Sexual Behavior in the Human Male

This review is focused on purinergic neurotransmission, i.e., ATP released from nerves as a transmitter or cotransmitter to act as an extracellular signaling molecule on both pre- and postjunctional membranes at neuroeffector junctions and synapses, as well as acting as a trophic factor during development and regeneration. Emphasis is placed on the physiology and pathophysiology of ATP, but extracellular roles of its breakdown product, adenosine, are also considered because of their intimate interactions. The early history of the involvement of ATP in autonomic and skeletal neuromuscular transmission and in activities in the central nervous system and ganglia is reviewed. Brief background information is given about the identification of receptor subtypes for purines and pyrimidines and about ATP storage, release, and ectoenzymatic breakdown. Evidence that ATP is a cotransmitter in most, if not all, peripheral and central neurons is presented, as well as full accounts of neurotransmission and neuromodulation in autonomic and sensory ganglia and in the brain and spinal cord. There is coverage of neuron-glia interactions and of purinergic neuroeffector transmission to nonmuscular cells. To establish the primitive and widespread nature of purinergic neurotransmission, both the ontogeny and phylogeny of purinergic signaling are considered. Finally, the pathophysiology of purinergic neurotransmission in both peripheral and central nervous systems is reviewed, and speculations are made about future developments.

/pdf/physiology-and-pathophysiology-of-purinergic-1z94g2hz0f.pdf

Physiology and Pathophysiology of Purinergic Neurotransmission

https://repository.hanyang.ac.kr/bitstream/20.500.11754/110830/1/Heavy%20metals%20in%20food%20crops%20Health%20risks%2c%20fate%2c%20mechanisms%2c%20and%20management.pdf

Heavy metals in food crops: Health risks, fate, mechanisms, and management

It has been estimated by various authorities that about one-third of cancers in Western high-income societies are attributable to factors relating to food, nutrition and physical activity. Identifying with confidence specific associations between dietary patterns, foods, body composition or individual nutrients is not simple because of the long latent period for cancer development, its complex pathogenesis and the challenge of characterising the multidimensional aspects of diet and activity over a lifetime. Reliable conclusions must therefore be drawn not only from randomised controlled trials but from a variety of methodological approaches, judged within a classic framework for inferring causality. Using a newly-developed method with a protocol for standardising the literature search and for analysis and display of the evidence, nine independent academic centres have conducted systematic reviews addressing the causal associations between food, nutrition and physical activity and risk of development of seventeen cancers, as well as of weight gain and obesity. A review has also examined the efficacy of such interventions in subjects with cancer. The reviews have been assessed by an independent Panel of twenty-one international experts who drew conclusions with grades of confidence in the causality of associations and made recommendations. Recommendations are given as public health goals as well as for individuals.

/pdf/the-second-world-cancer-research-fund-american-institute-for-4wjy2ptzze.pdf

The second World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research expert report. Food, nutrition, physical activity, and the prevention of cancer: a global perspective.

The epidermal growth factor receptor and its inhibition in cancer therapy.

In order to elucidate the dose-response relationship between ingested inorganic arsenic and internal cancers, a total of 263 patients with blackfoot disease and 2293 healthy residents in the endemic area of arseniasis were recruited and followed up for 7 years. The information on consumption of high-arsenic artesian well water, sociodemographic characteristics, life-style and dietary habits, and personal and family history of cancers was obtained through standardized interviews. The occurrence of internal cancers among study subjects was determined through annual health examinations, home visit personal interviews, household registration data checks, and national death certification and cancer registry profile linkages. A dose-response relationship was observed between the long-term arsenic exposure from drinking artesian well water and the incidence of lung cancer, bladder cancer, and cancers of all sites combined after adjustment for age, sex, and cigarette smoking through Cox's proportional hazards regression analysis. Blackfoot disease patients had a significantly increased cancer incidence after adjustment for cumulative arsenic exposure.

https://cancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/canres/55/6/1296.full.pdf

Incidence of Internal Cancers and Ingested Inorganic Arsenic: A Seven-Year Follow-up Study in Taiwan

UNLABELLED The expression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) has been suggested to play an important role in the progression of bladder cancer through paracrine stimulation by epidermal growth factor in the urine. However, there is no information regarding the expression of EGFR and urinary ligand measurement in corresponding tumors in patients with bladder cancer. MATERIALS AND METHODS Paired analysis of urinary levels of epidermal growth factor (U-EGF) and the expression of EGFR was performed on 48 cases of bladder cancer. U-EGF test and EGFR status were correlated with clinicopathologic factors of bladder cancer, and compared for their prognostic value with a mean follow-up of 39.7 months. RESULTS U-EGF was inversely correlated with the intensity of EGFR expression (p = 0.04); while no substantial relationship was observed with other conventional prognostic indicators (p > 0.1, respectively). Multivariate analysis revealed that factors correlated with the risk of recurrence were EGFR status (p = 0.03) and histological grading (p = 0.05). An important indicator associated with poor patient survival was size of tumor at diagnosis (p = 0.03). DISCUSSION Although measurement of U-EGF levels did not have any independent prognostic value, our data support the importance of urine EGF/urothelial EGFR interaction in the biological behavior of bladder cancer.

Significance of urinary epidermal growth factor and its receptor expression in human bladder cancer

Transitional cell carcinoma in dialysis patients.

Prognostic factors of primary transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract.

The DAZ (Deleted in AZoospermia) gene cluster on the Y chromosome is a strong candidate for the azoospermia factor. The DAZ gene was derived from an autosomal homologue, DAZL (DAZ-Like). This study was designed to assess the functional role of DAZL in human spermatogenesis. The expression patterns and mRNA transcript levels of DAZL in the testes of 17 azoospermic men were therefore examined by immunohistochemical staining and quantitative competitive reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction. DAZL protein was expressed in the cytoplasm of primary spermatocytes and weakly in spermatogonia. It was detected in the testicular tissues of all subjects with germ cells present. The copy number of the DAZL transcript in normal spermatogenesis (n 4), hypospermatogenesis or maturation arrest (n 6), and Sertoli cell-only syndrome (n 7) ranged from 1.2210 6 to 1.6310 6 per ng of RNA, 1.1910 5 to 2.8210 5 per ng of RNA and 2.8310 4 to 1.2310 5 per ng of RNA respectively. DAZL transcripts were lower in men with spermatogenic failure, and a significant difference was found between the three groups (P < 0.0001). This study suggests that DAZL may play an important role in the human spermatogenic processes of both mitosis and meiosis.

/pdf/expression-patterns-and-transcript-concentrations-of-the-537bf4l8b2.pdf

Johnny Shinn Nan Lin

Papers

Incidence of Internal Cancers and Ingested Inorganic Arsenic: A Seven-Year Follow-up Study in Taiwan

Significance of urinary epidermal growth factor and its receptor expression in human bladder cancer

Transitional cell carcinoma in dialysis patients.

Prognostic factors of primary transitional cell carcinoma of the upper urinary tract.

Expression patterns and transcript concentrations of the autosomal DAZL gene in testes of azoospermic men.