples from both groups and measured their serum leptin and IGF-1 levels using ELISA. RESULTS: The serum leptin level (pg/ml) was 964.04+/-127.77 in Group 1, and 531.92+/-151.04 in Group 2, allowing us to confirm that it was significantly less in those that drank the selenium-rich hot spring water (p<0.05). Also, the serum IGF-1 levels (pg/ml) were 1,247.72+/-53.85 and 933.03+/-113.69 in Groups 1 and 2, respectively, which again, illustrated the significantly lower level in those rats that were given selenium-rich hot spring water (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Significantly decreased serum levels of leptin and IGF-1 were observed in rats that drank selenium-rich hot spring water. A study of the long-term effect of selenium-rich hot spring water on prostate cancer is necessary; if it is indeed proven to have long-term effects, we believe it will become valuable in clinical practice.
Animals ; Calcium ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hot Springs ; Humans ; Incidence ; Insulin-Like Growth Factor I ; Korea ; Leptin ; Magnesium ; Minerals ; Prostate ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Rats ; Selenium ; Vanadium

PURPOSE: Anthocyanin is known as a water soluble natural pigment and potent antioxidant. We extracted anthocyanin mediating antioxidant reaction from black soybeans, administered the extract to rats induced prostatic hyperplasia, and evaluate the effect of anthocyanin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty four male rats were divided into 4 experimental groups: the control, BPH-induced, BPHinduced, and oral anthocyanin (40 mg/kg, 80 mg/kg)-administered groups. For exclusion of intrinsic testosterone influence, a bilateral orchiectomy was done on all except the control group. An experimental prostate hyperplasia was induced by the subcutaneous administration of 3 mg/kg testosterone propionate for 4 weeks to all except the control group. Anthocyanin administration was done in the last 4 weeks in the anthocyanin-administered groups. After 8 weeks, the prostates were removed and analyzed for their prostatic weight and histological examination. Then TUNEL staining was done on each group's specimens, and they were analyzed for their apoptotic body counts. RESULTS: The mean prostate weight was found to be 674.17+/-28.24 mg, 1,098.33+/-131.31 mg, 323.00+/-22.41 mg, and 324.00+/-26.80 mg in the control, BPH-induced, and oral anthocyanin-administered (40 mg/kg, 80 mg/kg) groups, respectively. The BPH-induced group showed statistically significant increases in their prostate weights compared with the control group (p<0.05) and the anthocyanin administered groups showed statistically significant decreases compared to the control and BPH-induced groups (p<0.05). Histologically injected testosterone led to prostatic hyperplasia, but anthocyanin-administered groups experienced this change to a lesser extent. Apoptotic body counts in 5x400/HPF were found to be 3.67+/-0.86, 1+/-0.94, 15.67+/-2.36, and 28.33+/-1.71 in each group. The anthocyanin-administered groups showed statistically significant increases in apoptotic body counts compared with the control and BPH induced groups (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In a prostatic hyperplasia-induced rat model, administration of anthocyanin showed the reduction of prostate weight and the increase of apoptosis. We thought that such results were caused by antioxidant reactions of anthocyanin, and administration of the anthocyanin may be effective in benign prostatic hyperplasia, which is the representative geriatric disease of the urological system.
Animals ; Anthocyanins ; Apoptosis ; Humans ; Hyperplasia ; In Situ Nick-End Labeling ; Male ; Negotiating ; Orchiectomy ; Prostate ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; Rats ; Soybeans ; Testosterone ; Testosterone Propionate ; Weights and Measures

