Effect of serum testosterone and percent tumor volume on extra-prostatic extension and biochemical recurrence after laparoscopic radical prostatectomy

Several studies have revealed that the preoperative serum testosterone and percent tumor volume (PTV) predict extra-prostatic extension (EPE) and biochemical recurrence (BCR) after radical prostatectomy. This study investigated the prognostic significance of serum testosterone and PTV in relation to EPE and BCR after laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (LRP). We reviewed 520 patients who underwent LRP between 2004 and 2012. PTV was determined as the sum of all visually estimated tumor foci in every section. BCR was defined as two consecutive increases in the postoperative prostate-specific antigen (PSA) >0.2 ng ml⁻¹. The threshold for serum total testosterone was 3.0 ng ml⁻¹. Multivariate logistic regression was used to define the effect of variables on the risk of EPE and BCR. A low serum testosterone (<3.0 ng ml⁻¹) was associated with a high serum PSA, Gleason score, positive core percentage of the prostate biopsy, PTV, and all pathological variables. On multivariate analysis, similar to previous studies, the serum PSA, biopsy positive core percentage, Gleason score, and pathological variables predicted EPE and BCR. In addition, low serum testosterone (<3.0 ng ml⁻¹, adjusted OR, 8.52; 95% CI, 5.04–14.4, P = 0.001) predicted EPE and PTV (adjusted OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01–1.05, P = 0.046) predicted BCR. In addition to previous predictors of EPE and BCR, low serum testosterone and PTV are valuable predictors of EPE and BCR after LRP.     

Analgesic action of gabapentin on chronic pain in the masticatory muscles: a randomized controlled trial

Chronic masticatory myalgia (CMM) can be defined as constant pain in the masticatory muscles for more than 6 months and is influenced by the central nervous system. The antiepileptic agent gabapentin acts centrally and is used for managing different types of chronic pain conditions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the analgesic action of gabapentin on CMM. In this 12-week randomized controlled clinical trial 50 patients were randomly allocated into two study groups: 25 received gabapentin and 25 received placebo. The outcome measures utilized were pain reported on a VAS (VAS-pain), Palpation Index (PI) and impact of CMM on daily functioning reported on a VAS (VAS-function). Thirty-six patients completed the study. Gabapentin showed to be clinically and statistically superior to placebo in reducing pain reported by patients (gabapentin=51.04%; placebo=24.30%; P=0.037), masticatory muscle hyperalgesia (gabapentin=67.03%; placebo=14.37%; P=0.001) and impact of CMM on daily functioning (gabapentin=57.70%; placebo=16.92%; P=0.022). It can be concluded from this study that gabapentin is effective for the management of CMM.     

External validation of the post-varicocele repair semen analysis nomogram to predict total motile sperm count: A multicenter study

Total motile sperm count is an important parameter for predicting the probability of natural pregnancy. We have externally validated the Samplaski's post-varicocele repair semen analysis nomogram to confirm the predictive accuracy of total motile sperm count. A total of 300 patients who had undergone varicocelectomy between July 2016 and July 2019 from 4 treatment centres were included in this validation cohort study. The predictive performance of the externally validated nomogram was revealed by applying the Pearson correlation coefficient (R = 0.328; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.220–0.435; p < .001). Compared to Samplaski's nomogram result (R = 0.581; 95% CI 0.186–0.729), our study also revealed a statistically significant rate. However, it had a relatively lower correlation coefficient rate. Notably, the predicted total motile sperm count was lower than the observed post-varicocelectomy total motile sperm count. The calibration plot revealed that the discrepancy between the predicted and observed total motile sperm count was plausible. However, it had low explanatory power in this nomogram model. This validation study demonstrates that the post-varicocele repair Samplaski's nomogram predicts a relatively lower total motile sperm count than the observed count.     

