Objective To assess the clinical effectiveness and safety of astragalus injection plus androgen versus androgen alone for patients with aplastic anemia (AA). Methods Such databases as The Cochrane Library (Issue 3, 2011), PubMed (1966 to March 2011), EMbase (1974 to March 2011), CNKI (1994 to March 2011), VIP (1989 to March 2011) and Wanfang Data (1997 to March 2011) were searched to include the randomized controlled trails (RCTs) according to the inclusive and exclusive criteria. The data were extracted, the quality was assessed, and meta-analysis was conducted by using Revman5.0.24 software. Results Seven RCTs involving 518 patients with AA were included. The meta-analysis showed that the astragalus plus androgen treatment group was superior to the androgen alone group in the total effective rate with significant difference (OR=3.12, 95%CI 2.09 to 4.66, Plt;0.000 01); the adverse events in the treatment group were fewer than those in the control group with significant difference (OR=0.30, 95%CI 0.12 to 0.76, P=0.01); but the promotion degree of myelosis between the two groups was similar without significant difference (OR=1.93, 95%CI 0.85 to 4.38, P=0.11). Conclusion The astragalus plus androgen treatment is superior to the androgen alone treatment in the total effective rate and fewer adverse events. More high-quality trails are required to verify this conclusion due to the low quality and small scale of the included studies.
Objective:To observe the effects of testosterone on optic nerve an d retinal ganglion cells (RGC) in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE ). Methods:Fourty one female Wistar rats were randomly divide d into 3 groups: the normal group (10 rats), the untreated control group (15 rats) and the testos terone group (16 rats). The rats in the first two groups were fed with 1% ethano l every day, and the rats in the testosterone group were fed with methyltestoste rone (0.25 mg/kg) every day. On the 20th day, EAE model was induced in the untre ated control group and the testosterone group by injecting guinea pig spinal cor d homogenate in complete Freund's adjuvant and bordetella pertussis vaccine. RGC were labeled with flurogold (FG) by injecting it in superior colliculus and lat eral geniculate body 7 days before establishing EAE model. All rats were fed wit h drugs continuously, and after 1430 days, rats in normal group and rats in un t reated control and testosterone groups who had symptoms within 48～72 hours were observed by light microscopy and flash visual evoked potential (FVEP) to detect the functional and morphological changes of optic nerve. The number of RGC was counted by fluorescence microscopy，and apoptosis of RGC was observed by termina l deoxynucleotidyl transferasemediated biotinylated UTP nick end labeling (TUN E L) Results:EAE rats presented weakness or paralysis of tail a nd hind limbs 10 days after establishing EAE model. Compared with the rats in the untreated contr ol group, the rats in the testosterone group had longer disease delitescence and lower clinical score (P=0.042). Extensive demyelination of optic nerves wi th the circuitous configuration was found in the untreated control group; while mild demyelination of optic nerves with regular figure was found in the testosterone group. In the testosterone group, the latency of N1、P and N2 wave was shorter w hile the amplitude ofN1-P and P-N2was higher than that in the untreated cont rol group (Plt;0.05). The number of RGC was (2284plusmn;132), (934plusmn;78, and (1725 plusmn;95)cells/mm2 in the normal, untreated control and testosterone groups, respectively; w hich was higher in testosterone group than that in untreated control group (P=0.028). The number of TUNEL positive cells was (4.02plusmn;0.16), (24.44plusmn;2.22), and (9.84plusmn;2.36) cells per high power field (times;400) in the 3 grou ps, respectively; wh ich was less in testosterone group than that in untreated control group (P＝0.025). Conclusions:Testosterone may reduce the incidence and clinical score of EAE, inhibit the apoptosis of RGC, alleviate the demyelinatio n of optic nerves, and improved the conduction function of optic nerves.
