Protective effect of Yishen Tongluo Recipe against benzo(a)pyrene-induced sperm DNA methylation changes in male rats / 中华男科学杂志

Objective@#To explore the protective effect of Yishen Tongluo Recipe (YTR) against aberrant sperm DNA methylation in male rats exposed to benzo(a)pyrene (BaP).@*METHODS@#Thirty male SD rats of the SPF grade were randomly divided into three groups of equal number: solvent control, BaP exposure and YTR intervention. The animals of the solvent control group were injected intraperitoneally with 0.5% DMSO while those of the other two groups with BaP at 0.1 mg/kg/d, all for 60 days, and at 31 days of BaP exposure, those of the YTR group were treated intragastrically with YTR for 30 days. Then, the left epididymides were harvested from all the rats and sperm suspensions collected and centrifuged for extraction of sperm DNA. The methylated DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeDIP-seq) technique was used to detect the whole-genome DNA methylation in different groups.@*RESULTS@#Exposure to BaP induced the up-regulation of 828 genes encoding mRNA in the sperm DNA, while YTR intervention produced a significant protective effect on the transforming growth factor β3 (TGF-β3), cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and recombination activating gene 1 (RAG1), and down-regulated the expressions of 3 227 genes. BaP exposure also caused the up-regulation of 783 genes encoding lncRNA in the sperm DNA, and YTR treatment exhibited an evident protective effect on 62 of the up-regulated genes, induced the down-regulation of 3 378 genes, and showed a protective effect on 56 of the down-regulated genes.@*CONCLUSIONS@#YTR has a protective effect against aberrant sperm DNA methylation in male rats exposed to BaP, which may be associated with lncRNA.

Characteristics of Chinese Medicine Education Under British Education System in New Zealand / 中国结合医学杂志

With the globalisation of Chinese medicine (CM), the local CM education institutions were established in many other countries outside of China. These CM education institutions have formed a new mode in CM education after integrating with local culture, law and national conditions. This article takes New Zealand CM education institutions as an example to discuss the characteristics of CM education under the British education system, aiming to provide ideas on CM education in China and other countries.

Mental health of prostatitis patients in China: A statistical analysis of literature / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>Objective</b>To know the basic status of researches on the mental health of prostatitis patients in China by statistical analysis of the literature published in the past two decades and provide some reference for such studies.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Using the bibliometrics method, we performed statistical analyses on the publication years, journals, and authors of the articles published in the core journals concerning the mental health of prostatitis patients in China as well as on the topics of the identified studies using their titles, key words and abstracts.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Totally, 226 related studies were identified, of which 31 (by 29 authors) were published in the Chinese core journals. As for the topics of the included studies, 102 (45.13%) focused on the role and significance of psychotherapy in the treatment of prostatitis, 52 (23.01%) on the correlation of psychological factors with prostatitis, and 23 (10.18%) on the correlation of psychopathic factors with prostatitis complicated by sexual dysfunction. Most of the articles on the mental health of prostatitis patients were published in National Journal of Andrology.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Studies on the mental health of prostatitis patients in China are carried out in varied institutions and different directions but, however, need to be furthered and deepened. For this condition, a comprehensive therapeutic mode of "prevention-communication-treatment" is coming into being, and the methodology for related researches is gradually turning from linear to stereoscopic.</p>

