ABSTRACT
Aim: This study investigated the effect of allografting umbilical cord blood mononuclear cells (UCBMCs) into the scrotum on sexual function in male elderly mice. Methods: UCBMCs were injected once into the scrotal sheath cavity of elderly mice. Results: The transplanted UCBMCs survived in the scrotal sheath cavity for 1 month. The mice had significantly increased blood testosterone concentrations, cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) levels and total nitric oxide synthase (T-NOS) activity in the corpus cavernosum and an increase in the number of mouse matings within 30 min (all p = 0.000). Conclusion: Scrotum-implanted UCBMCs improve the sexual function of male elderly mice through testosterone production and the NOS/cGMP pathway, which may provide an innovative transplantation approach for the treatment of erectile dysfunction.
Subject(s)
Erectile Dysfunction , Fetal Blood , Humans , Mice , Male , Animals , Aged , Fetal Blood/metabolism , Scrotum/metabolism , Erectile Dysfunction/metabolism , Penis/metabolism , Cyclic GMP/metabolism , Cyclic GMP/pharmacology , Testosterone/metabolism , Testosterone/pharmacologyABSTRACT
In this study, phosphorus-modified alumina with large pore size was synthesized through a coprecipitation method. The carbon-covered, phosphorus-modified alumina with large pores was prepared by impregnating with glucose and carbonizing to further improve the adsorption of organic dyes. The morphology and structure of these composites were characterized by various analysis methods, and Rhodamine B (RhB) adsorption was also examined in aqueous media. The results showed that the specific surface area and pore size of the phosphorus-modified alumina sample AP7 (prepared with a P/Al molar ratio of 0.07) reached 496.2 m2·g-1 and 21.9 nm, while the specific surface area and pore size of the carbon-covered phosphorus-modified alumina sample CAP7-27 (prepared by using AP7 as a carrier for glucose at a glucose/Al molar ratio of 0.27) reached 435.3 m2·g-1 and 21.2 nm. The adsorption experiment of RhB revealed that CAP7-27 had not only an equilibrium adsorption capacity of 198 mg·g-1, but also an adsorption rate of 162.5 mg·g-1 in 5 min. These superior adsorption effects can be attributed to the similar pore structures of CAP7-27 with those of alumina and the specific properties with those of carbon materials. Finally, the kinetic properties of these composites were also studied, which were found to be consistent with a pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir model for isothermal adsorption analysis. This study indicates that the prepared nanomaterials are expected to be promising candidates for efficient adsorption of toxic dyes.
ABSTRACT
In this work, an organic-free method was used to synthesize different morphological boehmite by controlling the crystallization temperature, and alumina adsorbents were obtained by baking the boehmites at 500 °C. The alumina adsorbents were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), High resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), N2 adsorption/desorption analysis, and their phosphorus adsorption properties were comparatively investigated by a series of experiments. The results showed that the self-prepared alumina adsorbents were lamellar and fibrous material, while the industrial adsorbent was a granular material. The lamellar alumina adsorbents had the largest specific surface area and showed better phosphorus adsorption capacity. The maximum adsorption capacity could reach up to 588.2 mg·g-1; and only 0.8 g·L-1 of lamellar alumina adsorbent is needed to treat 100 mg·L-1 phosphorus solution under the Chinese level 1 discharge standard (0.5 mg·L-1). Further investigation suggests that the lamellar alumina adsorbent kept high adsorption capacity in various solution environments.
