Being insulted by parents is the most severe early adverse experience of anxiety in adulthood.

INTRODUCTION: Which adverse childhood experiences are causally associated with anxiety in adulthood is unclear. Sensitive Period Model states that early adverse experiences can influence anxiety levels in adulthood. However, it remains unknown which adverse experience is the most important early adverse factor for anxiety in adulthood, and whether early alleviation or aggravation of this adverse experience predicts a decrease or increase in anxiety levels in adulthood. METHODS: A national cross-sectional survey was conducted from 20 June 2023 to 31 August 2023, with a total of 30,054 adults aged 18 years or older recruited on questionnaires that completed the Adverse Childhood Experiences Scale and Generalised Anxiety Disorder Scale. We used network analysis and computer simulation techniques to simulate aggravating and simulate alleviating interventions to observe changes in anxiety levels to identify early adverse experiences causally associated with anxiety levels in adulthood. RESULTS: The results of both the network analysis and the nodeIdentifyR algorithm (NIRA) indicated that in the Adverse Childhood Experiences-Anxiety Network (ACE-GAD Network), being cursed and insulted (CUR) by parents in childhood was the most severe early adverse experience contributing to anxiety in adulthood. In particular, simulated aggravation interventions targeting CUR in young and middle-aged adults resulted in significantly higher levels of anxiety in adulthood. CONCLUSIONS: This suggests that preventing verbal curses or insults in childhood can be an early preventive measure for future anxiety interventions. This study has important theoretical and practical implications, providing new insights for early prevention of anxiety and family education.

A retrospective study of the management and outcomes of pregnancies with inherited antithrombin deficiency.

INTRODUCTION: Antithrombin (AT) deficiency is a rare but highly thrombogenic inherited thrombophilia. Its association with adverse pregnancy outcomes (APO) is undefined. There is limited guidance on managing AT deficiency in pregnancy. Some significant issues remain controversial, including risk assessment for prophylactic anticoagulation, anticoagulant therapy, and monitoring. Our goal was to examine if the antepartum management of patients with AT deficiency affected their pregnancy outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective, single-center observational study included pregnant women with inherited AT deficiency in Peking Union Medical College Hospital between 2013 and 2024. RESULTS: Seventeen pregnancies in 6 women with AT deficiency were identified. A total of 7 pregnancies received adjusted-dose low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) and were monitored by anti-Xa level, AT activity, and D-dimer. There were 5 live births (all received LMWH), 7 second-trimester abortions (1 received LMWH), and 5 early pregnancy losses (1 received LMWH). There were 5 abruptio placentae events (3 received LMWH) and 7 thrombotic events (2 received LMWH). CONCLUSIONS: AT deficiency is at least an important partial factor contributing to APO. It is suggested to make a full assessment of AT patients both for venous thrombus embolism and APO risk. We observed a high prevalence of heparin resistance and a positive correlation between adequate anticoagulation and pregnancy outcome based on tight monitoring with anti-Xa level and timely adjustment of the LMWH dosage.

Nonlinear relationships between sleep duration, mental health, and quality of life: The dangers of less sleep versus more sleep.

BACKGROUND: Recent research has found a non-linear relationship between sleep duration and mental health/quality of life. However, it is currently unclear which age group is more affected by sleep duration and what the optimal sleep duration is for each age group. Additionally, the underlying mechanisms of the non-linear relationship between sleep duration and quality of life are not well understood. METHODS: Therefore, this study utilized questionnaire data from 20,962 participants in the Chinese PBICR-2022 database(Cross-sectional study) and constructed models to analyze the relationship between sleep duration and quality of life. RESULTS: The results showed that the optimal sleep duration varied among different age groups: approximately 9 h for adolescents, 8 h for early/middle-aged adults, and 7 h for older adults. Compared to other age groups, less or more sleep duration had a greater impact on mental health and quality of life in adolescents. Furthermore, mental health was found to play a significant mediating role between sleep duration and quality of life in both the less sleep group and the more sleep group, but this mediating effect was not significant among the older adults in the less sleep group, whereas the mediating effect of mental health was not significant among the middle-aged adults in the more sleep group. CONCLUSIONS: This suggests that different age groups have different optimal sleep duration, and age may be an important factor influencing the relationship between sleep duration and mental health/quality of life, with mental health playing a mediating role in the relationship between sleep duration and quality of life.

