OBJECTIVESTo further discuss the method of evaluating curative effect on erectile dysfunction(ED).

METHODSClinical trials(Phase II) of sildenafil and phentolamine were both 8-week-long, randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled. Not only the curative effect between each treatment group and placebo group but also between the treatment groups were compared. The dosage of sildenafil and phentolamine was respectively 50-100 mg and 40 mg.

RESULTSEfficiency, success rate of sexual intercourse and general curative effect in sildenafil and phentolamine groups were respectively 79.17%, 75.00%, 83.33% and 52.38%, 85.71%, 52.38%. The result revealed a statistically significant (P < 0.05) improvement over placebo. But no obvious differences were shown between the two treatment groups(P > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSMost assessments of curative effect of ED drugs come from questionnaires answered subjectively by patients. The Lack of objective assessment criteria way lead to the non-conformity between trial results and clinical practices. So the curative effect of drugs shall be assessed more accurately and from more perspectives.

Adrenergic alpha-Antagonists ; therapeutic use ; Double-Blind Method ; Erectile Dysfunction ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Phentolamine ; therapeutic use ; Piperazines ; therapeutic use ; Purines ; Sildenafil Citrate ; Sulfones ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Treatment Outcome ; Vasodilator Agents ; therapeutic use

Flavonol synthase (FLS) is one of the key enzymes in flavonoids metabolic pathways. In this study, middle sequence was obtained from Carthamus tinctorius transcriptome sequencing results. Full-length cDNAs of FLS was cloned from petals of C. tinctorius to FLS by using RT-PCR and RACE technology. Its full-length cDNA was 1,201 bp, with an open reading frame of 1,101 bp and 336 encoded amino acids. The phylogenetic analysis showed that, FLS gene encoded amino acids in C. tinctorius were highly homologous with amino acids in congeneric Compositae species, especially Rudbeckia laciniata. The pBASTA-FLS plant expression vector was successfully built by the molecular biology method, which lays a foundation for further studying biology functions of the gene and biosynthesis mechanism of flavonoids.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Carthamus tinctorius ; classification ; enzymology ; genetics ; Cloning, Molecular ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; metabolism ; Molecular Sequence Data ; Open Reading Frames ; Oxidoreductases ; genetics ; metabolism ; Phylogeny ; Plant Proteins ; genetics ; metabolism

Long-segment lichen sclerosus (LS) urethral stricture is a challenge for urologists. Limited data are available for surgeons to make a surgical decision between Kulkarni and Asopa urethroplasty. In this retrospective study, we investigated the outcomes of these two procedures in patients with LS urethral stricture. Between January 2015 and December 2020, 77 patients with LS urethral stricture underwent Kulkarni and Asopa procedures for urethroplasty in the Department of Urology, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine (Shanghai, China). Of the 77 patients, 42 (54.5%) underwent the Asopa procedure and 35 (45.5%) underwent the Kulkarni procedure. The overall complication rate was 34.2% in the Kulkarni group and 19.0% in the Asopa group, and no difference was observed ( P = 0.105). Among the complications, no statistical difference was observed in the incidence of urethral stricture recurrence ( P = 0.724) or glans dehiscence ( P = 0.246) except for postoperative meatus stenosis ( P = 0.020). However, the recurrence-free survival rate between the two procedures was significantly different ( P = 0.016). Cox survival analysis showed that antiplatelet/anticoagulant therapy use ( P = 0.020), diabetes ( P = 0.003), current/former smoking ( P = 0.019), coronary heart disease ( P < 0.001), and stricture length ( P = 0.028) may lead to a higher hazard ratio of complications. Even so, these two techniques can still provide acceptable results with their own advantages in the surgical treatment of LS urethral strictures. The surgical alternative should be considered comprehensively according to the patient characteristics and surgeon preferences. Moreover, our results showed that antiplatelet/anticoagulant therapy use, diabetes, coronary heart disease, current/former smoking, and stricture length may be contributing factors of complications. Therefore, patients with LS are advised to undergo early interventions for better therapeutic effects.
Male ; Humans ; Urethral Stricture/etiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Constriction, Pathologic/surgery* ; Lichen Sclerosus et Atrophicus/surgery* ; Treatment Outcome ; Urologic Surgical Procedures, Male/methods* ; China ; Urethra/surgery* ; Postoperative Complications/etiology* ; Mouth Mucosa ; Diabetes Mellitus/etiology* ; Anticoagulants ; Coronary Disease

AIMTo investigate the antitumor immunity by a dendritic cell (DC) vaccine encoding secondary lymphoid chemokine gene and tumor lysate on murine prostate cancer.

