Significant decrease of the International Index of Erectile Function in male renal failure patients treated with hemodialysis.

In order to evaluate the erectile function in male renal failure patients treated with hemodialysis (HD), we investigated the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) in patients and healthy controls. The subjects were 174 male patients treated with HD, of whom 43 had diabetes mellitus (DM) and the remaining 131 patients did not have DM. The controls were 1133 healthy males.

Clinical utility of ursodeoxycholic acid in preventing flutamide-induced hepatopathy in patients with prostate cancer: a preliminary study.

Background: The present study was designed to ascertain retrospectively the validity of ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) in the treatment of prostate cancer in terms of prophylactic effects on the occurrence of flutamide-induced hepatopathy in a large number of patients surveyed in a multi-center cooperative study.

Methods: One hundred and eighty-one patients (74.1 +/- 4.

Role of systematic ultrasound-guided staging biopsies in predicting extraprostatic extension and seminal vesicle invasion in men with prostate cancer.

Purpose: To assess the presence of extraprostatic extension and seminal vesicle invasion in men with prostate cancer, we performed systematic staging biopsies targeting neurovascular bundles, seminal vesicles, and other extraprostatic tissues before the men underwent radical prostatectomy. We retrospectively evaluated the clinical efficacy of these systematic staging biopsies compared with digital rectal examination (DRE) and transrectal sonography (TRUS).

Methods: Two hundred forty-four candidates for prostatectomy who had a diagnostic biopsy Gleason score of 8 or higher and/or indications of extraprostatic extension (eg, seminal vesicle invasion) by DRE or TRUS underwent staging biopsies using an 18-gauge Tru-Cut needle under real-time TRUS guidance between June 1997 and March 2000.

Gitelman's syndrome first diagnosed as Bartter's syndrome.

A 29-year-old man, who had been treated with potassium, spironolactone and indomethacin for over 9 years, was admitted because of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and tetany manifestation. At the age of 20, he had been diagnosed as having Bartter's syndrome according to the criteria of the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare. Findings on admission were hypokalemia, hypomagnesemia and hypocalciuria.

[Neoadjuvant hormonal therapy for prostate cancer].

There have been expectations that neoadjuvant hormonal therapy would decrease the rate of positive surgical margins and, therefore, to improve the patient's survival rate after radical prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer. A review of seven prospective randomized studies for clinically localized prostate cancer revealed a significant decrease in the positive surgical margin rate in cases of clinical T2 disease after neoadjuvant hormonal therapy with prostatectomy. However, this treatment did not alter the rate of seminal vesicle invasion or lymph node metastasis after radical prostatectomy.

Evaluation of reflux kidney using renal resistive index.

Purpose: We clarified the relationships of the renal resistive index, reflux and renal scarring.

Materials And Methods: The resistive index in the interlobar artery was measured using power Doppler ultrasonography in 22 patients with reflux (reflux group), 13 with postoperative or resolved reflux (previous reflux group) and 20 who served as controls.

Results: Resistive index values in 11 kidneys with mid or high grade reflux were significantly higher than in 22 with low grade reflux and in the 40 normal kidneys.

[Ultrasound in urodynamics].

Recent developments of ultrasound imaging have contributed much to the understanding of urodynamics in patients with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). These include ultrasound estimated bladder weight (UEBW), transrectal power Doppler imaging of the prostate and transrectal ultrasonography during voiding (voiding TRUS). UEBW, which is obtained by measuring the thickness of the anterior bladder wall using a 7.

Effects of bisphosphonate on matrix metalloproteinase enzymes in human periodontal ligament cells.

Background: The host response is a critical component in the pathogenesis of periodontitis. In fact, the clinical benefits associated with regulating the host response have been demonstrated in studies using several different classes of drugs. Biophosphates are one host-modulating class of drugs that has demonstrated this ability.

Correlation of histological inflammation in needle biopsy specimens with serum prostate- specific antigen levels in men with negative biopsy for prostate cancer.

Objectives: To reveal the possible contribution of histological inflammation within the prostate to the abnormal elevation of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in patients with needle biopsy negative for prostate cancer.

Methods: We reviewed negative needle biopsy specimens obtained in 93 patients. The degree of acute and chronic inflammation as evaluated histologically was compared with serum PSA levels in conjunction with age and prostate volume.

No association between MTHFR gene polymorphism and diabetic nephropathy in Japanese type II diabetic patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

The development of diabetic nephropathy shows marked variation among individuals. Not only hyperglycemia, but also genetic factors may contribute to the development of diabetic nephropathy. Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is involved in remethylation of homocysteine to methionine.

Lack of association between an ecNOS gene polymorphism and diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetic patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

The development of diabetic nephropathy shows remarkable variation among individuals. Therefore, not only hyperglycemia but also genetic factors may contribute to the development of diabetic nephropathy. The aim of the present study was to examine the contribution of the 27-bp repeat polymorphism in intron 4 of the endothelial constitutive nitric oxide synthase gene (ecNOS4) to the development of diabetic nephropathy.

Neoadjuvant chemotherapy and hormonal therapy followed by radical prostatectomy: feasibility and preliminary results.

Purpose: We assessed the feasibility and efficacy of integrating chemotherapy and androgen ablation with radical prostatectomy in patients with locally advanced prostate cancer. The neoadjuvant approach was adopted because it allows an in situ assessment of antitumoral activity.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-three patients were enrolled who met the clinical criteria of stage T1-2, Gleason score of >/= 8 or T2b-T2c, Gleason score of 7 and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level greater than 10 ng/mL (n = 15), or clinical stage T3 (n = 18).

