BACKGROUND:The main way for long-segmental ureteral reconstruction may cause a lot of traumas and complications. Therefore, to seek a new repair method is urgent. OBJECTIVE:To investigate the feasibility of a tissue-engineered tubular graft for ureteral reconstruction. METHODS:Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels and smooth muscle cels of rabbits were seeded into the two surfaces of bladder acelular matrix and cultivated for 7 days. Then the graft was used to prepare a 4-cm long tissue-engineered tubular graft, which was regarded as experimental group. Smooth muscle cels seeded onto the bladder acelular matrix was used to construct the tissue-engineered tubular graft as control group. Twenty-five New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into experimental group (n=20) and control group (n=5), and two kinds of tubular grafts covered with omentum were implanted into the two groups, respectively, for repair of ureteral defects. Hematoxylin-eosin staining and immunohistochemical detection were performed at 2, 4, 8 weeks after implantation. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:In the experimental group, hematoxylin-eosin staining showed epithelial coverage and muscle fibers on the lumen of tissue-engineered tubular grafts at 8 weeks after implantation; immunohistochemistry showed that anti-AE1/AE3 antibody and anti-uroplakinⅢa antibody were positive, confirming that there were mature epithelial cels on the lumen of tissue-engineered tubular grafts. In the control group, five rabbits were dead within 2 weeks after removal of ureteral scaffold, and autopsy showed scar formation inside the graft and severe hydronephrosis. These results demonstrate that it is feasible to construct the tissue-engineered tubular graft using bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels and smooth muscle cels into the bladder acelular matrix for ureteral reconstruction. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cels can potentialy promote urothelial regeneration.

BACKGROUND:Urothelial cells are important seeding cells for urinary tissue engineering, but they are difficult to proliferate in vitro. Several studies have shown that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can differentiate into urothelial cells, but how these cells functions in vivo in epithelium generation after implantation, and the application of these cells in tissue engineering, are rarely studied. OBJECTIVE:To explore the isolation and proliferation of rabbit bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells that are induced into urothelial cells in combination with rabbit bladder acellular matrix to construct tissue-engineered grafts, and to assess the effect of the induced cells as seeding cells. METHODS:Twelve 8-week-old male New Zealand white rabbits were chosen to obtain bone marrow samples through tibia puncture, and to isolate bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells by density gradient centrifugation. Then the fourth or fifth generation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were cultured in conditioned medium for 2 weeks, and then identified by PCR and immunofluorescence. After that, the induced cells were seeded on rabbit bladder acellular matrix to construct tissue-engineered grafts for bladder repairing. Another 12 rabbits served as control group, and urothelial cells combined with bladder acellular matrix was used for bladder repairing. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were successful y cultured and proliferated in vitro. After induction, PCR detection suggested that stem cellmarker (CD44) expression decreased, and epithelial cellmarker (UP1a) expression increased in the induced cells. Immunofluorescence staining demonstrated that the induced cells rather than bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were positive for specific urothelial marker, UP1a. A stable continuous epithelial layer was observed on tissue-engineered grafts constructed by induced cells after 2 weeks, similar to the grafts built by urothelial cells. Induced bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells can differentiate into urothelial cells that can be used as seeding cells for urinary tissue engineering, which may be another choice out of urothelial cells.

