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Due to the higher birth rate of preterm infants and improvements in their management, metabolic bone disease of prematurity (MBDP) has a high incidence and is attracting attention. However, clear indicators for the early diagnosis of MBDP are lacking. We aimed to explore simple and feasible early warning indicators for diagnosing MBDP. Our study collected case data of premature infants from two medical centers in Chongqing from January 2020 to February 2022. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, data from 136 cases were collected. The correlation between 14 variables in each case and the occurrence of MBDP was analyzed. According to area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) analysis, the best cutoff value for each variable was determined. Potential predictors were selected, and Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) regression analysis was used to establish the association of two models with MBDP, whose results were used to develop a diagnostic nomogram. Furthermore, a model decision curve was analyzed. Four predictors were selected from 14 clinical variables by LASSO regression, and Model I was established, including the following characteristics: height (>36 cm), head circumference (≤29.49 cm), total serum calcium (Ca) (>2.13 mmol/L), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (>344 U/L) levels. A single predictor, the ALP level (>344 U/L), was used to establish Model II. The AUROC values of the two models were 0.959 for Model I and 0.929 for Model II. In conclusion, in this study, two diagnostic models of MBDP were developed using four combinations of predictors and ALP as a single predictor. Both models showed good sensitivity and specificity for the early diagnosis of metabolic bone disease (MBD), and an ALP level of 344 U/L was defined as a simple and effective diagnostic threshold. In future studies, using larger samples, diagnostic threshold values of ALP for premature infants of different ages should be established, and internal and external validations are needed to improve the adaptability of the current model., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest There are no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Heparanase has been identified as a universal tumor-associated antigen, but heparanase epitope peptides are difficult to recognize. Therefore, it is necessary to explore novel strategies to ensure efficient delivery to antigen-presenting cells. Here, we established a novel immunotherapy model targeting antigens to dendritic cell (DC) receptors using a combination of heparanase CD4 + and CD8 + T-cell epitope peptides to achieve an efficient cytotoxic T-cell response, which was associated with strong activation of DCs. First, pegylated poly(lactic-coglycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) were used to encapsulate a combined heparanase CD4 + and CD8 + T-cell epitope alone or in combination with Toll-like receptor 3 and 7 ligands as a model antigen to enhance immunogenicity. The ligands were then targeted to DC cell-surface molecules using a DEC-205 antibody. The binding and internalization of these PLGA NPs and the activation of DCs, the T-cell response and the tumor-killing effect were assessed. The results showed that PLGA NPs encapsulating epitope peptides (mHpa399 + mHpa519) could be targeted to and internalized by DCs more efficiently, stimulating higher levels of IL-12 production, T-cell proliferation and IFN-γ production by T cells in vitro. Moreover, vaccination with DEC-205-targeted PLGA NPs encapsulating combined epitope peptides exhibited higher tumor-killing efficacy both in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, delivery of PLGA NP vaccines targeting DEC-205 based on heparanase CD4 + and CD8 + T-cell epitopes are suitable immunogens for antitumor immunotherapy and have promising potential for clinical applications., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is a ubiquitous enzyme in humans that can be used for diagnosing childhood diseases. Infants have the highest rapid growth rate and are susceptible to metabolic bone diseases. In infants, ALP activities exhibit significant month-wise variations, and authoritative standards are lacking. The present study aimed to provide a reference for the diagnosis of diseases related to abnormal ALP activities in infants., Methods: This study included 24,618 samples collected from infants aged 0-12 months from three medical centers in Chongqing, China. Samples of infants diagnosed with diseases that may affect ALP activity have been exclude. ALP activity was analyzed using an automatic biochemical analyzer. A percentile curve for ALP activity in male and female infants was constructed using MATLAB, and the skewness-median-coefficient of variation method was employed for curve fitting., Results: ALP activity in male and female infants peaked at 0-4 months; the peak appeared at 1-2 months and declined gradually thereafter. After 4-5 months of age, the ALP activities declined further, with the lowest values observed at 11-12 months of age. A comparison between the data from this study and a those from a published German study indicates that Chinese infants exhibited peak ALP activity later and subsequent decline greater than German infants., Conclusions: A percentile curve was constructed for month-wise ALP activity in male and female infants, which could provide a reference for diagnosing diseases related to abnormal ALP activity in infants., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Objective: To investigate the factors influencing the recovery from childhood inguinal herniorrhaphy (IH)-induced vas deferens obstruction following microscopic vasovasostomy., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data on 41 cases of microscopic vasovasostomy for obstructive azoospermia in our hospital from July 2015 to September 2018. All the patients had a history of inguinal hernia treated by IH in the childhood. We performed scrotal ultrasonography, semen analysis and seminal plasma biochemistry to confirm vas deferens obstruction preoperatively. If sperm was observed for ≥2 times in semen examination after vasovasostomy, we considered the vas deferens successfully unobstructed., Results: Microscopic vasovasostomy was successfully completed in 39 of the cases, of which2 were lost to follow-up, with a follow-up rate of 94.8% (37/39). The patients, at the mean age of (25.54 ± 2.85) years and with body mass index (BMI) of (24.92 ± 2.79) kg/m2 and post-IH time of (18.97 ± 2.58) years, were followed up for (13.05 ± 3.74) months. Successful recovery from vas deferens obstruction was observed in 78.4% (29/37) of the patients after IH, 80.0% (16/20) in the < 26-year-olds, 76.5% (13/17) in the ≥26-year-olds (P = 0.795), 75.0% (12/16) in those with BMI < 24.92 kg/m2 , 81.0% (17/21) in those with BMI ≥24.92 kg/m2 (P = 0.807), 78.6% (11/14) in those with post-IH time of < 19 years, 18.3% (18/23) in those with post-IH time of ≥19 years (P = 0.982), 60.0% (12/20) in those with sperm and 82.4% (14/17) in those without sperm found intraoperatively (P = 0.428), 42.9% (3/7) in those treated by unilateral and 82.4% (26/30) in those by bilateral vasovasostomy (P = 0.027). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed a close correlation between the operation side and postoperative recovery from vas deferens obstruction (P = 0.022)., Conclusions: For male patients undergoing microscopic vasovasostomy for childhood IH-induced vas deferens obstruction, the operation side is an independent factor influencing postoperative recovery, while age, BMI, post-IH time, and intraoperative presence or absence of sperm are not significantly correlated with it.

Objective: To analyze the blood biochemical characteristics of the ED patients with different types of kidney deficiency or non-kidney deficiency., Methods: We reviewed the clinical data on 156 ED patients treated in our Department of Andrology from May to July 2018 and, according to the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndromes, divided them into four groups: kidney-yang deficiency (n = 48), kidney-yin deficiency (n = 34), kidney-yin+yang deficiency (n = 36) and non-kidney deficiency control (n = 38). We obtained and compared their blood biochemical indexes, including the levels of testosterone (T), estradiol (E2), cortisol (CORT), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), free triiodothyronine (FT3), nitric oxide (NO), total nitric oxide synthase (tNOS), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)., Results: There were no statistically significant differences in the mean age, course of disease, IIEF-5 score and erection hardness score (EHS) among the four groups of patients. Pairwise comparison showed that, compared with the non-kidney deficiency controls, the patients in the kidney-yin deficiency group exhibited a dramatically higher level of CORT (［87.97 ± 45.59］ vs ［121.78 ± 41.87］ μg/L, P = 0.002) and those in the kidney-yang deficiency group a remarkably lower level of FT3 (［5.44 ± 0.38］ vs ［5.11 ± 0.54］ pmol/L, P = 0.008). The iNOS level was significantly higher in the kidney-yin deficiency group (14.42 ± 2.49 U/ml) than in either the control (12.71 ± 2.58 U/ml) (P = 0.039) or the kidney-yang deficiency group (13.05 ± 2.17 U/ml) (P =0.049)., Conclusions: ED patients with different types of kidney deficiency syndromes have different blood biochemical indexes, which may help clarify the biological basis of the TCM syndromes of kidney deficiency in ED patients.

