Leydig cells, located in the loose interstitial tissue of seminiferous tubules, are the major site for androgen synthesis and secretion, and play an important role in the reproductively and fertility of males. The dysfunction of Leydig cells may lead to various male diseases, such as primary hypogonadism, cryptorchidism, and hypospadias. This review outlines the recent findings concerning the generation, development and regulation of Leydig cells.
Cell Differentiation ; Humans ; Leydig Cells ; cytology ; Male

Evidence-based medicine was applied in the clinic teaching and ward inspection of superficial bladder cancer as far as no consensus was reached on its treatment.Some preferred to total cystectomy while others favored transurethral resection of bladder tumor and bladder instillation.In order to solve this problem,evidence-based medicine was applied in our clinic teaching procedure.Students were asked to read relative papers and draw the final conclusions with evidence-based medicine.Clinical guidance was provided for the students to promote clinical application.

Objective To study the MR imaging technology and 3D reconstruction of the articular cartilage of knee.MethodsConventional,2D,3D and multiparameter MR imaging scans of knee were performed in ninety patients with trauma(n=34)andosteoarthritis(n=56) of knee and 10 healthy volunteers.The articular cartilages on 3D images were reconstructed using maximum intensity projection(MIP).The mean thickness of articular cartilage was measured and analysed statistically.Results Articular cartilages of knee were clearly depicted by MR imaging technique and 3D.On 2D FSE sequence,about 50% of articular cartilage appeared as three laminar apearance.On 3D imaging,the three-dimensional morphology of articular cartilage was showed clearly.Conclusion MR imaging and 3D reconstruction of the articular cartilages of knee is helpful in early diagnosis and treatment of disordered cartilages.

24. Of 6 patients positive in SDS, 4 cases scored 56 as moderate depression. Mean score was 47.62 for SDS, and 20.31 for HAM before treatment, and 32.23 for SDS, and 8.97 for HAM after 5 weeks of treatment. The differences were statistically significant (P

Objective:To investigate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at Neiguan (PC 6) and Baihui (GV 20) by observing the changes of CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein(C/EBP) homologous protein (CHOP) and caspase-12 gene expressions in rats after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI), and explore whether the apoptosis pathway of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) is involved in the protective mechanisms of EA.
Methods:Sixty rats were randomly assigned to five groups (12 in each group): a normal control group (group A), a sham-operation group (group B), an operation group (group C), an Edaravone group (group D) and an EA group (group E). The cerebral IRI rat model was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) using intraluminal monofilament. 2,3,5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) staining was adopted in the measurement of cerebral infarction volume. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the mRNA expressions of CHOP and caspase-12.
Results: Compared with group A and group B, the volume of cerebral infarction and mRNA expressions of CHOP and caspase-12 in group C, group D and group E were increased, with statistical significances (P<0.05 orP<0.01); compared with group C, the volume of cerebral infarction and mRNA expressions of CHOP and caspase-12 in group D and group E were decreased significantly (P<0.05 orP<0.01); there were no significant differences between group D and group E in comparing the above items (P>0.05).
Conclusion:EA at Neiguan (PC 6) and Baihui (GV 20) can effectively suppress the volume of cerebral infarction. Furthermore, the underlying mechanism of EA at Neiguan (PC 6) and Baihui (GV 20) is possibly related to the down-regulation of CHOP and caspase-12 mRNA expressions, so as to decrease cell apoptosis.

Objective To probe the feasibility of susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) for evaluation of renal blood oxygenation level of healthy volunteers after water loading.Methods SWI of 11 healthy volunteers,acquired before (group 1) and after water loading (group 2),were assessed retrospectively by two radiologists with more than 10 years abdominal work experience independently.In those images of the same section plane derived from two groups,the phase values in cortex ((φ)cor) and medulla ((φ)med),difference between the same vein and surrounding tissue on phase map (△(φ)) were measured using SPIN software package,and the oxygen extraction fraction changes (△OEF) was calculated.The (φ)cor,(φ)med and △(φ) between two groups were compared by paired t test.And the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)was used to evaluate the consistency between two radiologists.Results For the radiologist 1,the (φ)cor,(φ)med and △(φ) were (0.046 ±0.019),(-0.014 ±0.003) and (1.3 ±0.4) rad in group 1,and were (0.047 ±0.014),(-0.012 ±0.005) and (1.1 ±0.4) rad in group 2 respectively,and no significant change was found in (φ)cor and (φ)med after water loading (t =-0.589 and-0.206,P ＞ 0.05 in all),except of in △(φ) (t =2.400,P ＜ 0.01).For the radiologist 2,the (φ)cor,(φ)med and △△(φ) were (0.049 ± 0.011),(-0.012 ± 0.004)and (1.5 ±0.4) rad in Group 1,and were (0.046 ±0.017),(-0.011 ±0.003) and (1.3 ±0.2) rad in group 2 respectively,there was no significant change in (φ)cor and (φ)med after water loading (t =0.590 and -0.974,P ＞ 0.05 in all),except of in △(φ) (t =2.760,P ＜ 0.05).Between two radiologists,the ICC of (φ)cor,(φ)med and △(φ) were 0.623,0.472 and 0.328 in group 1 and 0.599,0.442 and 0.445 in group 2 respectively.△OEF decreased about (-4.2 ± 2.3) c％ and (-4.3 ± 2.8) c％ measured by two radiologists respectively,and the consistency is good between two radiologists (ICC =0.784).Conclusion SWI provides a novel method to assess indirectly the oxygenation level of kidney,△OEF is an indicator with suitable reliability.

