Comparison of Urinary Tract Infection Rates Between Transperineal Prostate Biopsies with and Without Prophylactic Antibiotics: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

: The European Association of Urology (EAU) Guidelines on Prostate Cancer note emerging evidence suggesting that antibiotic prophylaxis may not be necessary for transperineal prostate biopsies. However, formal recommendations are pending further research. This meta-analysis compares urinary tract infection (UTI) rates following transperineal prostate biopsies with and without antibiotic prophylaxis.

Percutaneous Nephrostomy versus Ureteral Stent for Severe Urinary Tract Infection with Obstructive Urolithiasis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

: The European Association of Urology guidelines on urolithiasis highlight the limited evidence supporting the superiority of percutaneous nephrostomy (PCN) over retrograde ureteral stent placement for the primary treatment of infected hydronephrosis secondary to urolithiasis. We, therefore, conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing the effects of PCN and retrograde ureteral stent in patients with severe urinary tract infections secondary to obstructive urolithiasis. : Meta-analyses were performed to compare four outcomes: time for the temperature to return to normal; time for the white blood cell (WBC) count to return to normal; hospital length of stay; and procedure success rate.

Clinical Course and Mutational Analysis of Patients with Cystine Stone: A Single-Center Experience.

Cystinuria is a known genetic disorder. To date, two genes, SLC3A1 and SLC7A9, have been identified as causes of cystinuria. In this study of 10 patients with cystinuria, which is the largest Korean cohort ever studied, we examined the patients' phenotypes, clinical courses, and genetic analyses.

Predicting Urinary Stone Composition in Single-Use Flexible Ureteroscopic Images with a Convolutional Neural Network.

Analysis of urine stone composition is one of the most important factors in urolithiasis treatment. This study investigated whether a convolutional neural network (CNN) can show decent results in predicting urinary stone composition even in single-use flexible ureterorenoscopic (fURS) images with relatively low resolution. This study retrospectively used surgical images from fURS lithotripsy performed by a single surgeon between January 2018 and December 2021.

Impact of Preoperative Ureteral Stenting in Retrograde Intrarenal Surgery for Urolithiasis.

: Ureteral stent insertion passively dilates the ureter. Therefore, it is sometimes used preoperatively before flexible ureterorenoscopy to make the ureter more accessible and facilitate urolithiasis passage, especially when ureteroscopic access has failed or when the ureter is expected to be tight. However, it may cause stent-related discomfort and complications.

A New Parameter for Calcium Oxalate Stones: Impact of Linear Calculus Density on Non-Contrast Computed Tomography.

: Non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) is widely used to evaluate urolithiasis. The NCCT attenuation, measured in Hounsfield units (HU), has been evaluated to predict stone characteristics. We propose a novel parameter, linear calculus density (LCD), and analyze variables from NCCT imaging to predict calcium oxalate (CaOx) stones, which are common and challenging to fragment.

Silodosin versus Tamsulosin for Medical Expulsive Therapy of Ureteral Stones: An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.

Background and Objectives: This systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials was performed to compare the therapeutic effects and safety profiles of silodosin and tamsulosin for medical expulsive therapy (MET) of ureteral stones. Materials and Methods: We searched PubMed, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science to identify articles published before July 2022 that described randomized controlled trials comparing silodosin and tamsulosin for MET of ureteral stones. Endpoints were stone expulsion rate, stone expulsion time, and total complication rate.

Comparison of Surgical Outcomes between Single-Use and Reusable Flexible Ureteroscopes for Renal Stone Management: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

: Disposable flexible ureteroscopes have been widely used because of their cost-effectiveness and higher sterility potential compared with reusable flexible ureteroscopes. This study aimed to compare the surgical outcomes and complication rates in patients who undergo reusable or disposable flexible ureteroscopic stone surgeries (fURS) for urinary stone disease. : A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted under the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline.

Establishment of patient-derived three-dimensional organoid culture in renal cell carcinoma.

Purpose: Renal cell carcinoma is a heterogeneous kidney cancer, and over 403,000 cases were reported worldwide in 2018. Current methods for studying renal cell carcinoma are limited to two-dimensional (2D) culture of primary cell lines and patient-derived xenograft models. Numerous studies have suggested that 2D culture poorly represents the diversity, heterogeneity, and drug-resistance of primary tumors.

Tubular organotypic culture model of human kidney.

Cell-culture methods that simplify the inherent complexities of the kidney have not sufficiently reproduced its true characteristics. Although reports indicate that organoid methodology surpasses traditional cell culture in terms of reproducing the nature of organs, the study of human kidney organoids have been confined to pluripotent stem cells. Furthermore, it has not yet progressed beyond the developmental state of embryonic kidney even after complicate additional differentiation processes.

Protective role of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α-dependent CD39 and CD73 in fulminant acute liver failure.

Acute liver failure (ALF) is a severe life-threatening disease which usually arises in patients with-irreversible liver illnesses. Although human ectonucleotide triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-1, E-NTPDase1 (CD39) and ecto-5'-nucleotidase, Ecto5'NTase (CD73) are known to protect tissues from ALF, the expression and function of CD39 and CD73 during ALF are currently not fully investigated. We tested whether CD39 and CD73 are upregulated by hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-1α, and improve ischemic tolerance to ALF.

Epigallocatechin-3-gallate protects against hepatic ischaemia-reperfusion injury by reducing oxidative stress and apoptotic cell death.

Objective To investigate the protective effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG), a major polyphenol source in green tea, against hepatic ischaemia-reperfusion injury in mice. Methods The partial hepatic ischaemia-reperfusion injury model was created by employing the hanging-weight method in C57BL/6 male mice. EGCG (50 mg/kg) was administered via an intraperitoneal injection 45 min before performing the reperfusion.

Upregulation of P2Y2 nucleotide receptor in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Objective To examine if hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) can induce the upregulation of the purinergic receptor P2Y2 (P2Y2) and thereby promote the viability of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells under hypoxic conditions. Methods Archival HCC tumour specimens and corresponding non-cancerous tissues were examined immunohistochemically for P2Y2 protein. A series of in vitro experiments were undertaken using HCC cell lines to determine the effect of hypoxia on HIF-1α and P2Y2 levels, the effect of HIF-1α upregulation on P2Y2 levels, and the effect of P2Y2 upregulation on cell viability under hypoxic conditions.

Apoptosis of Hepatitis B Virus-expressing Liver Tumor Cells Induced by a High Concentration of Nucleos(t)ide Analogue.

Background/aim: We investigated the expression of hepatitis B virus (HBV) covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) and HBV X protein (HBx) in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and evaluated the effect of high-concentration nucleos(t)ide analogs (NUCs) on liver tumor cell lines.

Materials And Methods: This study consisted of three parts: part I used human blood and non-tumor liver tissues; part II used human HCC and adjacent liver tissues; and part III used an HBV-expressing liver tumor cell line.

Results: There were close correlations among blood and liver HBV DNA and liver cccDNA.

Prognostic value of a 92-probe signature in breast cancer.

Clinical applications of gene expression signatures in breast cancer prognosis still remain limited due to poor predictive strength of single training datasets and appropriate invariable platforms. We proposed a gene expression signature by reducing baseline differences and analyzing common probes among three recent Affymetrix U133 plus 2 microarray data sets. Using a newly developed supervised method, a 92-probe signature found in this study was associated with overall survival.

Predictive factors for invasive intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm of the pancreas.

Backgrounds/aims: Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) of the pancreas has malignant potential. Predicting invasive IPMN has proven difficult and controversial. We tried to identify predictive factors for invasive IPMN.