PURPOSE: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs, Aroclor 1254), synthetic chlorinated organic compounds, are known to decrease thyroid function, sperm count, and fertility, and increase the risk of testicular cancer; they may have serious effects on male reproduction. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible protective role of palmiwon on PCB-induced spermiotoxicity in rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 90-day-old male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups, each consisting of ten animals. The control group (Group I) received corn oil, the second group of rats (Group II) was administered 2 mg/kg body weight/day of Aroclor 1254+corn oil intraperitoneally for 30 days. The third group of rats (Group III) was treated with 2 mg/kg body weight/day of Aroclor 1254+corn oil intraperitoneally plus palmiwon (300 mg/day) orally for 30 days. Twenty-four hours after the last treatment, the animals were killed by decapitation. Their serum testosterone levels was measured before and after the experimental medication was taken, and the number and motility of sperm, which had been collected from the cauda epididymal region, were evaluated. RESULTS: The results of this experiment show that treatment with palmiwon significantly improved sperm motility and number in rats that had been exposed to PCBs. There was no marked difference in body weight, testis weight, or epididymis weight among the groups. Nor were there any significant pathological differences in the testes among the groups. CONCLUSIONS: Palmiwon has the potential for treating PCB-induced spermiotoxicity. More experiments with larger samples and a longer period of treatment are needed.
Animals ; Aroclors ; Biphenyl Compounds ; Body Weight ; Corn Oil ; Decapitation ; Epididymis ; Fertility ; Humans ; Male ; Polychlorinated Biphenyls ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reproduction ; Sperm Count ; Sperm Motility ; Spermatozoa ; Testis ; Testosterone ; Thyroid Gland

PURPOSE: Prostatitis is a common condition with a significant effect on quality of life. Even though the etiology of chronic prostatitis remains unclear, certain bacterial infections may play a major role. In recent studies, E. coli, one important etiology of urinary tract infection, was found to mediate invasion into the bladder epithelium after binding uroplakin Ia in the apical membrane of the urinary bladder. Because E. coli is also an important pathogen for bacterial prostatitis, we investigated the uroplakin mRNA expression in micro-dissected mouse prostates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We harvested the urinary bladder, ventral prostate, dorso-lateral prostate, and coagulating gland from 3 male imprinting control region (ICR) mice. The total RNA was extracted, cDNA was prepared, and finally the five target genes--uroplakin Ia, Ib, II, III, and beta-actin were amplified. We also examined the expressed sequence tags (EST) about above four uroplakin genes from mouse EST data. RESULTS: Uroplakin Ia, Ib, II, and III were expressed in the urinary bladder. However, only uroplakin Ia was definitively expressed in the ventral prostate. Uroplakin Ib and II were weakly expressed in the ventral, dorso-lateral, and coagulating prostate. Uroplakin III was not expressed in the prostate tissue. The mouse RNA transcripts in the EST data also showed similar results to uroplakin expression in the prostate. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the mouse ventral prostate may be an adequate locus for acute or chronic bacterial prostatitis study. Further in-vitro bacteriologic studies of the ventral prostate will help reveal the mechanisms of chronic bacterial prostatitis.
Actins ; Animals ; Bacterial Infections ; DNA, Complementary ; Epithelium ; Expressed Sequence Tags ; Humans ; Male ; Membranes ; Mice ; Prostate ; Prostatitis ; Quality of Life ; RNA ; RNA, Messenger ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Tract Infections ; Uroplakin Ia ; Uroplakin Ib ; Uroplakin III ; Uroplakins

PURPOSE: This study was performed to evaluate chromatin condensation of morphologically mature sperm using a modified aniline blue-eosin (AB-E) staining method in azoospermia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Chromatin condensation was analyzed using an AB-E staining method in 61 cases (50 patients) of TESE or testicular biopsy with the patient's own sperm. Obstructive azoospermia (OA) was present in 48 cases in 39 patients and non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) was present in 13 cases in 11 patients, respectively. Immature sperm heads were stained dark blue, whereas mature sperm were stained red-pink by the eosin. The percentage of sperm chromatin condensation was calculated from the ratio of the number of red-pink sperm to the total number of sperm analyzed. RESULTS: The percentage of chromatin maturity was 37.7% vs. 30.3% in OA and NOA, respectively, of the total sperm cell count. The maturity of fresh testicular sperm was 38.3% and 36.3% in OA and NOA, respectively. Also, the maturity of thawed testicular sperm was 34.5% and 10.3% (p<0.05) in OA and NOA, respectively. The maturity of fresh and thawed testicular sperm was 36.3% and 10.3% (p<0.05), respectively, in NOA. These results suggest that chromatin condensation is less stable in sperm of NOA and freezing and thawing procedures may impair sperm chromatin condensation. CONCLUSIONS: In our results, the aniline blue-eosin staining method improved the visualization of excessive histones in sperm and the diagnosis of sperm immaturity in morphologically normal testicular sperm. We found that AB-E staining method can be an effective method for analyzing testicular sperm chromatin condensation in azoospermia.
Aniline Compounds ; Azoospermia ; Biopsy ; Cell Count ; Chromatin ; Eosine Yellowish-(YS) ; Freezing ; Histones ; Humans ; Sperm Head ; Spermatozoa

PURPOSE: Transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) has been implicated in cavernous fibrosis due to a variety of causes of erectile dysfunction (ED), such as diabetes mellitus and post-radical prostatectomy. To examine the role of the TGF-beta signaling pathway in cavernous fibrosis, we established a rat model of cavernous fibrosis by using adenovirus expressing TGF-beta1 (ad-TGF-beta1). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Four-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats received intracavernous injection of ad-TGF-beta1 (1x10(8), 1x10(9), or 1x10(10) virus particles [vp] in 100 microliter of PBS) and the penis was harvested for histologic examination at 10, 20, or 30 days after injection (n=4 per group and per time point). Based on the initial findings, the animals were divided into three groups (n=6 per group): Group 1, age-matched control; Group 2, intracavernous injection of ad-LacZ (1x10(10) vp/100 microliter); and Group 3, intracavernous injection of ad-TGF-beta1 (1x10(10) vp/100 microliter). At 30 days after injection, erectile function was evaluated during electrical stimulation of the cavernous nerve. The penis was then harvested and stained with Masson's trichrome and antibody to smooth muscle alpha-actin. RESULTS: Masson's trichrome staining revealed that intracavernous delivery of ad-TGF-beta1 sufficiently induced cavernous fibrosis in a dose-dependent manner. The fibrotic scars persisted up to 30 days after injection at the highest dosage (1x10(10) vp/100 microliter), whereas no histologic evidence of cavernous fibrosis was found in the control rats or the ad-LacZ-injected rats. The rats receiving ad-TGF-beta1 showed a higher cavernous collagen content and less smooth muscle content than the control rats or ad-LacZ-injected rats. Erectile function was significantly decreased in rats receiving ad-TGF-beta1 compared with that in controls or rats receiving ad-LacZ. CONCLUSIONS: This model induced by ad-TGF-beta1 may play an important role in understanding the pathophysiologic mechanisms of cavernous fibrosis-associated TGF-beta signaling and the development of new therapeutics targeting this pathway.
Actins ; Adenoviridae ; Animals ; Caves ; Cicatrix ; Collagen ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Electric Stimulation ; Erectile Dysfunction ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Male ; Muscle, Smooth ; Penis ; Prostatectomy ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Transforming Growth Factor beta ; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 ; Virion

PURPOSE: The phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are critical components in the cyclic AMP/protein kinase A and the cyclic GMP/phosphokinase G signaling pathways. The cAMP and cGMP pathways are regulated by activation and dissolution of PDEs. Benfotiamine, a lipophilic derivation of thiamine is known an activator of transketolase, is reported to prevent diabetic nephropathy by decreasing proteinuria and reducing oxidative stress. We did this study to investigate the effect of benfotiamine in type 2 diabetic rat kidneys. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We prepared 10 male Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (LETO: control) and 20 male Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats, which developed non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) naturally. An oral glucose tolerance test confirmed diabetic development in the OLETF rats at 26 weeks. We classified 10 of the OLETF rats into Group I, the no treatment group and the other 10 into Group II, the treatment group. Group II received 100 mg/kg benfotiamine after developing DM. At 44 weeks, we checked kidney weight, serum glucose, free testosterone, insulin, total cholesterol, and triglyceride before sacrifice. We designed the primers for rat PDE5, PDE5A1, and PDE5A2 genes were carried out semiquantitive multiplex RT-PCR. Immunohistochemical staining was performed for monoclonal mouse anti-cGB-PDE5 and mouse monoclonal anti-smooth muscle alpha-actin. RESULTS: For the Control Group, Group I, and Group II, kidney weight was 2.13+/-0.23, 2.08+/-0.22, and 1.94+/-0.44 g; serum glucose was 279.50+/-56.79, 338.00+/-55.00, and 314.71+/-139.1 mg/dl; free testosterone was 1.46+/-1.08, 1.05+/- 0.42, and 0.72+/-0.56 pg/dl; insulin was 1.03+/-0.43, 1.09+/-0.83, and 1.15+/-1.08 ng/ml; total cholesterol was 86.83+/-4.79, 132.00+/-7.69, and 118.14+/-30.93 mg/dl; and triglyceride was 78.83+/-16.47, 177.83+/-75.62, and 194.57+/-92.57 mg/dl, respectively. All three groups expressed PDE5, PDE5A1, PDE5A2 mRNA, but Group I PDE5 mRNA expression was lower than that of Group C, II. However, the expression of PDE5A1 and PDE5A2 mRNA was not significantly different among the three groups. CONCLUSIONS: Serum cholesterol, triglyceride, and glucose were significantly higher in OLETF than in LETO rats. The PDEs were lower in diabetic rat (OLETF) kidneys and PDEs may play a significant role in the development of diabetic renal complications. Benfotiamine is suggested to increase expression of PDE5 mRNA in the type 2 diabetes rat kidney, but the difference in expression levels between PDE5A1 and PDE5A2 was not significant. These findings suggest that benfotiamine may play a specific role in diabetic changes of the rat kidney via a PDE5-related pathway, but it is not clear whether subtype PDE5A1 and PDE5A2 genes play a specific role.
Actins ; Animals ; Cholesterol ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 ; Diabetic Nephropathies ; Diethylstilbestrol ; Glucose ; Glucose Tolerance Test ; Humans ; Insulin ; Kidney ; Male ; Mice ; Muscles ; Oxidative Stress ; Phosphoric Diester Hydrolases ; Phosphotransferases ; Protein Isoforms ; Proteinuria ; Rats ; Rats, Inbred OLETF ; RNA, Messenger ; Testosterone ; Thiamine ; Transketolase

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate time-dependent changes in erectile function and responsiveness to type 5 phosphodiesterase (PDE5) inhibitor in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-five 8-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into two groups: diabetic (n=50) and control (n=25). The diabetic group received a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin. The diabetic rats and age-matched control rats underwent cavernosometry before and after administration of DA-8159 (a novel PDE5 inhibitor) at 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 weeks after induction of diabetes. The erectile response elicited by electrical stimulation of the cavernous nerve (3 V, width 0.2 msec, duration 30 seconds) was measured at several frequencies (2.5, 5, 10, and 20 Hz). Intracavernous pressure (ICP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were continuously monitored. Comparisons were made for ICP/MAP and areas under the curve (AUC) corresponding to the duration of electrical stimulation. The AUC was also corrected by the MAP. RESULTS: Diabetic rats maintained normal erectile responses until 6 weeks after diabetic induction. Following 8 weeks of diabetes, the rats showed significantly lower ICP/MAP and AUC/MAP at higher frequencies of nerve stimulation, which were normalized to controls by administration of DA-8159. In contrast, both physiologic parameters were significantly decreased in the 10-week diabetic rats and ICP/MAP at 20 Hz stimulation frequency recovered only by injection of DA-8159. At more than 12 weeks of diabetes, the rats demonstrated severe deterioration of erectile function, which did not fully respond to PDE5 inhibitor. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study indicate that impairment of erectile function is followed by decreased responsiveness to PDE5 inhibitor during the course of diabetes.
Animals ; Area Under Curve ; Arterial Pressure ; Caves ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Electric Stimulation ; Erectile Dysfunction ; Humans ; Injections, Intraperitoneal ; Male ; Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors ; Pyrimidines ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Streptozocin ; Sulfonamides