Mouse Embryonic Fibroblast Adipogenic Potential: A Comprehensive Transcriptome Analysis.

Our understanding of adipose tissue has progressed from an inert tissue for energy storage to be one of the largest endocrine organs regulating metabolic homoeostasis through its ability to synthesize and release various adipokines that regulate a myriad of pathways. The field of adipose tissue biology is growing due to this association with various chronic metabolic diseases. An important process in the regulation of adipose tissue biology is adipogenesis, which is the formation of new adipocytes.

Symptomatic secondary vesical calculus formed on an intrauterine contraceptive device inserted 25 years previously.

A 57-year-old postmenopausal woman presented with vague lower abdominal symptoms, dysuria and recurrent urinary tract infection of a year's duration. She had an intrauterine contraceptive device (IUCD) inserted 25 years previously and denied having any significant gynecological or urinary tract symptoms since the device was inserted. CT scan of her pelvis confirmed the presence of an IUCD that had migrated into the urinary bladder and on which a calculus had formed.

Antioxidant therapy is associated with a reduction in the serum levels of mediators of renal injury following lithotripsy for renal calculi.

Objective: To investigate the effects of antioxidant therapy on the levels of mediators of shock wave induced renal injury in patients with renal calculi treated with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL).

Patients And Methods: One hundred and twenty patients with renal calculi were divided into three treatment groups: Group A patients (n = 39) served as a control group; Group B patients (n = 41) were given 2 capsules of Nature Made((R)) antioxidants 2 hours before, and 2 and 8 hours after ESWL and Group C patients (n = 40) were given 2 capsules of the antioxidants at 2 and 8 hours after ESWL. Blood and urine samples were obtained from all patients just before the start of treatment with ESWL, and at 2 and 24 hours and on day 7 and 28 after ESWL.

A pilot study of transperineal urethrosphincteric block for visual internal urethrotomy in patients with anterior urethral strictures.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of transperineal urethrosphincteric block (TUSB) in providing analgesia during visual internal urethrotomy for patients with anterior urethral strictures.

Patients And Methods: A total of 26 consecutive patients scheduled for elective visual internal urethrotomy for symptomatic urethral stricture were considered for this prospective study. Twenty-four patients agreed to participate in the study.

Technical refinements of composite thoracodorsal system free flaps for 1-stage lower extremity reconstruction resulting in reduced donor-site morbidity.

A multitude of local flaps has been suggested for lower extremity reconstruction. However, the gold standard for defect coverage remains free tissue transfer. In this regard, the scapular vascular axis is a well-established source of expendable skin, fascia, muscle, and bone for use in free flap reconstruction of defects requiring bone and soft tissue in complex 3-dimensional relationships.

Treatment of renal calculi by lithotripsy: minimizing short-term shock wave induced renal damage by using antioxidants.

Treatment with extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), the preferred method of treating kidney stones <3 cm in size, has been shown to induce silent and often self-limiting acute and chronic lesions in the kidneys and adjacent organs. We conducted a randomized clinical trial to determine whether ESWL produces ischaemia and reperfusion injury in the kidneys and whether oral administration of antioxidants reduces the degree of short-term renal injury in patients treated with ESWL. The study included 120 patients with renal stones (1-3 cm in size) treated with ESWL.

Serum prostate-specific antigen levels in Middle Eastern men with subclinical prostatitis.

Objective: To investigate the influence of subclinical or histologically diagnosed prostatitis on serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in patients investigated for prostatic disease in Kuwait.

Materials And Methods: Serum PSA was assayed in patients investigated for prostatic disease in Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital, Kuwait, between December 2002 and December 2004. These included patients undergoing transrectal ultrasound with needle biopsy of the prostate gland and those who were treated with transurethral resection of the prostate or retropubic prostatectomy.

Anuria secondary to hot weather-induced hyperuricaemia: diagnosis and management.

Background: There is little information on the management of anuria secondary to severe volume depletion or as a rare manifestation of heat stroke in areas of the world with very hot summers. We present our experience with hot weather-induced hyperuricaemia in Kuwait.