Objective To establish a long-term culture system for mouse spermatogonial stem cells(SSCs). Methods Testis cells from 4-6 days postpartum male transgenic BALB/C mice were collected by a modified two-step enzymatic digestion method.After three differential adherence selections,the enriched germ cells were finally suspended in StemPro-34 SFM medium supplemented with other nutrients factors and plated on mouse embryonic fibroblast(MEF)feeder layer.20 ng/ml Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor,10 ng/ml basic fibroblast growth factor and 200 ng/ml GDNF-family receptor al were added to the serum-free medium to promote SSCs proliferation.Aduh male BALB/C mice,4-5 weeks old,underwent intraperitoneal injection of 40 mg/kg busulfan as recipient mice.Cultured SSCs were also injected into the seminiferous tubules of the left recipient testis through micromanipulator and right testis as self-control.Testes of recipient mice were observed by a fluorescence stereomicroscope and HE stains at 2 months after transplantation. Results By improved digestion method,the vitality of isolated testis cells was more than 98%and the stem cells was enriched about 18.5 fold. 1-2 days after transferred to MEF feeder, the round germ cells started to proliferate and had the shape of paired or aligned undifferentiated spermatogonia connected by cytoplasmic bridges. After 3-4 days, SSCs proliferated continuously and formed typical colonies. SSCs from BALB/c mice could be cultured and passaged in a steady state for 3 months. Cryostat section through the transplanted testis showed that most of seminiferous tubules were filled with germ cells expressing EGFP.HE staining further showed clearly that seminiferous tubules contained complete spermatogenesis.Conclusions SSCs from BALB/c mice could be cultured in an improved culture system for 3 months.The culture system could facilitate understanding the regulatory mechanism that governs SSCs and might provide an opportunity for the cure of infertility.

Purpose To oberve the dynamics of liver granuloma and the relative changes of Thl/Th2cytokine levels in mice infected with Schistosoma japonicum, and investigate the role of Th1/Th2 in S.japontcum granuloma formation and regulation. Methods Liver granuloma measurement were performedby histological examination and the ELISA were used for the quantitative determination of IL-2, IFNr andIL-4 in murine serum and spleen lymphocyte culture medium at 0,4,6,8,10 and 12 wk after infection.Results At 6 wk liver granuloma formation appeared and at 8 wk liver granuloma peaked. After 12 wk livergranuhoma diminished obviously. Meanwhile, at 4 - 6 wk IL-2, IFNr and IL-4 began to rise, at 8 wk thelevels of Th1 cytokines IL-2 and IFNγ peaked and then declined, and at 8 wk the levels of Th2 cytokines IL-4 were rapidly enhanced and increased obviously with a prolongation of the infection duration.Conclusions The Th1cytokines IL-2 and IFNγ were correlated well with S. japonicum granulomaformation and vigour, and the Th2 cytokines IL-4 might play an important role in down-regulating egggranuloma reaction at chronic schistosomiasis by inhibiting the Th1cytokines.

Objective To evaluate the safety and efficacy of ultrasound guided flexible ureteroscopic lithotripsy.Methods From January 2015 to December 2016,a randomized clinical trial enlisted 130 patients,presenting symptomatic renal stones with 1.3-2.0 cm,in our center.Patients were randomly assigned to ultrasound or radical guided retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) with flexible ureteroscope.There were 37 male and 28 female patients in ultrasound group.Their mean age,BMI index and stone size were (47.7 ± 21.3) years,(22.1 ± 4.7) kg/m2 and (1.4 ± 0.2) cm,respectively.In radical group,there were 22 male and 43 female patients.Their mean age,BMI index and stone size were (51.3 ± 19.2) years,(21.6 ± 3.3) kg/m2 and (1.6 ± 0.1) cm,respectively.There was no significant difference of those items between ultrasound and radical group.In ultrasound group,the transducer was placed at the dorsal and ventral to visualize the real time image of ipsilateral renal collecting system.The safety wire placing,ureteroscope passing through the uretheral access sheath and the lithotripsy detail could be easily monitored.We compared stone size,operative time,stone-free status and complication rates between the ultrasound and radical group.Results All patients accepted the operation successfully.Operative time was significantly shorter in the ultrasound group than that in radical group.[(62.4 ± 31.7) min vs.(80.4 ± 42.1)min,P ＜0.05].The average radical exposure during was (37.5 ± 25.2)seconds in radical group.Ureteral injury was seen in 20.0％ (13/65),18.5％ (12/65) cases in ultrasound and radical group,respectively.The mucosal injury rate in each group was 92.3％ (12/13) and 83.3％ (10/12) (P ＞ 0.05),respectively.Muscle layer injury was recorded in 1 case of in ultrasound group and 2 cases in radical group.Clavien grade Ⅳ or higher grade complications was not observed in both groups.Fever,pain,nausea or vomiting,persistent hematuria in ultrasound group were 2 cases,3 cases,1 cases and 5 cases.In radical group,those complications were in 2 cases,3 cases,7 cases and 1 cases,respectively.There was no significant difference between the two groups (P ＞ 0.05).The ultrasound group showed no significant difference in the stone-free rate [90.8％ (118/130)vs.89.2％ (116/130)] or the complication rate compared to those in radical group(P ＞ 0.05).Conclusions The retrograde intra-renal lithotripsy guided solely by ultrasound can be carried out in the general population in an effective and safe fashion without ionizing radiation,which has the potential to replace radical guided in flexible ureteroseopy.