METHODSDC from bone marrow of C57BL/6 were transfected with a plasmid vector expressing secondary lymphoid chemokine (SLC) cDNA by Lipofectamine 2,000 liposome and tumor lysate. Total RNA extracted from SLC+lysate-DC was used to verify the expression of SLC by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The immunotherapeutic effect of DC vaccine on murine prostate cancer was assessed.

RESULTSWe found that in the prostate tumor model of C57BL/6 mice, the administration of SLC+lysate-DC inhibited tumor growth most significantly when compared with SLC-DC, lysate-DC, DC or phosphate buffer solution (PBS) counterparts (P < 0.01). Immunohistochemical fluorescent staining analysis showed the infiltration of more CD4(+), CD8(+) T cell and CD11c(+) DC within established tumor treated by SLC+lysate-DC vaccine than other DC vaccines (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONDC vaccine encoding secondary lymphoid chemokine and tumor lysate can elicit significant antitumor immunity by infiltration of CD4(+), CD8(+) T cell and DC, which might provide a potential immunotherapy method for prostate cancer.

Animals ; Antibodies, Neoplasm ; biosynthesis ; Antigens, Neoplasm ; immunology ; CD11 Antigens ; immunology ; Cancer Vaccines ; immunology ; therapeutic use ; Cell Line ; Chemokines ; biosynthesis ; Dendritic Cells ; immunology ; metabolism ; Epitopes ; immunology ; Fluorescent Antibody Technique ; Killer Cells, Natural ; immunology ; Lymphocytes ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Neoplasm Transplantation ; Plasmids ; genetics ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; immunology ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction ; T-Lymphocytes ; immunology

Objective To establish a predictive model of testicular torsion according to the clinical data of pediatric patients with acute scrotum.Methods Retrospective study was performed to analyze medical records of 118 pediatric patients with acute scrotum.A case-control study was conducted,the case group included the patients with testicular torsion and the control group included the patients without testicular torsion.Data of patients including physical signs and laboratory tests related to testicular torsion were assessed by univariate analysis through Chi-square test or t test.All factors which had statistical significance in the univariate analysis were used as independent variables for multivariate Logistic analysis to establish a predictive model of pediatric testicular torsion.Results There were 54 patients in the case group and 64 patients in the control group.Vanishment of cremaster reflex,duration of pain,fever,urine positive and fading away of color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) were independent predictors of pediatric testicular torsion (all P ＜ 0.05),and the OR values were 4.330,0.888,0.229,0.107 and 4.408,respectively.The predictive model of testicular torsion in pediatric patients was as follows:In [P / (1-P)] =2.307 + 1.466 × vanishment of cremaster reflex-0.119 × duration of pain-1.476 × fever-2.235 × urine positive + 1.484 × CDFI.Conclusions The Logistic regression model,which takes into account vanishment of cremaster reflex,duration of pain,fever,urine positive and CDFI,can be used to predict the risk factors of pediatric testicular torsion to provide a basis of surgical exploration.

