Do partial AZFc deletions affect the sperm retrieval rate in non-mosaic Klinefelter patients undergoing microdissection testicular sperm extraction?

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prognostic factors for sperm retrieval and determine if Y chromosome deletion is associated with deleterious effects on spermatogenesis in non-mosaic Klinefelter patients. Whether Y chromosome deletion determines the sperm retrieval rate in non-mosaic Klinefelter patients has not yet been addressed. METHODS: We retrospectively collected medical records of azoospermic patients from Sep 2009 to Dec 2018, and enrolled 66 non-mosaic 47, XXY patients who were receiving mTESE. The predictive values of patients age, serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), testosterone, prolactin, estradiol and Y chromosome deletion were assessed for successful sperm recovery. RESULTS: Testicular sperm recovery was successful in 24 (36.4%) of 66 men. The mean age (36.0 vs. 36.6 years), and levels of FSH (30.0 vs 36.9 IU/L), LH (17.7 vs 21.9 IU/L), testosterone (2.4 vs. 2.1 ng/ml), prolactin (9.1 vs. 8.8 ng/ml), and estradiol (19.4 vs. 22.3 pg/ml) did not show any significant difference when comparing patients with and without successful sperm retrieval. Partial deletion of azoospermic factor c (AZFc) was noted in 5 (20.8%) of 24 patients with successful sperm retrieval, including three b2/b3 and two gr/gr deletion cases, whereas 4 (9.5%) of 42 patients with unsuccessful sperm retrieval were noted to have AZFc partial deletion (one b2/b3, one sY1206 and two gr/gr deletion), though the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.27). CONCLUSION: According to present results, age and AZFc partial deletion status should not be a deterrent for azoospermic males with non-mosaic Klinefelter syndrome to undergo mTESE.

Influenza vaccination is associated with lower risk of renal cell carcinoma among chronic kidney disease patients: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients possess a higher risk for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) possibly because of related underlying inflammation and immune dysregulation. In the current population-based cohort study, we evaluate the effects of influenza vaccination on RCC among CKD patients. Methods: We analysed the vaccinated and unvaccinated CKD patients (≥55 years of age) identified from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database. Propensity score matching was used to reduce the selection bias. Subgroup analyses based on comorbid conditions, dialysis status and vaccinated dosages were also conducted. Results: The incidence of RCC decreased significantly in the vaccinated compared with unvaccinated group {unadjusted hazard ratio [HR] 0.50 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.31-0.81], P < .01; adjusted HR 0.46 [95% CI 0.28-0.75], P < .01}. Such protective effects of influenza vaccination were noted significantly among those ≥75 years of age [unadjusted HR 0.29 (95% CI 0.12-0.74), P < .01; adjusted HR 0.22 (95% CI 0.08-0.58), P < .01]. A reverse association was noted between the total number of vaccinations and RCC events in both unadjusted and adjusted models. The Kaplan-Meier estimates of the RCC events showed significantly higher free survival rates in the vaccinated as compared with the unvaccinated patients (logrank P = .005). Conclusion: This population-based cohort study found a significant inverse relationship between influenza vaccination and the risk of RCC in CKD patients and the protective effects were more prominent in patients >75 years of age. A possible relation exists between the total number of vaccinations and RCC events. Future randomized clinical and basic studies will be needed to prove these findings and underlying pathophysiological mechanisms.

Ultrasound-guided extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy with minimal x-ray exposure prevented genitourinary tract injury patients with urolithiasis in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the use of ultrasound-guided extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) to break stones in the genitourinary tract and prevent genitourinary injury. Our goals were to achieve accurate focusing and minimal X-ray exposure for the benefit of the patients. METHODS: The LiteMed LM-9200 lithotripter with ultrasonography and fluoroscopy was used for two different procedures: autoaimed and autoperiodical. These procedures enabled dual focusing on stone localization and tracking. RESULTS: Out of 108 patients who underwent autoperiodical procedures, 29 had no gross hematuria. Among the 335 patients who received autoaimed procedures, 194 had no gross hematuria. The average duration of X-ray exposure during autoperiodical and autoaimed procedures was 120 and 50 s, respectively. CONCLUSION: The ultrasound-guided ESWL with minimal X-ray exposure was found to be useful in treating genitourinary upper-tract urolithiasis in the autoaimed procedure. Patients who underwent the autoaimed procedure experienced less gross hematuria compared to those who underwent the autoperiodical procedure.

