• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.46-50
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• 2013

Background: Postoperative pain is one of the most prevalent and bothersome issues found in the surgical department. Nowadays, there are various methods of acupuncture used for relieving pain without the complications found in some routine postoperative analgesics. These methods could be especially useful for high risk patients prone to complications from analgesics, such as transplantation recipients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of electro-acupuncture on postoperative pain control after inguinal surgeries. Methods: Ninety male patients, who were referred to our department with indications of inguinal surgery, were included in the study and randomly divided into two groups, such as acupuncture and control. We used electro-acupuncture for the acupuncture group and no actual acupuncture (but placed needle electrodes similar to the acupuncture group) for the control group. Postoperative pain was quantified by a blind observer in both groups using a visual analogue scale (VAS) standard score before being compared. Results: Pain intensity and analgesic use were significantly higher in the control group (P < 0.05). In the acupuncture group, the VAS pain scores were significantly lower than the control group at 0.5, 1 and 2 hours post operation. When the opioid related side effects were compared for each group, the results showed that the number of subjects who experienced dizziness in the acupuncture group was significantly lower than the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Acupuncture in patients, after inguinal surgery, can reduce the need of analgesics, which also directly reduces the complications that may occur when analgesics are used in relieving pain postoperatively.

• Experimental and Molecular Medicine
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• v.50 no.12
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• pp.8.1-8.12
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• 2018

FAM46B is a member of the family with sequence similarity 46. Little is known about the expression and functional role (s) of FAM46B in prostate cancer (PC). In this study, the expression of FAM46B expression in The Cancer Genome Atlas, GSE55945, and an independent hospital database was measured by bioinformatics and real-time PCR analysis. After PC cells were transfected with siRNA or a recombinant vector in the absence or presence of a ${\beta}$-catenin signaling inhibitor (XAV-939), the expression levels of FAM46B, C-myc, Cyclin D1, and ${\beta}$-catenin were measured by western blot and realtime PCR. Cell cycle progression and cell proliferation were measured by flow cytometry and the CCK-8 assay. The effects of FAM46B on tumor growth and protein expression in nude mice with PC tumor xenografts were also measured. Our results showed that FAM46B was downregulated but that ${\beta}$-catenin was upregulated in patients with PC. FAM46B silencing promoted cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in PC, which were abrogated by XAV-939. Moreover, FAM46B overexpression inhibited PC cell cycle progression and cell proliferation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. FAM46B silencing promoted ${\beta}$-catenin protein expression through the inhibition of ${\beta}$-catenin ubiquitination. Our data clearly show that FAM46B inhibits cell proliferation and cell cycle progression in PC through ubiquitination of ${\beta}$-catenin.

• Investigative and Clinical Urology
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.410-415
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• 2018

Purpose: Despite meticulous techniques, surgical complications continue to be problematic in kidney transplant recipients. Role of routine stenting to reduce complications is controversial. In this study, we compare incidence of early urological complications, lymphoceles, urinary tract infections (UTI) and graft function; with or without double-J stenting. Materials and Methods: All patients who underwent live related donor renal transplantation from February 2014 to February 2016 were included. Transplants prior to February 2015 were without routine stenting; subsequent transplants were with routine stenting. Patients with neurogenic bladder, previously operated bladder and delayed or low urinary output were excluded. Followup was for at least three months. Descriptive statistics was performed for all parameters. Chi square test and Fisher's Exact test were used for qualitative variables. For quantitative variables, Mann-Whitney test was used to test median difference and independent samples t-test for mean difference. The p-value ${\leq}0.05$ was considered significant. Results: We analysed 74 patients (34 stented and 40 non-stented). There was no difference in the incidence of urinary leak, anastomotic obstruction, lymphoceles or UTI (p>0.4 for all comparisons). However, mean estimated glomerular filtration rate at sixth day, 14th day, one month and two months were 76.1 vs. 61.5 (p=0.025), 72.1 vs. 56.6 (p=0.005), 79.4 vs. 63.1 (p=0.002) and 82.0 vs. 63.3 (p=0.001) in the stented versus non-stented groups. Conclusions: Placement of ureteral stent in renal transplant does not significantly affect the incidence of early urinary complications or UTI. However, graft function is significantly better in stented recipients, at least in the short term.

