OBJECTIVETo evaluate and compare the clinical efficacy and safety of the highly selective alpha receptor antagonist tamsulosin and its combination with the M receptor antagonist tolterodine in the treatment of refractory lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

METHODSWe included in this study 184 BPH patients with refractory LUTS with the disease course of 4 weeks to 2 years, whose LUTS were not alleviated after a week's treatment with tamsulosin. The patients were randomly divided into Groups A and B, the former (n=89) treated with tamsulosin at 0.2 mg qd and the latter (n=95) given tolterodine at 2 mg bid in addition to tamsulosin medication, both for 4 weeks. Scores on IPSS, QOL and Qmax were obtained before and after the treatment, and the improvement of LUTS evaluated after the medication.

RESULTSThe tamsulosin group showed no significant differences before and after the treatment in the scores on IPSS (13.23 +/- 4.39 vs. 12.21 +/- 4.07), QOL (4.23 +/- 1.27 vs 3.53 +/- 0.95) and Qmax ([12.3 +/- 8.39] ml/s vs. [14.1 +/- 8.62] mls) (P > 0.05), while the combination group exhibited significantly higher scores on IPSS and QOL and lower score on Qmax after the medication than before it (IPSS: 14.45 +/- 5.31 vs. 6.56 +/- 2.03, P < 0.05; QOL: 4.45 +/- 0.79 vs. 2.34 +/- 0.73, P < 0.05; Qmax: [11.4 +/- 9.21] ml/s vs. [15.5 +/- 8.35] ml/s, P < 0.01). No severe complications were found in any of the cases.

CONCLUSIONCombination of tamsulosin and tolterodine can significantly alleviate refractory LUTS and improve QOL without causing serious adverse events in BPH patients.

Adrenergic alpha-1 Receptor Antagonists ; therapeutic use ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Benzhydryl Compounds ; therapeutic use ; Cresols ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Muscarinic Antagonists ; therapeutic use ; Phenylpropanolamine ; therapeutic use ; Prostatic Hyperplasia ; drug therapy ; Sulfonamides ; therapeutic use ; Tolterodine Tartrate ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo compare the efficacy and safety of sildenafil plus sertraline with those of sertraline alone in the treatment of premature ejaculation (PE).

METHODSSeventy-two patients with PE but without any obvious organic cause were enrolled in this study. They were randomly divided into Groups A and B of equal number. Group A received 50 mg sertraline daily 4 to 6 hours before planned sexual activity for 12 weeks, and Group B were given 50 mg sertraline daily plus 50 mg sildenafil as needed, 1 hour before planned sexual activity, for 12 weeks. Before and after the treatment, the mean intravaginal ejaculation latency time, the intercourse satisfaction, the mean number of coituses per week and the drug-related side effects were evaluated.

RESULTSThe mean intravaginal ejaculatory latency time was (0.59 +/- 0.12), (3.9 +/- 0.15) minutes (P < 0.001) at baseline and post-treatment in Group A, and (0.56 +/- 0.11), (5.6 +/- 0.12) minutes (P < 0.001) in Group B, improved in both of the 2 groups, but more significantly in Group B (P < 0.05). Before and after the treatment, the mean intercourse satisfaction domain values of the IIEF were (8.9 +/- 1.2), (10.8 +/- 1.1) (P < 0.05) and (8.8 +/- 1.1), (13.8 +/- 1.3) (P < 0.001) in Groups A and B, respectively, significantly greater in Group B than in Group A (P < 0.05) after the treatment; the mean numbers of coituses per week in Groups A and B were (0.9 +/- 0.2), (1.9 +/- 0.3) (P < 0.05) and (1.0 +/- 0.2), (2.7 +/- 0.2) (P <0.001) respectively, significantly larger in Group B (P<0.05) after the treatment. As for the side effects, there was a higher rate of headaches (P < 0.01) and flushing episodes (P < 0.001) in Group B than in Group A.

CONCLUSIONSertraline combined with sildenafil can produce significantly better results than sertraline alone in patients with premature ejaculation. However, the combined treatment is associated with a slight increase in the drug-related side effects.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Ejaculation ; Genital Diseases, Male ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Piperazines ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Purines ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Sertraline ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Sildenafil Citrate ; Sulfones ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of growth hormone( GH) supplementation on erectile function and expression of nNOS in the intracavernosal nerves in aging rats.

METHODSTwenty male Sprague-Dawley rats aged 18 months were randomly divided into Groups A and B, and ten 2-month-old male Sprague-Dawley rats included in Group C. 1 U/(kg x d) GH was given to Group A, and the same volume of saline to Groups B and C. After 8 weeks of treatment, evaluation was made of the erections induced by apomorphine (APO), maximal intracavernous pressure (ICP) induced by intracavernous papaverine injection and expression of nNOS in the intracavernosal nerves by streptavidin-peroxidase immunohistochemical techniques.

RESULTSAfter 8 weeks of treatment, the erection frequency, maximal ICP and expression of nNOS in the intracavernosal nerves of the rats in Groups A and C were significantly higher than those in Group B (P < 0.05 or P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONGrowth hormone supplementation can improve the erectile function of aging rats, which may be attributed to the increase in the expression of nNOS in the intracavernosal nerves.

Animals ; Apomorphine ; pharmacology ; Growth Hormone ; pharmacology ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type I ; biosynthesis ; Papaverine ; pharmacology ; Penile Erection ; drug effects ; Penis ; enzymology ; innervation ; Random Allocation ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

Objective: To evaluate the role of the serum testosterone level as an independent predictor of bone metastasis of prostate cancer. METHODS: This study included 165 male patients with prostate cancer confirmed by biopsy. The patients were aged 58－78 (66.6±5.3) years and none had received androgen-deprivation therapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy previously. We obtained the baseline clinical data from the patients, including prostate biopsy Gleason scores and the levels of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA), total testosterone (TT), luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol (E2), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and prolactin. According to the results of bone scanning, we divided the patients into a bone metastasis and a non-bone metastasis group and screened out the differential factors by univariate analysis and the independent predictor of bone metastasis using the multivariate non-conditional logistic regression model. RESULTS: Univariate analysis showed no statistically significant differences between the bone metastasis and non-bone metastasis groups in age (P = 0.126) or the levels of serum LH (P = 0.930), FSH (P = 0.763) and E2 (P = 0.256), but that the former had remarkably higher Gleason scores (P < 0.01), total PSA (P <0.01) and ALP (P <0.01) but a lower TT level than the latter (P = 0.013). According to the results of multivariate logistic regression analysis, serum ALP (P <0.01, OR = 1.018 ［1.011－1.026］) and total PSA (P <0.01, OR = 1.029 ［1.015－1.044］) could be regarded as independent predictors of bone metastasis of prostate cancer but not low serum TT (P = 0.531, OR = 0.999 ［0.996－1.002］) or biopsy Gleason score (P = 0.898, OR = 0.787 ［0.412－1.9559］). CONCLUSIONS The low level of serum testosterone is closely associated with but not an independent predictor of bone metastasis of prostate cancer.
Aged ; Alkaline Phosphatase ; blood ; Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal ; Biopsy ; Bone Neoplasms ; secondary ; Estradiol ; blood ; Follicle Stimulating Hormone ; blood ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Luteinizing Hormone ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Grading ; Prolactin ; blood ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; blood ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; blood ; pathology ; Retrospective Studies ; Testosterone ; blood ; deficiency

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death and the most common malignant tumor, the long-term survival of which has stagnated in the past several decades. Pileostegia tomentella Hand. Mazz is a traditional Chinese medicine called "Zhongliuteng" (ZLT) in the pharmacopeia, which has been proved to possess a potent anti-tumor effect on various cancers. In this study, the effects of ZLT N-butanol extraction (ZLTN) and ZLT ethyl acetate extraction (ZLTE) on the viability of non-small cell lung cancer cell (NSCLC) lines H1299 and A549 were evaluated. Here, we firstly reported that ZLTE significantly inhibited H1299 cells growth without affecting the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). In addition, ZLTE induced caspase-dependent apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner and increased the expression cleaved-PARP and decreased pro-caspase-3, pro-caspase-7, pro-caspase-8, and pro-caspase-9. Moreover, ZLTE increased the level of cellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in H1299 cells to lead to apoptosis, which was reversed by N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC). Taken together, our results revealed that ZLTE induced caspase-dependent apoptosis via ROS generation, suggesting that ZLTE is a promising herbal medicine for the treatment of NSCLC.