Sexual selection affects the sizes of the mammalian prostate gland and seminal vesicles

The accessory reproductive glands of male mammals contribute the bulk of the secretions in which spermatozoa are transported to the female tract during copulation. Despite their morphological diversity, and the chemical complexity of their products, little is known about the possible effects of sexual selection upon these glands in mammals. Here we consider the seminal vesicles and prostate glands in a sample of 89 species and 60 genera representing 8 Orders of mammals. The sizes of the accessory glands are analysed in relation to body weight and testes weight. Both the seminal vesicles size and prostate size （corrected for body weight） correlate positively with relative testes size in this sample; this finding remains highly significant after application of procedures to correct for possible phylogenetic biases in the data set. The accessory reproductive glands are also significantly larger in those mammals which have large relative testes sizes, and in which the likelihood of sperm competition is greatest. These results support the hypothesis that sexual selection has played an important role in the evolution of the mammalian prostate gland and seminal vesicles.

The Effect of Curcumin on Proliferation and Apoptosis in LNCaP Prostate Cancer Cells

OBJECTIVE To observe the effect of curcumin on proliferation and apop-tosis in the prostate cancer LNCaP cell line. METHODS The AXSYMTM system luciferase method was used to examine the effect of various concentratious of curcumin on the content of prostate specific antigen (PSA) in prostate cancer LNCaP cells. A pGL3-PSA luciferase expression vector, containing 640 bp DNA of the PSA gene 5' -promoter region was constructed and transfected into the LNCaP cells with lipofectin. By measuring luciferase activity, the effect of 10 μmol/L, 20 μmol/L, 30 and 40 μmol/L curcumin on the promoter was studied. Effects on cell growth and apoptosis were analyzed by microscopy, the MTT colorimetric assay and flow cytometry. Western-blotting was used to measure expression of the androgen receptor (AR) in the LNCaP cells treated with different concentrations of curcumin. RESULTS The results showed that the expression of PSA was inhibited as curcumin reduced the activity of luciferase. Curcumin also caused a sigificant concentration-dependent decrease in AR expession measured by Western -blotting. Cell growth was inhibited and apoptosis was induced. CONCLUSION By inhibiting AR expression, curcumin reduced the function of the PSA promoter and inhibited PSA protein expression. Curcumin decreased the cellular proliferation and induced apoptosis in LNCaP cells in a concention-dependent manner.

Etiology and Management of Complete Acute Urinary Retention in Urology Department in N’Djamena, Chad

Goal: To study the epidemiological, clinical, etiological, characteristics and ensure earlier management of complete acute urine retention (CAUR) in the urology department of N’Djamena in Chad. Patient and Method: It was a retrospective descriptive study of a sample of 606 patients during the period ranging from November 2008 to December 2010. The patients were consulted first in urology or referred by a colleague for a CAUR. The diagnosis was confirmed by an earlier clinical examination. The patients have benefited from a urine evacuation before looking for the etiologies. Results: We managed a sample of 606 patients suffering from CAUR. Average age was 60 years old with extremes of 1 month and 100 years. There were more patients in the ranks of 60 years and more (n = 436;71.94%). Men were more than women in the proportion of 583/25, and 63.20% of the patients lived In N’Djamena. The benign prostatic hypertrophia was the first cause of CAUR, followed by urethral stricture, urinary infection, lithiasis of the lower urinary tract, adenocarcinoma of the bladder, hymen imperforation in young girls, bilharzias, paraphimosis and ovenbird necrosis. The bladder catheterization was the most urgent gesture done in 61.71%, followed by open cystostomy. In the second case, etiological treatment was done as: open prostatic surgery (n = 306), urethral reconstitution (n = 58), cystololithotomia (n = 54), dilatation of urethral conduct (n = 54), hymenostomia (n = 6). Conclusion: CAUR was the first symptom which motivated the consultation in the department of urology in N’Djamena the main problem of public health in Chad.

Prostate Cancer Disease Characteristics at the Time of Diagnosis and Initial Treatment Offered in a Tertiary Hospital at Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso)

Objectives: to describe the characteristics of newly diagnosed prostate cancer (PCa) and the initial treatments offered to patients in the most important urological center of Burkina Faso. Methods: We analyzed the data of a cohort of 168 consecutive patients with no prior history of PCa between January 2009 and December 2012. Diagnosis of PCa was based on histological analysis of transrectal prostate biopsies. Patient and disease characteristics and the initial treatment offered were taken in account. Results: The mean age at presentation was 68.59 ± 9.41 years (range 30 to 95 years). There was a 3.6-fold increase in the incidence of PCa through the four years of the study. The mean duration of symptoms prior to presentation was 11.6 ± 10.9 months. The majority of cases (86.9%) were presented as locally advanced or metastatic disease. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) was the first therapeutic option for 121 patients (72%) and 73 patients (43.4%) underwent ADT through bilateral orchiectomy. Only 3 patients (1.78%) underwent radical prostatectomy. Conclusion: An increase in the diagnosis of PCa in our country was observed in this study. The diagnosis of prostate cancer was usually tardive in Burkina Faso. Treatment often involves surgical ADT for socioeconomic reasons.

Evolution of Tumor Model: From Animal Model of Tumor to Tumor Model in Animal

Patient derived xenograft (PDX) is defined as a growth of patients’ tumor in the xenograft setting. The evolution of cancer model in animal has a century old history. The most single reason that exerted the pressure on the traditional animal model of cancer to evolve to PDX is that the traditional models have not delivered as expected and traditional models have not predicted clinical success. In spite of well above 50 drugs developed and approved for oncology over the last several decades, there remains a nirking paucity of clinical success as a reminder that this war on cancer riding on the animal model is far from won. In a backbreaking attempt to analyze the failure, the limitation of the “model” system appeared to be the most rational cause of this shortcoming. It was more of a failure to test a drug rather than a failure to make a drug that stunted our collective growth and success in cancer research. PDX is the product of this age-old failure and its fitness is currently tested in virtually all organ-type solid tumors. This review will present and appraise PDX model in the context of its evolution, its future promise, its limitations and more specifically, the current content of PDX in different solid tumors including breast, lung, colorectal, prostrate, GBM, pancreatic, hepatocellular carcinoma and melanoma.