The risk factors of the occurrence of inguinal hernia in ESRD patients receiving dialysis treatment: An observational study using national health insurance research database.

With the quickly growing population of patients receiving dialysis treatment in Taiwan in recent years, concerns about whether more incidence of inguinal hernia exists in dialysis patients are increasing. In Taiwan, peritoneal dialysis (PD) and hemodialysis (HD) are the 2 most common dialysis types. Therefore, the relationship between dialysis type and inguinal hernia occurrence needs to be evaluated and compared. Our retrospective cohort study included a study population total of 3891 patients diagnosed with end stage renal disease (ESRD) under the HD or PD procedure from 2001 to 2009 from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database. Also, International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 9th Revision codes were used to identify ESRD and hernia occurrence. Cox proportional-hazards regression model was applied to measure the risk factors to the hernia occurrence. During the follow-up periods of 3 years, the number of hernia occurrences was 44 (1.13%), 1 (0.03%), and 8 (0.21%) with inguinal, femoral, and ventral hernias, respectively. Only the dialysis type revealed significantly increased hernia risk because PD would increase hernia risk 7 times (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 6.98, 95% CI = 3.59-13.25) than HD. If the patients received PD and shifted to HD later, the risk of hernia was 5 times (aHR = 4.98, 95% CI = 2.29-10.85) than patients with HD. Patients with ESRD receiving PD or PD-HD shift were risk factors of inguinal hernia occurrence. The results may help clinicians increase the alert of possible risk factors and complications at the beginning of dialysis treatment in patients with ESRD.

Concomitant High Apoptosis Inhibitor of Macrophage (AIM) and Low Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) Indicates Activated T Cell-Mediated Anticancer Immunity, Enhance Sensitivity to Pembrolizumab, and Elicit Good Prognosis in Prostate Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Despite its widespread use, the use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) alone as a screening biomarker for prostate cancer (PCa) leads often to unwarranted prostate biopsy, over-diagnosis, and consequently, over-treatment, because of its limited specificity. There are reports that the apoptosis inhibitor of macrophage (AIM), secreted mainly by macrophages and epithelial cells, is upregulated during inflammation and facilitates immune recognition of cancerous cells by blocking human regulator of complement activation. OBJECTIVE: These controversies around the PSA utility necessitate a reexamination of its use as a screening tool. More so, despite the suggested implication of AIM in anticancer immunosurveillance, there is a dearth of information on its role in therapy response, disease progression, and clinical outcomes of patients with PCa. These inform the present study to probe the nature and role of AIM/PSA signaling in anticancer immunity and prognosis in PCa. METHODS: A combination of bioinformatics-aided statistical analyses, gene function annotation, and immune infiltrate analyses, coupled with tissue staining, and function assays, namely migration, invasion, and clonogenicity assays, we employed. RESULTS: We demonstrated that AIM and PSA expression levels are inversely correlated in PCa clinical samples and cell lines, with AIMlowPSAhigh defining PCa, compared to AIMhighPSAlow in normal samples. Concomitant aberrant PSA and significantly suppressed AIM expression levels positively correlated with high-grade disease and characterized by advanced stage prostate cancer, regardless of mutation status. We found that a high PSA/AIM ratio is associated with disease recurrence in patients with prostate cancer but is equivocal for overall survival. In addition, PSA-associated AIM suppression is implicated in the enhanced 'metastability' of PCa and a high AIM/PSA ratio is associated with strong castration-induced regression. CRISPR-mediated AIM knockout was associated with higher PSA expression while ectopic expression of AIM significantly attenuated the migration and invasive capability of PC3 and DU145 cells. Interestingly, compared to normal samples, we observed that AIM, biomarkers of T-cell activation and M1 phenotype markers are co-suppressed in PCa samples. CONCLUSION: Herein, we demonstrate that AIM/CD5L binds to PSA and that a high PSA/AIM ratio defines advanced stage PCa (regardless of mutation status), is implicated in enhanced metastability, and associated with disease recurrence, while a high AIM/PSA ratio is associated with strong castration-induced regression. More so, the ectopic expression of AIM significantly enhances the anticancer effect of Pembrolizumab and elicits an increased CD8+ T-cell count in AIMhiPSAloPDL1+ PCa cases that are respondent to Pembrolizumab treatment.