De novo urinary incontinence and lower urinary tract symptoms after colpocleisis: A single-center prospective study.

Background: Colpocleisis is one of traditional surgical procedures for elderly and frail women with advanced pelvic organ prolapse. The occurrence of de novo urinary incontinence following colpocleisis was considered to impair the postoperative quality of life. The incidence of de novo urinary incontinence after colpocleisis has been reported to be ranging from 6.6 % to 27 %. There was an absence of prospective large-sample study to investigate the accurate incidence of de novo urinary incontinence following colpocleisis and the impact on the quality of life till now. Purpose: s The primary objective was to report the incidence of de novo urinary incontinence after colpocleisis. The second objectives were to evaluate the long-term quality of life in patients with de novo urinary incontinence, and to conduct detailed pre- and post-operative evaluations of lower urinary tract symptoms. Methods: This prospective study included 253 patients with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse who underwent colpocleisis between 2009 and 2021. De novo urinary incontinence was defined as the occurrence of urinary incontinence 3 months postoperatively. All patients were required to complete the Urinary Distress Inventory questionnaire and the Urinary Impact Questionnaire for the evaluation of patients' quality of life, and the Patient Global Impression of Improvement questionnaire for the evaluation of patients' satisfaction. Results: 245 patients (245/253, 96·8 %) completed the 3-month follow-up, and were included in the final analysis. The incidence of de novo urinary incontinence was 5.4 % (10/185). There was no significant difference in the Urinary Distress Inventory -6 scores (22.50 vs. 10.30, P = 0.276) or the subjective satisfaction rate (100 % vs. 98.9 %, P = 0.250) between the patients with or without de novo urinary incontinence at the long-term follow-up. The incidence of voiding difficulty was significantly reduced after colpocleisis (27.8 % vs. 0.0 %, P < 0.001). The patients' quality of life indicated by Urinary Distress Inventory-6 and Urinary Impact Questionnaire-7 scores were significantly improved postoperatively (26.27 vs. 13.39, and 19.13 vs. 6.05, P < 0.05). Conclusion: The incidence of de novo urinary incontinence after colpocleisis was very low. Patients' quality of life, and low urinary tract symptoms were significantly improved after colpocleisis.

Protocol for a prospective longitudinal cohort study on the effects of non-surgical weight loss on pelvic floor dysfunction.

INTRODUCTION: Recent studies have recommended non-surgical weight loss and pelvic floor muscle training as first-line treatment for obese patients with urinary incontinence. However, limited studies are detecting the effect of weight loss on other types of pelvic floor dysfunctions (PFDs), as well as on the quality of life (QoL) and the related influencing factors. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The "Weight Loss on Pelvic Floor Dysfunction"(WLPFD) observational study is a 6 months prospective, longitudinal real-world cohort study aiming to recruit 200 patients. Participants will be followed up three times during the study: at baseline, and at 2 and 6 months. The methodology involves recruitment and follow-up of participants, data collection through validated questionnaires, and statistical analysis to assess the impact of non-surgical weight loss on PFD and QoL. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has been reviewed and given a favourable ethical opinion by the Peking Union Medical College Hospital ethics committee (K4278). All results from the study will be submitted to international journals and international conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05987085.

