Gut microbiota and the prevalence and incidence of renal stones.

The role of the gut microbiome in the development of renal stone diseases has not been well characterized. This study focused on the taxonomic and functional profiles of gut microbiomes according to the prevalence and incidence of nephrolithiasis. Stool samples from 915 Korean adults were collected at baseline.

Glycemic Status, Insulin Resistance, and the Risk of Nephrolithiasis: A Cohort Study.

Rationale & Objective: The effect of glycemic status on nephrolithiasis risk remains controversial. This study sought to examine the association of glycemic status and insulin resistance with incident nephrolithiasis.

Study Design: A retrospective cohort study.

Analysis of Sexual Behaviors among Adults in Korea: Results from the "Korean National Survey on Sexual Consciousness".

Purpose: This study aimed to understand the characteristics of sexual behaviors among Korean adults to facilitate the development of strategies and policies focused on sexual health in groups categorized by sociodemographic characteristics.

Materials And Methods: A nationally representative probability sample of 2,500 individuals (1,273 men and 1,227 women) aged 18-69 years obtained using a stratified multiple-stage sampling method based on Statistics Korea (KOSTAT) participated in a cross-sectional online survey. The survey consisted of structured questionnaires comprising questions on demographic information, lifetime sexual behavior, and sexual behavior in the previous 12 months.

Prostate-Specific Antigen Within the Reference Range, Subclinical Coronary Atherosclerosis, and Cardiovascular Mortality.

Rationale: Although PSA (prostate-specific antigen)-a tumor marker for prostate cancer-has been reported to be associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, studies on the association of PSA with subclinical and clinical CVD remain limited.

Objective: We examined the association of total serum PSA within the reference range with coronary artery calcium (CAC) score and CVD mortality.

Methods And Results: A cross-sectional study was performed in 88 203 Korean men who underwent a health checkup exam including cardiac tomography estimation of CAC score.

Metabolically healthy and unhealthy obesity phenotypes and risk of renal stone: a cohort study.

Background/objectives: Although obesity is considered an independent risk factor of nephrolithiasis, little is known about the effect of obesity on nephrolithiasis according to metabolic health status. We investigated the association between body mass index (BMI) category and the incidence of nephrolithiasis in metabolically healthy and unhealthy individuals.

Subjects/methods: The cohort consisted of 270,190 Korean adults free of nephrolithiasis at baseline, who were followed-up annually or biennially for a median of 4.

Sitting time, physical activity and the risk of lower urinary tract symptoms: a cohort study.

Objectives: To examine the association of sitting time and physical activity level with the incidence of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in a large sample of Korean men.

Materials And Methods: A cohort study was performed in 69 795 Korean men, free of LUTS at baseline, who were followed up annually or biennially for a mean of 2.6 years.

Blood Droplet-Based Cancer Diagnosis via Proteolytic Activity Measurement in Cancer Progression.

Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) is a key marker and target molecule for cancer diagnosis, as MMP is able to cleave peptide chains resulting in degradation of extracellular matrix (ECM), a necessary step for cancer development. In particular, MMP2 has recently been recognized as an important biomarker for lung cancer. Despite the important role of detecting MMP molecules in cancer diagnosis, it is a daunting task to quantitatively understand a correlation between the status of cancer development and the secretion level of MMP in a blood droplet.

Tuberculosis of testis and prostate that mimicked testicular cancer in young male soccer player.

Staphylococcus infection was the most common organism found in infection of athletics, and tuberculosis (TB) was rare. Although genitourinary tuberculosis (GUTB) was the most common subtype of extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB) in the past, it was recently reported to account for less than 0.5% of all patients with EPTB and 1.

Impact of treatment with statins on prostate-specific antigen and prostate volume in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Purpose: We investigated the impact on prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and prostate volume (PV) of statin medication for 1 year in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively investigated 791 patients in whom BPH was diagnosed. For analysis, the patients were divided into four groups according to their medications: group A, α-blocker; group B, α-blocker+statin; group C, α-blocker+dutasteride; group D, α-blockers+statin+dutasteride.

Wilms' tumor in a horseshoe kidney.

The incidence of horseshoe kidney is about 1 in 400 cases. The presence of Wilms' tumor with a horseshoe kidney is unusual, and the occurrence of Wilms' tumor in a horseshoe kidney is estimated at 0.4 to 0.

