Evaluation of PSA-age volume score in predicting prostate cancer in Chinese population.

This study was performed to evaluate prostate-specific antigen-age volume (PSA-AV) scores in predicting prostate cancer (PCa) in a Chinese biopsy population. A total of 2355 men who underwent initial prostate biopsy from January 2006 to November 2015 in Huashan Hospital were recruited in the current study. The PSA-AV scores were calculated and assessed together with PSA and PSA density (PSAD) retrospectively. Among 2133 patients included in the analysis, 947 (44.4%) were diagnosed with PCa. The mean age, PSA, and positive rates of digital rectal examination result and transrectal ultrasound result were statistically higher in men diagnosed with PCa (all P < 0.05). The values of area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of PSAD and PSA-AV were 0.864 and 0.851, respectively, in predicting PCa in the entire population, both performed better than PSA (AUC = 0.805; P < 0.05). The superiority of PSAD and PSA-AV was more obvious in subgroup with PSA ranging from 2.0 ng ml-1 to 20.0 ng ml-1. A PSA-AV score of 400 had a sensitivity and specificity of 93.7% and 40.0%, respectively. In conclusion, the PSA-AV score performed equally with PSAD and was better than PSA in predicting PCa. This indicated that PSA-AV score could be a useful tool for predicting PCa in Chinese population.

Aldosterone induces inflammatory cytokines in penile corpus cavernosum by activating the NF-κB pathway.

Emerging evidence indicates that aldosterone and mineralocorticoid receptors (MRs) are associated with the pathogenesis of erectile dysfunction. However, the molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. In this study, freshly isolated penile corpus cavernosum tissue from rats was treated with aldosterone, with or without MRs inhibitors. Nuclear factor (NF)-kappa B (NF-κB) activity was evaluated by real-time quantitative PCR, luciferase assay, and immunoblot. The results demonstrated that mRNA levels of the NF-κB target genes, including inhibitor of NF-κB alpha (IκB-α), NF-κB1, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin 6 (IL-6), were higher after aldosterone treatment. Accordingly, phosphorylation of p65/RelA, IκB-α, and inhibitor of NF-κB kinase-ß was markedly increased by aldosterone. Furthermore, knockdown of MRs prevented activation of the NF-κB canonical pathway by aldosterone. Consistent with this finding, ectopic overexpression of MRs enhanced the transcriptional activation of NF-κB by aldosterone. More importantly, the MRs antagonist, spironolactone blocked aldosterone-mediated activation of the canonical NF-κB pathway. In conclusion, aldosterone has an inflammatory effect in the corpus cavernosum penis, inducing NF-κB activation via an MRs-dependent pathway, which may be prevented by selective MRs antagonists. These data reveal the possible role of aldosterone in erectile dysfunction as well as its potential as a novel pharmacologic target for treatment.

Diabetes mellitus reduces prostate cancer risk - no function of age at diagnosis or duration of disease.

BACKGROUND: Prior studies examining the relation between diabetes mellitus (DM) and prostate cancer risk have reported controversial findings. We examined this association by conducting a detailed meta-analysis of the peer-reviewed literature. METHODS: A comprehensive search for articles of MEDLINE and EMBASE databases and bibliographies of retrieved articles published up to November, 2012 was performed. Methodological quality assessment of the trials was based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scaleq and the meta-analysis was performed using STATA 12.0. Dose-response regression was conducted with SPSS 19.0. RESULTS: We included 29 studies in the meta-analysis (13 case-control studies, 16 cohort studies), and found an inverse association between DM and prostate cancer (relative risk (RR) 0.84, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.78-0.91). An inverse association was also observed in non-Asian populations (RR 0.81, 95% CI 0.76-0.87) and population-based studies (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.77-0.91). No statistical significance was found of the association between prostate cancer risk and the duration of DM (p=0.338), and risk seemed not related with the age of DM diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggested an inverse relationship between DM and prostate cancer, but without links to duration of disease or age of diagnosis.

Diabetes mellitus and prostate cancer risk of different grade or stage: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

AIM: Prior studies have reported that diabetes mellitus might reduce the overall prostate cancer risk. We examined this association by conducting a detailed meta-analysis of the studies published in peer-reviewed literature on the association between diabetes mellitus and prostate cancer risk of different stage or grade. METHODS: A comprehensive search for articles of MEDLINE and EMBASE databases and bibliographies of retrieved articles published up to October 23, 2012 was performed. Methodological quality assessment of the trials was based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Meta-analysis was performed using STATA 12.0. RESULTS: We included 9 studies in the meta-analysis (5 studies examining the relation of different stage only, 2 studies for grade only, and 2 studies for both grade and stage), and found an inverse association between diabetes mellitus and prostate cancer of different stage or grade. The relative risk (RRs) was moderately stronger for low grade (RR 0.74, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.64-0.86) and localized disease (RR 0.72, 95% CI 0.67-0.76) compared with high grade (RR 0.78, 95% CI 0.67-0.90) and advanced disease (RR 0.85, 95% CI 0.75-0.97). CONCLUSION: This study suggests an inverse relationship between diabetes mellitus and prostate cancer of different stage or grade. Possible biases underlying this association are discussed.