Patients with chronic periodontitis are more likely to develop upper urinary tract stone: a nation-wide population-based eight-year follow up study.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between chronic periodontitis (CP) and upper urinary tract stone (UUTS) in Taiwan by using a population-based data set. METHODS: A total of 16,292 CP patients and 48,876 randomly-selected controls without chronic periodontitis were selected from the National research database and studied retrospectively. Subjects selected have not been diagnosed with UUTS previously. These subjects were prospectively followed for at least eight years. Cox regression models were used to explore the connection between risk factors and the development of UUTS. RESULTS: The CP patients have a greater chance of developing UUTS compared to controls (1761/16292, 10.8% vs. 4775/48876, 9.8%, p-values < 0.001). Conditioned logistic regression suggested CP increases the risk of UUTS development (HR 1.14, 95% CI [1.08-1.20], p < 0.001). After respective adjustment for age, gender, hypertension and diabetes, results showed that CP still increases the risk of developing UUTS (HR 1.14, 95% CI [1.08-1.20], p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: By using a population-based database with a minimum eight 8 follow-up of CP in Taiwan, we discovered patients with CP are more likely to develop UUTS.

Clinical and demographic characteristics among patients with urothelial carcinomas of the upper urinary tract and bladder in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: Urothelial carcinoma (UC) is derived from the urothelium of the urinary tract, and includes cancers of the bladder, renal pelvis and ureter. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical and demographic features among patients with bladder cancer and urothelial carcinoma of the upper urinary tract (UTUC) in Taiwan. METHODS: The present study recruited a total of 736 histopathologically confirmed UC cases, which consisted of 470 bladder cancer and 266 UTUC between September 1998 and December 2009. Clinical and demographic features were collected by an interview utilizing a structured questionnaire, and supplemented by medical chart review. This study was approved by institutional review boards of the collaborating hospitals. The multivariate Cox proportional hazards model was performed to investigate prognostic factors for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). All statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Analysis Software for Windows, version 9.1 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). RESULTS: UTUC patients had higher proportions of advanced clinical stage (T2-4) and poor cell differentiation (G3). Bladder cancer patients with advanced clinical stages (T2-3 and T4) had increased risks of poorer OS (hazard ratio, HR = 1.7 and 3.9, respectively). UTUC patients with the advanced clinical stage (T4) had a significantly greater risk of poorer OS (HR = 8.7). Bladder cancer patients with a high grade (G2-3) had a significantly increased risk of poorer OS (HR = 3.8). CONCLUSION: Based on the limited parameters and heterogeneous data, the present study merely observed that bladder cancer and UTUC patients with the higher tumor stage have a significant increased risk of poor overall survival. Therefore, the causal mechanisms of UC prognosis remained to be further explored in a larger population.

An Adult Paratesticular Malignant Ectomesenchymoma With Post-operative Flare-up of Lung Metastasis.

Malignant ectomesenchymoma (MEM) which is derived from the remnants of migratory neural crest cells (ectomesenchyme) is a rare and rapidly progressing tumor consisting of neuroectodermal and mesenchymal neoplastic elements. This tumor occurs mostly in children and adolescents, but rarely in adults. We report a 34-year-old male with left paratesticular malignant ectomesenchymoma who received radical orchiectomy and was followed by post-operative flare-up of lung metastasis within 2 weeks. We present the overall treatment strategies for this extremely rare tumor and related findings.