Expression of estrogen receptor alpha in the testis of infertile men with spermatogenic arrest / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the association of spermatogenic arrest with the expression of estrogen receptor alpha (ERalpha) in human testes.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We examined the testicular biopsy specimens of 120 infertile men by HE staining, detected the expression of ERalpha in the specimens of those with spermatogenic arrest by the two-step immunohistochemical method, and compared the results with those of 10 healthy men.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of the 120 specimens from the infertile men, 31 (25.8%) met the diagnostic criteria of spermatogenic arrest. In the testis tissue of normal men, ERalpha expressed in Sertoli, myoid and Leydig cells, but not in spermatogenic cells, while in the testis tissues of those with spermatogenic arrest, ERalpha expressed lowly in Sertoli, myoid and Leydig cells, with statistically significant differences in immunostaining intensity between the two groups (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Androgen receptor (AR) and ERalpha may play a coordinating role in facilitating spermatogenesis. Spermatogenic arrest may be related to a complex series of disorders in cell signal transduction involving AR, ERalpha and HSP90.</p>

Successful treatment of severe stenosis of the posterior cerebral artery with percutaneous transluminal angioplasty and stenting

Cerebral arterial stenosis is a major cause of stroke and of insufficient blood supply to the vertebral basilar system. Percutaneous transluminal cerebral angioplasty and stenting [PTCAS] have been used to preliminarily treat vertebrobasilar stenosis. However, the feasibility to treat the posterior cerebral arterial stenosis by PTCAS has not been fully established. We report a case of a 64-year-old man with a severe stenosis of the posterior cerebral artery that was treated successfully using a PTCAS procedure

The effect of HBO on RhoA expression and nerve function in rat focal cerebral ischemic model / 中华物理医学与康复杂志

Objective To evaluated the effect of hyperbaric oxygenation therapy(HBO)on the RhoA ex- pression and nerve function after transient focal cerebral ischemia in a rat model of middle cerebral artery occlusion. Methods One hundred and twenty-six healthy Sprague-Dawley rats were used and randomly divided into a sham op- eration group(shame group,n=42),a treatment group(n=42),and a control group(n=42).The animal model of middle cerebral artery occlusion(MCAO)was established by using the Zea-Longa method with the animals in the treatment and the control groups,and sham operation was performed with those in the sham group.HBO was applied to the animals in the treatment group.The RhoA protein expression was observed by using immunohistochemistry technique,and the neurological function was evaluated by Bederson's scale at different time points after MCAO.Re- sults(1)Weakly positive expression of RhoA could be located in bilateral cortex and the basal ganglia in the sham group.The expression of RhoA in the treatment group and control group was increased as early as 6 hours after MCAO when compared with that of the sham group,and peaked at 48 h after MCAO and decreased after then,but was still higher than that of the shame group at 7th day to 14th day after MCAO.It was also found that the expression of RhoA of the treatment group was significantly lower than that of the control group(P