Objective:To investigate the effects of artesunate （ART） on epithelial-mesenchymal transformation （EMT） of colorectal cancer HCT-8 cells，and explore the effects of ART on cell migration，invasion，EMT ability， and protein kinase B （Akt）/Snail signaling pathway of colorectal cancer. Method:3-（4-5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl）2，5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide （MTT） assay was used to detect the effects of ART at different concentrations on the proliferation of HCT-8 cells. Wound healing assay and Transwell assay were used respectively to detect the effects of ART on migration and invasion of colorectal cancer cells. The effects of different concentrations of ART on the distribution of EMT-related proteins vimentin and E-cadherin in HCT-8 cells were detected by double-immunofluorescent staining. The effects of ART on protein expression levels of EMT markers E-cadherin，vimentin and N-cadherin in HCT-8 cells and the expression of Akt1， p-Akt1， and Snail1 in the Akt/Snail signaling pathway were determined by Western blot. Result:The dose-dependent inhibitory effects of ART on the proliferation of HCT-8 cells were determined and the inhibition rate was calculated. A dose-response curve was plotted accordingly. The half-maximal inhibitory concentration （IC₅₀） of ART on HCT-8 cells was （16.67±1.95） μmol·L^-1. The following four groups were set up： a control group （0 μmol·L^-1），and low-， medium-， and high-dose ART groups（2， 10， 50 μmol·L^-1）. Compared with the results in the control group，ART inhibited the migration and invasion of HCT-8 cells（P<0.05）. Specifically， the expression of E-cadherin in HCT-8 cells was significantly up-regulated，and that of vimentin and N-cadherin was significantly down-regulated （P<0.05）. The expression levels of p-Akt1 and Snail1 were significantly decreased after ART treatment，thus inhibiting EMT（P<0.05）. Conclusion:The findings of this study suggested that ART inhibited the EMT-triggered migration and invasion of HCT-8 cells presumedly by inhibiting the activation of the Akt/Snail pathway to reverse EMT.

Aim To explore the role of miR-5088-5p in hepatocyte pyroptosis induced by homocysteine. Methods Hepatocytes were cultured and divided into control group and Hcy group. After transfected miR-5088-5p NC and miR-5088-5p mimic under Hcy treatment, the expression of NLRP3, Caspase 1 and IL-1β was detected by Western blot. The expression of miR-5088-5p was detected by RT-qPCR. CBS

BACKGROUNDUrine output (UO) is an essential criterion of the Kidney Disease Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) definition and classification system for acute kidney injury (AKI), of which the diagnostic value has not been extensively studied. We aimed to determine whether AKI based on KDIGO UO criteria (KDIGOUO) could improve the diagnostic and prognostic accuracy, compared with KDIGO serum creatinine criteria (KDIGOSCr).

METHODSWe conducted a secondary analysis of the database of a previous study conducted by China Critical Care Clinical Trial Group (CCCCTG), which was a 2-month prospective cohort study (July 1, 2009 to August 31, 2009) involving 3063 patients in 22 tertiary Intensive Care Units in Mainland of China. AKI was diagnosed and classified separately based on KDIGOUOand KDIGOSCr. Hospital mortality of patients with more severe AKI classification based on KDIGOUOwas compared with other patients by univariate and multivariate regression analyses.

RESULTSThe prevalence of AKI increased from 52.4% based on KDIGOSCrto 55.4% based on KDIGOSCrcombined with KDIGOUO. KDIGOUOalso resulted in an upgrade of AKI classification in 7.3% of patients, representing those with more severe AKI classification based on KDIGOUO. Compared with non-AKI patients or those with maximum AKI classification by KDIGOSCr, those with maximum AKI classification by KDIGOUOhad a significantly higher hospital mortality of 58.4% (odds ratio [OR]: 7.580, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 4.141-13.873, P< 0.001). In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, AKI based on KDIGOUO (OR: 2.891, 95% CI: 1.964-4.254, P< 0.001), but not based on KDIGOSCr (OR: 1.322, 95% CI: 0.902-1.939, P = 0.152), was an independent risk factor for hospital mortality.

CONCLUSIONUO was a criterion with additional value beyond creatinine criterion for AKI diagnosis and classification, which can help identify a group of patients with high risk of death.

Acute Disease ; mortality ; Aged ; Creatinine ; blood ; Critical Illness ; mortality ; Female ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Kaplan-Meier Estimate ; Kidney Diseases ; blood ; mortality ; pathology ; urine ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; Risk Factors