Patients And Methods: Patients presenting to our urology unit as an emergency during the hot summer months of April to October (average temperature 40-55 oC) were suspected of having hot weather-induced anuria secondary to hyperuricemia if they had a history of working in the sun for 6 to 8 hours per day and a progressive decrease in urine output to complete anuria.

Treatment of calculi in kidneys with congenital anomalies: an assessment of the efficacy of lithotripsy.

We studied the effectiveness of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) in the treatment of stones in kidneys with congenital anomalies to determine factors that may affect the results. Patients found to have renal calculi in kidneys with different types of congenital anomalies were treated using ESWL. All patients were investigated by intravenous urography (IVU) to confirm the diagnosis.

Do differences in age specific androgenic steroid hormone levels account for differing prostate cancer rates between Arabs and Caucasians?

Objective: Factors responsible for the low incidence of clinical prostate cancer in the Arab population remain unclear, but may be related to differences in androgenic steroid hormone metabolism between Arabs and other populations, especially as prostate cancer is believed to be androgen dependent. We therefore measured the levels of serum androgenic steroids and their binding proteins in Arab men and compared results obtained with values reported for Caucasian populations to determine if any differences could at least partially account for differences in incidence of prostate cancer rates between the two populations.

Methods: Venous blood samples were obtained from 327 unselected apparently healthy indigenous Arab men (Kuwaitis and Omanis) aged 15-79 years.

Two-trocar laparoscopic varicocelectomy: cost-reduction surgical technique.

Objectives: To describe the technique of two-trocar laparoscopic varicocelectomy and compare it with the standard three-trocar laparoscopic technique in terms of effectiveness, morbidity, and cosmesis.

Methods: Two matched groups of patients with left varicocele were recruited. Each group included 30 patients.

Prostate cancer risk: the significance of differences in age related changes in serum conjugated and unconjugated steroid hormone concentrations between Arab and Caucasian men.

Introduction: Factors responsible for the low incidence of clinical prostate cancer (3-8/100,000 men/year) in the Arab population remain unclear, but may be related to changes in steroid hormone metabolism. We compared the levels of serum conjugated and unconjugated steroids between Arab and Caucasian populations, to determine if these can provide a rational explanation for differences in incidence of prostate cancer between the two populations.

Patients/method: Venous blood samples were obtained from 329 unselected apparently healthy indigenous Arab men (Kuwaitis and Omanis) aged 15-80 years.

Relationship between serum prostate specific antigen and the pattern of inflammation in both benign and malignant prostatic disease in Middle Eastern men.

To determine the effect of prostatitis on serum prostate specific antigen in the diagnosis of prostate cancer in Middle Eastern men, H&E-stained sections of all consecutive prostate specimens were reviewed for diagnosis (malignant or benign) and pattern of inflammation. Inflammation was categorized into acute, active chronic and chronic inactive and graded semi-quantitatively according to previously published criteria. Results were correlated with serum PSA obtained from patients' records.

Tension free vaginal tape versus Burch colposuspension for treatment of female stress urinary incontinence.

Introduction: Many surgical procedures have been proposed for treatment of stress urinary incontinence (SUI) but none of them has proved completely successful. The aim of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of tension free vaginal tape (TVT) with Burch colposuspension in the treatment of SIU.

Patients And Methods: Fifty female patients, presenting with SUI were randomly divided into two equal groups.

Iatrogenic ureteric injuries: incidence, aetiological factors and the effect of early management on subsequent outcome.

Objective: To investigate the changing pattern in incidence, aetiological factors and the effect of early diagnosis and surgical treatment on the outcome of iatrogenic ureteric injuries in our Urology Unit over a 5 year period.

Patients/methods: All patients with ureteric injuries caused as a result of any surgical procedures (iatrogenic ureteric injuries) were studied during a 5 year period (1998-2002). Data collected and analysed included yearly incidence of injury, aetiological factors, modalities of treatment and the outcome of management of the injuries.

Severe emphysematous pyelonephritis in diabetic patients: diagnosis and aspects of surgical management.

Purpose: Emphysematous pyelonephritis (EPN) is a rare, severe gas-forming infection of renal parenchyma and surrounding tissues seen mostly in diabetic patients. Diagnosis and adequate therapeutic regimen are controversial. We reviewed the clinical presentation, diagnosis and aspects of surgical management of patients presenting with severe EPN.