Objective A retrospective study was conducted to investigate the clinical epidemiology of ufinary calculus in Hubei province to provide the population characteristics,stone distribution characteristics,treatment methods,surgical costs and other clinical epidemiological data of patients with trinary calculus,and to provide clinical evidence for the development of prevention and treatment measures for urinary calculi.Methods According to the geographical position,local tertiary hospitals were selected as survey objects and medical records such as age,sex,occupation,stone position,type of operation,and cost of surgical treatment of urinary stone disease were retrospectively investigated between January,2015 and December,2017.Result A total of 193 784 patients were enrolled in this study from 27 hospitals in Hubei province.In which,76 209 were admitted to the hospital for urinary calculus,accounting for 39.33％.Among them,49 460 patients were males (64.90％) and 26 749 were females(35.10％),which the ratio was 1.85∶ 1.All age groups can suffer from urinary calculus,with the peak age range from 41 to 70 years old with 58 985 cases,accounting for 77.40％.The main proportion of patients with urinary calculus were farmers with 21 818 cases (28.63％),comparing with workers (9.74％),busioess man (5.58％),government employees (5.14％),retirees (11.25％) and unemployed (12.58％).A total of 71 439 patients with upper urinary calculus and 4 770 patients with lower urinary calculus and the ratio of upper and lower urinary calculus was 14.98∶ 1.From 2015 to 2017,23 567 patients with urinary calculi underwent ureteroscopic]ithotripsy,and 14 681 patients underwent percutaneous nephrolithotomy.The average operation cost of patients with urolithiasis was 18 395.52 RMB,18 566.31 RMB,19 080.91 RMB in 2015,2016,2017 respectively.Conclusion Hubei province is an area with high incidence of urinary calculus,accounting for 39.33％.The high incidence age is 41-70 years.The occupation composition is mainly farmers.In the past three years,the cost of surgery gradually increased.

