Diagnostic criteria for late-onset hypogonadism: A preliminary study / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>Objective</b>To determine the stability of androgen indexes by analyzing the relationship of androgen indexes with the results of late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) questionnaire investigations, and offer some reference for the application of the diagnostic criteria for LOH released by The Chinese Society of Andrology in 2009.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This study included 1 003 males aged 40 years or older who had accomplished the questionnaires of Androgen Deficiency in Aging Males (ADAM), Aging Males' Symptoms Scale (AMS), and International Index of Erectile Function-5 (IIEF-5). We evaluated the correlation of androgen indexes with the results of the questionnaire investigation, repeated the examination of androgen indexes for the subjects with total testosterone (TT) ≤11.5 nmol/L after an average of 1.5 years, and analyzed the factors inducing changes of androgen indexes.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Free testosterone index (FTI) ≤ 0.42 (OR, 1.369) and calculated free testosterone (cFT) ≤ 0.3 nmol/L (OR, 1.302) were considered as the risk factors of LOH in AMS, and so were testosterone secretion index (TSI) ≤ 2.8 nmol/IU (OR, 1.679) and cFT ≤ 0.3 nmol/L (OR, 1.371) in IIEF-5. Paired t-test on the results of the examination performed twice showed significant differences in the levels of TT, TSI, cFT, and FT (P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Decreased testosterone may cause the diversity of LOH symptoms and hence the fluctuation of androgens. Therefore, the diagnosis of LOH depends on androgen indexes, varied symptoms in the questionnaires, and relief of the symptoms after testosterone therapy.</p>

Association of serum testosterone with atherosclerosis in middle-aged and elderly men / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the association between the level of serum testosterone and atherosclerosis in middle-aged and elderly men.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We conducted a population-based study of 413 males aged 40-75 years in a community in Guangzhou. We obtained the sociodemographic characteristics, clinical data, physical measurements, and laboratory results of sex hormones, blood glucose, and blood lipid of the subjects. We also measured the carotid intima media thickness (CIMT) by color Doppler ultrasonography.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The subjects were divided into a carotid atherosclerosis (CAS) group (CIMT ≥ 0.9 mm) and a non-CAS group (CIMT < 0.9 mm). The medians of free testosterone (FT) were 57.41 and 59.72 pmol/L in the CAS and non-CAS groups, respectively (P = 0.005), and no significant difference was found between the two groups in total testosterone (TT). The levels of serum FT and TT were negatively correlated to CIMT, with Spearman's rank correlation coefficients of -0.126 (P = 0.011) and -0.188 (P < 0.001), respectively. The incidence rates of CAS were 23.30, 13.46, 17.48, and 7.77% in the Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 groups, respectively according to the quartile of FT (P for trend = 0.008) and 17.48, 18.27, 16.50, and 9.71% respectively according to the quartile of TT (P for trend = 0.116). Based on the quartile of FT and after adjustment for age, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, and HbAlc, the risk of CAS was significantly increased in the Q1 group as compared with Q4 (OR = 2.491, 95% CI 1.01-6.149), but no statistically significant differences were observed according to the quartile of TT.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>A low serum FT level may be a risk factor of atherosclerosis in Chinese men aged 40 years or older.</p>

A microelectrode array for chronic in vivo single-unit recording in subthalamic nucleus of freely behaving rats / 中华神经医学杂志

Objective To introduce a bundled microelectrode array of chronic in vivo single-unit recording in subthalamie nucleus (STN) of freely behaving rats. Methods STN single cell discharge was recorded by a self-designed bundled microelectrode array.Our microelectrode array design consisted of 3 parts:(1) a 29-guage stainless steel tube was served as a guide tube to facilitate the brain penetration of microwire tips,and as a ground electrode of the brain tissues as well. (2) Five 20μm platiniridium wires were used as recording electrodes and a 50.8 μm stainless steel wire with 1 mm bare tip was employed as local potential reference; all the above resembled a guiding-hand-shaped arrangement in microwire tips,and was fixed by trny plot of carbowax moreover.(3) A male connector with end screw receptors was employed to make the array connection more stable so as to minimize the movement artifacts; six normal rats were implanted with this kind of electrode arrays,and the stability of STN single-unit recording was evaluated in the following 5 weeks. Results Twenty-seven firing units were captured during operation,of which 70.4％ (19/27) survived more than 2 d,and 9 new units were acquired within 5 weeks.No significant linear correlation of peak-to-peak amplitude was noted between each 2 different recording sections (Pearson r=-0.047,P=0.655),and whilst signal-to-noise ratio was stable with significant correlation to peak-to-peak amplitude (r=0.934,P=0.000).More than half of the initial acquired STN units retained more than 3 weeks. And there were more than 75％ r values of waveform similarities large than 0.90 of the same units across different periods. Conclusion This methodology may be appreciated for STN long-term single-unit recording with stable recording quality and favorable cell retained rate.