A previous study showed that the length of the foreskin plays a role in the risk of sexually transmitted infections and chronic prostatitis, which can lead to poor quality of sexual life. Here, the association between foreskin length and sexual dysfunction was evaluated. A total of 5700 participants were recruited from the andrology clinic at The First Affiliated Hospital of University of Science and Technology of China (Hefei, China). Clinical characteristics, including foreskin length, were collected, and sexual function was assessed by the International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5) and Premature Ejaculation Diagnostic Tool (PEDT) questionnaires. Men with sexual dysfunction were more likely to have redundant foreskin than men without sexual dysfunction. Among the 2721 erectile dysfunction (ED) patients and 1064 premature ejaculation (PE) patients, 301 (11.1%) ED patients and 135 (12.7%) PE patients had redundant foreskin, respectively. Men in the PE group were more likely to have redundant foreskin than men in the non-PE group ( P = 0.004). Logistic regression analyses revealed that the presence of redundant foreskin was associated with increased odds of moderate/severe ED (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.31, adjusted P = 0.04), moderate PE (aOR = 1.38, adjusted P = 0.02), and probable PE (aOR = 1.37, adjusted P = 0.03) after adjusting for confounding variables. Our study revealed a positive correlation between the presence of redundant foreskin and the risk of sexual dysfunction, especially in PE patients. Assessment of the length of the foreskin during routine clinical diagnosis may provide information for patients with sexual dysfunction.
Humans ; Male ; Foreskin ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Adult ; Erectile Dysfunction/epidemiology* ; Premature Ejaculation/epidemiology* ; Middle Aged ; China/epidemiology* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Sexual Dysfunction, Physiological/epidemiology* ; Young Adult

Objective:To establish a digital quality evaluation system for Salvia miltiorrhiza-Monascus fermentation products,screen critical quality markers,and provide methodological support for their intelligent quality control.Methods:Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS)was employed to quantitatively analyze 34 bioactive components(e.g.,tanshinone Ⅱ A and alvianol-ic acid B)in 20 batches of fermentation products.The key markers were screened through hierarchical cluster anal-ysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis,and an intelligent discriminant model was constructed with sup-port vector machine machine learning algorithm to digitally analyze the characteristics of quality differences between batches.Results:Thirty-four common peaks were calibrated across all batches.Combined with partial least squares analysis,six key difference markers were further screened,including terpenoids such as isotanshinone Ⅱ A and tan-shinone Ⅱ A and phenolic acids such as salvianolic acid G.The support vector machine model can achieve 100％accuracy of origin discrimination by optimizing parameters jointly with genetic algorithm and grid search.Conclusion:This study developed a digital quality evaluation system for Salvia miltiorrhiza-Monascus fermentation products through a three-step analytical strategy("chemical feature exploration-marker screening-model valida-tion"),providing a transferable technical pathway for the intelligent transformation of traditional Chinese medicine quality control.

Objective:To establish a digital quality evaluation system for Salvia miltiorrhiza-Monascus fermentation products,screen critical quality markers,and provide methodological support for their intelligent quality control.Methods:Ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-orbitrap mass spectrometry(UPLC-Q-Orbitrap-MS)was employed to quantitatively analyze 34 bioactive components(e.g.,tanshinone Ⅱ A and alvianol-ic acid B)in 20 batches of fermentation products.The key markers were screened through hierarchical cluster anal-ysis and partial least squares discriminant analysis,and an intelligent discriminant model was constructed with sup-port vector machine machine learning algorithm to digitally analyze the characteristics of quality differences between batches.Results:Thirty-four common peaks were calibrated across all batches.Combined with partial least squares analysis,six key difference markers were further screened,including terpenoids such as isotanshinone Ⅱ A and tan-shinone Ⅱ A and phenolic acids such as salvianolic acid G.The support vector machine model can achieve 100％accuracy of origin discrimination by optimizing parameters jointly with genetic algorithm and grid search.Conclusion:This study developed a digital quality evaluation system for Salvia miltiorrhiza-Monascus fermentation products through a three-step analytical strategy("chemical feature exploration-marker screening-model valida-tion"),providing a transferable technical pathway for the intelligent transformation of traditional Chinese medicine quality control.