Objective:To compare the performance and surgical outcomes of domestic single-use digital flexible ureteroscopes with reusable digital flexible ureteroscopes in treatment of upper urinary stones.Methods:A prospective, single-blind, multicenter and randomized controlled study was performed from September 2018 to June 2019. Eligible patients were randomly assigned, in a ratio of 1∶1, to either experimental group or control group. The inclusion criteria for the study were: aged 18-75 years, solitary upper urinary stone with stone size between 0.8 and 2.0 cm and CT value less than 1 400 HU, negative preoperative urine culture and normal renal function. Exclusion criteria included: patients with acute urinary tract infection, intransitable urethral strictures, impassable ureteropelvic junction obstructions, systemic hemorrhagic disease, coagulation function abnormalities or bleeding tendency, severe hypertension or cardiopulmonary insufficiency, severe hip malformation and difficulty in meeting the demand of operation position and pregnant and lactation women. The device used in the experimental group was a domestic single-use digital flexible ureteroscope, and the device used in the control group was an imported Olympus digital flexible ureteroscope. The qualified rate of clinical comprehensive evaluation (including image quality and operational performance), the rate of device failure, the stone-free rate and the occurrence rate of adverse events (including increase in urine red blood cell and white blood cell counts, postoperative hematuria, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and fever) in the two groups were recorded.Results:A total of 186 eligible study cases were collected from the People's Hospital of Wuhan University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, and the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. 90 cases in the final experimental group and 88 cases in the control group completed the trial and were included in the evaluation. There were no statistically significant differences among age [(48.40±11.36) vs. (47.40±12.53)years old, P=0.594], male to female ratio (62/28 vs. 56/32, P =0.874), BMI [(24.8±2.1) kg/m 2 vs. (25.1±2.0)kg/m 2,P =0.331], hydronephrosis (no/slight vs. mild/severe) (62/28 vs. 65/23, P =0.874), stone location and stone size [(12.8±4.7) mm vs. (11.9±5.2) mm, P =0.227]. There were no significant differences in terms of qualified rate of clinical comprehensive evaluation [98.9% (89/90) vs. 100.0% (88/88), P =0.991], lithotripsy success rate [84.4% (76/90) vs. 84.1% (74/88), P =0.888], device failure/defect rate (both 0%), and the incidence of adverse events [50.0% (45/90) vs. 52.0% (51/88), P =0.894]. The highest incidence of adverse events in two groups was the increase of red blood cells and white blood cells of routine urine after operation. There was no serious adverse event in the experimental group and 1 serious adverse event in the control group. Conclusions:There was no significant difference in image quality, device failure/defect rate, lithotripsy success rate, and adverse event rate between single-use digital flexible ureteroscopes and reusable digital flexible ureteroscopes for lithotripsy of upper ureteral and pelvic stones. Domestic single-use digital flexible ureteroscopes have good safety and effectiveness in the treatment and microscopy of upper urinary tract stones.

Objective:To evaluate the clinical value of nanopore targeted sequencing (NTS) in pathogens detection in urinary tract by comparing the results of different tests performed on the same urine sample.Methods:The results of NTS and urine culture test collected from 326 patients in the Department of Urology of People's Hospital of Wuhan University from July 2020 to June 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 224 males and 102 females. The average age was (56.88 ± 14.58)years old. χ 2 test and Student’s test and Wilcoxon's sign rank test were used to analyze the differences of the pathogen detection rate, pathogen types results and detection time consuming between NTS and urine culture. The clinical value of the NTS in rapid detection of urinary pathogens was evaluated. Results:Among 326 hospitalized patients, the urinary tract microbes’ detecting rate of NTS was significantly higher than that of urine culture[67.80%(221/326)vs. 23.93%(78/326), χ2=130.25, P<0.01]. The uropathogens detecting rate of NTS was significantly higher than that of urine culture[54.29%(177/326)vs. 23.31%(76/326), χ2=38.95, P<0.01]. The number of urinary tract microbes detected by NTS was significantly higher than that of urine culture ( Z=11.49, P<0.01), the number of uropathogens was significantly higher than that of urine culture ( Z=9.67, P<0.01). The detection time of NTS and urine culture positive samples was (24.29±2.65) h and (49.28±11.30) h, the difference was statistically significant ( t =39.48, P<0.01). The results obtained by using NTS and urine culture were consistent in 135 (41.41%) samples. In 150 (46.01%) samples, NTS could detect the urinary tract microbes while urine culture cannot find, of which 112 cases (34.36%) were uropathogenic. In 27 cases (8.28%), more pathogens were detected by NTS except those from urine culture. In 6 cases (1.84%) re-detecting NTS after antibiotic therapy, the number of reads of primary uropathogen decreased gradually with the growth of colonizing bacteria or opportunistic pathogens appeared in the end. Re-examinations of urine culture could verify the results of NTS detection on admission in 5 cases (1.53%). NTS in 2 cases (0.61%) could cover the uropathogens of subsequent several urine cultures. Conclusions:NTS has the advantages of rapid, sensitive and comprehensive detection of urinary tract infection pathogens. When urine culture is not yet reported or even negative, NTS already has a certain clinical reference value and can be used as an effective supplement to urine culture, which is conducive to the comprehensive judgment of the patient's condition.