Reference intervals for important serum sex steroid hormones, prostate-specific antigen, insulin-like growth factor-1 and IGF binding protein-3 concentration in a normal Kuwaiti adult male population.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the age-specific reference ranges for some important male sex steroid hormones, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), for the Kuwaiti population.

Subjects And Methods: Blood samples were taken from 398 consenting, fasting, healthy Kuwaiti males aged 15-80 years between 8.00 a.

Age-specific reference levels of serum prostate-specific antigen and prostate volume in healthy Arab men.

Unlabelled: OBJECTIVE; To determine age-specific reference ranges for serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) concentration and prostate volumes in a population of healthy Arab men.

Subjects And Methods: Blood samples were taken from 396 healthy Arab men (from Kuwait and Oman) aged 15-79 years and from across the social spectrum. Men aged >40 years had a digital rectal examination and transrectal ultrasonography of the prostate to determine prostate volume.

Bacteriology of urinary tract infection associated with indwelling J ureteral stents.

Purpose: To investigate the microorganisms responsible for urinary tract infection (UTI) and stent colonization in patients with indwelling J ureteral stents and to compare the antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of the isolates from urine and J stents in order to establish the etiologic agents of bacteriuria and colonized stents in such patients and provide baseline data on an antibiotic policy for the urology unit.

Patients And Methods: Midstream urine from 250 patients requiring J stent insertion was investigated microbiologically prior to stent insertion and on the day of stent removal. After stent removal, 3 to 5 cm of the tip located in the bladder was also sent for culture.

Mode of presentation and first line of management of non-recurrent urolithiasis in Kuwait.

Aims: To determine the incidence, mode of presentation, first line of management and composition of non-recurrent urolithiasis in Kuwait.

Methods: Consecutive patients admitted between January 1999 and December 2002 with non-recurrent urolithiasis were prospectively analyzed.

Results: The average annual incidence of hospital admission for non-recurrent urolithiasis in Kuwait was 43.

Testicular torsion: a perspective from the Middle East.

Objective: To report our experience in the management of testicular torsion with emphasis on seasonal variation, salvage rate and the status of the torted testis 3-6 months after orchidopexy.

Subjects And Methods: Seventy-five patients with a presumptive diagnosis of testicular torsion, who presented to our hospital between January 1999 and December 2002, were included in the study. Following scrotal exploration, 63 patients were found to have testicular torsion.

Morbidity associated with surgical treatment of ureteric calculi in a teaching hospital in Kuwait.

Background: Ureteric lithiasis is a common urological problem in Kuwait. Because of the different interventional approaches, we carried out an audit on the morbidity associated with the surgical management of the disorder.

Patients And Methods: The surgical records were reviewed of all patients with the diagnosis of ureteric lithiasis that were managed surgically by ureteroscopy or ureterolithotomy in Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital in Kuwait between January 1996 and December 1999.

The significance of measuring the time course of serum malondialdehyde concentration in patients with torsion of the testis.

Purpose: We determined the time course of malondialdehyde, a measure of free radical damage, in patients undergoing standard surgical treatment for testicular torsion.

Materials And Methods: Patients presenting with testicular torsion were studied prospectively. Blood samples were obtained after administering general anesthesia but before surgical incision, and 10 minutes, 30 minutes and 24 hours after detorsion.

Sectorial technetium-99m-dimercaptosuccinic acid scintigraphy for monitoring the effect of extracorporeal piezoelectric lithotripsy for calyceal calculi on regional renal function.

Objective: To apply a semiquantitative method for analysis of technetium-99m-dimercaptosuccinic acid ((99m)Tc-DMSA) renal scintigraphy for monitoring the effect of extracorporeal piezoelectric lithotripsy (EPL) in patients with calyceal stones on regional kidney function and to check whether EPL had caused any deleterious effect on the target calyceal renal parenchymal function.

Patients And Methods: Forty patients (mean age 35 years) suffering from calyceal stones documented by abdominal plain radiography, intravenous urogram or abdominal ultrasound were studied. All patients were treated by EPL.