Our goal is to evaluate the association between histopathology of glomerulosclerosis (GS) and atherosclerosis (AS) in the nephrectomized normal parenchyma together with patients' background, and ...erectile dysfunction (ED) of patients treated with radical nephrectomy (RN) for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). ED was assessed with the International Index of Erectile Function in 65 patients who were less than age 70 years at the time of questionnaire. Glomeruli status was assessed by the extent of global GS. AS was graded based on lumen occlusion and frequency of involvement. Patients' backgrounds included any comorbidities, post-RN renal insufficiency, tumor pathology, demographics and social status. The presence of diabetes mellitus and lack of a spouse were independent predictors for severe ED, whereas G0/1 AS was an independent predictor for mild/no ED. The extent of global GS was significantly lower in patients with mild/no ED than in other patients. Our study represents the first report identifying healthy arterial status in the renal parenchyma as a significant indicator of favorable erectile function and that the evaluation of AS severity is not a superior indicator of severe ED in the presence of comorbidities or social status among patients treated with RN.
The effect of a dietary soy protein isolate (SPI), soy peptide (PEP) and the amino acids in soy protein on paraquat (PQ)-induced oxidative stress was investigated in rats. In the first experiment, ...male Wistar rats were fed on experimental diets containing casein (CAS), SPI and PEP as nitrogen sources with or without 0.025% PQ. The reduced food intake and body weight gain of the rats fed with PQ was mitigated by either the SPI or PEP intake. Both SPI and PEP prevented the elevation of the serum TBARS concentration and tended to prevent the elevation of lung weight induced by PQ. In the second experiment, the rats were fed on diets containing an amino acid mixture resembling casein (CASAA) or soy protein (SPIAA) with or without PQ. The SPIAA intake did not affect the reduction of food intake and body weight gain, nor the elevation of lung weight and TBARS in the serum and liver induced by PQ. These results demonstrate that the intake of either dietary SPI or PEP, but not an amino acid mixture resembling soy protein, had the effect of reducing PQ-induced oxidative stress in rats.
To develop a suite of group-specific, rRNA-targeted oligonucleotide scissor probes for the quantitative detection of the predominant bacterial groups within the ruminal microbial community with the ...rRNA cleavage reaction-mediated microbial quantification method. Oligonucleotides that complement the conserved sites of the 16S rRNA of phylogenetically defined groups of bacteria that significantly contribute to the anaerobic fermentation of carbohydrates in ruminal ecosystems were selected from among published probes or were newly designed. For each probe, target-specific rRNA cleavage was achieved by optimizing the formamide concentration in the reaction mixture. The set of scissor probes was then used to analyse the bacterial community in the rumen fluids of four healthy dairy cows. In the rumen fluid samples, the genera Bacteroides/Prevotella and Fibrobacter and the Clostridium coccoides-Eubacterium rectale group were detected in abundance, accounting for 44-48%, 2·9-10%, and 9·1-10% of the total 16S rRNA, respectively. The coverage with the probe set was 71-78% of the total bacterial 16S rRNA. The probe set coupled with the sequence-specific small-subunit rRNA cleavage method can be used to analyse the structure of a ruminal bacterial community. The probe set developed in this study provides a tool for comprehensive rRNA-based monitoring of the community members that dominate ruminal ecosystems. As the ruminal microbial community can be perturbed, it is important to track its dynamics by analysing microbiological profiles under specific conditions. The method described here will provide a convenient approach for such tracking.
We investigated the distribution of cavernous nerve (CN) fibers around the prostate by electrical nerve stimulation during laparoscopic radical prostatectomy to classify the distribution of the CN ...fibers. Electrical stimulation was performed on 30 consecutive patients with localized prostate cancer; middle of the neurovascular bundle (NVB, point A), base of the NVB (point B), the rectal wall 1 cm posterolateral to the NVB (point C) and the lateral aspect of the prostate (point D). We measured the intraurethral pressure at the midportion to detect the changes in intracavernosal pressure. The mean maximum changes were 10.5 ± 7.9, 11.6 ± 8.8, 9.6 ± 7.4 and 6.7 ± 7.0 cm H(2)O at points A, B, C and D, respectively. The patterns of CN fiber distribution were divided into four groups: type 1 (23%), the bundle corresponding to the NVB; type 2 (7%), the bundle from the rectal wall to the prostate; type 3 (27%), the plate including NVB and posterolateral to NVB; and type 4 (43%), the plate between the rectal wall posterolateral to the NVB and the lateral aspect of the prostate. Distribution of the CNs in a bundle-like formation was considered to account for 30%, whereas a plate-like formation accounted for 70%. Understanding these four patterns of CN fiber distribution should facilitate accurate CN-sparing radical prostatectomy.
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