Sexual Dysfunction in Patients With Urinary Bladder Stones but no Bladder Outlet Obstruction.

Objective: To explore the correlates of sexual dysfunction and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in male patients with urinary bladder stones and to determine the effect of stone extraction on recovery of sexual function. Materials and Methods: A total of 87 male patients with primary bladder stones were studied from January 2015 to May 2016. All patients underwent pneumatic lithotripsy for bladder stones. Sexual dysfunction was assessed based on sexual function assessment scales. The relationship of bladder stones with sexual dysfunction or LUTS was assessed using a two-sample t-test. Postoperative improvement of sexual function was assessed by repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Results: Forty-one patients had primary bladder stones and 46 had secondary stones from the kidneys. Eighty-three of 87 patients (95%) had sexual dysfunction; 79 patients (91%) had both sexual dysfunction and LUTS. There was a significant association between bladder stones and sexual dysfunction, between sexual dysfunction and LUTS, and between bladder stone and LUTS (p < 0.05). There was no significant association between the course of illness, size and number of bladder stones, or urinary tract infection with sexual function (p > 0.05). In addition, among 83 patients with both bladder stone and sexual dysfunction, 61 patients (73%) had benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and 22 patients (27%) had no BPH. On postoperative evaluation at 3 months, sexual dysfunction scores were significantly improved in 77 patients (88.5%) Conclusion: Patients with bladder stones have a high incidence of sexual dysfunction, particularly those with co-existing LUTS and BPH. About 1/3 patients without BPH had sexual dysfunction and surgical removal of bladder stones significantly improved sexual function and LUTS.

Identification of Prostate Cancer-Related Circular RNA Through Bioinformatics Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common malignant tumors worldwide. Accumulating evidence has suggested that circular RNAs (circRNAs) are involved in the development and progression of various cancers, and they show great potential as novel biomarkers. However, the underlying mechanisms and specific functions of most circRNAs in PCa remain unknown. Here, we aimed to identify circRNAs with potential roles in PCa from the PCa expression profile. METHODS: We used data downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus to identify circRNAs that were differentially expressed between PCa samples and adjacent non-tumor samples. Relative expression levels of identified circRNAs were validated by quantitative real-time PCR. Micro (mi)RNA response elements were predicted by the CircInteractome database, and miRNA target genes were predicted by miRDB, miRTarBase, and TargetScan databases. Gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis and pathway analysis revealed the potential biological and functional roles of these target genes. A circRNA-miRNA-mRNA interaction network was constructed by Cytoscape. The interaction between circRNAs and miRNAs in PCa was thoroughly reviewed in the PubMed. Finally, the mRNA expression of these genes was validated by the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) databases. The expression of proteins encoded by these genes was further validated by the Human protein Atlas (HPA) database. RESULTS: A total of 60 circRNAs that were differentially expressed between PCa and healthy samples were screened, of which 15 were annotated. Three circRNAs (hsa_circ_0024353, hsa_circ_0085494, hsa_circ_0031408) certified the criteria were studied. The results of quantitative real-time PCR demonstrated that the expression of hsa_circ_0024353 was significantly downregulated in PC-3 cells when compared with RWPE-1 cells, while the expression of hsa_circ_0031408 and hsa_circ_0085494 was significantly upregulated in PC-3 cells when compared with RWPE-1 cells. GO and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses found that target genes were mainly enriched in metabolic processes and pathways involving phosphoinositide 3-kinase-Akt signaling, hypoxia-inducible factor-1 signaling, p53 signaling, and the cell cycle. A total of 11 miRNA target genes showing differential expression between PCa and healthy samples were selected, and their mRNA and protein expression were validated by GEPIA and HPA databases, respectively. Of these, PDE7B, DMRT2, and TGFBR3 were identified as potentially playing a role in PCa progression. Finally, three circRNA-miRNA-mRNA interaction axes were predicted by bioinformatics: hsa_circ_0024353-hsa-miR-940-PDE7B, hsa_circ_0024353-hsa-miR-1253-DMRT2, and hsa_circ_0085494-hsa-miR-330-3p-TGFBR3. CONCLUSION: This study identified three circRNA-miRNA-mRNA interaction axes that might provide novel insights into the potential mechanisms underlying PCa development.