Nanoscale intracortical iron injection induces chronic epilepsy in rodent

We studied the electrophysiological, hemodynamic, and cytomorphological consequences of microhemorrhagic brain injury induced by a nanoscale iron injection. Of particular interest were the etiology, development, and treatment of epilepsy associated with this injury. We developed an animal model of chronic epilepsy using nanoscale injection into the adult mouse cortex. Although injection of nanoamounts of iron did not cause clear cell death or damage in the cortex, it elicited varying degrees of spontaneous epileptiform events that could be recorded under anesthesia 3 months postinjection. The influence of these chronic epileptiform events on neurovascular coupling was probed by directly stimulating the cortex ipsilateral to the epileptic focus and by measuring cerebral blood volume simultaneously in both hemispheres using intrinsic signal optical imaging. The ipsilateral hemodynamic response was dramatically lower in animals that exhibited longer, more frequent epileptiform events, but it was unchanged in animals displaying infrequent, short events. In contrast, the contralateral hemodynamic response was augmented in all iron‐injected animals compared with the control group. These abnormal hemodynamic responses in chronically epileptic animals were correlated with the degree of reduction in the number of GABAergic interneurons. Therefore, nanoscale iron injection, which mimics some aspects of microhemorrhagic brain injury, generated chronic, yet varying, degrees of spontaneous epileptiform events. Moreover, the severity of the epileptiform events corresponded to the degree of reduction in GABAergic interneurons in the iron‐injected hemisphere and the level of autoregulatory dysfunction of cerebral blood flow. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The Recency Period for Estimation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Incidence by the AxSYM Avidity Assay and BED-Capture Enzyme Immunoassay in the Republic of Korea

Objectives

Measurement of the incidence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is very important for epidemiological studies. Here, we determined the recency period with the AxSYM avidity assay and the BED-capture enzyme immunoassay (BED-CEIA) in Korean seroconverters.

Methods

Two hundred longitudinal specimens from 81 seroconverters with incident HIV infections that had been collected at the Korea National Institute of Health were subjected to the AxSYM avidity assay (cutoff = 0.8) and BED-CEIA (cutoff = 0.8). The statistical method used to estimate the recency period in recent HIV infections was nonparametric survival analyses. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated for 10-day increments from 120 days to 230 days to determine the recency period.

Results

The mean recency period of the avidity assay and BED-CEIA using a survival method was 158 days [95% confidence interval (CI), 135–181 days] and 189 days (95% CI, 170–208 days), respectively. Based on the use of sensitivity and specificity, the mean recency period for the avidity assay and BED-CEIA was 150 days and 200 days, respectively.

Conclusion

We determined the recency period to estimate HIV incidence in Korea. These data showed that the nonparametric survival analysis often led to shorter recency periods than analysis of sensitivity and specificity as a new method. These findings suggest that more data from seroconverters and other methodologies are needed to determine the recency period for estimating HIV incidence.     

Method for detecting the reactivity of chemicals towards peptides as an alternative test method for assessing skin sensitization potential

Cosmetics are normally composed of various ingredients. Some cosmetic ingredients can act as chemical haptens reacting toward proteins or peptides of human skin and they can provoke an immunologic reaction, called as skin sensitization. This haptenation process is very important step of inducing skin sensitization and evaluating the sensitizing potentials of cosmetic ingredients is very important for consumer safety. Therefore, animal alternative methods focusing on monitoring haptenation potential are undergoing vigorous research. To examine the further usefulness of spectrophotometric methods to monitor reactivity of chemicals toward peptides for cosmetic ingredients. Forty chemicals (25 sensitizers and 15 non-sensitizers) were reacted with 2 synthetic peptides, e.g., the cysteine peptides (Ac-RFAACAA-COOH) with free thiol group and the lysine peptides (Ac-RFAAKAA-COOH) with free amine group. Unreacted peptides can be detected after incubating with 5,5′-dithiobis-2-nitrobenzoic acid or fluorescamine™ as detection reagents for free thiol and amine group, respectively. Chemicals were categorized as sensitizers when they induced more than 10% depletion of cysteine peptides or more than 30% depletion of lysine peptides. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy were 80.0%, 86.7% and 82.5%, respectively. These results demonstrate that spectrophotometric methods can be an easy, fast, and high-throughput screening tools predicting the skin sensitization potential of chemical including cosmetic ingredient.