【Objective】 To explore the factors influencing erectile dysfunction (ED) in male patients after renal transplantation, so as to provide basis for the prevention and treatment of this disease. 【Methods】 Kidney transplant recipients followed up in the Kidney Transplant Clinic of Xijing Hospital during Sep.1, 2022 and May 1, 2023 were selected as the study objects.Questionnaires were distributed, and the erectile function was measured with Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM).Factors associated with ED were analyzed with multivariate logistic regression. 【Results】 A total of 300 questionnaires were distributed, and 276 valid ones were collected, including 182 cases (65.9%) suffering from ED of varying degrees.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age [(<30 years/>50 years, OR: 0.120, 95%CI: 0.033-0.405, P<0.001), (30-40 years/>50 years, OR: 0.223, 95%CI: 0.102-0.463, P<0.001), (>40-50 years/>50 years, OR: 0.320, 95%CI: 0.139-0.719, P<0.01)], level of International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) (OR: 1.95, 95%CI: 1.211-3.248, P<0.01), International Prostate Symptom Score-Quality of Life item (IPSS-QoL) (OR: 1.482, 95%CI: 1.201-1.854, P<0.01), and income [(≥10 000 Yuan/<3 000 Yuan, OR: 0.156, 95%CI: 0.053-0.429, P<0.001), (5 000-<10 000 Yuan/<3 000 Yuan, OR: 0.418, 95%CI: 0.199-0.864, P<0.05), (≥10 000 Yuan/3 000-<5 000 Yuan, OR: 0.205, 95%CI: 0.069-0.573, P<0.01)] were independent and significant factors of ED. 【Conclusion】 The prevalence of ED in renal transplantation recipients is high.Age, income, IPSS and IPSS-QoL are the influencing factors.ED after renal transplantation is not only determined by physical and functional factors, but also closely related to social and psychological factors.

With the decline in male fertility in recent years, infertility has become an urgent global problem to be solved. Existing evidence shows that gut microbiota has an important impact on male reproductive health, and gut microbiota disorder can affect spermatogenesis by inducing inflammation, metabolic disorder and endocrine disruption. This paper systematically reviews the relevant research progress in this field, focusing on the impact of gut microbiota disorder on male reproductive ability from the aspects of gut microbiota and spermatogenesis, gut microbiota and sex hormone metabolism, effects of fecal microbiota transplantation and dietary regulation on male reproductive function, and discusses the future research directions of gut micro-biota and male infertility.

Premature ejaculation (PE) is the most common male sexual dysfunction with a high incidence, which seriously affects the relationship between a husband and wife and family harmony. Drug therapy is a first-line treatment for PE patients with premature ejaculation, and has achieved good efficacy, but the clinically available drugs are single and the abandonment rate is high. Coupled with the ineffective treatment of some patients, new drug research and development is imminent. This paper systematically reviews the current status of drug treatment for premature ejaculation, focusing on the research and development of new drugs and research progress in order to provide a reference for clinicians.

Malignant mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis (MMTVT) is a rare tumor. At present, there are still many disputes in its epidemiology, pathogenesis, selection of diagnostic methods, treatment and prognosis. Asbestos exposure, ionizing radiation and chromosome abnormalities are the risk factors of MMTVT. Immunohistochemistry, ultrasonography and electron microscope can be used for the diagnosis and aggressive surgery is the main treatment method. The development of endoscopic surgery, multi-disciplinary treatment (MDT), tumor targeted therapy and immunotherapy will bring more benefits to MMTVT patients.

Objective To explore the characteristics of opportunistic infections(OIs)in HIV-infected indi-viduals with suboptimal immune reconstitution after ART treatment so as to provide a reference for preventing and managing HIV infections.Methods The clinical data including opportunistic infections specifically were acquired from 112 HIV-infected individuals with suboptimal immune reconstitution from the outpatient department of Wuming Hospital,Guangxi Medical University.The impact of baseline CD4+T lymphocyte counts on the incidence,type,and mixed infection rates of the opportunistic infections were analyzed.Results The opportunistic infection rate among the 112 HIV-infected individuals with suboptimal immune reconstitution was 42.86%,among which fungal infections were the most commonly seen.The opportunistic infection rate of the patients with a baseline of CD4+T lymphocyte counts≤50/μL was significantly higher than that of the patients with a baseline of CD4+T lymphocyte counts>50/μL,and there was no significant difference in the type of opportunistic infections as well as the rate of mixed infections.Conclusion HIV-infected people with suboptimal immune reconstitution in Guangxi are susceptible to HIV OIs.Among them,the group with a baseline CD4+ T lymphocyte counts≤50/μL has a higher rate of OIs,mainly fungal infections.

Inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B kinase subunit beta (IKKβ) is one of important kinases in inflammation to phosphorylate inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa-B (IκBα) and then activate nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB). Inhibition of IKKβ has been a therapeutic strategy for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Here we report that IKKβ is constitutively activated in healthy donors and healthy Ikkβ ^C46A (cysteine 46 mutated to alanine) knock-in mice although they possess intensive IKKβ-IκBα-NF-κB signaling activation. These indicate that IKKβ activation probably plays homeostatic role instead of causing inflammation. Compared to Ikkβ ^WT littermates, lipopolysaccharides (LPS) could induce high mortality rate in Ikkβ ^C46A mice which is correlated to breaking the homeostasis by intensively activating p-IκBα-NF-κB signaling and inhibiting phosphorylation of 5' adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase (p-AMPK) expression. We then demonstrated that IKKβ kinase domain (KD) phosphorylates AMPKα1 via interacting with residues Thr183, Ser184, and Thr388, while IKKβ helix-loop-helix motifs is essential to phosphorylate IκBα according to the previous reports. Kinase assay further demonstrated that IKKβ simultaneously catalyzes phosphorylation of AMPK and IκBα to mediate homeostasis. Accordingly, activation of AMPK rather than inhibition of IKKβ could substantially rescue LPS-induced mortality in Ikkβ ^C46A mice by rebuilding the homeostasis. We conclude that IKKβ activates AMPK to restrict inflammation and IKKβ mediates homeostatic function in inflammation via competitively phosphorylating AMPK and IκBα.

Objective:To evaluate the effect of synthetic CpG oligodeoxynucleotide (CpG-ODN) as adjuvant on immune response induced by inactivated human adenovirus (HAdV)-55 antigen in BALB/c mice.Methods:HAdV-55 virus QS prototype strain was purified by plaque to construct a seed bank of vaccine candidate strain. The amplified product of vaccine candidate strain was inactivated by 0.05%β-propiolactone, and purified to prepare perfect virus particle antigen. The purified HAdV-55 antigen was mixed with the same volume CPG-ODN and aluminum hydroxide adjuvant in low-dose group (0.2 mg/ml) and high-dose group (1 mg/ml), respectively, and inoculated BALB/c mice after emulsification. Meanwhile, the control group was set with PBS, and the immunization was enhanced once every 21 days. Respectively on primary immune 21 and 35 days after collecting venous blood in mice and separation of serum, serum was collected at the end of the time of separating spleen lymphocytes in mice. The levels of HAdV-55 specific IgG antibody and neutralization antibody in serum of immunized mice were observed by ELISA and micro-neutralization test, and the levels of lymphocytes secreting IL-4 and IFN-γ cytokines were detected by ELISpot.Results:No matter with or without adjuvant, along with the increase of the number of immunization and vaccination dose of inactivated HAdV-55 antigen induced BALB/c mice virus specific IgG antibody was also significantly increased. However, neutralizing antibody can reach detectable level only after enhanced immunity, and the geometric mean titer (GMT) of neutralizing antibody is between 1: 11 and 1: 23. Different adjuvants have significant effects on the immune response of mice. Low dose antigen combined with CPG-ODN and aluminum hydroxide mixed adjuvant can induce higher humoral and cellular immune responses in mice, and the levels of specific IgG antibody and neutralizing antibody are 2.2 and 1.8 times higher than those in the aluminum hydroxide adjuvant group, respectively. The number of lymphocytes secreting IFN-γ was 2.3 times that of the group immunized with aluminum hydroxide adjuvant.Conclusions:The novel CPG-ODN adjuvant significantly increased the immunogenicity of the inactivated HAdV-55 whole virus antigen in BALB/c mice and directed the cellular immune response toward Th1 type.

Objective:To study the functional connectivity (FC) and metabolic effective connectivity (MEC) patterns of the default mode network (DMN) in healthy male adults based on a novel hybrid PET/MR system.Methods:Fifteen healthy male adults with median age of 29 years were recruited locally in Xi′an from January to May 2019. All subjects went through PET/MR scan to get the whole brain 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET, resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) and magnetization prepared rapid gradient echo (MPRAGE) T 1 weighted imaging data. CONN18b and statistical parametric mapping (SPM) 12 softwares were used to analyze data. The voxel-wise FC and FDG metabolic data were extracted within 4 sub-networks of DMN, which included medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and bilateral lateral parietal (LP). The FC and MEC between 4 sub-networks were calculated based on merged resting-state fMRI and metabolic data, and analyzed by one-sample t test separately, with Bonferroni correction. Results:FC pathways were all significant within 4 sub-networks of DMN ( t values: 6.00-7.71, all P<0.008, Bonferroni corrected). Meanwhile, there were significant bi-directional MEC between MPFC and PCC(MPFC to PCC: t=10.03; PCC to MPFC: t=3.73, both P<0.004, Bonferroni corrected), as well as between bilateral LP (LP_L to LP_R: t=5.28; LP_R to LP_L: t=4.76, both P<0.004, Bonferroni corrected). There were significant uni-directional MEC from both MPFC and PCC to bilateral LP ( t values: 3.44-6.93, all P<0.004, Bonferroni corrected). Conclusions:Special FC and MEC patterns exist within DMN. The closely interrelated MPFC and PCC play more important roles in DMN, and they may mediate LP jointly. The novel integrated PET/MR system will bring new perspective on the organization of brain networks, which may deepen the comprehensive understanding of DMN.

Objective:To construct an effective survival nomogram for patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) using a large sample sized Chinese dataset, which can be used to predict individual 3- and 5-year overall survival (OS) precisely.Methods:The data of 672 ccRCC patients received operation diagnosed at Xijing Hospital from January 2012 to December 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 467 males and 205 females. Their median age was 56 years old (ranging 23-83 years old). There were 327 patients with tumor on the left kidney and 345 patients with tumor on the right kidney. Clinical stageⅠ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ, Ⅳ were 584, 47, 19 and 22 cases, respectively. At the time of diagnosis, 504 patients were asymptomatic and 168 patients were symptomatic. Preoperative alkaline phosphatase was 80 (41-240) U/L. Preoperative serum albumin was 44.8 (30.5-59.8) g/L. Preoperative neutrophil absolute value/lymphocyte absolute value (NLR) was 2.25 (0.81-9.89). Preoperative platelet count was 205 (82-589)×10 9/L. Preoperative creatinine was 97 (55-230) μmol/L. Radical nephrectomy was performed in 420 (62.5%) patients and partial nephrectomy was performed in 252 patients. Cox multivariate analysis was used to determine the independent predictors of the postoperative OS. Then, the nomogram was constructed using R software, which integrates all independent predictors according to the coefficients in the multivariate analysis. Moreover, the performance of the nomogram was evaluated using the consistency index (C-index) and the calibration plots. Results:Cox multivariate analysis results showed that age at diagnosis ( P<0.001), clinical TNM stage ( P<0.001), preoperative NLR ( P=0.012), preoperative alkaline phosphatase ( P=0.002) and preoperative albumin ( P<0.001) were the independent predictors of postoperative OS in ccRCC patients. The nomogram established by integrating these five factors had a good discriminatory ability (C-index=0.819, 95% CI 0.813-0.825), and the calibration plots showed that excellent agreements between the nomogram prediction and the actual observation were achieved. Conclusions:Based on a large sample sized Chinese dataset, this study established an effective survival model for patients with ccRCC and good performance of the nomogram was demonstrated by internal validation. Our nomogram can help urologists to predict individual 3- and 5-year OS accurately for Chinese ccRCC patients.

African swine fever (ASF) is a devastating disease of pigs caused by African swine fever virus (ASFV), which is considered to be the No. 1 killer to the global pig industry. Highly virulent strains are usually responsible for the peracute and acute forms that provoke high mortality rates that may reach 100%. Since ASF was first introduced in August 2018 into China, 137 outbreaks in domestic and wild pigs had been reported from 32 provinces by June 06, 2019, causing severe socioeconomic consequences. Efforts to develop an ASFV vaccine began in the 1960s, but all failed, the major reason is the lack of in-depth research on the biological characteristics of ASFV. It will be a great challenge for China to control the spread of current ASF, develop safe and effective vaccines. In this review, we outline the biological characteristics of ASFV, including its morphology and basic structure, transmission routes, pathogenicity, genome and proteins, entry mechanism, immune escape, and analyzed the difficulties in vaccine development. We hope to provide basic information for the control of current ASF and understanding of etiology in China.