Ningmitai capsule promotes calculi expulsion after RIRS for 10-20-mm upper urinary stones: a multicenter, prospective, randomized controlled trial.

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of the use of Ningmitai capsule as an adjunctive stone expulsion therapy after RIRS. All patients were diagnosed with upper urinary tract calculi measuring 10-20 mm. The patients who successfully underwent RIRS were randomly assigned to the NMT capsule group (Ningmitai capsule, 1.52 g, three times daily) or the control group for 4 weeks based on the random number table method. The primary endpoints were the stone expulsion rate (SER) and stone-free rate (SFR). The average stone expulsion time (SET), average stone-free time (SFT) and complications were recorded. Between July 2, 2019, and December 17, 2020, 220 participants successfully underwent RIRS across 6 centers; 123 of them were randomized according to the exclusion criteria, and 102 (83%) were included in the primary analysis. The SERs on the 3rd, 7th, 14th and 28th days were significantly increased in the NMT capsule group compared with the control group (78.95% vs. 31.11%, 92.98% vs. 55.56%, 94.74% vs. 64.44%, 100% vs. 82.22%, respectively, p < 0.05). The SFRs on the 3rd and 7th days were not different (p > 0.05), while those on the 14th and 28th days were higher in the NMT capsule group (63.16% vs. 24.44% and 92.98% vs. 68.89%, p < 0.05). The average SET and average SFT of the NMT capsule group were remarkably shorter than those of the control group (p < 0.001). During the follow-up period, there were no significant differences in urine RBC counts between the two groups (p > 0.05). The urine WBC counts of the NMT capsule group were significantly lower than those of the control group on the 14th day (p = 0.011), but there was no difference on the 3rd, 7th or 28th day (p > 0.05). The analgesic aggregate of the NMT capsule group was also much lower (p = 0.037). There were no significant differences in adverse events (p > 0.05), and they improved significantly without sequelae. This study indicated that NMT capsules can significantly promote stone clearance and are more effective and safer for upper urinary calculi after RIRS.Trial registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registration No. ChiCTR1900024151.Date of registration June 28, 2019.

Circular RNA circSEMA5A promotes bladder cancer progression by upregulating ENO1 and SEMA5A expression.

Bladder cancer (BC) is one of the most commonly diagnosed urologic carcinomas, with high recurrence and death rates. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of noncoding RNAs which are anomalously expressed in cancers and involved in the progression of cancers. In this study, we found that circSEMA5A was upregulated in BC tissues and cell lines. The overexpressed circSEMA5A was correlated with malignant characteristics of BC. In vitro data indicated that circSEMA5A promoted proliferation, suppressed apoptosis, facilitated migration, accelerated invasion, enhanced angiogenesis and promotes glycolysis of BC. Mechanistically, circSEMA5A served as a miRNA sponge for miR-330-5p to upregulates Enolase 1 (ENO1) expression and facilitated the activation of Akt and ß-catenin signaling pathways. Then, we showed that circSEMA5A exerted its biological functions partially via miR-330-5p/ENO1 signaling. Moreover, circSEMA5A raised SEMA5A expression by recruiting EIF4A3 to enhance the mRNA stability of SEMA5A, and thereby accelerated BC angiogenesis. To sum up, circSEMA5A is upregulated in BC and facilitates BC progression by mediating miR-330-5p/ENO1 signaling and upregulating SEMA5A expression.

[Simultaneous determination of the residues of four ß2-agonists in animal foods by modified high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry].

An analytical method was developed to simultaneously determine the residues of four ß2-agonists in animal foods by high performance liquid chromatography/electrospray-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). Samples were extracted with 5% (mass fraction) trichloracetic acid, and then cleaned up by two solid phase extraction cartridges (HLB and ProElut PXC). Quantification of the four ß2-agonists was achieved by HPLC-MS/MS in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) using internal standard method. The limits of detection (S/N=3) of clenbuterol, salbutamol, ractopamine and terbutaline were 0. 05, 0. 05, 0. 05 and 0. 2 µg/kg, and the limits of quantification (S/N= 10) were 0. 25, 0. 25, 0. 1 and 0. 5 µg/kg, respectively. The average recoveries of the four ß2-agonists spiked in blank samples at the spiked levels of 2. 5, 5 and 10 µg/kg were 90. 3%-120. 5% with the relative standard deviation (RSD) range of 1. 60%-9. 33%. The method is reliable, sensitive, good recovery and repeatability. It is suitable for the determination of the residues of the four ß2-agonists in animal foods.