Tumor establishment features of orthotopic murine bladder cancer models.

Purpose: Animal tumor models are important for the evaluation of novel therapeutic modalities. Since the initial report of an orthotopic bladder tumor model, several modifications have been proposed to improve the tumor take rate. Here we compared the HCl-pretreated and electrocauterization-pretreated orthotopic murine bladder tumor models.

Efficacy and safety of tamsulosin for the treatment of non-neurogenic voiding dysfunction in females: a 8-week prospective study.

We evaluated the therapeutic effects of tamsulosin for women with non-neurogenic voiding dysfunction. Women who had voiding dysfunctions for at least 3 months were included. Inclusion criteria were age > or =18 yr, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) of > or =15, and maximum flow rate (Q(max)) of > or =12 mL/sec and/or postvoid residuals (PVR) of > or =150 mL.

Kidney tissue reconstruction by fetal kidney cell transplantation: effect of gestation stage of fetal kidney cells.

Dialysis and kidney transplantation, current therapies for kidney failure, have limitations such as severe complications, donor shortage, and immune-related problems. The development of an alternative treatment for kidney failure is demanded. The present study shows that the transplantation of fetal kidney cells reconstitutes functional kidney tissue, and that the gestation stage of kidney cells influences the kidney reconstitution.

Improvement of kidney failure with fetal kidney precursor cell transplantation.

Background: Current therapies for end-stage renal disease have severe limitations. Dialysis is only a temporary treatment and does not restore kidney function. Transplantation is limited by donor organ shortage and immune-related problems.

What is the indication of varicocelectomy in men with nonobstructive azoospermia?

Objectives: To investigate the effect of microsurgical varicocelectomy in nonobstructive azoospermic patients. The surgical outcomes were correlated with the histopathologic patterns of testicular specimens.

Methods: A total of 19 nonobstructive azoospermic men who underwent testicular biopsy and varicocelectomy were included in the study.

Porcine vesical acellular matrix graft of tunica albuginea for penile reconstruction.

Aim: To characterize the feasibility of the surgical replacement of the penile tunica albuginea (TA) and to evaluate the value of a porcine bladder acellular matrix (BAM) graft.

Methods: Acellular matrices were constructed from pigs' bladders by cell lysis, and then examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Expression levels of the mRNA of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor, fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-1 receptor, neuregulin, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the acellular matrix and submucosa of the pigs'bladders were determined through the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

Submucosal injection of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) microspheres in rabbit bladder as a potential treatment for urinary incontinence and vesicoureteral reflux: preliminary results.

Endoscopic injection of bulking agents has been gaining attention as a therapy for urinary incontinence and vesicoureteral reflux because this therapy is simpler, less operation time-consuming and less painful than traditional surgical operations. The ideal bulking agent for the injection therapies must be easily injectable, biocompatible, volume-stable, non-antigenic and non-migratory. We evaluated poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) microspheres as an injectable bulking agent for urologic injection therapies.

Nicotine induces apoptosis in TM3 mouse Leydig cells.

Objective: To investigate whether nicotine-induced testicular toxicity involves the induction of apoptosis in Leydig cells.

Design: Cell study using cells of the TM3 cell line derived from mouse Leydig cells.

Setting: Academic research laboratory.

Renal tissue reconstitution by the implantation of renal segments on biodegradable polymer scaffolds.

Renal units were created in vivo by transplanting isolated renal segments on three-dimensional, biodegradable polymer scaffolds. Renal segments, freshly isolated from rat kidneys, were seeded on polymer scaffolds and subcutaneously implanted in athymic mice for two and four weeks. Three-dimensional renal reconstructs were formed with glomeruli and tubules, showing a possibility of reconstituting renal structures by transplanting renal segments.

Alcohol induces apoptosis in TM3 mouse Leydig cells via bax-dependent caspase-3 activation.

To investigate whether ethanol induces apoptosis in Leydig cells, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay, terminal deoxynuclotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay, 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) staining, DNA fragmentation assay, caspase-3 enzyme assay, reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot analysis were performed on TM3 mouse Leydig cells. Through morphological and biochemical analyses, it was demonstrated that TM3 cells treated with ethanol at concentrations of 50 and 100 mM exhibit classical apoptotic features. In addition, it was shown that ethanol induces increases in levels of bax and caspase-3 and a decrease in bcl-2 expression.