No abstract

Bei Pegeheimbe-wohnerinnen, die Cranberry-Kapseln schluckten, war ebenso häug eine Bakteriurie plus Pyurie nachzuwei-sen wie in einer Vergleichsgruppe mit Placebokap-seln. Teilnehmerin-nen der randomi-sierten, kontrollier-ten Studie waren 185 Frauen im mittle-ren Alter von 86 Jahren. 92 Frauen erhielten zweimal täglich eine Kapsel mit zusammen 72 mg Proanthocyani-din, was etwa 600 ml Cranberrysa ent-spricht, die anderen 93 bekamen Place-bokapseln. Alle zwei Monate wurde eine Urinprobe genommen: Eine Bakteriurie in Kombination mit einer Pyurie wurde in der Cranberrygruppe bei 25,5% und in der Placebogruppe bei 29,5% festge-stellt. Unter Berücksichtigung von feh-lenden Daten und von vordenierten Einussfaktoren wurden die Anteile auf 29,1% und 29,0% korrigiert, der Unter-schied war nicht signikant.

Twenty-four-month-old male C57BL/6 mice with low serum testosterone levels were used as a late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) animal model for examining the effects of velvet antler polypeptide (VAP) on sexual function and testosterone synthesis. These mice received VAP for 5 consecutive weeks by daily gavage at doses of 100, 200, or 300 mg kg−1 body weight per day (n = 10 mice per dose). Control animals (n = 10) received the same weight-based volume of vehicle. Sexual behavior and testosterone levels in serum and interstitial tissue of testis were measured after the last administration of VAP. Furthermore, to investigate the mechanisms of how VAP affects sexual behavior and testosterone synthesis in vivo, the expression of steroidogenic acute regulatory protein (StAR), cytochrome P450 cholesterol side-chain cleavage enzyme (P450scc), and 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (3β-HSD) in Leydig cells was also measured by immunofluorescence staining and quantitative real-time PCR. As a result, VAP produced a significant improvement in the sexual function of these aging male mice. Serum testosterone level and intratesticular testosterone (ITT) concentration also increased in the VAP-treated groups. The expression of StAR, P450scc, and 3β-HSD was also found to be enhanced in the VAP-treated groups compared with the control group. Our results suggested that VAP was effective in improving sexual function in aging male mice. The effect of velvet antler on sexual function was due to the increased expression of several rate-limiting enzymes of testosterone synthesis (StAR, P450scc, and 3β-HSD) and the following promotion of testosterone synthesis in vivo.

Li-ESWT exposure at 3.2 BAR inhibited spermatogenesis and decreased sperm quality, which indicated that male patients with a desire to preserve fertility should undergo low-energy Li-ESWT or other treatment modalities.

Background: Cellphone radiation (CR) has been reported to be related to higher risk of many health problems, but if CR can impair sexual behavior and testosterone synthesis has seldom been studied. Objective: To evaluate the effects of CR on testosterone and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels and sexual behaviors of male mice. Methods: Forty 3-month-old male mice, 22-25 g, were randomly allocated into four equal groups (n = 10 per group): the control group and three CR exposure groups including 8-hour group, 16-hour group and 24-hour group. Each mouse received different dose of CR exposure for 30 consecutive days. Sexual behaviors and testosterone and LH levels in serum were measured at the end of experiment. Furthermore, we also observed the weights of reproductive organs of each group, including testis, epididymis and seminal vesicle. Results: The mount latency and intromission latency in 24-hour group were significant higher than the control (both P < 0.01), while no obvious changes were seen in 8-hour group and 16-hour group (all P > 0.05). No difference in ejaculation latency existed among each group after the experiment (all P > 0.05). The frequency of mount and intromission in 24-hour group was statistically significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). No obvious change in the frequency of mount and intromission of the 8-hour group and 16-hour group was seen (all P > 0.05). Only the copulatory efficacy in the 24-hour group was statistically lower than the control group (P < 0.05). The serum levels of testosterone and LH in the 24-hour group were obviously higher than the control group (testosterone level: P < 0.05; LH level: P < 0.01). No significant differences were seen among the other two experimental groups and the control group (all P > 0.05). After the exposure of CR, the changes in the weights of sexual organs in the 24-hour * Corresponding author. Z.-J. Zang et al. 57 group were significant compared with the control (testis weights, relative testis weight, epididymis weight, the weight of seminal vesicle, and the relative weight of seminal vesicle, all P < 0.01; the relative epididymis weight, P < 0.05). Conclusions: High dose exposure of CR can decline the testosterone and LH levels in mice and inhibit their sexual behaviors.