This article briefly retrospect the development of microarray, introduces the basic working procedures and the current challenges of DNA microarray, and reviews its application to andrological research, as on the testis, spermatogenic cells, epididymis and sperm. We hope it could play a directive role in the studies of male infertility.
Andrology ; Animals ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Humans ; Male ; Mice ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; RNA Interference ; Spermatozoa ; metabolism ; Testis ; metabolism

AIMTo detect the expression of VASA in human ejaculated spermatozoa, and to compare the expression of VASA between normozoospermic men and patients with oligozoospermia.

METHODSEjaculated spermatozoa were collected from normozoospermic men and patients with oligozoospermia by masturbation, and subsequently segregated through a discontinuous gradient of Percoll to obtain the spermatozoa. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), quantitative RT-PCR (QRT-PCR), immunoflurescence and Western blotting were used to detect the expression of VASA in mRNA and protein levels.

RESULTSVASA mRNA was expressed in the ejaculated spermatozoa. QRT-PCR analysis showed that VASA mRNA level was approximately 5-fold higher in normozoospermic men than that in oligozoospermic men. Immunofluorescence and Western blotting analysis showed that VASA protein was located on the cytoplasmic membrane of heads and tails of spermatozoa, and its expression was significantly decreased in oligozoospermic men, which is similar to the result of QRT-PCR.

CONCLUSIONThe expression of VASA mRNA and protein was significantly decreased in the sperm of oligozoospermic men, which suggested the lower expression of the VASA gene might be associated with pathogenesis in some subtypes of male infertility and VASA could be used as a molecular marker for the diagnosis of male infertility.

Biomarkers ; metabolism ; Blotting, Western ; DEAD-box RNA Helicases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect ; Gene Expression ; Humans ; Male ; Oligospermia ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathology ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Spermatozoa ; cytology ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo summarize clinical application of the sural medial gastrocnemius island muscle flap to cover wound of infection on upper region of the tibial.

METHODSNine patients (7 men, 2 women) with soft tissue defects on the upper region of the tibial underwent reconstruction with the sural medial gastrocnemius island muscle flap. The age ranged from 21 to 60 years old (mean, 34 years). The immediate coverage of the muscle flaps were performed by a meshed split-thickness skin graft. The donor site was closed directly. The donor leg was ipsilateral in all cases.

RESULTSOnly one case sustained superficial infection postoperative and the gradual wound healed by daily wound dressings. All the muscle flaps and skin graft had survived completely without major complication with satisfactory clinical results. All patients were followed-up for 13 months to 4 years (mean 21 months), the donor site was healing, there was no remarkable donor site morbidity.

CONCLUSIONThe sural medial gastrocnemius island muscle flap is nourished by the medial sural artery. The muscle flaps seem to have highly vascularize, a constant vascular anatomy and a long vascular pedicle. The muscle flap is thin and suitable for repairing soft tissue defect on the upper region of the tibial.

Adult ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Muscle, Skeletal ; cytology ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Surgical Flaps ; Tibia ; injuries ; Wound Infection ; surgery

OBJECTIVETo investigate the risk factors of intestinal acute graft-versus-host disease (aGVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT).

METHODSThe clinical data of 534 cases of 533 patients undergoing allo-HSCT during Jan 2004 and Sep 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. The effects of donor-recipient HLA mismatching, recipient age, donor age, donor-recipient sex combination, donor-recipient relationship, HSC source, conditioning regimen with or without total body irradiation (TBI) and HLA loci on intestinal aGVHD with different severity were analyzed by Logistic regression.

RESULTSIntestinal aGVHD occurred in 123(23.0%) cases, with 86(16.1%) cases of stage 1 intestinal aGVHD(16.1%) and 37(6.9%) cases of stage 2 to 4 intestinal aGVHD. Multivariate analysis showed that donor-recipient HLA mismatching (OR=2.519, P=0.002), increasing donor age (OR=1.034, P=0.003), female donor for male recipient (OR=1.855, P=0.007) were risk factors for intestinal aGVHD, HLA-B38 (OR=0.256, P=0.032) was its protective factor. Donor-recipient HLA mismatching (OR=2.799, P=0.011), increasing donor age (OR=1.045, P=0.012), HLA-A1 (OR=4.157, P=0.002), A30 (OR=3.143, P=0.005) were risk factors for stage 2 to 4 intestinal aGVHD.

CONCLUSIONOccurrence of intestinal aGVHD and its severity are associated with donor-recipient HLA mismatching, donor age, donor-recipient sex relationships and some HLA loci.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Female ; Graft vs Host Disease ; epidemiology ; Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Intestinal Diseases ; epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Tissue Donors ; Transplantation, Homologous ; adverse effects ; Young Adult

BACKGROUNDThe Red Cross of China and Ministry of Health jointly started a pilot program of organ donation after cardiac death to overcome the shortage of available organs since 2010. The purpose of this qualitative study were to compare the consent rate of organ donation between young donor families and adult donor families; to explore and determine factors associated with differences in willingness to donate organs between them. Research objective was to provide a rationale for further preparation of professionals involved in this sensitive work.

