Un-methylation of NUDT21 represses docosahexaenoic acid biosynthesis contributing to enzalutamide resistance in prostate cancer.

Aims: The recent approval of enzalutamide for metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer underscores its growing clinical significance, raising concerns about emerging resistance and limited treatment options. While the reactivation of the androgen receptor (AR) and other genes plays a role in enzalutamide resistance, identifications of novel underlying mechanism with therapeutic potential in enzalutamide-resistant (EnzaR) cells remain largely elusive.

Methods: Drug-resistant prostate cancer cell lines, animal models, and organoids were utilized to examine NUDT21 function by transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses through loss-of-function and gain-of-function assays.

Association between chronic prostatitis and the subsequent benign prostatic hyperplasia: a population-based national cohort study.

Purpose: To explore the association between chronic prostatitis (CP) and the subsequent development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).

Methods: Data analyzed were medical claims of Taiwan's National Health Insurance program. From 2010 to 2017, 3571 patients ≧20 years with CP diagnosed by certified urologists were enrolled.

The MAEL expression in mitochondria of human spermatozoa and the association with asthenozoospermia.

Purpose: The maelstrom spermatogenic transposon silencer (MAEL) function in postmeiotic germ cells remains unclear, and its protein localization in human testis and spermatozoa awaits determination. This study aims to clarify the MAEL expression in human spermatogenesis and to explore its role in sperm function.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-seven asthenozoospermic men, 40 normozoospermic controls, and three obstructive azoospermic men were enrolled.

The sufficient multidisciplinary specialists under a government-led health care system associated with the downward mortality trend of Fournier's gangrene in Taiwan.

Objectives: To explore the trends in Fournier's gangrene (FG) incidence and mortality rate in Taiwan and to investigate the contributing factors to such changes.

Methods: Between 2002 and 2016, hospitalized FG patients who underwent subsequent surgical intervention were included in this retrospective study. Incidence, outcomes, age-adjusted Charlson Comorbidity Index (ACCI), hospitalization cost, surgical timing, and the number of multidisciplinary specialists involved in the first-line management of FG in each year were collected.

The Crosstalk of Long Non-Coding RNA and MicroRNA in Castration-Resistant and Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer: Their Interaction and Clinical Importance.

Prostate cancer is featured by its heterogeneous nature, which indicates a different prognosis. Castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) is a hallmark of the treatment-refractory stage, and the median survival of patients is only within two years. Neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) is an aggressive variant that arises from de novo presentation of small cell carcinoma or treatment-related transformation with a median survival of 1-2 years from the time of diagnosis.

Preoperative Urine Analysis is An Effective Tool to Predict Fever After Miniaturized Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy on Large Renal Stones.

Purpose: To investigate the preoperative and intraoperative potential risk factors associated with miniaturized percutaneous nephrolithotomy (mPCNL) fever in the treatment of patients with large renal stones.

Materials And Methods: All patients with renal stones larger than 2.5 cm, who had undergone mPCNL, were included in the period between April 2018 and September 2019.

Airway hyperresponsiveness induced by intermittent hypoxia in rats.

This study investigated whether intermittent hypoxia (IH) induces airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and associated with lung inflammation. Male Brown Norway rats were exposed to 14-day IH or room air (RA) for 6 h/day. One day after the last exposure, total lung resistance to various doses of methacholine was measured as an index of bronchoconstrictive responses.

The fertility preservation decision-making and testicular sperm retrieval outcome in older adolescents with nonmosaic Klinefelter syndrome and azoospermia.

Background: This study aims to analyze the fertility preservation decision-making and the sperm retrieval rate (SRR) in older adolescents (age 15-19 years) with nonmosaic Klinefelter syndrome (KS) and azoospermia in a male reproductive clinic, and to determine the accumulated SRR in older adolescents by literature review.

Methods: Older adolescents with nonmosaic KS and azoospermia referred for hypogonadism and fertility concerns were enrolled. Reproductive counseling and fertility preservation options were offered to patients/parents.

Incorporating Simplified Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index with early surgical intervention can maximize survival in high-risk Fournier's gangrene patients.

Objectives: To determine the optimal surgical timing in high-risk patients with Fournier's gangrene by the Simplified Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index.

Methods: From 1989 to 2018, 118 male patients diagnosed with Fournier's gangrene with complete medical records were retrospectively reviewed. Patients' demographics, laboratory parameters at initial diagnosis, Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index and Simplified Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index, and the time interval from emergency room arrival to surgical intervention were collected.

MAEL promoter hypermethylation is associated with de-repression of LINE-1 in human hypospermatogenesis.

Study Question: Does the hypermethylation of the maelstrom spermatogenic transposon silencer (MAEL) promoter and subsequent de-repression of transposable elements represent one of the causes of spermatogenic failure in infertile men?

Summary Answer: Experimental hypermethylation of a specific region (-131 to +177) of the MAEL promoter leads to decreased expression of MAEL with increased expression of the transposable element LINE-1 (L1) and in infertile men methylation of the MAEL promoter is associated with the severity of spermatogenic failure.

What Is Known Already: MAEL induces transposon repression in the male germline and is required for mammalian meiotic progression and post-meiotic spermiogenesis. Patients with non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA), defined as no sperm in the ejaculate due to spermatogenic failure, and histopathologically proven hypospermatogenesis (HS) is not uncommon and its etiology is largely unknown.

Causes and Clinical Features of Infertile Men With Nonobstructive Azoospermia and Histopathologic Diagnosis of Hypospermatogenesis.

Objective: To analyze the causes and the clinical features of infertile men with nonobstructive azoospermia and hypospermatogenesis (HS).

Materials And Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 100 patients with nonobstructive azoospermia and HS and 8 patients with obstructive azoospermia and normal spermatogenesis. The severity of HS was subdivided into 3 groups (mild, moderate, and severe) based on spermatogenic score.

Validation and simplification of Fournier's gangrene severity index.

Objectives: To validate the predictive value of Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index in patients with Fournier gangrene and to facilitate patient mortality risk-stratification by simplifying the Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index.

Methods: From January 1989 to December 2011, 85 male patients with clinically-documented Fournier's gangrene undergoing intensive treatment and with complete medical records were recruited. The demographic information and nine parameters of Fournier's Gangrene Severity Index were compared between survivors and non-survivors.

Clinical characteristics and reproductive outcomes in infertile men with testicular early and late maturation arrest.

Objective: To compare the clinical characteristics and reproductive outcomes of nonobstructive azoospermic men with uniform early and late maturation arrest.

Methods: Patients with biopsy-documented uniform maturation arrest undergoing testicular sperm retrieval and complete medical records were enrolled in the present study. Their medical history, physical examination findings, testicular volume, serum hormone parameters, genetic anomalies, sperm retrieval, and reproductive outcomes were retrospectively analyzed.