Predictive significance of serum inhibin B on testicular haploid gamete retrieval outcomes in nonobstructive azoospermic men

The purpose of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of serum inhibin B(INHB)as a predictor of the retrieval outcome of testicular haploid gametes(spermatids and testicular spermatozoa)in nonobstructive azoospermic men.Serum hormone levels,testicular volume,and histological evaluation were performed in 403 Chin ese non obstructive azoospermic men.Testicular haploid gamete was successfully retrieved in 213 of 403 patients(52.85%).The haploid gamete group always had higher INHB levels than the non-haploid gamete group.According to the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve analysis,INHB was a good predictor of testicular haploid gamete retrieval outcome in all patients(sensitivity:77.93%and specificity:91.58%)and patients with normal follicle-stimulating hormone(FSH;sensitivity:88.52%and specificity:70.83%).The area under the ROC curve(AUC)of INHB was similar to that of FSH in all patients or patients with normal FSH.In patients with elevated FSH,INHB was superior to FSH in predicting the presence of haploid gamete(AUC:0.73 vs 0.55,P<0.05),with a sensitivity of 60.00%and a specificity of 80.28%.It con eluded that serum INHB as an effective marker for spermatoge nesis was a sign ificant predictor of testicular haploid gamete retrieval outcomes in nonobstructive azoospermic men.Especially,INHB is superior to FSH in predicting the presenee of haploid gamete in the patients with elevated FSH.

Association between 5α-reductase inhibitors therapy and incidence, cancer-specific mortality,and progression of prostate cancer: evidence from a meta-analysis

5a-reductase inhibitors(5-ARI)are widely employed for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia.It has been noted that 5-ARI exhibit the potential to attenuate the risk of prostate cancer,but consistent agreement has not been achieved.Moreover,the effect of 5-ARI on cancer-specific mortality and progression of prostate cancer remains unclear.Therefore,the goal of the current meta-analysis was to elucidate the impact of 5-ARI on the incidence and progression of prostate cancer.We searched for all studies assessing the effect of 5-ARI on risk of prostate cancer in PubMed,Embase,Medline,and Cochrane Library databases.Pooled relative risk(RR)and corresponding 95%confidence intervals(CIs)were accepted to evaluate the association between 5-ARI and the risk of prostate cancer.Synthetic results implied that subjects who accepted 5-ARI compared with the placebo group experienced a distinctly weakened overall incidence of prostate cancer(RR=0.74;95%C l:0.66-0.82;P<0.001).Subgroup analyses further revealed that 5-ARI reduction of the incidence of prostate cancer was limited to low-grade(Gleason score 2-6;RR=0.68;95%C l:0.57-0.81;P<0.001)and intermediate-grade tumors(Gleason score 7;RR=0.81;95%C l:0.67-0.97;P=0.023),but not high-grade tumors(Gleason score>7;RR=1.19;95%Cl:0.98-1.43;P=0.069).The results also showed that 5-ARI treatment did not significantly alter prostate cancer-specific mortality(RR=1.0;95%C l:0.95-1.05;P=0.916).In addition,it was worth noting that 5-ARI treatment acted in a protective role that presented a dramatic benefit to delay the progression of low-risk tumors(RR=0.58;95%C l:0.43-0.78;P<0.001).