Objective To investigate the efficacy and safety of intravenous thrombolysis with low-dose and standard-dose recombinant tissue plasminogen activator(rt-PA)in the elderly patients(aged over 80 years)with acute ischemic stroke(AIS).Methods A total of 201 elderly patients with AIS treated at Tianjin Fourth Central Hospital from February 2019 to February 2023 were prospectively included and randomly assigned to the rt-PA low-dose group(n=93,0.6 mg/kg)and rt-PA standard-dose group(n=108,0.9 mg/kg).The incidence of intra-cranial hemorrhage,symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage,fatal intracranial hemorrhage,neurologic deterioration within 7 days and mortality within 90 days were observed to evaluate the safety.The neurologic improvement rate and good prognosis rate at 90 days were used to evaluate the effectiveness.A stratified analysis of 90-day outcomes was performed based on stroke severity and age.Results The incidence of intracranial hemorrhage,symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage and fatal intracranial hemorrhage within 7 days in rt-PA low-dose group was lower than that in rt-PA standard-dose group(P＜0.05).There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups concerning the residual safety index and the effectiveness index.The 90-day good prognosis rate of moderate stroke sub-group and of≥90 years of age sub-group in rt-PA low-dose group were both higher than that of rt-PA standard-dose group(P＜0.05).Conclusions For AIS patients with moderate stroke and aged over 90 years,intravenous thrombolytic therapy with rt-PA 0.6 mg/kg is recommended.

Objective To investigate the relationship between insomnia,gastrointestinal symptoms,and glycosylated hemoglobin(HbA1c)levels in individuals diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM),as well as the related influencing factors.Methods A total of 910 T2DM patients treated in our multicenter from January 2022 to December 2022 were enrolled in this study.General information(gender,age,smoking and drinking history,exercise,course of disease,treatment and complications),HbA1c,Athens Insomnia Scale(AIS)scores and Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rating Scale(GSRS)scores of patients were collected.The differences of sleep and gastrointestinal symptoms between groups were analyzed,and the correlation between the differences and HbA1c was analyzed.Furthermore,the risk factors for non-standard HbA1c were analyzed.Results The AIS score and GSRS score in the HbA1c control group were less than those in the non-standard group(P＜0.01).Insomnia was reported by 37.0％of T2DM patients,and the HbA1c level in the insomnia group was significantly higher than that in the non-insomnia group(10.00％±2.38％vs.8.26％±1.73％,P＜0.01).Gastrointestinal symptoms were present in 57.5％of T2DM patients,and the HbA1c levels in the group with gastrointestinal symptoms were significantly higher than those in the group without gastrointestinal symptoms(9.26％±2.23％vs.8.43％±1.98％,P＜0.01).Furthermore,26.3％of T2DM patients experienced both insomnia and gastrointestinal symptoms.Remarkably,the HbA1c levels in the group with both insomnia and gastrointestinal symptoms were significantly higher than those in the group without either condition(10.18％±2.44％vs.8.45％±1.86％,P＜0.01).Correlation analysis demonstrated a significant association between sleep quality,gastrointestinal function,and HbA1c levels(P＜0.01).The logistic regression analysis result revealed that age,GSRS score,AIS score,and the presence of insomnia combined with gastrointestinal symptoms were independent risk factors for predicting HbA1c≥6.5％(P＜0.01).Having both insomnia and gastrointestinal symptoms concurrently was the strongest risk factor for substandard HbA1c control,and the risk of blood sugar control may increase about 5 times when both appear together.Conclusion Insomnia and gastrointestinal symptoms are common comorbidities in T2DM patients,showing a cross-interfering relationship,and they appear together with poor blood sugar control,interact causally,and amplify each other.

Aim To explore the mechanism of process¬ing and increasing efficiency of Arisaematis rhizomz preparatum. Methods UPLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS tech¬nology was used to detect the chemical components be¬fore and after processing of Arisaematis rhizomz prepara¬tum, and its mechanism of action was analysed in the treatment of 44 asthma and phlegm " by using network pharmacology. A rat model of allergic asthma was es- tablished to compare the efficacy of Arisaematis rliizoma before and after processing. Results A total of 27 chemical components were identified, among which cur- cumin ,6-gingerol and other components increased after processing. Combined with the database prediction, the action mechanism of the 36 chemical components in the treatment of 44 asthma and phlegm" diseases was dis¬cussed and predicted through network pharmacology. The results of animal experiments showed that the effect of processed Arisaematis rhizoma on allergic asth¬ma was better than that of Arisaematis rhizoma, but there was no significant difference. Conclusions The addition of curcumin, 6-gingerol, camphor, demethyl- curcumin and other components after the processed Ari¬saematis rhizomz preparatum may be the reason for the synergistic effect of Arisaematis rhizomz preparatum in the treatment of allergic asthma.

BACKGROUND: Patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and prior stroke history have a high risk of cardiovascular events despite anticoagulation therapy. It is unclear whether catheter ablation (CA) has further benefits in these patients. METHODS: AF patients with a previous history of stroke or systemic embolism (SE) from the prospective Chinese Atrial Fibrillation Registry study between August 2011 and December 2020 were included in the analysis. Patients were matched in a 1:1 ratio to CA or medical treatment (MT) based on propensity score. The primary outcome was a composite of all-cause death or ischemic stroke (IS)/SE. RESULTS: During a total of 4.1 ± 2.3 years of follow-up, the primary outcome occurred in 111 patients in the CA group (3.3 per 100 person-years) and in 229 patients in the MT group (5.7 per 100 person-years). The CA group had a lower risk of the primary outcome compared to the MT group [hazard ratio (HR) = 0.59, 95% CI: 0.47-0.74, P < 0.001]. There was a significant decreasing risk of all-cause mortality (HR = 0.43, 95% CI: 0.31-0.61, P < 0.001), IS/SE (HR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.54-0.97, P = 0.033), cardiovascular mortality (HR = 0.32, 95% CI: 0.19-0.54, P < 0.001) and AF recurrence (HR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.30-0.37, P < 0.001) in the CA group compared to that in the MT group. Sensitivity analysis generated consistent results when adjusting for time-dependent usage of anticoagulants. CONCLUSIONS In AF patients with a prior stroke history, CA was associated with a lower combined risk of all-cause death or IS/SE. Further clinical trials are warranted to confirm the benefits of CA in these patients.

This study, aiming at finding biomarkers which can assist in the diagnosis of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) pneumonia and analyzing the metabolic pathways of anti-RSV activity of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SG)., explores the improvement effect of SG on mice models infected by RSV with the metabolomics technology based on UPLC-Q-Exactive HF X-MS. Mice models affected by RSV are established by nasal drip method and the changes of body weight, rectal temperature and pathological damage of lung tissue are evaluated. The lung tissue samples of mice in each group are collected and analyzed by UPLC-Q-Exactive HF X-MS. The differential metabolites of SG drug intervention are explored by metabolomics technology, and the metabolic pathways regulated by SG are analyzed. The results show that SG can significantly improve the pathological state of the lung tissue of the mice and make its body weight and rectal temperature tend to be normal. In the lung tissue samples, 46 biomarkers, such as guanine, L-asparagine, and arachidonic acid, are screened for disease development in RSV model mice. SG improved RSV infection by recalling 22 potential biomarkers, such as uric acid, arachidonic acid, and alanine. The 22 potential markers mainly involved 11 abnormal metabolic pathways, including phenylalanine, tyrosine, and tryptophan biosynthesis, and arachidonic acid metabolism, alanine, aspartic acid and glutamate metabolism are closely related to the five metabolic pathways. SG improves RSV-infected mice mainly by regulating amino acids, lipids, cofactors and vitamins and nucleotide metabolites. All animal experiments were conducted under the guidance and approval of the Animal Ethics Review Committee of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. (approval number: SDUTCM20210311001).

