Protective effects of Korean Red Ginseng against sub-acute immobilization stress-induced testicular damage in experimental rats.

Background: Excessive stress causes varied physiological and psychological disorders including male reproductive problems. Here, we attempted to investigate the protective effects of Korean Red Ginseng ( Meyer; KRG) against sub-acute immobilization stress-induced testicular damage in experimental rats.

Methods: Male rats (age, 4 wk; weight, 60-70 g) were divided into four groups ( = 8 in each group): normal control group, immobilization control group, immobilization group treated with 100 mg/kg of KRG daily, and immobilization group treated with 200 mg/kg of KRG daily.

Needle Aspiration Biopsy of Seminiferous Tubules (NABST) as a Diagnostic Method in Korea.

To evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of needle aspiration biopsy of seminiferous tubules (NABST) and to represent the redistributed diagnostic results corresponding to testicular volumes and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels. In this retrospective study, we investigated 65 infertile men with either azoospermia or oligoasthenoteratozoospermia. Following NABST, specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and classified into five histological types.

Sexual function and stress level of male partners of infertile couples during the fertile period.

Objectives: To evaluate the sexual function and stress level during timed intercourse (TI) of male partners of infertile couples.

Patients And Methods: The study included 236 male partners of couples with >1 year of infertility who sought medical care or an evaluation of couple infertility. Besides infertility evaluation, all men were asked to complete the five-item version of the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF-5) for evaluation of sexual function, and stresses related to infertility and TI were measured using 10-division visual analogue scales (VAS).

Korean red ginseng extract rejuvenates testicular ineffectiveness and sperm maturation process in aged rats by regulating redox proteins and oxidative defense mechanisms.

Distortion of intracellular oxidant and antioxidant balances appears to be a common feature that underlies in age-related male sexual impairment. Therefore regulating oxidative defense mechanisms might be an ideal approach in improving male sexual dysfunctions. In the present study, the effect of Korean red ginseng aqueous extract (KRG) on age-induced testicular dysfunction in rats was investigated.

PTEN loss-mediated Akt activation increases the properties of cancer stem-like cell populations in prostate cancer.

Objective: To demonstrate that the PTEN/PI3K/Akt/NF-κB pathway plays an important role in regulating the prostate cancer stem-like cell population by upregulating ABCG2.

Methods: Targeted PTEN knockdown in human prostate DU145 and 22Rv1 cells using a small interfering RNA were confirmed by immunoblot analysis using antibodies of PTEN, phospho-Akt, Akt, and α-tubulin. Knockdown PTEN DU145 and 22Rv1 cells were augmented, and the stem cell-like properties were examined by cell viability and tumor sphere formation and treated by Akt IV inhibitor to provide the signal transduction pathway.

Reversible infertility associated with testosterone therapy for symptomatic hypogonadism in infertile couple.

Purpose: Androgen replacement therapy has been shown to be safe and effective for most patients with testosterone deficiency. Male partners of infertile couples often report significantly poorer sexual activity and complain androgen deficiency symptoms. We report herein an adverse effect on fertility caused by misusage of androgen replacement therapy in infertile men with hypogonadal symptoms.

In vitro culture-induced pluripotency of human spermatogonial stem cells.

Unipotent spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) can be transformed into ESC-like cells that exhibit pluripotency in vitro. However, except for mouse models, their characterization and their origins have remained controversies in other models including humans. This controversy has arisen primarily from the lack of the direct induction of ESC-like cells from well-characterized SSCs.

Serum prostate-specific antigen as a predictor of prostate volume and lower urinary tract symptoms in a community-based cohort: a large-scale Korean screening study.

The aim of this study is to assess the ability of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) to predict prostate volume (PV) and lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) represented by the international prostate symptom score (IPSS). From January 2001 to December 2011, data were collected from men who first enrolled in the Korean Prostate Health Council Screening Program. Patients with a serum PSA level of >10 ng ml(-1) or age <40 years were excluded.

Relationship among total kidney volume, renal function and age.

Purpose: We measured kidney volume using software and investigated the relationship between kidney volume and renal function.

Materials And Methods: Age, gender, height, body weight, body mass index, body surface area and serum creatinine were recorded for 539 normal individuals. A tissue segmentation tool program was used to measure kidney volume from computerized tomography images.

Laparoscopic treatment of appendicovesical fistula.

A 23-year-old man had a history of intermittent episodes of urinary tract infection with associated low abdominal pain for 15 years. Persistent bacteriuria even with prolonged antibiotics was the reason why he was referred to our hospital. Laboratory tests were normal except pyuria and growth of Escherichia coli in the urinary samples.

A prospective multicenter randomized comparative study between the U- and H-type methods of the TVT SECUR procedure for the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence: 1-year follow-up.

Background: No studies have been published comparing the U- and H-type methods of the TVT SECUR (TVT-S) procedure.

Objective: Our aim was to compare the efficacy and safety of the two types of TVT-S for female stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

Design, Setting, And Participants: Women with urodynamic SUI were enrolled in this 12-mo multicenter randomized study.

Chronic kidney disease among men with lower urinary tract symptoms due to benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Objective: To analyse potential association of various clinical characteristics of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) with chronic kidney disease (CKD) among men presenting with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) secondary to BPH of varying severity.

Patients And Methods: We reviewed the data of 2741 consecutive patients who presented to our clinic with LUTS secondary to BPH. For our analysis, CKD was defined by an elevated serum creatinine level or decreased estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).

In vitro differentiation of germ cells from nonobstructive azoospermic patients using three-dimensional culture in a collagen gel matrix.

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of the three-dimensional culture of spermatogenic cells in a collagen gel matrix from nonobstructive azoospermic patients and examine the relation between the success rate of in vitro spermatogenesis and serum FSH level as a diagnostic prediction.

Design: Prospective study using radioimmunoassay, immunocytochemistry, and flow cytometry with primary cultured cells.

Setting: Gynecologic clinics and human reproduction research laboratory.

Tolterodine: as effective but better tolerated than oxybutynin in Asian patients with symptoms of overactive bladder.

Background: This double-blind, multicenter study compared the efficacy and tolerability of tolterodine (Pharmacia, Los Angeles, USA) with that of oxybutynin (Alza, Palo Alto, USA) in Asian patients with overactive bladder.

Methods: Two-hundred-and-twenty-eight adults with overactive bladder symptoms were randomized to receive tolterodine 2 mg twice daily (bid) (n = 112) or oxybutynin 5 mg bid (n = 116). After 8 weeks' treatment, changes in micturition diary variables, patients' perception of treatment benefit, and tolerability endpoints were determined.