Remembering Charles B. Huggins' Nobel Prize for Hormonal Treatment of Prostatic Cancer at its 50th Anniversary.

Charles B. Huggins received the Nobel Prize in 1966. Based on archival sources from the Nobel archive we have found that nominators emphasised the practical therapeutic applications of his discoveries that were showing 25 yr after his key publications.

Interview with Oswalt Kolle (1928-2010): German sex education pioneer.

Introduction: Alfred Kinsey (1894-1956) was the first pioneer of scientific sexology after World War II with his surveys on human sexuality in the male (1948) and the female (1953), which underwent worldwide translations and also had a major impact in Europe.

Aim: To clarify the role of the journalist Oswalt Kolle (1928-2010) as the promoter of sex education in Germany and Western Europe in the late 1960s.

Methods: The information is almost exclusively based on a live interview taken with the time witness Oswalt Kolle in February 2010.

Highlights from the history of sexual medicine.

Introduction: Today, we have a clear concept of sexual medicine and how to define this medical discipline. But historically, the unification of sexuality and medicine was not a given condition. Medicine was mainly focused on human reproduction and how to prevent and treat sexually transmitted diseases.

[Pattison fascia: the forgotten eponym?].

Denonvilliers' fascia is known to every urologist as one of the most important structures of the pelvis separating the posterior surface of the prostate and the bladder from the anterior aspect of the rectum. Charles-Pierre Denonvilliers (1808-1872) introduced this "Aponévrose prostato-péritonéale" for the first time in 1836 in Paris, without discussing its surgical importance. Already in 1820 the Scotsman Granville Sharp Pattison (1791-1851) had described this "Fascia of the prostate gland" as a structure to be preserved during perineal lithotomy, a frequently performed procedure in those days.

Non-genomic effects of androgens on isolated human vascular and nonvascular penile erectile tissue.

Objectives: To evaluate non-genomic effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone (DHT) on isolated human cavernosal arteries (HCA) and corpus cavernosum (HCC) using organ-bath studies and radio-immunoassays (RIA), as non-genomic effects of androgens are reported for vascular smooth musculature and there is evidence that the relaxant response involves a modulation of cyclic nucleotide tissue levels.

Materials And Methods: The relaxation induced by the cumulative addition of testosterone and DHT (0.01-10 microm) was studied using circular segments of HCA and strip preparations of HCC.

Early photo-illustration of a hermaphrodite by the French photographer and artist Nadar in 1860.

As early as 1860 the French photographer Gaspard Félix Tournachon, called Nadar (1820-1910), took a series of nine photographs depicting a young intersex patient. These illustrations were not published at their time and little is known about the patient and the role of the physicians involved in this case. The article discusses the available information on these artworks that today belong to the photographic collection of the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

The penile implant for erectile dysfunction.

Introduction: Penile prostheses, introduced as the first effective organic treatment for erectile dysfunction over three decades ago, have an important role in the treatment of erectile dysfunction when other nonprosthetic treatment options have proven unsatisfactory. Although they are the least chosen and most invasive treatment option, they have the highest satisfaction rate of all available ED options and provide a predictable and reliable result.

Aim: To provide recommendations/guidelines concerning state-of-the-art knowledge for utilization of the penile prosthesis in the management of men with erectile dysfunction.

Nikolaj A. Bogoraz (1874-1952): pioneer of phalloplasty and penile implant surgery.

Phalloplasty and penile implants are outstanding pioneering procedures introduced in 1936 by the Russian surgeon Nikolaj A. Bogoraz and are thus of eminent interest to the urological and plastic surgeon. This article from the history of medicine will discuss his biography and scientific achievements during the first half of the 20th century.

In vitro viability of human cavernosal endothelial and fibroblastic cells after exposure to papaverine/phentolamine and prostaglandin E1.

Objective: To investigate the influence of commercially available vasoactive drugs on human cavernosal endothelial and fibroblastic cells in vitro, as although corporal fibrosis is a well known side-effect of intracavernosal injection therapy for erectile dysfunction, the possible detrimental effect of these agents on the endothelium lining the cavernosal vascular spaces is uncertain.

Materials And Methods: Cultured primary endothelial (13) and fibroblastic cells (12), obtained from potent patients undergoing penile surgery, were exposed to different physiological dilutions of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), papaverine/phentolamine or the respective triple-mix of these agents for 30 min. Viable cells were counted and cell metabolic activity measured in these cultures 48 h after drug exposure.

