The 'Prostate Embolisation AS first-line therapY compAred to meDication in treatment naïVe men with prostAte eNlargement, a randomised ControllEd trial' (P-EASY ADVANCE): a randomised controlled trial of prostate embolisation vs medication for BPH.

Objective: To compare prostate artery embolisation (PAE) to the combination of tamsulosin and dutasteride therapy as a potential first-line therapy for obstructive benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in treatment-naïve patients in the 'Prostate Embolisation AS first-line therapY compAred to meDication in treatment naïVe men with prostAte eNlargement, a randomised ControllEd trial' (P-EASY ADVANCE).

Patients And Methods: A total of 39 men with enlarged prostates, moderate-severe lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and obstructed/equivocal urodynamic studies (UDS), and who had no prior treatment for BPH, were randomised to receive either combined medical therapy with tamsulosin and dutasteride (medication) or PAE. Follow-up UDS, International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), uroflowmetry and ultrasound were performed at short- to medium-term intervals following interventions and compared to baseline.

A pilot study to investigate the associations of urinary concentrations of NO, ATP and derivatives with overactive bladder symptom severity.

New Findings: What is the central question of this study? Are the urinary concentrations of NO and ATP, and their metabolites, associated with the severity of symptoms of overactive bladder? What is the main finding and its importance? The urinary ratios of [ATP/NO], [ADP/NO] and a combination of these, [ATP/Cr*ADP/Cr]/[NO/Cr], were correlated with overall OAB symptom severity, with the latter combination also being correlated with the severity of urinary frequency and urgency symptoms individually. Together, these data reveal changes in urothelial signalling that accompany the transition from physiology to pathology.

Abstract: Overactive bladder (OAB) is a highly prevalent symptom complex characterized by symptoms of urinary urgency and increased frequency and waking to void (nocturia), with or without urge incontinence and in the absence of proven infection or other obvious pathology.

New participant stratification and combination of urinary biomarkers and confounders could improve diagnostic accuracy for overactive bladder.

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a highly prevalent symptom complex characterised by symptoms of urinary urgency, increased frequency, nocturia, with or without urge incontinence; in the absence of proven infection or other obvious pathology. The underlying pathophysiology of idiopathic OAB is not clearly known and the existence of several phenotypes has been proposed. Current diagnostic approaches are based on discordant measures, suffer from subjectivity and are incapable of detecting the proposed OAB phenotypes.

Investigating the associations of mucosal P2Y6 receptor expression and urinary ATP and ADP concentrations, with symptoms of overactive bladder.

Aim: To characterize purinergic signaling in overactive bladder (OAB).

Methods: Mucosal biopsies were taken by flexible cystoscopy from patients with storage symptoms referred to Urology Departments of collaborating hospitals. Immunohistochemistry (n = 12) and Western blot analysis (n = 28) were used to establish the qualitative and quantitative expression profile of P2Y6 in human mucosa.

Evolutionary, ecological and biotechnological perspectives on plasmids resident in the human gut mobile metagenome.

Numerous mobile genetic elements (MGE) are associated with the human gut microbiota and collectively referred to as the gut mobile metagenome. The role of this flexible gene pool in development and functioning of the gut microbial community remains largely unexplored, yet recent evidence suggests that at least some MGE comprising this fraction of the gut microbiome reflect the co-evolution of host and microbe in the gastro-intestinal tract. In conjunction, the high level of novel gene content typical of MGE coupled with their predicted high diversity, suggests that the mobile metagenome constitutes an immense and largely unexplored gene-space likely to encode many novel activities with potential biotechnological or pharmaceutical value, as well as being important to the development and functioning of the gut microbiota.