Objective:To investigate the efficacy and safety of recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) intravenous thrombolysis combined with edaravone dexborneol at different timing in super elderly patients (aged≥85 years) with moderate to severe acute ischemic stroke (AIS).Methods:A prospective study was performed. Seventy-one super elderly patients with moderate to severe AIS treated with rt-PA intravenous thrombolysis combined with edaravone dexborneol from December 2020 to March 2023 in Department of Neurology, Affiliated Fourth Central Hospital of Nankai University were selected and randomly divided into early group ( n=35) and advanced group ( n=36); patients in the early group were given edaravone dexborneol immediately after rt-PA intravenous thrombolysis, and patients in the advanced group were given edaravone dexborneol 24 h after rt-PA intravenous thrombolysis. In addition, 31 patients with moderate to severe AIS received rt-PA intravenous thrombolysis only in Department of Neurology of the hospital from August 2018 to December 2020 were selected as control group. Differences in efficacy and safety indexes among the 3 groups were compared. Results:After 7 d of treatment, the improvement rate of neurological function in early group was significantly higher than that in control group and advanced group ( P<0.05). After 90 d of treatment, modified Rankin scale (mRS) scores in early group were statistically lower than those in control group and advanced group ( P<0.05); good prognosis rate in early group was statistically higher than that in control group and advanced group ( P<0.05). The incidences of intracranial hemorrhage and symptomatic intracranial hemorrhage in early group were significantly lower than those in control group and advanced group ( P<0.05). After 30 and 90 d of treatment, the advanced group had significantly lower mortality than the control group, but significantly higher mortality than the early group ( P<0.05). Conclusion:Edaravone dexborneol immediately after rt-PA intravenous thrombolysis is the optimal timing for super elderly patients with moderate to severe AIS, which can improve the efficacy and safety.

Background::To date, there is no effective medicine to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and the antiviral efficacy of arbidol in the treatment for COVID-19 remained equivocal and controversial. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of arbidol tablets in the treatment of COVID-19.Methods::This was a prospective, open-label, controlled and multicenter investigator-initiated trial involving adult patients with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Patients were stratified 1:2 to either standard-of-care (SOC) or SOC plus arbidol tablets (oral administration of 200 mg per time, three times a day for 14 days). The primary endpoint was negative conversion of SARS-CoV-2 within the first week. The rates and 95% confidential intervals were calculated for each variable.Results::A total of 99 patients with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection were enrolled; 66 were assigned to the SOC plus arbidol tablets group, and 33 to the SOC group. The negative conversion rate of SARS-CoV-2 within the first week in patients receiving arbidol tablets was significantly higher than that of the SOC group (70.3% [45/64] vs. 42.4% [14/33]; difference of conversion rate 27.9%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 7.7%-48.1%; P = 0.008). Compared to those in the SOC group, patients receiving arbidol tablets had a shorter duration of clinical recovery (median 7.0 days vs. 12.0 days; hazard ratio [HR]: 1.877, 95% CI: 1.151-3.060, P = 0.006), symptom of fever (median 3.0 days vs. 12.0 days; HR: 18.990, 95% CI: 5.350-67.410, P < 0.001), as well as hospitalization (median 12.5 days vs. 20.0 days; P < 0.001). Moreover, the addition of arbidol tablets to SOC led to more rapid normalization of declined blood lymphocytes (median 10.0 days vs. 14.5 days; P > 0.05). The most common adverse event in the arbidol tablets group was the elevation of transaminase (5/200, 2.5%), and no one withdrew from the study due to adverse events or disease progression. Conclusions::SOC plus arbidol tablets significantly increase the negative conversion rate of SARS-CoV-2 within the first week and accelerate the recovery of COVID-19 patients. During the treatment with arbidol tablets, we find no significant serious adverse events.Trial registration::Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, NCT04260594, www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04260594?term= NCT04260594&draw=2&rank=1