The Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture in Treating Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women from a Meta-Analysis of Four Randomized Controlled Trials.

PURPOSE: To verify the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in treating stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women in a single treatment cycle lasting at least 6 weeks. METHODS: A preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) summary was followed correctly. Through the use of EMBASE, Cochrane Library databases, and PubMed (until July 2021), we looked for randomized controlled trials. In addition, the included articles' original references were looked up as well. RESULTS: Totally, we analyzed four studies including 690 patients. Compared with the sham acupuncture group, this analysis verified that acupuncture was critically better result in decreasing mean urine leakage (p = 0.04), 1-hour pad test (p = 0.04), 72-hour incontinence episodes (p < 0.00001), International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form scores (p = 0.0005) and improving patient self-evaluation (All p < 0.05). However, two groups had no statistical significance in improving pelvic floor muscle strength. In the matter of safety, mainly adverse events, especially with respect to pain, both groups showed no statistical difference. CONCLUSIONS: Acupuncture is more beneficial to patients with stress urinary incontinence in women with no critical difference in the incidence of advent events than sham acupuncture.

The Efficacy and Safety of Acupuncture in Treating Stress Urinary Incontinence in Women from a Meta-Analysis of Four Randomized Controlled Trials

Abstract Purpose: To verify the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in treating stress urinary incontinence (SUI) in women in a single treatment cycle lasting at least 6 weeks. Methods: A preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) summary was followed correctly. Through the use of EMBASE, Cochrane Library databases, and PubMed (until July 2021), we looked for randomized controlled trials. In addition, the included articles’ original references were looked up as well. Results: Totally, we analyzed four studies including 690 patients. Compared with the sham acupuncture group, this analysis verified that acupuncture was critically better result in decreasing mean urine leakage (p = 0.04), 1-hour pad test (p = 0.04), 72-hour incontinence episodes (p < 0.00001), International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Short Form scores (p = 0.0005) and improving patient self-evaluation (All p < 0.05). However, two groups had no statistical significance in improving pelvic floor muscle strength. In the matter of safety, mainly adverse events, especially with respect to pain, both groups showed no statistical difference. Conclusions: Acupuncture is more beneficial to patients with stress urinary incontinence in women with no critical difference in the incidence of advent events than sham acupuncture (AU)

Construction and verification of a novel hypoxia-related lncRNA signature related with survival outcomes and immune microenvironment of bladder urothelial carcinoma by weighted gene co-expression network analysis.

Background: Bladder urothelial carcinoma (BLCA) is a common malignant tumor with the greatest recurrence rate of any solid tumor. Hypoxia is crucial in the growth and immune escape of malignant tumors. To predict clinical outcomes and immunological microenvironment of patients with BLCA, a hypoxia-related long non-coding RNA (HRlncRNA) signature was established. Methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) provided us with the differentially expressed profile of HRlncRNAs as well as clinical data from patients with BLCA, and we used weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) to identify gene modules associated with malignancies. Results: Finally, Cox analysis revealed that HRlncRNAs, which comprised 13 lncRNAs, were implicated in the predictive signature. The training, testing, and overall cohorts of BLCA patients were divided into the low-risk group and high-risk group based on the median of the risk score. The Kaplan-Meier curves revealed that BLCA patients with a high-risk score had a poor prognosis, and the difference between subgroups was statistically significant. The receiver operating characteristic curves revealed that this signature outperformed other strategies in terms of predicting ability. Multivariate analysis revealed that the risk score was an independent prognostic index for overall survival (HR = 1.411; 1.259-1.582; p < 0.001). Then, a nomogram with clinicopathological features and risk score was established. This signature could effectively enhance the capacity to predict survival, according to the calibration plots, stratification, and clinical analysis. The majority of Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) were WNT, MAPK, and ERBB signaling pathways. Two groups had different immune cell subtypes, immune checkpoints, immunotherapy response, and anti-tumor drug sensitivity, which might result in differing survival outcomes. We then validated the differential expression of signature-related genes between tumor and normal tissues using TCGA paired data. Conclusion: This prognostic signature based on 13 HRlncRNAs may become a novel and potential prognostic biomarker, providing more accurate clinical decision-making and effective treatment for BLCA patients.

