Efficacy and safety of Longjintonglin Capsule for the treatment of type III prostatitis / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the therapeutic effect and safety of Longjintonglin Capsule in the treatment of type III prostatitis (chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome, CP/CPPS).</p><p><b>METHOD</b>We selected 240 patients with type III prostatitis according to the diagnostic standards of the American National Institute of Health (NIH) and treated them with Longjintonglin Capsule orally 3 capsules once tid for 12 weeks. Based on the NIH chronic prostatitis symptom index (NIH-CPSI), traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome score, and leukocyte count in the expressed prostatic secretion (EPS), we evaluated the results of treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Totally 238 patients completed the treatment, including 108 IIIA and 120 III B prostatitis cases. Before and after 4, 8, and 12 weeks of treatment, the total NIH-CPSI scores were 23.12 ± 6.99, 18.22 ± 6.39, 14.12 ± 5.88, and 12.36 ± 6.04 (P < 0.01) in the IIIA prostatitis patients and 22.01 ± 6.28, 17.56 ± 5.89, 13.67 ± 5.18, and 11.45 ± 5.22 in the III prostatitis patients (P < 0.01), the TCM syndrome scores were 52.12 ± 13.08, 48.13 ± 12.11, 43.05 ± 11.19, and 40.78 ± 10. 59 in the former (P < 0.01) and 53.02 ± 12.12, 49.32 ± 12.78, 44.01 ± 11.79, and 39.67 ± 10.26 in the latter (P < 0.01), and the leukocyte counts were 26.09 ± 21.55, 23.02 ± 18.61, 18.25 ± 17.79, and 15.36 ± 16.38 in the IIIA cases (P < 0.01). Neither abnormalities in liver and renal function nor obvious adverse events were observed during the experiment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Longjintonglin Capsule, with its advantages of safety, effectiveness, and no obvious adverse reactions in the treatment of type III prostatitis, deserves to be recommended for clinical application.</p>

Abnormal methylation of RASSF1A and BLU genes in renal carcinoma / 第二军医大学学报

Objective: To investigate the methylation status of the promoters of RASSF1A and BLU genes in the renal carcinoma tissues and to assess their roles in the tumorigenesis of renal carcinoma. Methods: Methylation specific PCR (MSP) method was used to examine the methylation status of the promoters of RASSF1A and BLU genes in the renal carcinoma tissues of 26 patients with renal carcinoma and their corresponding adjacent normal tissues; and the results were analyzed. Results: We found that 17 (65.4%) of the renal carcinoma tissues had abnormal methylation of RASSF1A gene, and there was no abnormal methylation of RASSF1A in the adjacent normal tissues. Eleven(42.3%) of 26 renal cancer tissues had hypermethylation of BLU gene, and there was no hypermethylation of BLU gene in the corresponding adjacent tissues. Conclusion: Hypermethylation of RASSF1A and BLU genes is present in the renal carcinoma tissues, suggesting the hypermethylation of RASSF1A and BLU might be associated with the tumorigenesis of renal carcinoma.

Detection of Helicobacter pylori in oral cavity of patients with recurrent aphthous ulcer / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association of recurrent aphthous ulcer (RAU) with Helicobacter pylori (Hp) infection and digestive diseases.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Saliva samples were collected from 82 patients with RAU and 74 healthy volunteers for Hp detection with PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positivity rates of HP differed significantly between RAU patients and healthy volunteers (43.9% vs 16.2%, P<0.001). In the 82 RAU patients, 22 (26.82%) were identified to have gastritis and peptic ulcer, whereas only 7 out of the 74 healthy volunteers (10.45%) had such digestive diseases, showing significant difference between them (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Hp might in some way associate with RAU, which in turn is associated with an increased incidence of digestive diseases.</p>

New chemolysis for urological calcium phosphate calculi - a study in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Advances in techniques have left very few indications for open surgical extraction of urinary stones currently. These advances notwithstanding, the search continues for medical approaches to urinary stone management. In this study, we perform an in vitro study analyzing the efficiency and prospect of two new complex solutions in urological calcium phosphate calculi dissolution. METHODS: Eighteen stones composed mainly of calcium phosphates were taken from patients who underwent kidney stone surgery. These stones were large enough (weight range 0.514-0.928 g) to be fragmented and matched equally into six groups. Chemolysis of phosphate stones was done with six different solvents and was repeated 3 times with 6 stones for each solution. At 24, 48 and 72 h, reduction in weight, percentage weight change, and dissolution rate; the dissolution rates at pH 5.0, 7.0 and 8.5 for each solution, using different cations (Na+, K+ or Ca2+), according to different dilutions (1:1, 1:2, 1:3, 1:4) of S1 and S2 were simultaneously determined. RESULTS: Calcium phosphate calculi were poorly dissolved by Phys and Art, and they had a low dissolution rate in pH 8.5 EDTA. The most effective solutions were S1, S2 and R, with 72 h mean dissolution rates: 5.75 +/- 0.44 mg/hr (S1), 5.2 +/- 0.63 mg/hr (S2), 4.55 +/- 0.46 mg/hr (R) (x +/- s, p < 0.01 R, S1 and S2 vs Phys, Art and EDTA; p < 0.05, S1 vs R, LSD-test). The mean percentage weight loss at 72 h was: 52.1 +/- 15.75 % (S1), 44.4 +/- 7.37 % (S2) and 40.5 +/- 3.67 % (R) ( x +/- s, p < 0.01 R, S1 and S2 vs Phys, Art and EDTA, LSD-test). Diluted twice, S1 and S2 had even better effectiveness than their initial solution. The additive of Na+, K+ or Ca2+ greatly reduced the dissolution rates of S1, S2. CONCLUSION: Our data indicate that test solutions S1 and S2 are effective solvents in the chemolysis of calcium phosphate stones. At twice dilutions, these solutions are even more useful in the treatment of stone disease.