ObjectiveTo detect protein expression of androgen receptor (AR) in patients with estrogen receptor (ER)-positive primary breast cancer and investigate its significances on prognosis.MethodsThe clinicopathologic data of female patients with ER-positive primary breast cancer in the Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University from January 2012 to December 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. The AR protein expression in the breast cancer tissue was detected by the immunohistochemistry. The relationship between the AR protein expression and the clinicopathologic characteristics such as the age, tumor diameter, invasive biological behavior, molecular typing or the survival after the operation was analyzed.ResultsThe positive rate of AR protein expression was 58.5% (76/130) in the patients with ER-positive primary breast cancer. The positive rates of AR protein expression in the patients with the low differentiation, clinical stage Ⅲ+Ⅳ, p53 positive, neurovascular invasion, and lymph node metastasis were significantly lower than those in the patients with the moderate and high differentiations, clinical stage Ⅰ +Ⅱ, p53 negative, without neurovascular invasion, and without lymph node metastasis (P<0.050). The positive rate of AR protein expression was not correlated with the age, menstrual status, tumor diameter, progesterone receptor and Her-2 statuses, Ki-67, or molecular typing (P>0.050). The 3-year and 5-year overall survival and tumor-free survival of the AR-positive patients were significantly higher than those of the AR-negative patients (P<0.050). The 5-year cumulative total survival and tumor-free survival of the AR-positive patients were significantly better than those of the AR-negative patients (χ2=8.134, P=0.004; χ2=9.150, P=0.002).ConclusionsPatient with AR protein positive expression in ER-positive breast cancer has a better differentiation, lower clinical stage, and weaker invasiveness. Long-term survival of patient with AR protein positive expression after standardized treatment is also better than that of patient with AR protein negative expression. It might provide an important additional information on prognosis and become a promising object for targeted therapy.
The level of androgen receptor (AR), estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) of carcinoma and pericarcinoma tissue were determined in 30 cases of male hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients operated by streptavidin peroxdase conjugated method, meanwhile used 20 patients with benign liver disease as a contrast group. The results showed that the positive rate of AR in tumor tisse was 80.0%, significantly higher than that in peritumor tissue (46.7%) and liver tissue of benign diseases (40.0%), Ｐ＜0.01, and there was no significantly difference between the latter two groups (Ｐ＞0.05). The positive rate of ER in carcinoma tissue (43.3%) was notably lower than that in pericarcinoma tissue (80.0%), Ｐ＜0.01. Statistically significantly difference wasn’t achieved in contrast with the benign diseases group (50.0%), Ｐ＞0.05. The positive rate of PR had no significantly difference among the three groups (Ｐ＞0.05). The authors suggest that sex hormone is related to initializing and developing of HCC by the action via its receptor, the level of AR and ER can be used as a prognosis determine index of HCC.
Objective To investigate the effect of epristeride on 5-alpha-reductase activity and androgen receptor levels in prostate tissue. Methods Forty patients with benign prostate hyperplasia were randomly divided into the trial group and the control group with 20 in each group. Patients in the trial group were administered oral epristeride and terazosin, while those in the control group were given just terazosin. All patients underwent trans-urethral resection of the prostate after two weeks, and then the 40 samples of prostate were tested immunohistochemically for 5-alpha-reductase activities and androgen receptor levels. Results The 5-alpha-reductase in prostate tissue was not stained or lightly stained in the trial group, while it was heavily stained in the control group. The androgen receptor in prostate tissue was heavily stained in both groups. Conclusion Oral epristeride can inhibit the activity of 5-alpha-redutase in prostate tissue, but it has no obvious effect on the androgen receptor level in prostate tissue.
Objective To explore the expressions of androgen （AR） and Stathmin in triple negative breast cancer （TNBC） and analyze the correlation between these expressions and clinicopathologic features. Methods Eighty-three patients who were diagnosed as TNBC and met the inclusion criteria from 2005 to 2009 in the Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital were collected retrospectively. The expressions of AR and Stathmin in the TNBC tissues by using the method of EnVision immunohistochemistry. The correlation between AR or Stathmin expression and age， tumor size， lymph node status， or histological grade was analyzed by Spearman test. Results The AR and Stathmin positive expression rates in the patients with TNBC were 37.3% （31/83） and 98.8% （82/83）， respectively. The AR expression was positively correlated with age（rs=0.302， P=0.006）and pathological grade （rs=0.225， P=0.041）， but was not correlated with tumor size or lymph node status. The Stathmin expression was not correlated with age， tumor size， lymph node status， or pathological grade （P＞0.05） . Conclusions The AR expression is correlated with the age or pathological grade but Stathmin expression was all not correlated with the clinicopathologic features. AR or Stathmin as a prognosis indicator in patients with TNBC are needed to more research.