Oxidative stress and epididymal sperm transport, motility and morphological defects

OBJECTIVES

Radical oxidative species (ROS) have an important effect on sperm quality and quantity. Oxidative stress (OS) occurs when production of potentially destructive reactive oxygen species (ROS) exceeds the body's own natural antioxidant defenses, resulting in cellular damage. OS is a common pathology seen in approximately half of all infertile men. Increased ROS generation and reduced antioxidant capacity is negatively correlated with sperm concentration and motility in infertile men. For the first time, we used a more stable and reliable sensitive carbonyl protein (CP) detection method to determine ROS in seminal plasma than measuring ROS directly to clarify the effect of OS on spermatozoa in terms of protein dysfunction. This is the first report to measure CP in seminal plasma as an indicator of OS. Furthermore, for the first time we correlated the results of CP measurement with light microscopy in combination with ultrastructural analysis by electron microscopy.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

20 patients with idiopathic oligoasthenoteratozoospermia (iOAT) and 10 fertile controls were enrolled in this study. CP values were measured by enzyme-linked immuno sorbent assay (ELISA) to detect the level of OS. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) was used to detect axonemal anomalies.

RESULTS

Compared to fertile controls, statistically highly significant higher degrees of abnormal sperm parameters (P<0.001) could be found in iOAT patients. CP values were highly significantly elevated in iOAT patients than in normal controls (P<0.001). A statistically highly significant difference in different axonemal anomalies were found between iOAT patients and normal controls (P<0.001). CP values have been found to be positively correlated with different axonemal anomalies (absence of axoneme (r(2)=0.841), missing of central singlet tubules (r(2)=0.702) and missing of outer doublet tubules (r(2)=0.869). A statistically negative correlation were found between different axonemal anomalies (absent axoneme (r(2)=-0.780), missing of central singlet tubules (r(2)=-0.611), and missing of outer doublet tubules (r(2)=-0.738) and forward progressive sperm motility.

CONCLUSION

High levels of CP can be measured in iOAT patients, indicating that OS could underlie the aetipopathogenesis of the syndrome. OS negatively affects flagellar axonemal structure with subsequent impairment of forward progressive sperm motility. This can put an attention for antioxidants as a therapy for iOAT syndrome and further research to find how to decrease ROS production.

Prostate cancer gene 3 (PCA3): development and internal validation of a novel biopsy nomogram

BACKGROUND

Urinary prostate cancer gene 3 (PCA3) represents a promising novel marker of prostate cancer detection.

OBJECTIVE

To test whether urinary PCA3 assay improves prostate cancer (PCa) risk assessment and to construct a decision-making aid in a multi-institutional cohort with pre-prostate biopsy data.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

PCA3 assay cut-off threshold analyses were followed by logistic regression models which used established predictors to assess PCa-risk at biopsy in a large multi-institutional data set of 809 men at risk of harboring PCa.

MEASUREMENTS

Regression coefficients were used to construct four sets of nomograms. Predictive accuracy (PA) estimates of biopsy outcome predictions were quantified using the area under the curve of the receiver operator characteristic analysis in models with and without PCA3. Bootstrap resamples were used for internal validation and to reduce overfit bias. The extent of overestimation or underestimation of the observed PCa rate at biopsy was explored graphically using nonparametric loss-calibration plots. Differences in PA were tested using the Mantel-Haenszel test. Finally, nomogram-derived probability cut-offs were tested to assess the ability to identify patients with or without PCa.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS

PCA3 was identified as a statistically independent risk factor of PCa at biopsy. Addition of a PCA3 assay improved bootstrap-corrected multivariate PA of the base model between 2% and 5%. The highest increment in PA resulted from a PCA3 assay cut-off threshold of 17, where a 5% gain in PA (from 0.68 to 0.73, p=0.04) was recorded. Nomogram probability-derived risk cut-off analyses further corroborate the superiority of the PCA3 nomogram over the base model.

CONCLUSIONS

PCA3 fulfills the criteria for a novel marker capable of increasing PA of multivariate biopsy models. This novel PCA3-based nomogram better identifies men at risk of harboring PCa and assists in deciding whether further evaluation is necessary.

Comparison of type I and II papillary renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and clear cell RCC

OBJECTIVE

To compare the pathological features of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) with papillary RCC (pRCC) and further differentiate type I and II pRCC as independent prognosticators for survival.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

From September 1994 to February 2007 557 RCCs were treated and reviewed. All patients underwent radical nephrectomy or nephron-sparing surgery. We reviewed patient data and correlated RCC subtypes to tumour size, pathological stage, nuclear grade, and 5-year cancer-specific survival (CSS). pRCC was re-evaluated in to type I and II. The 2002 Tumour-Node-Metastasis and Fuhrman classifications were used.