Association of serum EPCA-2 level with prostate cancer in Chinese Han population.

BACKGROUND: Early prostate cancer antigen 2 (EPCA-2), a kind of nuclear matrix protein, may relate to prostate cancer. However, the association of EPCA-2 level in serum with prostate diseases has not been clarified in Chinese Han population. METHODS: EPCA-2 and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels in serum were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay in 116 patients with prostate cancer (PCa), 342 patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and 174 healthy controls (Control) in Chinese population. Associations of serum EPCA-2 and PSA level with prostate diseases were analyzed by ANOVA. Comparison of diagnostic effect for prostate cancer between EPCA-2 and PSA was evaluated by Receiver Operator Curve, Chi-square test, and others. RESULTS: Serum EPCA-2 and PSA levels in PCa group were significantly higher than BPH and Control group (EPCA-2: F=200.05, P<0.01; PSA: F=210.65, P<0.01). However, EPCA-2 levels in the prostate cancers with different pathological grade were no significant difference. Furthermore, for detection of prostate cancer, EPCA-2 had a sensitivity of 81.9% and a specificity of 87.6%. CONCLUSIONS: Serum EPCA-2 could be used as a potential serological marker to diagnose prostate cancer in Chinese Han population, which was more specific than PSA and did not associate with pathological grades of prostate cancer.

Therapeutic effects and associated adverse events of first-line treatments of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC): a meta-analysis.

PURPOSE: To compare the therapeutic effects and adverse events (AE) of current first-line treatments of advanced RCC, including sorafenib, sunitinib, temsirolimus, and the combination of bevacizumab and IFN-α. METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of the effectiveness of the five treatments among patients with advanced RCC. The data of progressive disease, objective response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), grade 3/4 AE, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS) were extracted to assess therapeutic effects, toxicity, and prognosis, respectively. RESULTS: Two studies that assessed the combination of bevacizumab with IFN α (n = 1381), one sunitinib (n = 750), one sorafenib (n = 189) and one temsirolimus (n = 416) were included. Sorafenib, sunitinib, temsirolimus (R = 0.35, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.26-0.48, P < 0.01), and the combination of bevacizumab with IFN (R = 0.64, 95% CI 0.42-0.99, P = 0.04) were more effective in controlling tumor progression than IFN. Sorafenib, sunitinib, and temsirolimus do not own advantage in ORR compared with IFN (R = 2.06, 95% CI 0.53-7.95, P = 0.30), but combination of bevacizumab with IFN showed better results in ORR than IFN (R = 2.56, 95% CI 1.91-3.42, P < 0.01). Sorafenib, sunitinib, temsirolimus (R = 2.90, 95% CI 2.23-3.78, P < 0.01), and combination of bevacizumab with IFN (R = 2.14, 95% CI 1.65-2.78, P < 0.01) were more effective than IFN in DCR. Sorafenib, sunitinib, and temsirolimus had similar rate of grade 3/4 AE as IFN (R = 1.21, 95% CI 0.96-1.51, P = 0.10). Combined use of bevacizumab and IFN is associated with higher frequency of the AE (R = 2.09, 95% CI 1.66-2.63, P < 0.01). Sorafenib and sunitinib had similar median PFS (R = 0.67, 95% CI 0.42-1.08, P = 0.10); temsirolimus had longer median OS (R = 0.82, 95% CI 0.67-1.00, P = 0.049) as IFN. Combined use of bevacizumab and IFN had longer median PFS (R = 0.68, 95% CI 0.60-0.76, P < 0.01) and OS (R = 0.86, 95% CI 0.76-0.97, P = 0.01) than IFN. CONCLUSION: Sorafenib, sunitinib, temsirolimus, and the combination of bevacizumab with IFN are more effective in stabilizing disease. Combined use of bevacizumab and IFN is better than sorafenib, sunitinib, and temsirolimus in ORR, PFS, and OS, but associated with higher level of AE.