Brevilin A ameliorates sepsis-induced cardiomyopathy through inhibiting NLRP3 inflammation.

Background: Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory disease, and Brevilin A (BA) has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect. However, whether BA has a similar effect on septic cardiomyopathy remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of BA in septic cardiomyopathy. Methods: First, a model of septic cardiomyopathy was constructed in vitro and in vivo. The expression of the cardiac injury markers, NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) inflammation factors and its upstream modulator NF-κB was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. Cardiac function was measured using echocardiography, cell viability was detected using the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay. To further investigate the effects of BA on septic cardiomyopathy, different concentrations of BA were used. The experiment was divided into control group, LPS induced- group, LPS+2.5, 5.0, 10.0 µM BA treatment group of the vitro model, and the Sham, CLP, CLP+10, 20, 30 mg/kg BA treatment groups of the rat vivo model. Lastly, cardiac injury, NLRP3 inflammation, and cardiac function were assessed in each group. Results: The mRNA and protein expression of cardiac inflammation and injury genes were significantly increased in the in vitro and in vivo sepsis cardiomyopathy models. When different concentrations of BA were used in sepsis cardiomyopathy in vivo and in vitro, the above-mentioned myocardial inflammation and injury factors were suppressed to varying degrees, cell viability increased, cardiac function improved, and the survival rate of rats also increased. Conclusion: BA ameliorated sepsis cardiomyopathy by inhibiting NF-κB/NLRP3 inflammation activation.

Progress and prospects in flexible tactile sensors.

Flexible tactile sensors have the advantages of large deformation detection, high fault tolerance, and excellent conformability, which enable conformal integration onto the complex surface of human skin for long-term bio-signal monitoring. The breakthrough of flexible tactile sensors rather than conventional tactile sensors greatly expanded application scenarios. Flexible tactile sensors are applied in fields including not only intelligent wearable devices for gaming but also electronic skins, disease diagnosis devices, health monitoring devices, intelligent neck pillows, and intelligent massage devices in the medical field; intelligent bracelets and metaverse gloves in the consumer field; as well as even brain-computer interfaces. Therefore, it is necessary to provide an overview of the current technological level and future development of flexible tactile sensors to ease and expedite their deployment and to make the critical transition from the laboratory to the market. This paper discusses the materials and preparation technologies of flexible tactile sensors, summarizing various applications in human signal monitoring, robotic tactile sensing, and human-machine interaction. Finally, the current challenges on flexible tactile sensors are also briefly discussed, providing some prospects for future directions.

Promising way to address massive intragastric clotting in patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding: A case report.

BACKGROUND: Massive intragastric clotting (MIC) makes endoscopic therapy difficult in patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Literature data on how to address this problem are limited. Here, we report on a case of massive stomach bleeding with MIC that was successfully treated endoscopically using an overtube of single-balloon enteroscopy. CASE SUMMARY: A 62-year-old gentleman with metastatic lung cancer was admitted to the intensive care unit due to tarry stools and hematemesis of 1500 mL of blood during hospitalization. Emergent esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed massive blood clots and fresh blood in the stomach with evidence of active bleeding. Bleeding sites could not be observed even by changing the patient's position and aggressive endoscope suction. The MIC was successfully removed using an overtube connected with a suction pipe, which was inserted into the stomach with an overtube of a single-balloon enteroscope. An ultrathin gastroscope was also introduced through the nose into the stomach to guide the suction. A massive blood clot was successfully removed, and an ulcer with oozing bleeding at the inferior lesser curvature of the upper gastric body was revealed, facilitating endoscopic hemostatic therapy. CONCLUSION: This technique appears to be a previously unreported method to suction MIC out of the stomach in patients with acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding. This technique could be considered when other methods are not available or if they fail to remove massive blood clots in the stomach.

