Endocrine contribution to the sexual dysfunction in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease and the role of hyperprolactinemia

In this study, we investigated the prevalence of sexual dysfunction among males with advanced chronic kidney disease and the effect of treating hyperprolactinemia among these patients. In this prospective study, patients were assessed with history, physical examination, hormonal assessment, and two questionnaires, IIEF and AIPE. Patients with hyperprolactinemia received treatment with cabergoline 0.5 mg once per week for 6 months and were re-evaluated. A total of 102 patients were included in this study, 75 (73.53%) were on hemodialysis, 13 (12.75%) on peritoneal dialysis and 14 (13.73%) on medical treatment alone. Ninety (88.24%) patients had premature ejaculation, 85 (83.33%) had anything from mild-to-moderate-to-severe erectile dysfunction. The incidence of hypogonadism and hyperprolactinemia was 34.4%. Patients treated with cabergoline (n = 26) showed a significant increase in LH levels (p = .003) and a significant decrease in prolactin levels (p = .003). Testosterone levels and the incidence of erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation did not improve significantly. There is a high incidence of sexual dysfunction among patients. Treatment of hyperprolactinemia is effective in correcting prolactin levels, but does not improve erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation. Therefore, treating hyperprolactinemia is not an overall effective treatment for erectile dysfunction in these patients.     

The therapeutic effect of cerium oxide nanoparticle on ischaemia/reperfusion injury in rat testis

Testicular torsion is a dangerous urogenital disorder which is caused by twisting of spermatic cord, and unless immediate treatments happen at a proper time, oxidative stress, occurred during ischaemia reperfusion, finally leads to irreversible disintegration of testicular tissue. One of the first preventive lines is to administrate antioxidant factors. In the present study, we investigate the therapeutic effect of cerium oxide nanoparticle on the injury. We divided 45 rats into nine groups, subjected eight groups to testicular torsion–detorsion, injected different doses of cerium oxide nanoparticle into the peritoneum of six groups and analysed all the groups regarding spermatogenetic indices including sperm count, sperm viability and Johnson mean. Our results showed that cerium oxide nanoparticle can alleviate oxidative stress in testis, and this alleviation promotes the reproductive indices as the concentration of cerium oxide nanoparticles increases. The catalase-mimetic and superoxide dismutase-mimetic activities of cerium oxide nanoparticle are the most probable theories to explain the antioxidant effect of the nanoparticle.     

ASO Visual Abstract: Will It Play in Peoria? A Pilot Study of a Robotic Skills Curriculum for Surgical Oncology Fellows

Annals of Surgical Oncology -     

The burden of cutaneous disease in solid organ transplant recipients of color

Organ transplant recipients (OTRs) are at increased risk of cutaneous malignancy. Skin disorders in OTRs of color (OTRoC) have rarely been systematically assessed. We aimed to ascertain the burden of skin disease encountered in OTRoC by prospectively collecting data from OTRs attending 2 posttransplant skin surveillance clinics: 1 in London, UK and 1 in Philadelphia, USA. Retrospective review of all dermatological diagnoses was performed. Data from 1766 OTRs were analyzed: 1024 (58%) white, 376 (21%) black, 261 (15%) Asian, 57 (3%) Middle Eastern/Mediterranean (ME/M), and 48 (2.7%) Hispanic; and 1128 (64%) male. Viral infections affected 45.1% of OTRs, and were more common in white and ME/M patients (P < .001). Fungal infections affected 28.1% and were more common in ME/M patients (P < .001). Inflammatory skin disease affected 24.5%, and was most common in black patients (P < .001). In addition, 26.4% of patients developed skin cancer. There was an increased risk of skin cancer in white vs nonwhite OTRs (HR 4.4, 95% CI 3.5-5.7, P < .001): keratinocyte cancers were more common in white OTRs (P < .001) and Kaposi sarcoma was more common in black OTRs (P < .001). These data support the need for programs that promote targeted dermatology surveillance for all OTRs, regardless of race/ethnicity or country of origin.     

A New Bidesmosidic Triterpenoidal Saponin from the Roots of Symphytum officinale

A new triterpenoidal saponin having hederagenin as the aglycone was isolated from the roots of SYMPHYTUM OFFICINALE L. The structure of this saponin was elucidated by FAB-MS, (1)H-, (13)C-NMR, 2D-NMR analyses and chemical studies as 3- O-[beta- D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->4)-alpha- L-arabinopyranosyl]-hederagenin 28- O-[beta- D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->6)-beta- D-glucopyranosyl] ester.     

Long-term follow-up of the Indiana conservative resurfacing hip arthroplasty

Sixty-four Indiana conservative (Depuy, Warsaw, IN) hip arthroplasties performed in 61 patients were reviewed for loosening, mechanisms of loosening, and revision rate. Mean follow-up time was 6.8 years. There were revisions in 26 hips (40.6%) with 4 hips awaiting revision, yielding a total of 30 hips (47%) defined as failures. Acetabular failure occurred in 20 hips, femoral failure in 18, and combined failure in 13. Failure of this prosthesis persists over time. There seems to be little or no place for this design in contemporary hip joint arthroplasty.     

Expression of hepatocyte and oval cell antigens in hepatocellular carcinomas produced by oncogene-transfected liver epithelial cells

We have established an in vivo/in vitro system in which epithelial cells ("oval cells") isolated from livers of rats fed a carcinogenic diet for a very brief period are placed in culture and transfected with an oncogene. Injection s.c. into nude mice of oval cells transfected with the activated c-Ha-ras (EJ oncogene) produces tumors with morphological features of differentiated hepatocellular carcinomas. Using monoclonal antibodies that can recognize hepatocyte, oval cell, and tumor antigens, we investigated the expression of these antigens in oval cells in culture, transfected with either the EJ oncogene or the normal c-Ha-ras allele and in tumors derived from the oncogene-transfected cells. We show that EJ-transfected cells and most particularly the tumors they produce expressed hepatocyte and oval cell antigens not detectable in untransfected cells or cells transfected with the normal c-Ha-ras gene. Furthermore, we found that in cloned tumor cells, the expression of hepatocyte antigens could be induced by changes in culture conditions and was accompanied by a decrease in the expression of oval cell markers. Trabecular hepatocellular carcinomas had higher reactivity toward monoclonal antibodies recognizing hepatocyte antigens while tumors with glandular architecture reacted predominantly with monoclonal antibodies against oval cells. We conclude that, in addition to its tumorigenic effect, the EJ oncogene induced the differentiation of tumor cells toward the hepatocyte lineage. In addition, the data provide further confirmation that oval cells can serve as progenitors of differentiated hepatocellular carcinomas.