• Investigative and Clinical Urology
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.416-421
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• 2018

Purpose: Few studies have explored the treatment of isolated communicating hydroceles via scrotal incision. We prospectively evaluated the surgical outcomes of such treatment in boys with hydroceles compared with that using traditional, inguinal incision hydrocelectomy. Materials and Methods: Of 347 boys aged 0-12 years who were diagnosed as hydrocele on ultrasonography, 173 boys were assigned to the scrotal incision hydrocelectomy group (group I, n=173) and 172 boys were assigned to the traditional inguinal incision hydrocelectomy group (group II, n=172), and finally 156 boys in group I and 156 boys in group II were included in this study. Surgical outcomes, including postoperative complications and hydrocele relapse rates, were compared between groups. Results: The overall success rates were similar in both groups (group I, 96.8%; group II, 89.1%; p=0.740). The operation time and hospital stay were significantly shorter in group I ($30.94{\pm}3.95minutes$ and $3.94{\pm}0.30days$) than in group II ($38.02{\pm}7.12minutes$ and $4.24{\pm}0.99days$; p<0.001 and p=0.009, respectively). The postoperative complication rate was lower in group I than in group II (3.2% vs. 10.9%, p=0.740). Conclusions: Scrotal incision hydrocelectomy in boys was associated with shorter operative time and hospital stay, and a lower postoperative complication rate, than was the inguinal incision approach. The scrotal incision technique might be an easy and effective alternative treatment when used to treat hydroceles in boys as well as inguinal incision approach.

• Investigative and Clinical Urology
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.376-382
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• 2018

Purpose: The authors performed this study to investigate the risk factors for predicting stent failure and to evaluate its impact on prognosis. Materials and Methods: Between January 2002 and March 2017, we retrospectively reviewed 117 consecutive patients who underwent retrograde ureteral stenting and exchanging at least once every 3 months for malignant ureteral obstruction. The patients were classified according to their pre-stenting chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage. The factors affecting stent failure were analyzed using a logistic regression model. Overall survival (OS) was estimated, and the prognostic significance of each variable was estimated using Cox proportional-hazards regression modeling. Results: Before stenting, 91 patients were CKD stages 1-3 and 26 patients were CKD stages 4-5. These two groups differed significantly only in pre-stenting estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), bilateral obstruction, and pre-stenting pyuria. Among the 117 patients, stent failure occurred in 30 patients (25.6%), and there were no differences between the groups. Pre-stenting pyuria and post-stenting complications were significant predictors of stent failure. There were 79 deaths in total, including 56 in the CKD stages 1-3 group and 23 in the CKD stages 4-5 group. In the multivariate analysis predicting patient OS, pre-stenting eGFR and post-stenting disease progression were significant factors. Conclusions: Internal ureteral stenting was effective for maintaining renal function in malignant ureteral obstruction. However, it did not restore renal function, which is related to the prognosis of the patients. Therefore, to improve patients' renal function and prognosis, patients who require stenting must be quickly recognized and treated.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2022

The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor (ACE2) appears to be widely expressed in cells in the testes, predominantly in spermatogonia, Sertoli cells, and Leydig cells, and its co-expression with transmembrane protease serine 2 (TMPRSS2) is essential for the entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). For this reason, the male reproductive system could be considered a potential target for SARS-CoV-2, as well as a possible reservoir of infection. However, to date, there is very little evidence about the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in semen and testicular samples. The aim of this paper was to review the current evidence regarding the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on male fertility and sexual health, with a particular focus on reproductive hormones, the presence of the virus in seminal fluid and testis, and its impact on fertility parameters. We found very limited evidence reporting the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in semen and testicular samples, and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on reproductive hormones and fertility parameters is unclear. The quality of the examined studies was poor due to the small sample size and several selection biases, precluding definitive conclusions. Hence, future well-designed prospective studies are needed to assess the real impact of SARS-CoV-2 on male reproductive function.

• Investigative and Clinical Urology
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• v.63 no.3
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• pp.301-308
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• 2022

Purpose To diagnose lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) in a noninvasive manner, we created a prediction model for bladder outlet obstruction (BOO) and detrusor underactivity (DUA) using simple uroflowmetry. In this study, we used deep learning to analyze simple uroflowmetry. Materials and Methods We performed a retrospective review of 4,835 male patients aged ≥40 years who underwent a urodynamic study at a single center. We excluded patients with a disease or a history of surgery that could affect LUTS. A total of 1,792 patients were included in the study. We extracted a simple uroflowmetry graph automatically using the ABBYY Flexicapture^® image capture program (ABBYY, Moscow, Russia). We applied a convolutional neural network (CNN), a deep learning method to predict DUA and BOO. A 5-fold cross-validation average value of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was chosen as an evaluation metric. When it comes to binary classification, this metric provides a richer measure of classification performance. Additionally, we provided the corresponding average precision-recall (PR) curves. Results Among the 1,792 patients, 482 (26.90%) had BOO, and 893 (49.83%) had DUA. The average AUROC scores of DUA and BOO, which were measured using 5-fold cross-validation, were 73.30% (mean average precision [mAP]=0.70) and 72.23% (mAP=0.45), respectively. Conclusions Our study suggests that it is possible to differentiate DUA from non-DUA and BOO from non-BOO using a simple uroflowmetry graph with a fine-tuned VGG16, which is a well-known CNN model.

• International Journal of Stem Cells
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.347-358
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• 2022

Background and Objectives: The search for a suitable alternative for urethral defect is a challenge in the field of urethral tissue engineering. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) possess multipotential for differentiation. The in vitro derivation of urothelial cells from mouse-iPSCs (miPSCs) has thus far not been reported. The purpose of this study was to establish an efficient and robust differentiation protocol for the differentiation of miPSCs into urothelial cells. Methods and Results: Our protocol made the visualization of differentiation processes of a 2-step approach possible. We firstly induced miPSCs into posterior definitive endoderm (DE) with glycogen synthase kinase-3𝛽 (GSK3𝛽) inhibitor and Activin A. We investigated the optimal conditions for DE differentiation with GSK3𝛽 inhibitor treatment by varying the treatment time and concentration. Differentiation into urothelial cells, was directed with all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) and recombinant mouse fibroblast growth factor-10 (FGF-10). Specific markers expressed at each stage of differentiation were validated by flow cytometry, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay, immunofluorescence staining, and western blotting Assay. The miPSC-derived urothelial cells were successfully in expressed urothelial cell marker genes, proteins, and normal microscopic architecture. Conclusions: We built a model of directed differentiation of miPSCs into urothelial cells, which may provide the evidence for a regenerative potential of miPSCs in preclinical animal studies.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.4357-4361
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• 2012

Objective: The guidelines on indications for prophylactic use of Bacille Calmette-Gu$\acute{e}$rin (BCG) against non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) have changed over the years. In order to assess the impact on outcome, the present retrospective comparison of BCG efficacy by time period with Japanese patients was conducted. Patients and Methods: A total of 146 cases of NMIBC treated with BCG since February 1985 were retrospectively evaluated. All patients received 80 mg of BCG (Tokyo 172 strain) six to eight times a week for prophylactic use. Comparison was made among three historical groups (Group A: 1980's, 39 cases; Group B: 1990's, 61 cases; Group C: 2000's, 46 cases). Results: In total, recurrence was seen in 55 of the 146 cases (37.7%), and progression in 14 (9.6%), 1 patient dying of cancer. These overall results were similar to those outlined in previous reports. However, the outcomes of this time-period-based analysis indicated a tendency for a shorter time to recurrence in patients after 2000, although a log-rank test showed no significance (P=0.229). Seven of the cases featuring progression (i.e., half of all such cases) were among the 46 Group C patients (15.2%). Excluding these progressive cases, there was no significant difference among the remaining 132 patients in the three groups. Conclusion: This study results revealed a tendency for a lower non-recurrence rate after 2000 in our series. This could stem from a number of factors, including changes in BCG indication criteria and the evolution of histopathological diagnostic criteria.

• Proceedings of the KSMRM Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.137-137
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• 2001

Purpose： The purpose of this study was to identify cerebral cortices related with sexual arousal fro visual sexual stimulation in healthy males using BOLD-based functional MR imaging Method： Sixteen male volunteers with sexually potent(mean age：24) were examined for thi study. Functional MRI was performed on a 1.5T MR scanner(GE Signa Horizon) with birdcage-type head coil. In this study, blood oxygenation level dependent(BOLD) technique was utilized to create fMR image reflecting local brain activities. The BOLD-based fMRI d were obtained from 7 oblique planes using gradient-echo EPI with $90^{\circ}$flip angle, 50ms TE 6000ms TR, $26cm{\times}26$ cm FOV, $128{\times}128$ matrix, and 10mm slice thickness. The sexual stimulation paradigm consisted of two alternating periods of rest and activati and it began with a 1 minute rest, followed by a 2 minute stimulation by a documentary a erotic video film. Brain activation maps were generated by cross-correlation of imag acquired during rest and activation periods. The index of activation was used to compare t number of pixels activated by each task in each volunteer, where the significance of th differences was evaluated by using Students t-test.