Pelvic floor muscle strength and influencing factors based on vaginal manometry among healthy women at different life stages: A multicentre cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: To assess pelvic floor muscle (PFM) strength and influencing factors among healthy women at different life stages. DESIGN: Multicentre cross-sectional study. SETTING: Fourteen hospitals in China. POPULATION: A total of 5040 healthy women allocated to the following groups (with 1680 women per group): premenopausal nulliparous, premenopausal parous and postmenopausal. METHODS: The PFM strength was evaluated by vaginal manometry. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the influencing factors for low PFM strength. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Maximum voluntary contraction pressure (MVCP). RESULTS: The median MVCP values were 36, 35 and 35 cmH2O in premenopausal nulliparous (aged 19-51 years), premenopausal parous (aged 22-61 years), and postmenopausal (aged 40-86 years) women, respectively. In the premenopausal nulliparous group, physical work (odds ratio, OR 2.05) was the risk factor for low PFM strength, which may be related to the chronic increased abdominal pressure caused by physical work. In the premenopausal parous group, the number of vaginal deliveries (OR 1.28) and diabetes (OR 2.70) were risk factors for low PFM strength, whereas sexual intercourse (<2 times per week vs. none, OR 0.55; ≥2 times per week vs. none, OR 0.56) and PFM exercise (OR 0.50) may have protective effects. In the postmenopausal group, the number of vaginal deliveries (OR 1.32) and family history of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) (OR 1.83) were risk factors for low PFM strength. CONCLUSIONS: Physical work, vaginal delivery, diabetes and a family history of POP are all risk factors for low PFM strength, whereas PFM exercises and sexual life can have a protective effect. The importance of these factors varies at different stages of a woman's life.

The difference in extracellular matrix metabolism in women with and without pelvic organ prolapse: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Studies on the changes of extracellular matrix (ECM) in pelvic organ prolapse (POP) are still controversial. OBJECTIVE: To identify the changes in the ECM in POP patients. SEARCH STRATEGY: Comprehensive searching in Embase, PubMed, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library was carried out until 23 February 2023. SELECTION CRITERIA: Studies comparing the protein levels of ECM-related components between women with and without POP. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Quality and risk of bias were assessed using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality assessment. Indicators were pooled with random or fixed effect meta-analysis based on heterogeneity and sub-grouped analysed by the biopsy site. MAIN RESULTS: Thirty cross-sectional studies were included, comprising 840 POP cases and 755 controls. Overall results showed that the expression of type III collagen (COLIII) and several matrix metalloproteinases (MMP-1, -2 and -9) were increased, whereas those of type I collagen (COLI), and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) were decreased in patients with POP. Subgroup analysis showed that the expression of COLIII in the anterior vaginal wall (AVW) and COLIII, MMP-2 and -9 in the uterosacral ligament (USL) were consistent with the overall results. However, the expression of COLI and MMP-1 in the AVW showed no difference and the expression of COLI and MMP-1 in the USL is still controversial based on current studies. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with POP have lower expression of COLI and TIMP-1 and higher expression of COLIII and MMPs compared with non-POP cases, but further studies are required to investigate in specified anatomical sites.

Event-Driven Video Restoration With Spiking-Convolutional Architecture.

With high temporal resolution, high dynamic range, and low latency, event cameras have made great progress in numerous low-level vision tasks. To help restore low-quality (LQ) video sequences, most existing event-based methods usually employ convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to extract sparse event features without considering the spatial sparse distribution or the temporal relation in neighboring events. It brings about insufficient use of spatial and temporal information from events. To address this problem, we propose a new spiking-convolutional network (SC-Net) architecture to facilitate event-driven video restoration. Specifically, to properly extract the rich temporal information contained in the event data, we utilize a spiking neural network (SNN) to suit the sparse characteristics of events and capture temporal correlation in neighboring regions; to make full use of spatial consistency between events and frames, we adopt CNNs to transform sparse events as an extra brightness prior to being aware of detailed textures in video sequences. In this way, both the temporal correlation in neighboring events and the mutual spatial information between the two types of features are fully explored and exploited to accurately restore detailed textures and sharp edges. The effectiveness of the proposed network is validated in three representative video restoration tasks: deblurring, super-resolution, and deraining. Extensive experiments on synthetic and real-world benchmarks have illuminated that our method performs better than existing competing methods.

Effect of Surgically Induced Weight Loss on Pelvic Organ Prolapse: A Meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Bariatric surgery alleviates certain aspects of pelvic floor disorder, but the effect on pelvic organ prolapse (POP) is unclear. To assess the effect of bariatric surgery on POP we conducted the present meta-analysis and firstly performed a subgroup analysis based on the duration of follow-up. METHODS: Four databases including PubMed, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and Embase were searched to identify relevant studies published before February 24, 2023. The main outcome was the prevalence and severity of POP symptoms before and after bariatric surgery. Then we assessed the heterogeneity, publication bias and performed subgroup analyses based on follow-up time, study quality and region. RESULTS: Eleven studies with a total of 696 participants met the inclusion criteria. The results showed that the prevalence of POP decreased after bariatric surgery (odds ratio[OR] = 2.29, 95% confidence interval[CI]: 1.05, 5.01; P = 0.04, I2 = 78%), with significant differences observed both at 3-6 months (OR = 2.24, 95% CI: 1.25, 4.01; P = 0.007, I2 = 59%) and 12 months (OR = 4.64, 95% CI: 2.83, 7.58; P < 0.0001, I2 = 0%) of follow-up compared with pre-surgery. Pelvic Organ Prolapse Distress Inventory scores 6-item also decreased after bariatric surgery (mean difference [MD] = 2.11, 95% CI: 0.32, 3.89; P = 0.02, I2 = 55%) with significant differences observed both at 3-6 months (MD = 3.72; 95% CI: [0.10, 7.34], P = 0.04, I2 = 70%) and ≥ 12 months (MD = 3.24; 95% CI: [0.56, 5.91], P = 0.02, I2 = 56%) of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Bariatric surgery alleviated POP symptoms in women with obesity both during short-term (3-6 months) and long-term (≥ 12 months) follow-up.

Impact of female stress urinary incontinence and related treatments on the sexual function of male partners: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: No conclusions have been reached on whether female stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and related treatments affect male partners' sexual function. AIM: To assess the effects of female SUI and related treatments on male partners' sexual function. METHODS: A comprehensive search of the PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane, and Scopus databases was performed up to September 6, 2022. Studies were included that investigated the effect of female SUI and related treatments on male partners' sexual function. OUTCOME: Male partners' sexual function. RESULTS: Of the 2294 citations identified, 18 studies with 1350 participants were included. Two studies assessed the effect of female SUI without treatment on male partners' sexual function, finding that partners had more erectile dysfunction, more sexual dissatisfaction, and less sexual frequency than partners of women without urinary incontinence. Seven studies directly assessed the effect of female SUI treatments on male partners' sexual function by surveying the male partners. Among these, 4 assessed transobturator suburethral tape (TOT) surgery; 1 assessed TOT and tension-free vaginal tape obturator surgery; and the remaining 2 assessed pulsed magnetic stimulation and laser treatment. Among the 4 TOT studies, 3 used the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF). TOT surgery significantly improved the total IIEF score (mean difference [MD] = 9.74, P < .00001), along with erectile function (MD = 1.49, P < .00001), orgasmic function (MD = 0.35, P = .001), sexual desire (MD = 2.08, P < .00001), intercourse satisfaction (MD = 2.36, P < .00001), and overall satisfaction (MD = 3.46, P < .00001). However, the improvements in IIEF items may be of unclear clinical significance, as 4 points in the erectile function domain of the IIEF are typically defined as the minimal clinically important difference. In addition, 9 studies indirectly assessed the effect of female SUI surgery on male partners' sexual function by surveying patients with the Pelvic Organ Prolapse/Urinary Incontinence Sexual Questionnaire. The results demonstrated no significant differences in erectile function (MD = 0.08, P = .40) or premature ejaculation (MD = 0.07, P = .54). CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The effects of female SUI and related treatments on male partners' sexual function were summarized for the first time, providing a reference for future clinical practice and scientific research. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS: A limited number of studies that used various scales met the standardized eligibility criteria. CONCLUSION: Female SUI may affect male partners' sexual function, and female patients' anti-incontinence surgery does not appear to have a clinically significant improvement on the sexual function of their partners.

Efficacy of supervised pelvic floor muscle training with a home-based biofeedback device for urinary incontinence in postpartum women: protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Supervised pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) of at least 3 months duration has been strongly recommended as a first-line treatment for women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) or SUI-predominant mixed urinary incontinence (MUI), including elderly and postnatal women. However, for the treatment of SUI and MUI in postpartum women, it is currently uncertain whether supervised PFMT combined with a biofeedback device is superior to PFMT alone. Despite some supportive results, more reliable evidence is lacking. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study is designed as a multicentre assessor-blinded parallel-group randomised controlled trial comparing the efficacy of PFMT with a home-based pressure-mediated biofeedback device (intervention group) and that of at-home PFMT alone (control group) for women with new-onset SUI or SUI-predominant MUI after delivery. Five hundred eligible women from the obstetric outpatient clinics of five tertiary hospitals will be randomly allocated (1:1) and evaluated with repeated questionnaires, physical examinations and pelvic floor assessments at baseline (pretest), 3 months, 6 months and 12 months (postintervention) during the study period. Both groups will be instructed to follow the same training protocol under 3-month supervision after randomisation. The use of a biofeedback device with a self-assessment function will be added to the PFMT regime for patients in the intervention group. The primary outcome is the self-reported severity of urinary incontinence assessed through the short form of the International Consultation on Incontinence Questionnaire-Urinary Incontinence. Secondary outcomes include pelvic muscle support and strength, symptoms of pelvic organ prolapse, quality of life, sexual function, self-efficacy and adherence. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval has been received from the Peking Union Medical College Hospital ethics committee (JS-3192D). All results from the study will be submitted to international journals and international conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT05115864.

Ovariectomy with simulated vaginal delivery to establish a rat model for pelvic organ prolapse.

The widespread prevalence of Pelvic Organ Prolapse (POP) and the paucity of ongoing treatments prompted us to develop a unique rat model combining ovariectomy and simulated vaginal delivery. We hypothesized that the tissue changes caused by low hormone levels and mechanical stretch could complement each other. Thus, the combined model can potentially mimic the collagen metabolism of vaginal wall tissue as well as mechanical stretch properties to complement disease progression in POP. Ovariectomy with sequential simulated vaginal delivery was performed on rats in the modeling group. Sham surgeries were performed as control. At 2, 4, and 12 weeks after modeling, the vaginal tissues of rats were evaluated by Masson's trichrome staining, Picro-Sirius red staining, immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and uniaxial tensile tests. Compared to the control group, the vaginal tissues of the model rats showed an atrophic epithelial layer and loose collagen fibers. The smooth muscle fibers were ruptured, smaller in diameter, and disorganized. The ratio of collagen type I/III significantly increased, but the contents of both Collagen I and III decreased. The expression of metalloproteinases 2 and 9 in the tissues increased, and the expression of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases 1 and 2 decreased. The tangent modulus of the tissues was significantly increased in the model rats. We verified a novel method to establish a pelvic organ prolapse model in rats. This approach combined the advantages of low hormone levels and mechanical stretch effects.

Predicting the occurrence of stress urinary incontinence after prolapse surgery: a machine learning-based model.

Background: Previous prediction models for postoperative stress urinary incontinence (SUI) cannot be applied to patients receiving transvaginal mesh (TVM) surgery and colpocleisis or those with preoperative subject urinary incontinence. This study aimed to develop and validate a new machine learning model and compare it to previous models. Methods: Female patients who underwent prolapse surgeries for stage 2-4 anterior or apical prolapse between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2019, at Peking Union Medical College Hospital were enrolled. Prolapse surgeries included native tissue repair, LeFort/colpocleisis, sacrocolpopexy, and TVM surgery. The existing models to predict postoperative SUI were externally validated. Subsequently, the dataset was randomly divided into 2 sets in a 4:1 ratio. The larger group was used to construct and internally validate models of logistic regression, random forest, and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), which were then externally validated. The discrimination of the prediction models was evaluated using the area under the curve, while the calibration of the models was measured using the Spiegelhalter z test, mean absolute error (MSE), and calibration curves. Results: Overall, 555 patients were enrolled, and 116 experienced SUI 1 year postoperatively. Previous logistic models had poor performance, with areas under the curve of 0.544 and 0.586. In the model construction, the areas under the curve were 0.595, 0.842, and 0.714 for the logistic, random forest, and XGBoost models, respectively. However, only the XGBoost model exhibited good discrimination and calibration for both internal and external validations. Body mass index (BMI), C point of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) quantification stage, age, Aa point of POP quantification stage, and TVM surgery were the 5 most important predictors of postoperative SUI in the XGBoost model. Conclusions: Previous models had poor discrimination and calibration among a Chinese population. Hence, we developed and validated an XGBoost model, which performed well irrespective of the preoperative subjective urinary incontinence (preUI) and surgical methods. Further validation is still required.

Telomerase-mediated immortalization of human vaginal wall fibroblasts derived from patients with pelvic organ prolapse.

BACKGROUND: Extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling is the most important pathomechanism of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Fibroblasts are the key to ECM regulation. The passaging capacity of human vaginal wall fibroblasts (hVWFs) is limited in vitro . Here, we aimed to immortalize hVWFs through the introduction of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT). METHODS: Primary cells were derived from the vaginal wall tissue of patients with POP. Cellular senescence was detected via senescence-associated ß-galactosidase staining. We employed a lentiviral transfection vector to stably express hTERT in hVWFs at passage 3, generating immortalized hVWFs (i-hVWFs). We then assessed cellular proliferation via the CCK-8 and EdU assays as well as cellular migration via wound healing assays. G-banded chromosome karyotypic analysis was performed to evaluate chromosomal karyotype stability. Finally, cellular tumorigenesis capacity was assessed in nude mice. A two-tailed Student's t test was used to compare differences between the two groups. RESULTS: Our results showed that senescence of primary hVWFs significantly increased from passage seven. From passage 11, hVWFs showed a significantly higher senescence percentage than i-hVWFs. During the continuous passage, i-hVWFs presented stability in proliferation, migration capacity, expression of ECM regulation-related genes, and chromosome karyotype. In vivo tumorigenesis was absent in i-hVWFs. CONCLUSIONS: The senescence of hVWFs significantly increased from the seventh passage, and we successfully used hTERT to immortalize hVWFs derived from patients with POP. Studies on POP that require a long-lived hVWF line will benefit from our technique.

Results of sacrospinous ligament fixation using conventional instruments for symptomatic stage 2 and 3 apical prolapse over 3 years.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the long-term efficacy and quality of life concerning sacrospinous ligament fixation (SSLF) using conventional instruments for Chinese women with symptomatic stage 2 and 3 apical prolapse. METHODS: This single-arm prospective cohort study was conducted at our hospital between October 2011 and December 2018. Eligible participants were followed up over 3 years after surgery. The primary surgical outcome was composite surgical failure. Secondary outcomes included rate of satisfaction, quality of life (QoL) scores, and long-term complications. RESULTS: Fifty-nine patients were enrolled (mean age 57.1 years), of whom 55 (93.22%) completed the 3-year follow up. At year 3, the composite failure rate was 21.34% (95% confidence interval [CI] 9.30%-31.79%), and satisfaction rate was 81.40% (95% CI 66.09%-91.08%). Right thigh pain and de novo dyspareunia occurred in 1.8% and 14.6% patients after year 1, respectively, but at year 3 there were no complications. Lower urinary tract symptoms were present in 5.5% of patients. Improvement was found in urinary symptoms and prolapse symptoms, but sexual function showed no significant change. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with results at year 1, complication rates of SSLF decreased at year 3. The composite failure rate was relatively low and satisfaction rate was relatively high at year 3. Prolapse and urinary symptoms improved significantly after surgery.

The protective effect of 17 ß-estradiol on human uterosacral ligament fibroblasts from postmenopausal women with pelvic organ prolapse.

