Semen parameters in men recovered from COVID-19 / 亚洲男科学杂志(英文版)

The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is emerging as a global health threat and shows a higher risk for men than women. Thus far, the studies on andrological consequences of COVID-19 are limited. To ascertain the consequences of COVID-19 on sperm parameters after recovery, we recruited 41 reproductive-aged male patients who had recovered from COVID-19, and analyzed their semen parameters and serum sex hormones at a median time of 56 days after hospital discharge. For longitudinal analysis, a second sampling was obtained from 22 of the 41 patients after a median time interval of 29 days from first sampling. Compared with controls who had not suffered from COVID-19, the total sperm count, sperm concentration, and percentages of motile and progressively motile spermatozoa in the patients were significantly lower at first sampling, while sperm vitality and morphology were not affected. The total sperm count, sperm concentration, and number of motile spermatozoa per ejaculate were significantly increased and the percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm was reduced at the second sampling compared with those at first in the 22 patients examined. Though there were higher prolactin and lower progesterone levels in patients at first sampling than those in controls, no significant alterations were detected for any sex hormones examined over time following COVID-19 recovery in the 22 patients. Although it should be interpreted carefully, these findings indicate an adverse but potentially reversible consequence of COVID-19 on sperm quality.

Mechanism of Ginsenoside Rh2 Against Liver Cancer / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Ginsenoside Rh2 is a tetracyclic triterpenoid saponin monomer containing a dammarane-type skeleton, with advantages of low toxicity, low molecular weight, good fat solubility and strong anticancer effect, and is the main anticancer effective in ginseng. In recent years, there have been emerging findings on ginsenoside Rh2, indicating an obvious anticancer activity against a variety of cancers with a high morbidity and mortality. Particularly, ginsenoside Rh2 has a significant anti-hepatocarcinoma effect, so the studies on the mechanism of action have gradually been given attention. In this paper, we have reviewed more than 100 domestic and foreign relevant literatures in Chinese and English databases in the past 20 years, such as CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP Data, Pub Med, and conducted detailed collection, analysis and summary for the contents of the anti-hepatocarcinoma mechanism of ginsenoside Rh2. According to the findings, although there are many reports on the anti-hepatocarcinoma effect of ginsenoside Rh2, the mechanism of action of ginsenoside Rh2 against liver cancer has not been systematically elaborated. Therefore, this paper comprehensively discusses the anti-hepatocarcinoma effect of ginsenoside Rh2, clarifies that the mechanism of action of ginsenoside Rh2 against liver cancer may be related with the inhibition of the proliferation of hepatoma cells, the induction of differentiation of hepatoma cells, the promotion of apoptosis of hepatoma cells, the inhibition of invasion and metastasis of hepatoma cells, the reduction of drug resistance of liver cancer cells, and the improvement of immunity. For the first time, the mechanism of action of ginsenoside Rh2 against liver cancer was comprehensively summarized, which provided reference for researches on ginsenoside Rh2 against liver cancer, evidence and ideas for further researches on ginsenoside Rh2, new research directions for the treatment of liver cancer and new hope to patients with liver cancer.