Isolation of primary endothelial and stromal cell cultures of the corpus cavernosum penis for basic research and tissue engineering.

Objectives: Primary cell cultures derived from the corpus cavernosum are frequently used as in vitro models to define cellular mechanisms involved in erectile function. However, previous studies often lack detailed isolation protocols or a precise characterisation of the culture composition excluding especially contaminating fibroblasts. This study aimed at critically analysing and reproducing reported isolation methods, as well as establishing new procedures to receive highly pure and morphologically differentiated endothelial, smooth muscle and fibroblastic cells derived from the human penis.

The Stromeyer hook--life and work of the man behind the eponym.

Georg Friedrich Stromeyer (1804-1876) is generally known as one of the founders of orthopedics and orthopedic surgery and a pioneer of modern military medicine. Every oral maxillofacial surgeon in Germany knows him because of the "Stromeyer hook" for the elevation of zygomatic arch fractures. The present paper focuses on this particular aspect of maxillofacial surgery as well as on Stromeyer's biography.

Biological vascularized matrix for bladder tissue engineering: matrix preparation, reseeding technique and short-term implantation in a porcine model.

Purpose: We generated a vascularized, autologous, reseeded bladder substitute and evaluated immediate vascularization and perfusion of the graft after implantation to the recipient organism in a porcine model.

Material And Methods: Acellular matrix was processed from porcine small bowel segments by subsequent mechanical, chemical and enzymatic decellularization, preserving the jejunal arteriovenous pedicles. In 2 separate steps the matrix was reseeded with primary bladder smooth muscle cells (SMCs) and urothelial cells (UCs), and its vascular structures were resurfaced with endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs).

Cytotoxicity of different intracavernous vasoactive drugs on cultured endothelial cells of human corpus cavernosum penis.

Objectives: To investigate the cytotoxic effect of prostaglandin E(1) (PGE(1)), a standard combination of papaverine/phentolamine, and a triple mixture of these agents on human cavernosal endothelial cells using a cell culture model. The endothelial layer of the corpus cavernosum plays an important role in signal transduction of penile erection and is directly exposed to vasoactive agents after intracavernous injection for erectile dysfunction.

Methods: Primary endothelial cells were obtained from the corpus cavernosum of 13 potent patients undergoing penile surgery.

Regenerative medicine in andrology: Tissue engineering and gene therapy as potential treatment options for penile deformations and erectile dysfunction.

Tissue engineering and gene therapy are currently investigated in animal studies for reconstructing penile tissue or treating erectile dysfunction. This review aims to examine these experimental efforts from the last years and tries to give a brief introduction to the basic methodology of these new techniques from the field of regenerative medicine.

Functional tissue engineering of autologous tunica albuginea: a possible graft for Peyronie's disease surgery.

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to generate a tissue engineered type of mechanically stable graft suitable for surgical replacement of the tunica albuginea penis.

Methods: Porcine fibroblasts isolated from open fascia biopsies were seeded on decellularized collagen matrices and then cultivated in a bioreactor under continuous multiaxial stress for up to 21 days (n=12). Static cultures without mechanical stress served as controls.

Androgen and estrogen receptors in the human corpus cavernosum penis: immunohistochemical and cell culture results.

Despite the central and peripheral effects of androgens on the nervous system, the local effects of androgens in the corpus cavernosum penis and their importance for erectile function is still unclear. In this study corpus cavernosum biopsies of eight adult potent patients, aged 19-63 years, undergoing penile deviation surgery (group A) and 12 patients undergoing male-to-female transsexual surgery (group B) were immunostained for nuclear androgen and estrogen-alpha receptors. Additionally, primary corpus cavernosum endothelial cell cultures were obtained from six transsexual patients and exposed to testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, estradiol and progesterone likewise for 7 days.

G. Frank Lydston (1858-1923) revisited: androgen therapy by testicular implantation in the early twentieth century.

At the beginning of the twentieth century the transplantation or implantation of either human or animal testicular tissue was an appealing form of androgen therapy in hypogonadal and aging males. This article on the history of medicine discusses the work of the American urologist G. Frank Lydston from Chicago, who was a well-known and respected surgeon in the academic world and was involved in the early clinical trials of this procedure.

Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach (1792-1847) pioneer in oral maxillofacial surgery.

After Carl Ferdinand von Graefe laid down the principles of rhinoplasty and related operations it was Johann Friedrich Dieffenbach (1792-1847) who became a pioneer of plastic surgery in the 19th century. His biography and scientific work with emphasis on craniofacial surgery are presented in this article on the history of medicine.