Objective:To investigate whether different type of chronic prostatitis could have a deleterious effect on semen quality. Methods: Forty-nine patients diagnosed as suffering from chronic prostatitis were included and di-vided into groups according to the presence of infection and/or cellular autoimmune response against prostate anti-gens. Healthy normal individuals were included as controls. Measurements for sperm concentration, motility, morphology, prostate and seminal vesicle markers, antisperm antibodies, white blood cells and pro-inflammatory cytokines were performed accordingly. Results:The most severe abnormalities were found in patients with no evi-dent infection and an autoimmune response against prostate antigens. Moreover, significantly increased levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines were detected in seminal plasma from these patients. Conclusions: This study shows that chronic prostatitis patients with cellular autoimmune response to prostate antigens present important altera-tions in their semen quality parameters and may affect male fertility.

Objective:To explore the efficacy of traditional chinese medicine Danhong on renal pathological lesions of rats with early chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the role of transforming growth factorβ1(TGF‐β1) in it .Methods:Thirty male SD rats were divided into three groups :the early CKD group (model group) ,the sham‐operated group (control group) and Danhong treated group (treated group) ,with 10 in each group .Rats in the three groups were treated by uninephrectomy for building up early CKD model ,sham‐operation (separating tissues to renal capsule without kidney excision) ,and Danhong treatment after building up model ,respectively .Renal pathological lesions ,24 h urine protein excretion and renal function were observed .The concentration of TGF‐β1 in renal cortex and overall expression of TGF‐β1 in renal tissue was examined by enzyme‐linked immune‐sorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemistry ,respectively .Results:Mild to moderate proliferation of glomeruli mesangial cells accompanied by broadened mesangium matrix ,glomeruli capsule wall adhesion and change of capillary wall , interstitial fibrosis and inflammatory monocytes infiltration was found in the model group other than the control group .Renal lesions were alleviated dramatically in treated group ,while compared to that in model group .The gross renal pathological score in model group was higher than that in control group (P<0 .05) ,however ,the score in treated group was lower than that in model group (P<0 .05) .The 24 h urinary protein excretion in model group and treated group was higher than that in control group (P<0 .01) ,while the 24 h urinary protein excretion in treated group was lower than that in model group (P<0 .01) . There was no significant difference among the three groups regarding blood creatinine level and urea level .Serum CysC levels in model group and treated group increased significantly than that in control group (P<0 .05) .The concentration of TGF‐β1 in renal cortex and overall expression of TGF‐β1 in renal tissue were higher in model group than those in control group(P<0 .05) ,while those in treated group were lower than those in model group (P<0 .05) .TGF‐β1 expression level in renal tissues was significantly associated with both the urinary protein excretion and the total renal pathological scores ( P< 0 .01 ) . Conclusions:Danhong alleviated renal pathological lesions by down‐regulating TGF‐β1 expression .