Effects of Testosterone Supplementation on Body Composition in HIV Patients: A Meta-analysis of Double-blinded Randomized Controlled Trials.

This study was designed to evaluate the effects of testosterone supplementation (TS) on body composition in patients with HIV and the side effects of TS. A comprehensive literature search strategy was used to retrieve relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effects of TS on body composition. Atotal of 14 eligible studies were included, enrolling 388 and 349 randomized patients in TS and control groups, respectively. The quality of studies included was assessed, and data on total body weight (BW), lean body mass (LBM), fat mass (FM), serum total testosterone (TT), free testosterone (FT) levels, and adverse events were extracted and analyzed using Review Manager software 5.3. Meta-analysis results showed that TS was associated with a small but significant modification in total BW, serum TT, and FT levels in HIV-infected patients and in patients given various drug administrations. TS also significantly increased LBM in male patients, but no significant difference in LBM was observed between female counterparts treated with TS or not. Conversely, TS relative to placebo did not lead to a significant reduction in FM. No significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of adverse effects. Our findings suggested that TS may be recommended to improve body composition in patients with HIV-related weight loss. However, owing to the high heterogeneity across included trials, further evaluations using large-scale, multi-center, blinded RCTs are needed.

Decline in semen concentration of healthy Chinese adults: evidence from 9357 participants from 2010 to 2015.

The present study aims to analyze sperm concentration trends among young and healthy Chinese adults in Wuhan, Central China, from 2010 to 2015. Semen analysis data from 9357 participants were collected and analyzed using a general linear model and the Cochran-Armitage trend test. A significant decline was observed in sperm concentration (ß [standard deviation]: -1.53 [0.16]; P < 0.001). In addition, a decline in sperm density was observed by stratifying student versus nonstudent sperm donors and by analyzing the year of birth or birth year cohort of the participants. Furthermore, the percentage of participants with sperm densities of over 40 × 106 ml-1 significantly decreased with year. Notably, a dramatic decline in sperm density was recorded over the first 5 years of study. This research reported a decline in sperm concentration among young adults in Wuhan, Central China, in 2010-2015.

Effect of folate deficiency on promoter methylation and gene expression of Esr1, Cav1, and Elavl1, and its influence on spermatogenesis.

This study aims to investigate the effect of folate deficiency on the male reproductive function and the underlying mechanism. A total of 269 screened participants from 421 recruitments were enrolled in this study. An animal model of folate deficiency was constructed. Folate concentration was measured in the ejaculate, and its association with semen parameters was then determined. The expression and promoter methylation status of ESR1, CAV1, and ELAVL1 were also evaluated. Results showed that seminal plasma folate level was significantly lower among subjects with azoospermia than those with normozoospermia. Low folate level was significantly correlated with low sperm concentration in men with normozoospermia. Folate deficiency significantly reduced the expression of ESR1, CAV1, and ELAVL1, which are critical to spermatogenesis. However, low folate levels did not increase the methylation levels of the promoter regions of ESR1, CAV1, and ELAVL1 in human sperm DNA. Thus, folate deficiency impairs spermatogenesis may partly due to inhibiting the expression of these genes. Thus future research should determine the significance of sufficient folate status in male fertilization and subsequent pregnancy outcomes.

Curcumin-carrying nanoparticles prevent ischemia-reperfusion injury in human renal cells.

Renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) is a major complication in clinical practice. However, despite its frequency, effective preventive/treatment strategies for this condition are scarce. Curcumin possesses antioxidant properties and is a promising potential protective agent against renal IRI, but its poor water solubility restricts its application. In this study, we constructed curcumin-carrying distearoylphosphatidylethanolamine-polyethylene glycol nanoparticles (Cur-NPs), and their effect on HK-2 cells exposed to IRI was examined in vitro. Curcumin encapsulated in NPs demonstrated improved water solubility and slowed release. Compared with the IRI and Curcumin groups, Cur-NP groups displayed significantly improved cell viability, downregulated protein expression levels of caspase-3 and Bax, upregulated expression of Bcl-2 protein, increased antioxidant superoxide dismutase level, and reduced apoptotic rate, reactive oxygen species level, and malondialdehyde content. Results clearly showed that Cur-NPs demonstrated good water solubility and slow release, as well as exerted protective effects against oxidative stress in cultured HK-2 cells exposed to IRI.

Urodynamic characteristics of awake rats under retrained versus freely moving condition: Using a novel model.

Urodynamic investigation in conscious rats is widely employed to explore functional bladder disorders of various etiologies and pathogeneses. Rats can be placed in restraining cages or wide cabinets where they are allowed to move freely during cystometry. However, the requirements of special devices hampered the application of urodynamic test in freely moving rats, and whether the restraint has any effects on urodynamic parameters in conscious rats remains obscure. In the present study, we described a novel approach for urodynamic investigation in both restrained and freely moving conscious rats. In addition, we for the first time systematically compared the urodynamic parameters of rats in the two conditions. With the current method, we successfully recorded stable and repeatable intravesical pressure traces and collected expected reliable data, which supported the idea that the restraint does not affect the activity of the micturition reflex in rats, provided sufficient and appropriate measures could be applied during cystometry. Fewer technique problems were encountered during urodynamic examination in restrained rats than in freely moving ones. Taken together, conscious cystometry in rats placed in restraining cages with proper managements is a reliable and practical approach for evaluating the detrusor activity and bladder function.

Comparison of three different techniques of human sperm DNA isolation for methylation assay.

Human sperm DNA is an important genetic and epigenetic material, whose chromatin structure differs from that of somatic cells. As such, conventional methods for DNA extraction of somatic cells may not be suitable for obtaining sperm DNA. In this study, we evaluated and compared three sperm DNA extraction techniques, namely, modified guanidinium thiocyanate method (method A), traditional phenol-chloroform method (method B), and TianGen kit method (method C). Spectrophotometry and agarose gel electrophoresis analyses showed that method A produced DNA with higher quantity and purity than those of methods B and C (P<0.01). PCR results revealed that method A was more reliable in amplifying DEAD-box polypeptide 4 (DDX4) and copy number variations (CNVs) than methods B and C, which generated false-positive errors. The results of sperm DNA methylation assay further indicated that methods A and B were effective, and the former yielded higher quantitative accuracy. In conclusion, the modified guanidinium thiocyanate method provided high quality and reliable results and could be an optimal technique for extracting sperm DNA for methylation assay.