Strategy for repeat biopsy in patients with high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia.

Purpose: The finding of high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia in a biopsy specimen without prostate cancer warrants repeat biopsy because of the risk of concurrent cancer. However, to our knowledge the optimal repeat biopsy technique has not yet been defined. We determined the optimal subsequent biopsy strategy for detecting concurrent cancer in patients diagnosed with high grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia.

A comparative analysis of sextant and an extended 11-core multisite directed biopsy strategy.

Purpose: The 3 tumor locations unsampled by conventional sextant biopsies that have been identified on composite 3-dimensional reconstruction of 180 radical prostatectomy specimens are the anterior transition zone, midline peripheral zone and inferior portions of the anterior horn in the peripheral zone. We evaluated an 11-core multisite directed biopsy scheme incorporating these alternate areas and conventional sextant biopsies in 362 patients from 2 institutions.

Materials And Methods: Patients without a prior diagnosis of cancer underwent ultrasound guided 11-core biopsies which included conventional sextant and 3 alternate sites.

Advances in the application of prostate-specific antigen in the detection of early-stage prostate cancer.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has revolutionized the detection of prostate cancer. PSA-based screening has been shown to be effective in detecting prostate cancer at an early, potentially curable stage; however, this tumor marker is limited by appreciable false-positive and false-negative results. This is especially problematic when the PSA level is in the upper limit of normal (2.

Osmoregulation of vasopressin secretion in patients with the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis associated with central nervous system disorders.

To clarify the characteristics of vasopressin (AVP) secretion in patients with the syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (SIAD) related to central nervous system disorders, we examined the response of AVP secretion to osmotic stimulus by hypertonic saline infusion and analyzed the possible causative factors in six patients with SIAD associated with head trauma or cerebral infarction. Hyponatremia developed after head trauma in four patients and cerebral infarction in two patients. In all patients the clinical state and laboratory findings fulfilled the criteria for SIAD, which was supported by either nonsuppressible plasma AVP levels or effectiveness of treatments with water restriction, demeclocycline, nonpeptide V2 AVP antagonist or diphenylhydantoin.

Treatment of thyrotropin-secreting pituitary adenomas with octreotide.

Five hyperthyroid patients with TSH-secreting pituitary adenoma were treated with octreotide. Acute administration of octreotide decreased plasma TSH levels in all patients (mean decrease, 50.6 +/- 14%).

Alpha1-adrenergic stimulation induced hypertrophy in protein kinase C down-regulated cultured cardiac myocytes.

To examine whether protein kinase C (PKC) activation is essential for the induction of cardiac myocyte hypertrophy caused by alpha1-adrenergic stimulation, we investigated the hypertrophic effect of phenylephrine in PKC down-regulated and non-treated cultured cardiac myocytes obtained from neonatal Sprague-Dawley rat ventricles. The treatment with 10 nmol/L 12-tetra decanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) for more than 2 hours decreased PKC activity by approximately 80% without marked hypertrophy. Phenylephrine increased [14C] phenylalanine (Phe) incorporation in both TPA non-treated and treated cells, 1.

Asymptomatic hyponatremia due to inappropriate secretion of antidiuretic hormone as the first sign of a small cell lung cancer in an elderly man.

A 72-year-old man was hospitalized with asymptomatic hyponatremia. Despite hyponatremia, urinary sodium excretion with urine osmolality exceeding plasma osmolality persisted. Plasma vasopressin levels were high and independent of plasma osmolality during hypertonic saline infusion.

[Exercises on a bicycle ergometer in a family of diabetes mellitus associated with a mutation of mitochondrial DNA].

The serum pyruvate and lactate levels were studied after exercise on a bicycle ergometer in a family of diabetes mellitus (DM) associated with a mutation at nucleotide 3243 in the mitochondrial gene. A 56-year-old Japanese woman with the mutation at a percentage of 5% in the blood had insulin-dependent DM and sensory hearing loss without muscle symptoms. Her serum lactate and pyruvate levels increased markedly during and after exercise on a bicycle ergometer.

[Two cases of adrenal myelolipoma diagnosed by ultrasonically guided percutaneous biopsy].

We report 2 cases of adrenal myelolipoma which were diagnosed definitively by ultrasonically guided percutaneous biopsy to waive surgery. In case 1, a 39-year-old man presented with abdominal pain. A right adrenal mass was detected by abdominal ultrasonography.

Phagocytic function of salivary PMN after smoking or secondary smoking.

Alterations in polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMN) functions, such as phagocytosis, chemotaxis, and oxidative burst, play a pivotal role in periodontal pathogenesis. In addition, previous studies have demonstrated a strong relationship between smoking and periodontal disease. In the present study, the effect of cigarette smoking or passive smoking (secondary smoking) on the phagocytic function of salivary PMN (SPMN) was investigated.

Regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-2, -3, -9, and -13) by interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 in mouse calvaria: association of MMP induction with bone resorption.

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) greatly induces osteoclast formation and stimulates bone resorption of mouse calvaria in culture. In the presence of soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6R), IL-6 similarly induces osteoclast formation, but the potency of IL-6 in inducing bone resorption in organ culture is weaker than that of IL-1. To study the differences in bone-resorbing activity between IL-1 and IL-6, we examined the effects of the two cytokines on the induction of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs).