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Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9, which degrade type IV collagen, are linked to cancer invasion and metastasis. Gene polymorphisms in MMP-2 and MMP-9 can influence their function, impacting cancer development and progression. This study analyzed the association between polymorphisms MMP-2 rs243865 (C-1306T), rs2285053 (C-735T), and MMP-9 rs3918242 (C-1562T) with serum concentrations of these enzymes in upper tract urothelial cancer (UTUC) patients. We conducted a case–control study with 218 UTUC patients and 580 healthy individuals in Taiwan. Genotyping was performed using PCR/RFLP on DNA from blood samples, and MMP-2 and MMP-9 serum levels and mRNA expressions in 30 UTUC patients were measured using ELISA and real-time PCR. Statistical analysis showed that MMP-2 rs2285053 and MMP-9 rs3918242 genotypes were differently distributed between UTUC patients and controls (p = 0.0199 and 0.0020). The MMP-2 rs2285053 TT genotype was associated with higher UTUC risk compared to the CC genotype (OR = 2.20, p = 0.0190). Similarly, MMP-9 rs3918242 CT and TT genotypes were linked to increased UTUC risk (OR = 1.51 and 2.92, p = 0.0272 and 0.0054). In UTUC patients, TT carriers of MMP-2 rs2285053 and MMP-9 rs3918242 showed higher mRNA and protein levels (p < 0.01). These findings suggest that MMP-2 rs2285053 and MMP-9 rs3918242 genotypes are significant markers for UTUC risk and metastasis in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Condyloma acuminatum is one of the most commonly occurring sexually transmitted diseases, caused by the human papillomavirus. We report the case of a male with intraurethral condyloma acuminata treated through electrocauterization. He presented to our genitourinary outpatient department with several days of painless gross hematuria. Patient history indicated 3 years of ongoing hemodialysis and a prior ureteroscopy. Multiple intraurethral tumors and bulbar urethral strictures were found by cystoscopy. Eventually, the patient underwent transurethral resection with electrocauterization. The patient recovered well, and there was no evidence of recurrence at the 1-year follow-up consultation. While there are many different methods for the treatment of intraurethral condyloma acuminata, panurethral condyloma acuminata are rare and difficult to treat. Here, we report a case of panurethral condyloma acuminata where urethroscopy with electrocauterization, without the use of the cutting mode, was performed with rapid, safe, and effective results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of soil pH and exchangeable acidity in soil profile under different vegetation types were studied in hilly red soil regions of southern Hunan Province, China. The soil samples from red soil profiles within 0–100 cm depth at fertilized plots and unfertilized plots were collected and analyzed to understand the profile distribution of soil pH and exchangeable acidity. The results showed that, pH in 0–60 cm soil from the fertilized plots decreased as the following sequence: citrus orchard > Arachis hypogaea field > tea garden. As for exchangeable acidity content, the sequence was A. hypogaea field ⩽ citrus orchard < tea garden. After tea tree and A. hypogaea were planted for long time, acidification occurred in surface soil (0–40 cm), compared with the deep soil (60–100 cm), and soil pH decreased by 0.55 and 0.17 respectively, but such changes did not occur in citrus orchard. Soil pH in 0–40 cm soil from the natural recovery vegetation unfertilized plots decreased as the following sequence: Imperata cylindrica land > Castanea mollissima garden > Pinus elliottii forest ⩾ Loropetalum chinensis forest. As for exchangeable acidity content, the sequence was I. cylindrica land < C. mollissima garden < L. chinensis forest ⩽ P. elliottii forest. Soil pH in surface soil (0–20 cm) from natural forest plots, secondary forest and Camellia oleifera forest were significantly lower than that from P. massoniana forest, decreased by 0.34 and 0.20 respectively. For exchangeable acidity content in 0–20 cm soil from natural forest plot, P. massoniana forest and secondary forest were significantly lower than C. oleifera forest. Compared with bare land, surface soil acidification in unfertilized plots except I. cylindrica land had been accelerated, and the natural secondary forest was the most serious among them, with surface soil pH decreasing by 0.52. However, the pH increased in deep soils from unfertilized plots except natural secondary forest, and I. cylindrica land was the most obvious among them, with soil pH increasing by 0.43. The effects of fertilization and vegetation type on pH and exchangeable acidity decreased with the increasing soil depth from all plots. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a microplate fluorimetric assay method, five fertilization treatments, i.e. no-fertilizer control (CK), sole application of nitrogen (N), balanced application of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer (NPK), application of pig manure (M), and combination of pig manure with balanced chemical fertilizer (MNPK) were selected to investigate the effects of different long-term fertilization regimes on the activity of five enzymes (β-1,4-glucosidase, βG; cellobiohydrolase, CBH; β-1,4-xylosidase, βX; β-1, 4-N-acetylglucosaminidase, NAG; acid phosphatase, AP) in a red soil sampled from Qiyang, Hunnan Province. The results showed that compared with CK treatment, N treatment had no impact on βG, βX, CBH, and NAG activities but reduced AP activity, while NPK, M and MNPK treatments increased the activities of all the five enzymes. Correlation analysis indicated that all the five enzyme activities were positively correlated with the content of nitrate (r = 0.465-0.733), the content of available phosphorus (r = 0.612-0.947), soil respiration (r = 0.781-0.949) and crop yield (r = 0.735-0.960), while βG, CBH and AP were positively correlated with pH (r= 0.707-0.809), only AP was significantly correlated with dissolvable organic carbon (r =-0.480). These results suggested that the activities of the measured enzymes could be used as indicators of red soil fertility under different fertilization regimes, but the five enzymes tested provided limited information on the degree of acidification induced by application of mineral nitrogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim: Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed malignancies among males worldwide. It has been shown that MMP-7 gene is closely correlated with prostate carcinogenesis. However, the role of the MMP-7 genotypes has been seldom examined among prostate cancer patients. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to evaluate the contribution of MMP-7 promoter genotypes A-181G (rs11568818) and C-153T (rs11568819) to prostate cancer risk in Taiwan., Materials and Methods: Two hundred and eighteen prostate cancer patients and 436 sex- and age-matched healthy controls were genotyped for MMP-7 rs11568818 and rs11568819 by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and direct sequencing methodologies., Results: The percentages of wild-type AA, and variant AG and GG genotypes on MMP-7 rs11568818 were 85.3, 13.5, and 1.2% among the prostate cancer cases and 87.6, 10.1, and 2.3% among the healthy controls, respectively (p for trend=0.2557). Interestingly, no MMP-7 rs11568819 genotypes were identified among Taiwanese. The allelic frequency distribution also showed that the variant G allele of MMP-7 rs11568818 seemed not to be a determinant of prostate cancer risk (p=0.7977). There was no joint effect between the genotypes of MMP-7 rs11568818 and age and smoking status on prostate cancer risk., Conclusion: rs11568818 and rs11568819 at MMP-7 promoter region, played no role in determining personal susceptibility to prostate cancer in Taiwan., (Copyright © 2023 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved.)

The characteristics of soil pH and exchangeable acidity in soil profile under different vegetation types were studied in hilly red soil regions of southern Hunan Province, China. The soil samples from red soil profiles within 0-100 cm depth at fertilized plots and unfertilized plots were collected and analyzed to understand the profile distribution of soil pH and exchangeable acidity. The results showed that, pH in 0-60 cm soil from the fertilized plots decreased as the following sequence: citrus orchard > Arachis hypogaea field > tea garden. As for exchangeable acidity content, the sequence was A. hypogaea field ≤ citrus orchard < tea garden. After tea tree and A. hypogaea were planted for long time, acidification occurred in surface soil (0-40 cm), compared with the deep soil (60-100 cm), and soil pH decreased by 0.55 and 0.17 respectively, but such changes did not occur in citrus orchard. Soil pH in 0-40 cm soil from the natural recovery vegetation unfertilized plots decreased as the following sequence: Imperata cylindrica land > Castanea mollissima garden > Pinus elliottii forest ≥ Loropetalum chinensis forest. As for exchangeable acidity content, the sequence was L cylindrica land < C. mollissima garden < L. chinensis forest ≤ P. elliottii forest. Soil pH in surface soil (0-20 cm) from natural forest plots, secondary forest and Camellia oleifera forest were significantly lower than that from P. massoniana forest, decreased by 0.34 and 0.20 respectively. For exchangeable acidity content in 0-20 cm soil from natural forest plot, P. massoniana forest and secondary forest were significantly lower than C. oleifera forest. Compared with bare land, surface soil acidification in unfertilized plots except I. cylindrica land had been accelerated, and the natural secondary forest was the most serious among them, with surface soil pH decreasing by 0.52. However, the pH increased in deep soils from unfertilized plots except natural secondary forest, and I. cylindrica land was the most obvious among them, with soil pH increasing by 0.43. The effects of fertilization and vegetation type on pH and exchangeable acidity decreased with the increasing soil depth from all plots.

Using a microplate fluorimetric assay method, five fertilization treatments, i.e. no-fertilizer control (CK) , sole application of nitrogen (N), balanced application of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer (NPK), application of pig manure (M), and combination of pig manure with balanced chemical fertilizer (MNPK) were selected to investigate the effects of different long-term fertilization regimes on the activity of five enzymes (β-1, 4-glucosidase, βG; cellobiohydrolase, CBH; β-1, 4-xylosidase, βX; β-1, 4-N-acetylglucosaminidase, NAG; acid phosphatase, AP) in a red soil sampled from Qiyang, Hunnan Province. The results showed that compared with CK treatment, N treatment had no impact on βG, βX, CBH, and NAG activities but reduced AP activity, while NPK, M and MNPK treatments increased the activities of all the five enzymes. Correlation analysis indicated that all the five enzyme activities were positively correlated with the content of nitrate (r=0.465-0.733) , the content of available phosphorus (r=0.612-0.947) , soil respiration (r=0.781-0.949) and crop yield (r=0.735-0.960), while βG, CBH and AP were positively correlated with pH (r= 0.707-0.809), only AP was significantly correlated with dissolvable organic carbon (r = -0.480). These results suggested that the activities of the measured enzymes could be used as indicators of red soil fertility under different fertilization regimes, but the five enzymes tested provided limited information on the degree of acidification induced by application of mineral nitrogen.

Field experiments were conducted on the double rice cropping paddy field in red soil area to evaluate the influence of cropping system innovation on soil profile form and related soil characteristics. Four cropping systems of rice-rice-Chinese Milkvetch (Astragalus sinicus Linn.), forage, paddy-upland rotation, and upland were substituted for the double rice cropping system. The results indicated that compared with those under double rice cropping system, the thickness of cultivated horizon under upland cropping system increased by 4 cm, that of plow pan declined by 2 cm, > 2 mm aggregates in wet-sieved particle-size fractions increased by 6.94%, wet-sieved mean-mass diameter increased by 0.37 mm, contents of humic acid carbon and fulvic acid carbon increased by 0.15 and 0.49 g kg(-1), respectively, and quotient of aggregates water stability was 0.78 times higher. Under paddy-upland rotation, the quotient of aggregates water stability was higher (95.86), while soil nutrient contents changed a little. Under rice-rice-Chinese Milkvetch system, soil organic matter content increased by 1.3 g kg(-1), quotient of aggregates water stability declined by 8.82, but other parameters had less changes. Under forage system, the thickness of cultivated and transitional horizons increased by 2 cm and 9 cm, respectively, quotient of aggregates water stability increased by 1.39, while the contents of soil organic matter and total potassium decreased by 5.6 and 2.8 g kg(-1), respectively. Among all test cropping systems, forage system had the greatest changes in soil characteristics. It was completely feasible to substitute the local double rice cropping system for paddy-upland rotation or upland cropping, particularly in the areas where full irrigation was not available. However, attention should be paid to the decrease of soil potassium content when the cropping system innovation was practiced.