METHODSBetween March 2010 and June 2012, 24 young deceased patients including donors and non-donors and 96 potential adult donors were collected, and consent rates of young donors' families and adult donors' families were calculated. A χ(2) test analysis to compare the consent rates of the two groups was conducted. We studied through semistructured interviews 15 parents of young donors and 15 relatives of old donors who were interviewed for petition of consent. Data collection and analysis of the overall study were performed according to the grounded theory methodology. Factors that influenced the families' decisions were identified and classified. We found the differences in willingness to donate organs between the two groups.

RESULTSThe consent rate of young donor families was 66.67%, while the consent rate of adult donor families was 26.04%. Young donor families easily consented to organ donation than adult donor families (P < 0.005). The donors' families had been affected by various factors throughout the process of deciding to give consent for donation. The findings led to the formulation of an empirically based model of interlinking categories that influence families' decision-making process in organ donation. These factors are grouped into five main categories: (1) personal factors, (2) conditions of organ request, (3) interpersonal factors, (4) ethical factors, and (5) traditional views. The funeral tradition influenced the young donor parents' consent to donation, but had no relation with family decision of adult donors. And the family members of young donors are relatively less, who are more likely to reach a consensus.

CONCLUSIONSYoung donor families influenced by traditional funeral beliefs are easier to consent to organ donation than adult donor families. Family members of young donors are relatively less who are more likely to reach a consensus. Acceptance of the expanded criteria donors may improve the organ donation rates, especially those of the advanced age.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Cadaver ; China ; Family ; psychology ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Tissue and Organ Procurement

Recently, suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 (SOCS3) has been shown to be an inducible endogenous negative regulator of Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway which is relevant in inflammatory response, while its functions in acute liver failure and HBV-induced acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we explored the role of SOCS3 in the development of mouse hepatitis virus strain 3 (MHV-3)-induced acute liver failure and its expression in liver and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with HBV-ACLF. Inflammation-related gene expression was detected by real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. The correlation between SOCS3 level and liver injury was studied. Our results showed that the SOCS3 expression was significantly elevated in both the liver tissue and PBMCs from patients with HBV-ACLF compared to mild chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Moreover, a time course study showed that SOCS3 level was increased remarkably in the liver of BALB/cJ mice at 72 h post-infection. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, were also increased significantly at 72 h post-infection. There was a close correlation between hepatic SOCS3 level and IL-6, and the severity of liver injury defined by alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels, respectively. These data suggested that SOCS3 may play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of MHV-3-induced acute liver failure and HBV-ACLF.

Lysine acetyltransferase 5 (KAT5), a member of the MYST family, can participate in cellular processes such as transcription, DNA repair, differentiation and signal transduction by acetylating different substrates. The role of KAT5 cannot be replaced by other MYST family members, and the knockout of KAT5 can directly lead to apoptosis, indicating that KAT5 may be located in the upstream of physiological signaling pathways in cells and play an extremely important and unique role. Therefore, the changes in KAT5 expression are very likely to lead to the occurrence and development of tumors. Previous studies have found that KAT5 is downregulated in breast cancer, melanoma, and lung cancer, and is considered a tumor suppressor in these tumors. However, in recent years, studies have found that KAT5 can be either highly or lowly expressed in breast cancer, liver cancer, melanoma, prostate cancer, lung cancer and other tumors. On the premise of high KAT5 expression, KAT5 can play a tumor-promoting role. While on the premise of low KAT5 expression, KAT5 can also play as a tumor suppressor. With further decrease of KAT5 expression, its tumor suppressive effect is weakened, which may lead to the occurrence and development of tumors. In addition, KAT5 has also been found to be differentially expressed in osteosarcoma, thyroid cancer, glioblastoma, colorectal cancer and other tumors, and the differential expression of KAT5 is closely related to the proliferation, metastasis, apoptosis, drug and radiotherapy resistance of tumor cells. Therefore, KAT5 is one of the potential tumor therapeutic targets. Here, we summarize the expression of KAT5 in tumors and the tumor-suppressing or tumor-promoting signaling pathways involved in the corresponding expression in recent years, hoping to provide new inspiration and reference for tumor treatment and prognosis monitoring.

OBJECTIVESTo explore the association of sleep duration with obesity among children in urban areas of China.

METHODSA total of 6 576 children (3 293 boys and 3 283 girls) aged 7-11 years were randomly selected from 36 primary schools in 6 metropolitan cities in China. A 7-day Physical Activity Recall was used to assess the sleep duration and physical activity level. The height, weight, waist circumference (WC) and percentage of body fat (%BF, as determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis technique) were measured by following the standardized operation procedures. The information on demography, lifestyle and eating habits was collected with a self-administered questionnaire from participants and their parents.

