Potential Prognostic Role for SPOP, DAXX, RARRES1, and LAMP2 as an Autophagy Related Genes in Prostate Cancer.

PURPOSE: Autophagy plays a critical role in PCa development. DAXX has a potent pro-survival effect by enhancing cell growth in PCa via suppression of autophagy. Here, we depicted a network governed by DAXX and SPOP by which the autophagy pathway is suppressed through the ubiquitination and modulation of key cellular signaling pathways mediators including LAMP2 and RARRES1. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Through network-based bioinformatics approaches, the expression levels of DAXX, RARRES1, LAMP2, and SPOP genes was assessed in 50 PCa tissues and 50 normal adjacent from the same sample as well as 50 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) tissues by quantitative RT-PCR. The normal adjacent tissues were taken from regions more than 5mm away from the bulk of those tumor tissues with clearly distinct margins. RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis and Real-time Quantitative RT-PCR were done for assessment of gene expression. To evaluate the primary gene network centered on autophagy pathway, according to the Query-dependent weighting algorithm, these two networks were integrated with Cytoscape 3.4 software. RESULTS: We found that in PCa tissues the DAXX expression level was significantly increased (P < 0.001) and the expressions of SPOP, RARRES1, and LAMP2 were significantly down-regulated, when compared to both control groups including normal adjacent and BPH tissues. Moreover, significant correlations were observed between expression levels of all four genes. Additionally, ROC curve analysis revealed that LAMP2 had the most sensitivity and specificity. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that the contribution of SPOP, DAXX, RARRES1, and LAMP2 together could be a putative regulatory element acting as a prognostic signature and therapeutic target in PCa.

Comparison of Stone Retrieval Basket, Stone Cone and Holmium Laser: Which One Is Better in Retropulsion and Stone-Free Status for Patients with Upper Ureteral Calculi?

Introduction: Transurethral lithotripsy (TUL) is an appropriate treatment for ureteral stones and is usually used for stones in the middle and lower part of the ureter. Different devices such as the Holmium laser, the stone basket, and the stone cone exist to prevent any fragments from retropulsion during TUL. The present study aims to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the Holmium laser, the stone basket, and the stone cone. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted from September 2016 to January 2018 comparing various TUL methods in 88 subjects with proximal ureteral calculi. The study participants were divided into 4 matched groups. The first one included 20 patients undergoing TUL with no device (group 1), the second group included 22 patients undergoing TUL while using the stone retrieval basket, the third group included 18 patients undergoing TUL while utilizing the stone cone and the fourth group included 28 patients undergoing TUL while using the Hol-YAG laser. Results: A residual stone ≥3 mm was recorded in 15.9% of the patients. The stone free rate was seen in 100%, 90.9, 83.3%, and 55% of the Holmium laser group, the retrieval basket group, the stone cone group and the no device group respectively (P=0.001). The lowest rate of surgery complications including ureteral perforation, post-operative fever, and mucosal damage between the 4 groups (P=0.003) and the highest time of surgery (P=0.001) belonged to the laser group. If we want to ignore the laser group, the success rate for lithotripsy was better in both groups with a stone retrieval device compared to the no device group, but no advantage existed between the stone basket and the stone cone. Conclusion: We can safely conclude that lasers significantly help to prevent stone migration during TUL. If we want to ignore the laser group, the success rate for lithotripsy was significantly better in both groups with a stone retrieval device compared to the no device group, but no advantage existed between the stone basket and the stone cone.

Is Holmium Laser an Appropriate Modality to Treat Genital Warts?

Introduction: Genital warts in young adults aged 18-28 years are very common. Several approaches are routinely used in the treatment of warts, viz., medical treatment (podophyllin and trichloroacetic acid), conventional surgery (excision or electrocautery), cryotherapy, and laser treatment. Because of high recurrence rates after treatment, complications and long duration of treatment, newer modalities have been developed. One of these newer methods is laser, which has been used in several urologic diseases. However, there are only a few studies about use of Holmium laser for treatment of genital warts. This retrospective study compared the success rate of Holmium laser with other available treatments for genital warts. Methods: Between October 2011 and May 2016, 142 patients with genital warts attended the urology clinics at Shohada-e-Tajrish hospital in Tehran, Iran. Out of these, a total of 101 patients were included in this study consisting of 42, 39, 11 and 9 patients treated with cryotherapy, laser, conventional surgery and podophyllin respectively. Results: The most successfully cleared lesions were seen in the holmium laser treatment group (P=0.001). The lowest recurrence rate was observed in the holmium laser treatment group (P=0.001). 17 patients had one of these following problems: dysuria, initial hematuria or a change in the force and caliber of their urinary stream that after physical examination showed them to have a meatal wart. These patients then underwent cystoscopy up to urinary sphincter. All of them in addition to the meatus wart had a penile shaft lesion(s). Thirteen patients had meatal lesions, 9 of whom received holmium laser therapy and 4 patients were treated with electrocautery. Based on routine follow up after treatment, none of the patients treated with holmium laser had urinary stricture, but one case treated with electrocautery returned with a penile urethral stricture. Conclusion: This study showed that treatment with Holmium laser has the highest clearance rate (92.2%) and lowest recurrence rate (14.3%) compared to other available treatments in this study. It may be concluded that holmium laser is a safe and effective treatment for genital warts with a low rate of recurrence.