Objective: Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) serves as a biomarker for diagnosing several types of diseases in adults; nonetheless, its use is restricted in children because of changes in ALP activity during different physiological phases. The present study aimed to investigate ALP activity and its dynamics in children of different ages to establish the reference values for ALP activity in children., Methods: Total 167,625 samples of children aged 0-18 years were enrolled in this study. ALP activity was measured using the 4-nitrophenyl-1-phosphate disodium salt (4-NPP)-2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) method with an automatic biochemical analyzer. Patients with known diagnoses that may affect ALP activity were excluded. A percentile curve was plotted using MATLAB software, and the curve was fitted using the skewness-median-coefficient of variation (LMS) method., Results: ALP activity reached the highest peak at 12-13 years of age and then gradually decreased to the lowest peak at 18-19 years of age in boys, whereas it reached the highest at 10-11 years and then gradually reduced to the lowest at 17-18 years in girls. Furthermore, the highest peak of ALP activity appeared substantially earlier in children of either sex in China than in those in Germany., Conclusions: We showed the dynamics of ALP activity in both boys and girls between the ages of 0 and 18 years in China and compared the difference in ALP activity between children in China and Germany. Our findings provide a reference for clinicians., (Copyright © 2020 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Chlamydia trachomatis infection is one of the most prevalent sexually transmitted diseases in males and studies on its pathogenic and immunologic mechanisms are rather limited. Animal models play an important role in studying the pathogenesis, course and treatment of human diseases, and those of male genital tract chlamydial infection are relatively few and not well developed. This article focuses on the chlamydia species, animal species, infection route, infected organ, and infection process of chlamydia, as well as its impact on reproduction, aiming to provide some help for further studies of male genital tract chlamydial infection.

Objective: To explore the expressions of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) and TRP ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and their action mechanisms in the rat model of orchialgia., Methods: The models of orchialgia were established in male SD rats by injection of 2% acetic acid into the testis. Then the number of spontaneous pain responses and withdrawal latency in the model rats were recorded by behavioral tests and the expressions of TRPV1 and TRPA1 in T13－L1 DRGs determined by RT-qPCR, Western blot and immunofluorescence staining., Results: Compared with the normal control rats, the orchialgia models showed a significant increase in the number of spontaneous pain responses (0.13 ± 0.35 vs 22.63 ± 3.42, P<0.01) and a decrease in the withdrawal latency at 4 hours after injection (［12.75 ± 1.50］ vs ［4.85 ± 1.00］ s, P<0.05). The mRNA expressions of both TRPV1 and TRPA1 were observed in the membrane of the neurons in the DRG, the former increased by 1.77 times and the latter by 1.75 times that of the control (P<0.05)., Conclusions: The expressions of TRPV1 and TRPA1 were up-regulated in the DRG of the rat models of orchialgia, which may be involved in the allodynia and hyperalgesia of the rats.

To evaluate the efficacy of transurethral bipolar plasma kinetic resection of ejaculatory duct for ejaculatory duct obstruction. The clinical information of 42 cases of ejaculatory duct obstruction was analyzed between July 2008 and June 2012. The diagnostic criteria included semen analysis, fructose and neutral α-glucosidase measurement in seminal plasma, transrectal ultrasonography, magnetic resonance imaging and vasography necessarily. Endoscopic procedure with bipolar plasma kinetic resection of ejaculatory duct was performed in all patients. Among these cases followed up 6 ≈ 24 months after operation, 38 patients (90.5%) had improved semen parameters, 23 azoospermic patients (60.5%) had sperm in the semen and 13 patients' wife (31%) achieved pregnancies in 42 cases of bipolar plasma kinetic resection of ejaculatory duct. Postoperative complications ensued as epididymitis in 1 case, watery ejaculate in 1, but no serious complication was observed. Bipolar plasma kinetic resection of ejaculatory duct appears to represent a promising endoscopic treatment alternative for ejaculatory duct obstruction patients, with high efficacy, less complications, quicker recovery and satisfactory follow-up parameters.