RESULTS

In all, 391 (70%) patients had ccRCC, 96 (17%) had pRCC, 34 (6%) had chromophobe RCC, seven (1%) had ductus Bellini RCC and 29 (5%) had unclassified RCC. Upon re-evaluation 34 patients had type I pRCC and 62 had type II. The pRCCs were significantly smaller than the ccRCCs, at a mean (sd) of 4.5 (2.5) cm vs 5 (2.9) cm (P = 0.013), and multifocal (25% vs 12%, P = 0.001). Whereas patients with ccRCC had significantly more primary metastases (12% vs 3%, P = 0.014). The mean (sd) follow-up was 42.3 (41.4) months. The 5-year CSS for M0 patients was 84% for ccRCC and 90% for pRCC (P = 0.573). At multivariate analyses predictors for 5-year CSS were only tumour size (hazard ratio, HR 2.6, P < 0.001), pathological stage (HR 3.9, P < 0.001) and nuclear grade (HR 2.7, P < 0.001). The type I and II pRCCs had significantly different lymphovascular invasion (LVI) and 5-year CSS rates (94% vs 74%, P = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS

The ccRCCs were significantly larger at diagnosis than the pRCCs. The histological subtype (pRCC vs ccRCC) had no impact on the 5-year CSS in multivariate analyses. The type I and II pRCCs had similar histopathological features except for a significant difference in LVI. However, the 5-year CSS was significantly different in type I and II pRCC.

Clinical utility of the PCA3 urine assay in European men scheduled for repeat biopsy

BACKGROUND

The Prostate CAncer gene 3 (PCA3) assay has shown promise as an aid in prostate cancer (pCA) diagnosis in identifying men with a high probability of a positive (repeat) biopsy.

OBJECTIVE

This study evaluated the clinical utility of the PROGENSA PCA3 assay.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This European prospective, multicentre study enrolled men with one or two negative biopsies scheduled for repeat biopsy.

MEASUREMENTS

After digital rectal examination (DRE), first-catch urine was collected to measure PCA3 mRNA concentration and to calculate the PCA3 score. The PCA3 score was compared to biopsy outcome. The diagnostic accuracy of the PCA3 assay was compared to percent of free prostate-specific antigen (%fPSA).

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS

In 463 men, the positive repeat biopsy rate was 28%. The higher the PCA3 score, the greater the probability of a positive repeat biopsy. The PCA3 score (cut-off of 35) had a greater diagnostic accuracy than %fPSA (cut-off of 25%). The PCA3 score was independent of the number of previous biopsies, age, prostate volume, and total prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level. Moreover, the PCA3 score was significantly higher in men with high-grade prostate intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) versus those without HGPIN, clinical stage T2 versus T1, Gleason score >or=7 versus <7, and "significant" versus "indolent" (clinical stage T1c, PSA density [PSAD] <0.15ng/ml, Gleason score in biopsy

CONCLUSIONS

The probability of a positive repeat biopsy increases with rising PCA3 scores. The PCA3 score was superior to %fPSA for predicting repeat prostate biopsy outcome and may be indicative of clinical stage and significance of pCa.

Collapse

Key Words Collapse

MESH Headings Collapse

Grants Collapse

Detecting prostate cancer by intracellular macrophage prostate-specific antigen (PSA): a more specific and sensitive marker than conventional serum total PSA

BACKGROUND

Serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a standard method and a widely used marker for prostate cancer, but it has a poor specificity for early detection. Herein we demonstrate that intracellular macrophage PSA (imPSA) enables screening and differentiation between benign and malignant prostate disease.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The efficacy of intracellular macrophage PSA in circulating and tissue macrophages was therefore investigated in a double-centre study of 38 prostate cancer patients and 36 healthy controls by fluorescent-activated cell sorting analysis and immunohistology.

RESULTS

Both methods uncovered the existence of PSA-positive macrophages specific for patients with prostate cancer. In addition, we demonstrate the superiority of our new test over standard serum total PSA in a blinded double-centre trial. ImPSA had a marked higher sensitivity and specificity than serum total PSA (imPSA: sensitivity 92%, specificity 92%, positive predictive value 92%; serum total PSA: sensitivity 79.5%, specificity 87.5%, positive predictive value 26.8%).

CONCLUSION

In this study, we demonstrate that imPSA is a new prostate cancer screening method that is highly sensitive and more specific than standard PSA testing.