This study aims to explore the protective effects of 17 ß-estradiol on the human uterosacral ligament fibroblasts (hUSLFs) under static or stretched conditions. The experiments were performed on hUSLFs derived from pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and non-POP patients. Fibroblasts were cultured after collagenase digestion and identified by morphological observation and immunocytochemical methods. 17 ß-estradiol (10-10 M and 10-9 M) and mechanical stress induced by the FX-5000 T-cell stress loading system under a loading strain of 1/2 sin waveform uniaxial cyclic stress with a tensile strain of 20% and a frequency of 0.5 Hz were either or both applied on hUSLFs. Cell proliferation was measured by CCK8, and cell apoptosis and death were detected using Annexin V/7-AAD staining and flow cytometric analysis. We found that the fibroblasts growth rate of POP patients was significantly lower than controls. The cell apoptosis and death rate increased as the mechanical load intensifying. After 20% mechanical stretching for 24 h, the dead cell rate was higher in POP than control. Notably, 17 ß-estradiol treatment reversed mechanical stress induced hUSLFs apoptosis and death in both POP and Control cells. The protein and mRNA levels of anti-apoptotic PARP1 (poly-ADP-ribose polymerase) and Bcl-2 were increased by estrogen treatment. Meanwhile, expression of estrogen receptor α, a target of Poly-ADP-Ribosylation of PARP1, was also enhanced by 17 ß-estradiol under the mechanical load. In conclusion, estrogen application ameliorates the mechanical strain induced cell apoptosis and death in hUSLFs from POP patients. PARP1 might be involved in this protective process, providing novel insights into the mechanical biology of and possible therapies for POP.

Burch colposuspension for stress urinary incontinence: a 14-year prospective follow-up.

We aimed to evaluate the long-term effectiveness and safety of Burch colposuspension (BC) for stress urinary incontinence (SUI). In this prospective cohort study, 84 patients with SUI undergoing BC were enrolled from February 2004 to January 2010. Data on long-term subjective success and postoperative complications were collected at clinic visits and by telephone follow-up. During a mean follow-up period of 14.2 years, 68% (57/84) patients completed the follow-up. A total of 68.4% of patients (39/57) reported absence of SUI symptoms, 73.6% (42/57) were subjectively satisfied according to the Patient Global Impression of Improvement, and 68.4% (39/57) reported subjective success regarding urinary symptoms via the Urinary Distress Inventory Short Form. However, 28.1% (16/57) suffered at least one long-term postoperative complication and incident. Specifically, 1 in 25 (4.0%) sexually active patients reported dyspareunia, 3 patients (5.3%) had de novo overactive bladder, and 6 patients (10.5%) reported voiding dysfunction. Four patients (7.0%) reported new onset prolapse symptoms, and 3 patients (5.3%) underwent secondary urinary incontinence surgery. Our study indicated that Burch colposuspension is an effective procedure for SUI, and the cure effect was largely maintained for the 14-year follow-up period, with relatively low complication rates. BC should be considered a surgical option for SUI.

The polymorphisms of extracellular matrix-remodeling genes are associated with pelvic organ prolapse.

INTRODUCTION AND HYPOTHESIS: Extracellular matrix (ECM) synthesis and metabolism abnormalities may influence the pelvic supporting system and lead to the occurrence and development of pelvic organ prolapse (POP). Genetic polymorphisms of such related genes have been increasingly studied. This study aims to explore the association between the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of genes encoding ECM processing enzymes (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs [ADAMTSs]), ECM degrading enzymes (matrix metalloproteinases [MMPs]) and their tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMPs), and POP. METHODS: We conducted an association study including 48 women with POP at stages III and IV and 48 women without prolapse in Chinese groups. SNPs were identified using the target region sequencing technique. We performed Fisher's exact tests to assess the association between SNPs and POP in the unadjusted model and logistic regression analysis in the adjusted model, adjusting for delivery and pregnancy. RESULTS: There was a significant association between TIMP2 SNP rs2277698 (odds ratio [OR], 0.37; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.16-0.82; P = 0.015), ADAMTS13 SNP rs149586801 (OR, 0.18; 95% CI, 0.05-0.69; P = 0.012), and ADAMTS1 SNPs rs370850 and rs422803 (OR, 3.71; 95% CI, 1.35-10.15; P = 0.011 for both), rs402007, rs428785, rs434857, and rs445784 (OR, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.05-4.56; P = 0.038 for the four), and POP in the adjusted model. CONCLUSION: TIMP2, ADAMTS13, and ADAMTS1 might be candidate genes for POP. Our results provide preliminarily new evidence for future investigation of these genes in the pathophysiology of POP.