RESULTSThe average sleep duration per night in the children was 9.7 h with the decreasing trends along with the increase of age (P < 0.05). The sleep duration was negatively associated with body mass index (BMI) and WC in both boys and girls after adjustment for confounders (beta value -0.23 and -0.82 for boys, -0.24 and -0.91 for girls, respectively, P < 0.01). However, no significant association of sleep duration with %BF was found. Children who slept less than 9.0 h per night had a higher risk for overweight and obesity (OR = 1.29, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.64) and abdominal obesity (OR=1.38, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.83) as compared with those who slept for 10.0-10.9 h.

CONCLUSIONSShort sleep duration is associated with obesity. It is important to ensure adequate sleep duration of children and foster their healthy lifestyle at an early stage of life.

Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Obesity ; epidemiology ; Sleep ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo explore the associations between sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and obesity as well as obesity-related cardiometabolic disorders among children in China.

METHODSA total of 6974 (boys 3558, girls 3412) children aged 6-13 years participated in the study. Each participant's height, weight, waist circumference, fasting glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were measured. The type of beverage consumption was determined using a self-administered questionnaire.

RESULTSSSBs were consumed regularly by 46.1% of the children. The prevalence [adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence internal (CI)] of obesity was 7.6% [as the reference group (ref.)], 10.1% [1.36(1.07, 1.74)], and 11.6% [1.46(1.21, 1.75)], among children who regularly drank milk, other beverages and SSBs, respectively. Regularly drinking SSBs elevated the likelihood of abdominal obesity [adjusted odds ratio (95% CI): 1.36 (1.17, 1.59)]. The prevalence [adjusted odds ratio (95% CI)] of obesity among children who regularly drank sports/caloric beverages, carbonated beverages, sweet tea, and plant protein beverages was 16.8% [2.00(1.31, 3.07)], 12.7% [1.52(1.23, 1.88)], 11.5% [1.52(1.18, 1.95)], and 10.4% [1.41(1.03, 1.94)], respectively, which was higher than that of regular milk drinkers [7.6 % (ref.)]. The prevalence [adjusted odds ratio (95% CI)] of abdominal obesity among children who regularly drank sweet tea, fruit/vegetable juices, and carbonated beverages was 17.7% [1.55(1.26, 1.90)], 16.2% [1.36(1.09, 1.70)], and 15.3% [1.24(1.03, 1.50)], respectively, which was much higher than that of regular milk drinkers [12.8% (ref.)].

CONCLUSIONSRegular SSB consumption was positively related to obesity and abdominal obesity. This relationship should be investigated further using a longitudinal study design.

Adolescent ; Anthropometry ; Beverages ; Blood Pressure ; Child ; China ; epidemiology ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Obesity ; epidemiology ; Sweetening Agents

Recently, suppressor of cytokine signaling-3 (SOCS3) has been shown to be an inducible endogenous negative regulator of Janus kinase/signal transducers and activators of transcription (JAK/STAT) pathway which is relevant in inflammatory response, while its functions in acute liver failure and HBV-induced acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) have not been fully elucidated. In this study, we explored the role of SOCS3 in the development of mouse hepatitis virus strain 3 (MHV-3)-induced acute liver failure and its expression in liver and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with HBV-ACLF. Inflammation-related gene expression was detected by real-time PCR, immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. The correlation between SOCS3 level and liver injury was studied. Our results showed that the SOCS3 expression was significantly elevated in both the liver tissue and PBMCs from patients with HBV-ACLF compared to mild chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Moreover, a time course study showed that SOCS3 level was increased remarkably in the liver of BALB/cJ mice at 72 h post-infection. Pro-inflammatory cytokines, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, were also increased significantly at 72 h post-infection. There was a close correlation between hepatic SOCS3 level and IL-6, and the severity of liver injury defined by alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels, respectively. These data suggested that SOCS3 may play a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of MHV-3-induced acute liver failure and HBV-ACLF.
Adult ; Alanine Transaminase ; blood ; Animals ; Aspartate Aminotransferases ; blood ; Blotting, Western ; End Stage Liver Disease ; genetics ; pathology ; virology ; Female ; Gene Expression ; Hepatitis, Viral, Animal ; genetics ; pathology ; virology ; Host-Pathogen Interactions ; Humans ; Interleukin-1beta ; genetics ; metabolism ; Interleukin-6 ; genetics ; metabolism ; Leukocytes, Mononuclear ; metabolism ; virology ; Liver Failure, Acute ; genetics ; pathology ; virology ; Male ; Mice, Inbred BALB C ; Middle Aged ; Murine hepatitis virus ; physiology ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Severity of Illness Index ; Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 3 Protein ; Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling Proteins ; blood ; genetics ; metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; genetics ; metabolism ; Young Adult