Laser Therapy for Peyronie's Disease: A Randomized Control Double-Blind Pilot Study.

Introduction: The management of Peyronie's disease (PD) has remained a therapeutic dilemma for physicians and there is no gold standard treatment. In this paper, we decided to investigate the beneficial effect of the intralesional administration of verapamil compared with the intralesional administration of verapamil plus a low-intensity laser (LIL). Methods: Research was activated from May 2016 to May 2018 and a total of 38 men aged 18 years and older completed the investigation. The subjects were randomly divided into 2 groups. Group 1 was composed of 22 patients that were treated only by verapamil (5 mg) plus a sham laser weekly for 6 weeks, and group 2 consisted of 22 patients that received a laser, using the BTL-6000 HIGH-INTENSITY LASER 12 W machine and the same protocol of intralesional verapamil injection. The visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate pain during an erection, penile ultrasonography was used to measure plaque size, the penile curvature angle degree was measured using the photographs taken during an erection, and the International Index of Erectile Function questionnaire was used to assess erectile function. The follow-up treatment lasted for nine months, with visits performed in the 3rd and 9th months. Results: All study parameters decreased significantly after treatment in both arms, but the reduction in pain and penile curvature improvements in combination therapy revealed more significant changes in 3 months (p = .035, p=.032). Nevertheless, these improvements were not seen in the follow-up session after 9 months. Conclusion: A laser appears to be safe treatment modality in carefully-selected patients with PD. It has moderate efficacy in the short term.

Evaluation of 200 Mm, 365 Mm and 500 Mm Fibers of Ho:YAG Laser in Transurethral Lithotripsy of Ureteral: A Randomize Control Trial.

Introduction: Presently, different holmium: yttrium aluminum garnet (Ho:YAG) laser calibers are used for endoscopic stone treatment, which include 200, 365, 500 and 1000 Mm fibers. Currently, there are not enough studies to compare the performance of these fibers. In this retrospective investigation, we compared the outcome of 200, 365 and 500 Mm fibers of Ho:YAG laser in transurethral lithotripsy of ureteral stone. Methods: From January 2016 to June 2017, 74 subjects with mean age of 35.3 ± 5.6 were randomly allocated to 3 groups according to the caliber of laser, 200, 365 and 500 Mm for transurethral lithotripsy. The main purpose of this investigation was to evaluate mean operation time (MOT), stone free rate (SFR) and complications. Results: MOT and SFR were significantly different in 500 Mm laser caliber (P=0.046, P=0.029, respectively). There was no remarkable difference between the 3 groups in this regard. Conclusion: Based upon our data, the clinical potency of the Ho: YAG laser was great in all 3 fiber calibers. The most important results of this comparison were the significantly higher SFR with increased laser caliber.

Incidental prostate cancer: a 10-year review of a tertiary center, Tehran, Iran.

OBJECTIVE: Incidental prostate cancer (IPCa) is defined as a symptom-free cancer unexpectedly discovered upon microscopic examination of resected tissue. The aim of this study was to report the correlation between some specific clinical criteria in patients incidentally diagnosed with prostate cancer (PCa) during transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) or open prostatectomy (OP) after clinically suspected benign prostatic hyperplasia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, retrospective study. Data were collected from Shohada-e-Tajrish Hospital database during November 2006 to October 2016. Four hundred and twenty three men suffering from symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia who underwent either TURP or OP that provided a prostate specimen were evaluated. The data analysis was performed using Pearson correlation test and independent t-test using SPSS version 20 software. RESULTS: The mean age of subjects was 68.74±9.87 years old (45-93 years). The mean prostate specific antigen (PSA) level was 21.47±13.44 ng/mL (0.6-47.1 ng/mL). Results showed that 84 patients (19.9%) had PCa (40 patients who underwent TURP [12.6%] and 44 patients who underwent OP [40.7%] groups). Cut-off point of PSA for detecting IPCa was 3.8 ng/mL in our study, and this showed sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value, and positive predictive value of 26.08%, 100%, 100%, and 29.79%, respectively. Twenty two patients with cancer had a positive family history for PCa; thus, a significant relationship between familial history of PCa and its occurrence was shown (p=0.0001). CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, the cut-off point for PSA levels in detecting PCa was 3.8 ng/mL, which is similar to that reported by other studies. Familial history of PCa and PSA levels were two predictors in determining the PCa.

Pneumatic Lithotripsy Versus Laser Lithotripsy for Ureteral Stones.