Objective To explore the value of abnormal imaging findings on susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) in delayed graft function (DGF). Methods The conventional MRI and SWI images of 26 cases with DGF and 20 cases with normal renal function of transplanted kidneys were retrospectively analyzed. Patients with cysts and angiomyolipomas were excluded. Normal structures of transplanted kidney were identified. If lesions of abnormal signal intensity were found in the transplanted kidney, the location, border and signal intensity compared to renal cortex would be analyzed. The differences in signal intensity between the abnormal signal lesions and normal renal cortex in the same SWI layer of DGF were compared by using independent-sample t test. The differences in positive detection rate of discovering the abnormal signal lesions in DGF between conventional MRI and SWI were compared by using McNemar test. Results Of the 26 cases with DGF, one case was found to exhibit abnormally low signal lesions with fuzzy boundary located at junctional zone between cortex and medulla on both conventional MRI and SWI images. Ten cases were found to exhibit abnormally low signal lesions with fuzzy boundary located at junctional zone between cortex and medulla on SWI images only. Fifteen cases exhibited no abnormal signal lesions on both conventional MRI and SWI images. Twenty cases with normal renal function of transplanted kidney, no abnormal signal lesions were found on both conventional MRI and SWI images. The differences in signal intensity between the abnormally low signal lesions (130±20) and normal renal cortex (177±25) in the same SWI layer of 11 cases with DGF were statistically significant (t=-4.582,P<0.01). The differences in positive detection rate of discovering the abnormally low signal lesions in DGF between conventional MRI [3.8%(1/26)] and SWI [42.3% (11/26)] were statistically significant (χ2=8.100,P=0.002). Conclusions Abnormally low signal lesions with fuzzy boundary located at junctional zone between cortex and medulla on SWI images suggest the presence of DGF. Compared with conventional MRI, SWI appears to be superior in detecting the abnormally low signal lesions.

OBJECTIVE: To review the clinical manifestations and management of nasal sinus mucoceles invaded the skull base and orbit. METHOD: Medical records for 30 patients of paranasal sinus mucoceles invaded the skull base and orbit were reviewed retrospectively. CT and MRI were important tools for diagnosing nasal sinus mucocele. The patients received endoscopic surgery to remove mucocele, some of them were operated auxiliary incision. Steroid therapies were given after the operations and routine examination with endoscopy were carried out during follow-up. RESULT: All cases were successfully performed surgery without complications after the surgeries, or the majority of symptoms. However, vision recovery was observed only in some patients. Recovery of vision depended on the timing of surgery and severity of initial visual loss. Delay treatment can seriously compromise the recovery of vision impairment. Moreover, the patients without light perception before surgery had poor visual recovery even when optic nerve decompressions were performed. CONCLUSION Endoscopic surgery has effect on nasal sinus mucocele with visual loss. Because visual recovery depends on prompt diagnosis and surgical intervention,a good understanding of the disease and prompt imaging studies are important.
Adult ; Aged ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Mucocele ; pathology ; surgery ; Orbit ; pathology ; surgery ; Paranasal Sinus Diseases ; pathology ; surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Skull Base ; pathology ; surgery ; Young Adult

In order to select high quality and suitable Bupleuri Radix varieties in Qingchuan, and establish a new comprehensive method to evaluation the quality of Bupleuri Radix, 12 characters of 14 samples were evaluated by DTOPSIS and grey related degree. The results showed that varieties No. 8 and No. 10 had high quality. DTOPSIS and grey related degree gave the uniformity result, and the biggest difference of value of Ci in DTOPSIS method was 46. 33% , but the biggest difference of the weighting correlation number( r (i)) in grey related degree was only 13.10%. The DTOPSIS combined with grey related degree can evaluate the quality of Bupleuri Radix comprehensively and objectively.
Bupleurum ; chemistry ; China ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; supply & distribution ; Quality Control ; Statistics as Topic ; methods