Identification of key genes and pathways in castrate-resistant prostate cancer by integrated bioinformatics analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To identify hub genes and pathways involved in castrate-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC). METHODS: The gene expression profiles of GSE70768 were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets. A total of 13 CRPC samples and 110 tumor samples were identified. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, and the gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway (KEGG) enrichment analysis was performed. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network module analysis was constructed and performed in Cytoscape software. Weighted correlation network analysis (WGCNA) was conducted to determine hub genes involved in the development and progression of CRPC. The gene expression profiles of GSE80609 were used for validation. RESULTS: A total of 1738 DEGs were identified, consisting of 962 significantly down-regulated DEGs and 776 significantly upregulated DEGs for the subsequent analysis. GO term enrichment analysis suggested that DEGs were mainly enriched in the extracellular matrix organization, extracellular exosome, extracellular matrix, and extracellular space. KEGG pathway analysis found DEGs significantly enriched in the focal adhesion pathway. PPI network demonstrated that the top 10 hub genes were ALB, ACACB, KLK3, CDH1, IL10, ALDH1A3, KLK2, ALDH3B2, HBA1, COL1A1. Also, WGCNA identified the top 5 hub genes in the turquoise module, including MBD4, BLZF1, PIP5K2B, ZNF486, LRRC37B2. Plus, the Venn diagram demonstrated that HBA1 was the key gene in both GSE70768 and GSE80609 datasets. CONCLUSIONS: These newly identified genes and pathways could help urologists understand the differences in the mechanism between CRPC and PCa. Besides, it might be promising targets for the treatment of CRPC.

Phosphoglycerate mutase 1 knockdown inhibits prostate cancer cell growth, migration, and invasion.

Phosphoglycerate mutase 1 (PGAM1) is upregulated in many cancer types and involved in cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and apoptosis. However, the relationship between PGAM1 and prostate cancer is poorly understood. The present study investigated the changes in PGAM1 expression in prostate cancer tissues compared with normal prostate tissues and examined the cellular function of PGAM1 and its relationship with clinicopathological variables. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting revealed that PGAM1 expression was upregulated in prostate cancer tissues and cell lines. PGAM1 expression was associated with Gleason score (P = 0.01) and T-stage (P = 0.009). Knockdown of PGAM1 by siRNA in PC-3 and 22Rv1 prostate cancer cell lines inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion and enhanced cancer cell apoptosis. In a nude mouse xenograft model, PGAM1 knockdown markedly suppressed tumor growth. Deletion of PGAM1 resulted in decreased expression of Bcl-2, enhanced expression of Bax, caspases-3 and inhibition of MMP-2 and MMP-9 expression. Our results indicate that PGAM1 may play an important role in prostate cancer progression and aggressiveness, and that it might be a valuable marker of poor prognosis and a potential therapeutic target for prostate cancer.

[Updated evaluation and intervention of adolescent varicocele].

Some physiological and ethical problems make it difficult to obtain semen samples from adolescents with varicocele (VC) and to directly evaluate their fertility. Therefore we can only rely on indirect methods to assess the influence of VC on the future fertility of the adolescent patients. Most of the VC adolescents may have normal semen parameters in the adulthood. Thus whether and when to intervene in adolescent VC remain a controversy in andrology. Physical examination is the most common method for screening adolescent VC and ultrasonography is very effective for its diagnosis and evaluation. Other important diagnostic indicators include the widely accepted testicular atrophy index, recently proposed peak retrograde venous flow, total testis volume, and scrotal temperature. Based on the latest literature, this review offers some proposals for the evaluation and intervention of adolescent VC.