Oxalate is an organic dicarboxylic acid that is a common component of plant foods.The kidneys are essential organs for oxalate excretion,but excessive oxalates may induce kidney stones.Jupiter micro-tubule associated homolog 2(JPT2)is a critical molecule in Ca2+mobilization,and its intrinsic mecha-nism in oxalate exposure and kidney stones remains unclear.This study aimed to reveal the mechanism of JPT2 in oxalate exposure and kidney stones.Genetic approaches were used to control JPT2 expression in cells and mice,and theJPT2 mechanism of action was analyzed using transcriptomics and untargeted metabolomics.The results showed that oxalate exposure triggered the upregulation of JPT2,which is involved in nicotinic acid adenine dinucleotide phosphate(NAADP)-mediated Ca2+mobilization.Tran-scriptomic analysis revealed that cell adhesion and macrophage inflammatory polarization were inhibited by JPT2 knockdown,and these were dominated by phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase(PI3K)/AKT signaling,respectively.Untargeted metabolomics indicated that JPT2 knockdown inhibited the produc-tion of succinic acid semialdehyde(SSA)in macrophages.Furthermore,JPT2 deficiency in mice inhibited kidney stones mineralization.In conclusion,this study demonstrates that oxalate exposure facilitates kidney stones by promoting crystal-cell adhesion,and modulating macrophage metabolism and in-flammatory polarization via JPT2/PI3K/AKT signaling.

Objective:To investigate the availability and safety of a domestic disposable digital flexible cystoscope compared with a reusable Olympus digital flexible cystoscope in cystoscopy and removal of double J stent.Methods:From August 2018 to March 2019, patients were enrolled in this prospective, open, multicenter, randomized, parallel positive controlled clinical trial study, which were from department of Urology in Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University and the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. The experimental group and control group were assigned into a 1∶1 ratio by random table method. Inclusion criteria included age≥18 years and have indications for cystoscopy or removal of double J stent. Exclusion criteria included patients having acute genitourinary tract infection, having tuberculous bladder contracture, bladder capacity less than 50ml, having urethrostenosis, female menstrual period, pregnancy and lactation, having difficulty for lithotomy position, having serious cardio-cerebrovascular disease and liver or kidney dysfunction. A domestic disposable digital flexible cystoscope was adopted in the experimental group, whereas a reusable Olympus digital flexible cystoscope was used in the control group. Acceptability of image was defined as primary availability indicator, while success rate of working and performance score were defined as secondary availability indicators and mean operating time was calculated for cystoscopy only and cystoscopy plus removal of double J stent respectively, yet rate of adverse event as well as rate of equipment defects were sorted as safety indicators.Results:A total of 188 cases which were listed in per protocol set completed the clinical trial study successfully. There were 95 cases in the experimental group and 93 cases in the control group. Acceptability of image was 93.68%(89/95) and 96.77%(90/93) respectively in two groups( P=0.52). Success rate of working was 100.00%(95/95) and 98.92%(92/93) respectively in two groups ( P=0.49). Performance score was 14.41±0.93 and 14.56±0.84 respectively in two groups ( P=0.23). Mean operating time (MOT) only for cystoscopy was (15.3±2.6) min and (15.4±3.3)min respectively in two groups ( P=0.93), while MOT for cystoscopy plus removal of double J stent was (21.0±3.2) min and (21.7±3.9) min respectively in two groups ( P=0.69). Rate of adverse event was 8.42%(8/95) and 9.68%(9/93) respectively in two groups( P=0.76). There was no equipment defects in both groups. Conclusions:There is no statistical difference in acceptability of image, success rate of working, performance score, mean operating time for cystoscopy or removal of double J stent, rate of adverse events and rate of equipment defects. A domestic disposable digital flexible cystoscope has shown non-inferiority in the availability and safety compared with a reusable Olympus digital flexible cystoscope.