Comparison between anterolateral thigh free flap and jejunal flap for tissue reconstruction in patients underwent resection of pharyngoesophageal squamous cell carcinoma after radiotherapy failure: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Anterolateral thigh (ALT) free flap and jejunal flap (JF) were commonly used in tissue reconstruction for pharyngoesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (PESCC) with worsening tissue adhesion and necrosis after radiotherapy failure. However, the results of tissue reconstruction and postoperative complications of these two flaps are controversial. The purpose of this study was to compare outcomes between group ALT free flap and group JF in PESCC after radiotherapy failure. METHODS: Intraoperative information and postoperative outcomes of patients with PESCC after radiotherapy failure who underwent ALT and JF reconstruction from January 2005 to December 2019 were compared and analyzed. RESULTS: The defect size of ALT (Numbers, 34) and JF (Numbers, 31) was 36.19 ± 11.35 cm2 and 35.58 ± 14.32 cm2 (p = 0.884), respectively. ALT and JF showed no significant difference in operation time (p = 0.683) and blood loss (p = 0.198). For postoperative outcomes within 30 days both in recipient site and donor site including wound bleeding, wound dehiscence, wound infection, and pharyngocutaneous fistula, ALT free flap and JF showed similar results. Flap compromise (Numbers, 2 VS.3, p = 0.663), flap take backs (Numbers, 1 VS.1, p = 1.000), partial flap failures (Numbers, 4 VS.2, p = 0.674), and total flap failures (Numbers, 0 VS.0, p = 1.000) showed no difference between the two groups. In addition, no significance was found in hypoproteinemia between the two groups (Numbers, 4 VS.2, p = 0.674). ALT free flap was not statistically different from JF in the incidence of dysphagia at the postoperative 6 months (Numbers of liquid diet, 5VS.5; Numbers of partial tube feeding, 6VS.7; Numbers of total tube feeding, 3VS.1, p = 0.790) and 12 months (Numbers of liquid diet, 8VS.7; Numbers of partial tube feeding, 8VS.7; Numbers of total tube feeding, 5VS.5, p = 0.998). The cause of dysphagia not found to differ between the two groups both in postoperative 6 months (p = 0.814) and 12 months (p = 0.845). CONCLUSION: Compared with JF, ALT free flap for PESCC patients after radiotherapy failure showed similar results in postoperative outcomes. ALT free flap may serve as a safe and feasible alternative for PESCC patients after radiotherapy failure.

Bioinspired Color-Changeable Organogel Tactile Sensor with Excellent Overall Performance.

Inspired by chameleons' structural color regulation capability, a simple, but effective, swelling method is proposed for the first time to prepare an ionic polyacrylamide (PAAm) organogel for simultaneous tactile sensing and interactive color changing. The PAAm organogel obtained by swelling the PAAm scaffold in the dimethyl sulfoxide solution of organic electrochromic material (OECM) shows an extremely large stretchability with an elongation of 1600%, a supersoftness with a compressive modulus of 7.2 kPa, an excellent transmittance up to 90%, and a very fast response time of 0.5 s combined with the characteristic of interactive color changing. The PAAm organogel also suggests a universal design ability to tailor coloration spectra for tactile sensors via simply changing the type and content of OECM. The tactile sensor based on a PAAm organogel is capable of serving as a wearable device for precisely tracing human body motion performance and directly visualizing the stress distribution via interactive color changing capability. It is demonstrated that the swelling method proposed here is a simple and practical strategy to prepare ionic organogels with both piezo-resistive and electrochromic effects.

Spider-Inspired Ultrasensitive Flexible Vibration Sensor for Multifunctional Sensing.

Flexible vibration sensors can not only capture broad classes of physiologically relevant information, including mechano-vibration signatures of body processes and precision kinematics of core-body motions, but also detect environmental seismic waves, providing early warning to wearers in time. Spider is one of the most vibration-sensitive creatures because of its hairlike sensilla and lyriform slit structure. Here, a spider-inspired ultrasensitive flexible vibration sensor is designed and fabricated for multifunctional sensing. The vibration sensitivity of the flexible sensor is increased over 2 orders of magnitude from 0.006 to 0.5 mV/g, and the strain sensitivity is hugely enhanced from 0.08 to 150 compared to a plain sensor counterpart. It is shown that the synergistic effect of cilium arrays and cracks is the key for achieving the greatly enhanced vibration and strain sensitivity. The dynamic sensitivity of 0.5 mV/g outperforms the corresponding commercial vibration sensors. The flexible sensor is demonstrated to be generally feasible for detecting vibration signals caused by walk, tumble, and explosion as well as capturing human body motions, indicating its great potential for applications in human health-monitoring devices, posture control in robotics, early earthquake warning, and so forth.

Intraoperative Repair of Cerebrospinal Fluid Rhinorrhea in Skull Base Tumor Resection: A Retrospective Study of Acellular Dermal Matrix Versus Turbinate Flap.

BACKGROUND: The acellular dermal matrix (ADM) and turbinate flap (TF) have been widely used in the reconstruction of skull base defects. However, owing to the lack of reported data, the therapeutic effects have been controversial. The purpose of the present study was to compare the effect of the ADM and TF on cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhea after nasal endoscopic resection of a skull base tumor. METHODS: The data from 46 patients who had undergone nasal endoscopic resection of a skull base tumor and repair of CSF rhinorrhea were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into ADM and TF groups according to the difference in repair materials used. We compared and analyzed the intraoperative information and postoperative outcomes. RESULTS: The operation time, blood loss, defect area, and need for blood transfusion were not significantly different between the ALT and TF groups. The postoperative length of hospital stay (14.33 ± 3.66 vs. 16.76 ± 5.51 days; P = 0.669) and the incidence of complications, including wound infection (1 vs. 0; P = 0.270), intracranial infection (1 vs. 1; P = 0.900), hemorrhage (2 vs. 3; P = 0.788), 15-day CSF leak (1 vs. 2; P = 0.658), and respiratory infection (2 vs. 1; P = 0.450) were comparable between the 2 groups. The 6-month (0 vs. 0; P = 1.000) and 12-month (0 vs. 0; P = 1.000) incidence of recurrence also showed no significant differences. CONCLUSION: The use of the ADM for patients with CSF rhinorrhea showed comparable results in terms of postoperative outcomes compared with the use of TF. ADM could serve as a safe and feasible alternative for endoscopic repair of CSF rhinorrhea after nasal endoscopic resection of skull base tumors.

Prognostic Value Of The Preoperative Neutrophil To Lymphocyte Ratio In Patients With Sinonasal Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the effectiveness of a new inflammatory prognostic system, using preoperative neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) to predict the postoperative survival rate of patients with sinonasal squamous cell carcinoma (SSCC). METHODS: Patients diagnosed with SSCC who undergone surgically treated without neoadjuvant therapy were included in the study between May 2008 and October 2017. Preoperative NLR is defined as: preoperative neutrophil/postoperative lymphocyte ratio. The prognostic value was uncovered by univariate and multivariate Cox hazards analysis. RESULTS: A total of 147 patients were included in this study. Through the multivariate analysis, pathological T stage (hazard ratio [HR] 1.719, confidence interval [CI] 1.277-3.642, p<0.001), pathological N stage (HR 1.344, 95% CI 1.015-2.776, p<0.001), and preoperative NLR (HR 1.579, 95% CI 1.217-3.092, p=0.002) were independent risk factor for overall survival (OS). Pathological T stage (HR 1.835, 95% CI 1.141-3.132, <0.001), pathological N stage (HR 1.281, 95% CI 1.169-2.476, p<0.001), and preoperative NLR (HR 1.688, 95% CI 1.162-3.363, p p<0.001) were also independently associated with disease-free survival (DFS). Pathological T stage (HR p<0.001, 95% CI 1.537-3.021, p<0.001), pathological N stage (HR1.571, 95% CI 1.157-2.258, p<0.001), and preoperative NLR (HR 1.509, 95% CI 1.153-3.104, p=0.001) were independent risk factors for disease-specific survival (DSS). CONCLUSION: The preoperative NLR is considered to be a useful predictor of postoperative survival in SSCC patients.

Correction: May the change of platelet to lymphocyte ratio be a prognostic factor for T3-T4 laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma: A retrospective study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210033.].

Effect of High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound Versus Plasma Radiofrequency Ablation on Recurrent Allergic Rhinitis.

BACKGROUND High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) and plasma radiofrequency ablation (PRA) have been used to treat recurrent allergic rhinitis (AR); however, there is a lack of literature comparing the efficacy of these 2 methods. We assessed and compared the therapeutic effects of HIFU and PRA on recurrent AR. MATERIAL AND METHODS We enrolled 66 patients with recurrent AR at West China Hospital of Sichuan University. Visual analogue score (VAS), pain score, rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire (RQLQ), and nasal endoscopy were performed to evaluate the therapeutic effect. RESULTS Nasal endoscopy showed that HIFU and PAR reduced the volume of the inferior turbinate, whereas HIFU reduced the amount of nasal secretions in patients. VAS scores showed that HIFU and PRA nasal congestion symptoms were significantly reduced (P<0.05). The preoperative VAS scores for nasal fluid and sneezing were significantly lower in patients receiving HIFU (P<0.05) than in those receiving PRA (P>0.05). HIFU-treated patients had significantly lower postoperative pain scores than those in the PRA group (P<0.05). RQLQ showed activity, sleep, and non-nasal or ocular symptoms, and both HIFU and PRA patients had significantly lower scores (P<0.05). Nasal symptom scores, actual problems, and mood in the HIFU group were significantly worse than those in the PRA group (P<0.05). However, neither treatment had a significant effect on ocular symptoms (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS Compared with PRA, HIFU can significantly reduce the nasal symptoms of AR patients, improve the quality of life, and can be used as an adjuvant therapy with better therapeutic effect.

Risk factors for lower respiratory tract infection in children with tracheobronchial foreign body aspiration.

The aim of this study was to determine the risk factors for lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in children caused by tracheobronchial foreign body aspiration (TFBA).A total of 351 patients were retrospectively reviewed; all patients were diagnosed with TFBA at West China Hospital of Sichuan University from 2015 to 2017. Univariate analyses and multivariate analysis were used.Age (<2 years) (P < .001), type of foreign body (plant) (P < .001), shape of foreign body (nonsmooth) (P < .001), and residence time of foreign body (>7 days) (P = .001) were risk factors for LRTI on univariate analysis. Multivariate analysis showed age (<2 years) (hazard ratio [HR] = 4.457; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.031-6.884; P < .001), type of foreign body (plant) (HR = 2.686; 95% CI = 1.577-3.452; P < .001), shape of foreign body (nonsmooth) (HR = 1.649; 95% CI = 1.437-3.663; P < .008), and residence time of foreign body (>7 days) (HR = 1.751; 95% CI = 1.329-3.554; P = .004) were independent risk factors for LRTI. Furthermore, children with LRTI also had longer lengths of hospital stays and antibiotic use than did children without LRTI.Age, plant foreign body, nonsmooth foreign body, and long-term incarceration were all independent risk factors for LRTI in children. These results can help us to select more appropriate intervention times and stratified treatment for children with TFBA.

Acellular dermal matrix contributes to epithelialization in patients with chronic sinusitis.

BACKGROUND: Nasal endoscopic surgery is widely used for nasal diseases, including sinusitis and tumors. However, scar hyperplasia, nasal irritation, scab, and nasal obstruction delay nasal mucosal recovery, with prolonged cleaning exacerbating the patient's financial burden. Here, we presented a novel approach for the treatment of nasal mucosal defects, termed acellular dermal matrix. METHODS: A total of 31 patients with bilateral chronic sinusitis (maxillary sinusitis and ethmoid sinusitis) underwent nasal surgery and nasal mucosal repair in September-October 2016. We divided the nasal cavities of each patient into control and acellular dermal matrix groups, randomly selected one side for nasal mucosal repair by surgery. A suitable acellular dermal matrix size was selected according to the defect in each patient. After pruning, the acellular dermal matrix was placed on the wound surface and filled with gelatin sponge. All patients were followed up for 14 weeks to compare nasal mucosal epithelialization between the control and acellular dermal matrix groups. Results：No obvious complications and adverse reactions were observed after nasal surgery. Lund-Kennedy scores in the acellular dermal matrix group were significantly decreased compared with the control group at 8 (0 (0, 1) vs. 2 (2, 4); P<0.05) weeks. Epithelialization time of eight weeks in the acellular dermal matrix groups was significantly decreased than the control group of 14 weeks. CONCLUSION: Acellular dermal matrix provides a growth framework for the healthy mucosa on the wounded surface and reduces postoperative epithelialization time.

[Oral treatment for obstructive sleep apnea syndrome].

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is a common clinical disease with high incidence and low treating proportion, difficult evaluation, and complicated nosogenesis. OSAS can cause systematic impairments. Various treatment methods were applied in clinical setting with the tendency of cross-disciplinary promotion. Oral treatment plays an exceedingly important role in OSAS research and therapy. This study reports the oral treatment involving OSAS therapy.

High-Performance Structural Flexible Strain Sensors Based on Graphene-Coated Glass Fabric/Silicone Composite.

Recently, various piezoresistive composites with good flexibility have been developed as sensing materials for flexible strain sensors (FSSs). External forces will be applied to strain sensors when they are used in some circumstances such as wrist bending, etc. However, conventional flexible composites may fail upon being subjected to external forces since they have low strength and are unable to protect the inner vulnerable structure of flexible sensors. In this work, the reduced graphene oxide-coated glass fabric (RGO@GF)/silicone composite is fabricated and used to make high-performance structural flexible strain sensors. The composite is not only flexible and sensitive to strain, but also exhibits the high tensile strength needed to maintain the structural integrity of the flexible strain sensor. Silicone resin and GF are employed to provide flexibility and high strength, respectively. By coating RGO on the surface of GF, the nonconductive GF becomes conductive, which renders the piezoresistive behavior and strain-sensing ability to the RGO@GF/silicone composite. The as-prepared structural flexible sensor not only possesses a good strain sensitivity with a gauge factor of around 113, which is much higher than that of typical strain sensors based on metals, but can also maintain its structural integrity until the applied external force is over 800 N, while the conventional flexible strain sensor fails upon being subjected to an external force of only 5 N. Moreover, the as-prepared structural FSS is applied to monitor wrist movement and breathing to demonstrate its applicability. Overall, the RGO@GF/silicone composite exhibits great potential as a sensing material for structural FSSs for wrist movement, etc.

May the change of platelet to lymphocyte ratio be a prognostic factor for T3-T4 laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma: A retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Many blood markers have been shown to predict the recurrence and survival of various malignancies, but the effects of surgery on the body's inflammatory levels may cause changes in these inflammatory markers. Therefore, in this study, we assessed the relationship between changes in platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and survival and recurrence in patients with T3-T4 laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). METHODS: Data of patients with T3-T4 HSCC were reviewed. Continuous variables were expressed as mean ± SD and were compared using t test or Mann-Whitney U test. The covariate distributions were compared by Chi-square test. Survival curve was estimated by Kaplan-Meier analysis, and Log-Rank test were performed to estimate the survival curve and significance of the difference in survival distribution between groups, respectively. The prognostic value was uncovered by univariate and multivariate Cox hazards analysis. RESULTS: The 413 consecutive patients with LSCC were reviewed. Of these, 362 patients who met the criteria were selected, multi-factor analysis found that pathological T classification(hazard ratio [HR] = 1.878; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.342-3.023; P<0.001), pathological N classification (HR = 1.212; 95% CI = 0.867-2.125; P< 0.001) and change of PLR (HR = 2.158; 95% CI = 1.332-2.889; P = 0.004) associated with postoperative recurrence of T3-T4 LSCC. In addition, the pathological T classification (HR = 1.901; 95% CI = 1.255-2.999; P<0.001), pathological N classification (HR = 1.244; 95% CI = 0.810-2.212; P<0.001) and change of PLR (HR = 2.011; 95% CI = 1.354-2.753; P = 0.001) associated with postoperative survival in patients with T3-T4 LSCC. CONCLUSIONS: Results demonstrate that change in PLR may serve as a useful prognostic predictor for patients with T3-T4 LSCC.

Bio-inspired highly flexible dual-mode electronic cilia.

Inspired by biological cilia, a highly flexible dual-mode electronic cilia (EC) sensor is fabricated from graphene-coated magnetic cilia arrays. Polydimethylsiloxane is used as a matrix to make the artificial cilia flexible while Co particles are used to endow the cilia with magnetic properties and graphene coating is employed to make the cilia conductive. The EC-based sensor shows a high sensitivity of 0.4% Pa-1 for a pressure of 0-100 Pa and a low detection limit of 0.9 Pa. The responsive behavior of the EC-based sensor is highly stable in a wide frequency range of 0.1-10 Hz up to 10 000 cycles. Meanwhile, the magnetic field sensitivity of the EC sensor is around 12.08 T-1 for a magnetic field intensity of 150-160 mT. Consequently, the EC sensor is successfully applied in blood pulse monitoring, pressure and magnetic field switching, and visualized pressure and magnetic field detection. Due to its high sensitivity, high durability and dual-mode responsiveness, the flexible EC sensor goes far beyond the capability of human skin, and is believed to have great potential in healthcare, robotics, e-skin and smart surgical tools, etc.