Introduction: Several different modalities are available for ureteral stone fragmentation. From them pneumatic and holmium: yttrium-aluminum-garnet (Ho: YAG) lithotripsy have supportive outcomes. In this study we studied 250 subjects who had ureteroscopic pneumatic lithotripsy (PL) or laser lithotripsy (LL). Methods: Two-hundred fifty patients with ureteral stones underwent ureteroscopic lithotripsy (115 subjects in the PL group, 135 subjects in the LL group) from August 2010 to April 2016. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate stone-free rate (SFR), mean operation time (MOT), mean hospital stay (MHS), stone migration and complications. Results: Two groups were similar in age, gender, mean size of stones, side of stone, and complications. There was a statistical difference in terms of SFR, stone migration and MHS in favor of the LL group (P ≤ 0.05, P ≤ 0.05 respectively), and MOT in favor of the PL group (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: Both the PL and LL techniques were effective and safe for ureteral stones, however a slightly higher SFR was found in the LL group.

Surgical Management of Vesical Stones in Children: A Comparison Between Open Cystolithotomy, Percutaneous Cystolithotomy and Transurethral Cystolithotripsy With Holmium-YAG Laser.

Introduction: Bladder stone is more common in developing countries and it is one of the rare diseases affecting children. In recent years, there is an increasing tendency in urologists to have minimal invasive approaches. The aim of this study was to compare the results of surgical bladder stone management in our single tertiary center. Methods: From 159 children younger than 18 years with vesical stones treated during January 2000 to January 2015 in Shohada-e-Tajrish hospital, Tehran, Iran, 146 subjects entered to the study. According to type of intervention, patients stratified to three groups. First group included 80 patients that open cystolithotomy (OCL) was done for them, second group was 39 patients who underwent percutaneous cystolithotomy (PCCL) and third group was 27 patients who treated by transurethral cystolithotripsy with holmium-YAG laser (TULL). Demographic data, hospital stay, operation time, and post operation complications were recorded and comparison were drawn between the three groups. Results: Mean age was 8.3±5.1 years (8.6±5.1, 6±4.2 years for boys and girls, respectively). Mean stone size (MSS) was 2.76±1.07 cm and no significant differences were found between the three groups but it was larger in OCL group. Mean operative time (MOT) was 29.15±7.12 minutes in separate; MOT in TULL was significantly higher than PCCL and OCL respectively (36.3±5.97, 30.54±5.27 and 26.06±6.32 minutes/P =0.000). Mean hospital stay (MHS) in OCL group was 3.55±1 days that was higher than PCCL and TULL groups significantly (P =0.000). Conclusion: Based on our study, holmium:YAG lithotripsy has a high success rate, and is a minimally invasive management, therefore it is a safe method for children bladder calculi treatment if proper equipment was available and done by expert hands.

The Efficacy and Safety of Laser Lithotripsy in Pregnancy.

Introduction: The aim of our study was to assess the efficacy and safety of laser lithotripsy in pregnant patients. Methods: In this retrospective study, we reviewed the 15 pregnant women who have been treated for ureteral stones with semi-rigid ureteroscope and holmium laser at our center between Januarys 2007and April 2015. Results: The mean age of patients and mean gestational age was 29.3 years old 27.3 weeks respectively. Mean size of stones was 7.84 mm. Twelve patients had renal colic, and hematuria was found in 3 cases. Irritative urinary symptoms such as frequency and urgency detected in 6 ones and 2 patients had fever. The stone of all patients were fragmented by using holmium laser lithotripter. In 5 patients stone residual fragments were removed by grasper while other 10 patients were left to pass fragments spontaneously. No intraoperative and postoperative urological or obstetric complication was seen. Conclusion: Laser lithotripsy is safe and efficacious in pregnant patients who have ureteral stone that does not respond to conservative management.

Lack of antibacterial activity of Ruta graveolens extracts against Enterococcus fecalis.

Enterococcus fecalis is responsible for majority of enterococci infections and can cause clinical disorders in adult and pediatrics. In order to adverse effects of synthetic drugs, it has made a positive attitude toward alternative and complementary medicine. Ruta graveolens has a wide therapeutic application for various diseases. Aim of this study was to see the effect of this herb on Enterococcus fecalis growth. In this investigation we used standard Enterococcus fecalis. Effect of hydro-alcoholic, aqueous and methanolic extracts of Ruta graveolens on growth of bacteria has been evaluated by disc diffusion and serial dilution method and compared with eight prevalent antibiotics. None of disks with different extracts in the range of 50 to 400µ/ µl show any non-growth hallo. Disks with 500µg of all type extracts in comparison with antibiotic disks did not avoid from growth of bacteria. Third test showed the growth of bacteria and ineffectiveness of various amount of extracts. It seems that this ineffectiveness is because of low antibacterial substance against the bacteria in extracts of the herb and high resistant nature of Enterococcus fecalis to antibiotics and it needs more studies.