[Qilin Pills for idiopathic oligoasthenospermia: A multi-centered randomized double-blind controlled clinical trial].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of Qilin Pills in the treatment of oligoasthenospermia in infertile men. METHODS: This multi-centered randomized double-blind controlled clinical trial included 216 infertile males with oligoasthenospermia, 108 in the trial group and the other 108 in the control, the former treated with Qilin Pills at the dose of 6 g tid while the latter with Wuziyanzong Pills at 6 g bid, both for 12 weeks. We examined the total sperm count, sperm motility and the count of progressively motile sperm of the patients before and at 4, 8 and 12 weeks after medication and evaluated the safety of the drug based on the adverse events and the laboratory results of blood and urine routine examinations and liver and kidney function tests. RESULTS: Compared with the baseline, the patients in the trial group showed a significant time-dependent improvement after 4, 8 and 12 weeks of medication in sperm motility (21.75% vs 27.54%, 29.04% and 32.95%, P <0.05), total sperm count (156.27 ×106 vs 177.33, 188.18 and 205.44 ×106, P <0.05), and the count of progressively motile sperm (32.08 ×106/ml vs 46.33, 50.98 and 61.10 ×106/ml, P <0.05). The three parameters above were also improved in the controls, but more significantly in the trial group (P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Qilin Pills can evidently improve the semen quality of oligoasthenospermia patients with no obvious adverse events.

Safety and efficacy of levofloxacin versus ciprofloxacin for the treatment of chronic bacterial prostatitis in Chinese patients.

Levofloxacin is a synthetic fluoroquinolone that is usually used to treat chronic bacterial prostatitis. We investigated the safety and efficacy of levofloxacin compared with ciprofloxacin for the treatment of chronic bacterial prostatitis in Chinese patients. This was a multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled non-inferiority trial. Four hundred and seventy-one patients with clinical symptoms/signs were enrolled into the study, and 408 patients were microbiologically confirmed chronic bacterial prostatitis, who were randomized to either oral levofloxacin (500 mg q.d.) or ciprofloxacin (500 mg b.i.d.) for 4 weeks. Bacterial clearance rate, clinical symptoms/signs, adverse reactions and disease recurrence were assessed. The clinical symptoms and signs (including dysuria, perineal discomfort or pain) and bacteria cultures in 209 patients treated with levofloxacin and 199 patients treated with ciprofloxacin were similar. The most common bacteria were Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. One to four weeks after the end of 4 weeks treatment, the bacterial clearance rate (86.06% vs. 60.03%; P<0.05) and the clinical efficacy (including clinical cure and clinical improvement(93.30% vs. 71.86%; P<0.05)) were significantly higher in the levofloxacin-treated group than in the ciprofloxacin-treated group. The microbiological recurrence rate was significantly lower in the levofloxacin-treated group than in the ciprofloxacin-treated group (4.00% vs. 19.25%; P<0.05). Rates of adverse events and treatment-related adverse events were slightly lower in the levofloxacin-treated group than in ciprofloxacin-treated group. Levofloxacin showed some advantages over ciprofloxacin in terms of clinical efficacy and disease recurrence, with a low rate of adverse events, for the treatment of chronic bacterial prostatitis in Chinese patients.

[Study on P forms in extracellular polymeric substances in enhanced biological phosphorus removal sludge by 31P-NMR spectroscopy].

The present paper investigated phosphorus forms in the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) using 31P-NMR spectroscopy, and analyzed the influential parameters for this method. The results showed that in the three investigated EPS samples five P forms were identified, including orthophosphate, orthophosphate monoesters, DNA, pyrophosphate and polyphosphate. And in the EPS extracted from A/A/O sludge and A/A/O-MBR sludge polyphosphate was the main phosphorus form. This indicated that P is contained in the EPS not only owing to the adsorption of orthophosphate, but also because EPS acting like the bacteria cells contributes to enhanced biological phosphorus removal. Furthermore the transformation of P forms in the EPS during the EPS extraction was found but limited within 1 h. It was found that with the NaOH solution added the polyphosphate in the EPS would partly convert to pyrophosphate but not go further to orthophosphate, while with pure water added P forms in the EPS were very stable. This means that after neutralization, the transformation of phosphorus forms could be avoided. Since the measurement of 31P-NMR spectroscopy was very sensitive to pH, which could affect the chemical shift of the peaks and cause peaks overlapping, the pH of EPS sample must be raised to 13.0 before the measurement.