Efficacy observation on chronic pelvic pain syndrome of damp-heat stagnation pattern treated with acupoint catgut embedding therapy / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the efficacy difference in the treatment of chronic pelvic pain syndrome of Sev-damp-heat stagnation pattern between acupoint catgut embedding therapy and western medication.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>enty cases were randomized into a catgut embedding group (40 cases) and a western medication group (30 cases) at the ratio of 4 : 3. In the catgut embedding group, the catgut embedding therapy was applied to Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Quchi (LI 11), Huiyin (CV 1), Zusanli (ST 36), Zhongji (CV 3), Shenshu (BL 23), etc. The treatment was given once every two weeks, the treatment for 4 weeks was as one session and totally 2 sessions were required. In the western medication group, tamsulosin hydrochloride capsules 0. 2 mg, oral administration, once a day, and Indometacin sustained release tablets, 75 mg, once a day, 3 tablets each time were prescribed. The symptom score of TCM, score of NIH Chronic Prostatitis Symptom Index (NIH-CPSI), lecithin body number in prostatic fluid, (SAS) score of Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and score of Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS) were compared before and after treatment in the patients of the two groups. The efficacy was evaluated in the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>(1)The total effective rate was 91. 9% (34/37) in the catgutembedding group and was 86. 2% (25/29) in the western medication group. The efficacy in the catgutembedding group was better than that in the western medication group (P<0. 05). (2) The symptom score of TCM was all reduced significantly after treatment in the two groups (both P<0.01), and the result in the catgut embedding group was superior to the western medication group (6.42 +/-2. 81 vs 10. 99+/-3. 11 ,P<0. 01). (3) Lecithin body number was increased apparently in the two groups after treatment (both P<0.01), and the result in the catgut-embedding group was superior to the western medicine group (33.56+/-5.88 vs 29. 78+/-7. 06,P<0. 05). (4) Total score of NIH-CPSI, score of pain, score of SAS and score of SDS were all improved apparently after treatment in the two groups (all P<0. 01), and the results in the catgut embedding group were superior to the western medication group (P<0. 01, P<0. 05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The acupoint catgut embedding therapy achieves the superior efficacy on chronic pelvic pain syndrome of damp-heat stagnation pattern as compared with conventional western medicine. This therapy relieves clinical symptoms, improves the states of anxiety and depression and increases lecithin body number obviously.</p>

Common TCM syndrome pattern of chronic pelvic pain syndrome relates to plasma substance p and beta endorphin / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the relationship of the common Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndrome pattern of chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) with the contents of substance p and beta endorphin in the plasma, and provide reference data for the clinical diagnosis, differentiation and treatment of CPPS by TCM.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We observed 98 cases of CPPS, which were classified into a lower-part damp-heat invasion group (group A, n = 32), a blood stasis-induced collateral obstruction group (group B, n = 34), and a damp-heat stagnation group (group C, n = 32) according to the TCM syndrome differentiation. Another 35 normal healthy young men were enrolled as controls. We measured the contents of substance p and beta endorphin in the plasma by immunoradiometry and ELISA, and analyzed their relationship with the TCM syndrome pattern.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The contents of plasma substance p were significantly higher in groups A ([1135.76 +/- 166.45] pg/ml), B ([1 337.84 +/- 170.81] pg/ml), and C ([1 210.01 +/- 162.27] pg/ml) than in the control ([574.99 +/- 113.09] pg/ml) (all P < 0.01), while the contents of plasma beta endorphin in groups A ([212.70 +/- 29.49] pg/ml), B ([157.99 +/- 24.01] pg/ml), and C ([180.81 +/- 20.20] pg/ml) were remarkably lower than that in the control ([274.73 +/- 27.64] pg/ml) (all P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>In the plasma of CPPS patients, the content of substance p is significantly elevated and that of beta endorphin markedly reduced, which suggests that they may be involved in the inflammatory reaction of CPPS. The levels of plasma substance p and beta endorphin can be used as valuable reference for the TCM classification of chronic prostatitis.</p>

Analyse of zinc and acid phosphatase in seminal plasma and sperm parameters of infertile male / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study was to investigate the relationship among zinc, acid phosphatase levels in seminal plasma and sperm parameters in infertile male.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The activities of zinc and acid phosphatase in seminal plasma were detected and leucocytes was stained and counted in 169 infertile men and 21 normal fertility as control.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Acid phosphatase levels in infertile groups were significantly lower than those in the normal control when grouped both in terms of sperm vitality and density( P < 0.01), but no statistical differences were observed among infertile groups (P > 0.05). Further, zinc levels in necrospermia groups were lower than those in the control (P > 0.05). The leucocyte numbers in infertile groups were larger than those in the control when grouped according to sperm density (P < 0.001), and the same results were obtained when grouped in terms of sperm vitality except in the necrospermia group (P > 0.05). Acid phosphatase and zinc levels were not correlated with leucocyte counting (r = 0.088, P = 0.162; r = 0.119, P = 0.057).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The descent of acid phosphatase and ascent of leucocyte number in seminal plasma can result in the fall of sperm vitality and density, and can be used to be diagnostic indexes of male infertility. Seminal zinc levels in infertile groups were lower than those in the control, but there was no statistical significance.</p>