The Efficacy of Mirabegron in Medical Expulsive Therapy for Ureteral Stones: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: This study aimed to assess the efficacy of mirabegron (50 mg daily) as a medical expulsive therapy for ureteral stones in adults. Materials and Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science from inception to July 2021 to collect the clinical trials. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies by using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Review Manager 5.3 software was used for the meta-analysis. Results: A total of four studies were included, involving 398 patients: 197 patients in mirabegron group and 201 patients in control group. The meta-analysis showed that the stone expulsion rate was higher in the mirabegron group than in the control group (OR: 2.12; 95% CI: 1.33 to 3.40; p=0.002). Subgroup analysis identified that the stone expulsion rate of patients with stone size <5/6 mm was significantly higher than that of patients with stone size ≥5/6 mm (OR: 0.31; 95% CI: 0.13 to 0.72; p=0.006). But no significant difference was identified between the mirabegron group and the control group for the stone expulsion interval (MD: -1.16, 95% CI: -3.56 to 1.24; p=0.35). In terms of pain episodes, the mirabegron group was significantly lower than that of the control group (MD: -0.34, 95% CI: -0.50 to 0.19; p < 0.0001). Conclusions: The medical expulsive therapy with mirabegron had a significant effect in improving the stone expulsion rate for patients with ureteral stones, especially in those whose stone size <5/6 mm. Mirabegron had no effect on the stone expulsion interval but did decrease the pain episodes.

A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of L-Carnitine/L-Acetyl-Carnitine or N-Acetyl-Cysteine in Men With Idiopathic Asthenozoospermia.

The meta-analysis was performed to access efficacy of L-carnitine/L-acetyl-carnitine (LC/LAC) and N-acetyl-cysteine (NAC) in men with idiopathic asthenozoospermia. We researched PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases and references to related articles. Finally, seven articles including 621 patients were analyzed. The results indicated that LC/LAC and NAC had a considerable improvement in sperm motility (p = .03 and p < .0001, respectively) and normal morphology (p = .006, p = .0002, respectively) compared with the placebo group. Besides, NAC had a significantly greater increase in sperm concentration (p < .00001) and ejaculate volume (p = .002) compared with the placebo group, and there was no significant difference in LC/LAC. For the analysis of serum hormones, NAC had no obvious differences in improving the serum testosterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, and prolactin compared with non-treatment group. Conclusively, LC/LAC and NAC showed a greater improvement in sperm motility and normal morphology. Moreover, NAC has a positive effect on sperm concentration and ejaculate volume, whereas no obvious effect was observed in serum hormones.

Clinical study of the effects of deep brain stimulation on urinary dysfunctions in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of deep brain stimulation (DBS) on urinary dysfunctions in Parkinson's patients. Patients and methods: A total of 416 patients, diagnosed with Parkinson's disease (PD) based on the UK Parkinson's Disease Society Brain Bank Diagnostic Criteria, were enrolled in the study, including 307 males and 109 females. The effects of DBS treatment on urinary functions during urination and bladder storage of these patients were evaluated using testing and assessment scales, such as the American Urological Association Symptom Index (AUA-SI), Overactive Bladder Symptom Scores (OAB-SS), Quality Of Life Scale (QOL), and urodynamic tests. The data were statistically analyzed with the chi-square test and  both independent-samples t-test and paired-samples t-test were used in this study. Results: Symptoms of urinary dysfunctions, such as urinary frequency, urgency, and incontinence, in the patients with PD were notably relieved by DBS treatment (P<0.05), and the OAB-SS and bladder storage problems were greatly improved as well (P<0.05). Compared with those in male patients, DBS surgery significantly improved the AUA-SI, urinary symptom scores, and QOL in female PD patients (P<0.05), as well as other functional indicators related to the urinary tract, including the maximum urinary flow rate, detrusor pressure at peak flow, and residual urine volume in female PD patients (P<0.05). Conclusion: DBS surgery is effective in improving urinary functions in PD patients, as primarily reflected by the alleviation of urinary symptoms such as urinary frequency, urgency, and incontinence. Female PD patients displayed better urinary function outcomes from DBS treatment than did male patients.