Primary clear cell carcinoma of nasal cavity: a case report and review of literature.

Primary Clear Cell Carcinoma (CCC) of nasal cavity is rare and is often misdiagnosed as a malignant or benign lesion frequently. We reported a case of primary clear cell carcinoma of nasal cavity, with the complaint of epiphora in right eye, nasal obstruction and bleeding. CCC often confused with the metastatic renal clear cell carcinoma (RCC) of the nasal cavity, pathology and immunohistochemistry are the gold standards of Clear Cell Carcinoma could help us to make a definite diagnosis. Surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy are the main treatment methods.

Automated, highly reproducible, wide-field, light-based cortical mapping method using a commercial stereo microscope and its applications.

We introduce a more flexible optogenetics-based mapping system attached on a stereo microscope, which offers automatic light stimulation to individual regions of interest in the cortex that expresses light-activated channelrhodopsin-2 in vivo. Combining simultaneous recording of electromyography from specific forelimb muscles, we demonstrate that this system offers much better efficiency and precision in mapping distinct domains for controlling limb muscles in the mouse motor cortex. Furthermore, the compact and modular design of the system also yields a simple and flexible implementation to different commercial stereo microscopes, and thus could be widely used among laboratories.

Rapid determination of 88 veterinary drug residues in milk using automated TurborFlow online clean-up mode coupled to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

A novel method based on TurborFlow online solid phase extraction (SPE) combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) has been established for simultaneous screening and confirmation of 88 wide-range veterinary drugs belonging to eight families (20 sulfonamides, 7 macrolides, 15 quinolones, 8 penicillins, 13 benzimidazoles, 4 tetracyclines, 2 sedatives, and 19 hormones) in milk. The preparation method consists of sample dilution and ultrasonic extraction, followed by an automated turbulent flow cyclone chromatography sample clean-up system. The detection was achieved in selected reaction monitoring mode (SRM). The total run time was within 39 min, including automated extraction, analytical chromatography and re-equilibration of the turboflow system. The optimization of different experimental parameters including extraction, purification, separation, and detection were evaluated separately in this study. The developed method was validated and good performing characteristics were obtained. The linear regression coefficients (R(2)) of matrix-match calibration standard curves established for quantification were higher than 0.9930. The limits of detection (LOD) were in the range of 0.2-2.0 µg/kg given by signal-noise ratio ≥3 (S/N) and the limits of quantification (LOQ, S/N≥10) ranged between 0.5 µg/kg and 10 µg/kg. Average recoveries of spiked target compounds with different levels were between 63.1% and 117.4%, with percentage relative standard deviations (RSD) in the range of 3.3-17.6%. The results indicated that the developed method has great potential for the routine laboratory analysis of large numbers of samples on measuring different classes of compounds. In comparison to traditional procedures, the automated sample clean-up ensures rapid, effective, sensitive analyses of veterinary drugs in milk.

[Qilin pills combined with levofloxacin for asthenospermia accompanied with accessory sex gland infection: a clinical observation].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the efficacy of the combination of Qilin Pills and levofloxacin in the treatment of asthenospermia accompanied with accessory sex gland infection. METHODS: We randomly assigned 80 asthenospermia patients with accessory sex gland infection to groups 1 and 2 of equal number, the former treated with Qilin Pills + levofloxacin, and the latter with levofloxacin only. Qilin Pills were administered at the dose of 6 g tid for 30 days, and levofloxacin at the dose of 0.5 g qd for 20 days. We obtained semen parameters, including the percentage of progressively motile sperm and peroxidase-positive white blood cell (WBC) count, before and after medication, and compared the clinical effects between the two groups. RESULTS: All the patients accomplished the clinical trial. The therapeutic effectiveness rates in improving progressive sperm motility were 60% in group 1 and 17.5% in group 2, with statistically significant differences between the two groups (P < 0.05). As for the peroxidase-positive WBC count in semen, the effectiveness rates were 87.5% and 82.5%, respectively, with no significant differences between the two groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: For the treatment of asthenospermia accompanied with accessory sex gland infection, Qilin Pills combined with levofloxacin is evidently better than levofloxacin alone in improving sperm motility, and it has no obvious adverse effects.