Introduction: Obesity is a worldwide public health issue with serious psychological and social impacts. Erectile dysfunction is also a common clinical condition, and obesity is one of its main risk factors. Objective: The objective of this study was to systematically evaluate the effect of bariatric surgery on male sexual function. Methods: A systematical research was carried out in Medline via PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science up to March 16, 2019, to identify published articles related to bariatric surgery and male sexual function in men. Two reviewers screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the quality of included studies. I2 index was applied to estimate the heterogeneity. All analyses were done using RevMan5.3 and Stata14. Results: A total of 12 studies involving 420 participants were included. Analysis showed that bariatric surgery significantly reduced body mass index in morbidly obese patients (mean difference [MD] = -13.73; 95% CI -17.23 to -10.22; P < .00001). From 10 studies that reported the International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) score, bariatric surgery led to a significant increase in IIEF-total score (MD = 8.2; 95% CI = 5.52−10.88; P < .00001), and erectile function score (MD = 3.76; 95% CI = 2.34−5.19; P < .00001), sexual desire (MD = 0.93; 95% CI = 0.55−1.32; P < .00001), sexual intercourse satisfaction (MD = 1.73; 95% CI = 0.43−3.03; P < .01), and total satisfaction (MD = 1.28; 95% CI = 0.56−2.00; P = .0005) were also significantly improved. However, bariatric surgery did not affect orgasm function (MD = 0.26; 95% CI = -0.15 to 0.68; P = .21). Three studies that reported the IIEF-5 score also showed a significant improvement of erectile function (MD = 5.45; 95% CI = 3.38−7.52; P < .00001). Conclusions: Bariatric surgery could improve the erectile function, sexual desire, sexual intercourse satisfaction, and total satisfaction in morbidly obese men. Due to limited data on body mass index and hormone levels, our meta-analysis had some limitations. More clinical studies are needed to further explore the relationship between bariatric surgery and male sexual function.

A pan-cancer study of PD-1 and CTLA-4 as therapeutic targets Zongqiang Cai, Xiaojie Ang, Zekun Xu, Shiqing Li, Jianglei Zhang, Changsong Pei, Feng Zhou

Background: Erectile dysfunction (ED) and osteoporosis are both common health problems and have similar risk factors. Recent studies have found that people with ED have a higher risk of osteoporosis. We aimed to systematically assess osteoporosis risk in patients with ED. Methods: A systematically research was carried out in Medline via PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Web of Science up to June 4, 2020, to identify articles related to ED and osteoporosis. The 2 researchers independently reviewed the literature, extracted the data, and evaluated the quality of the literature. All analyses were done using RevMan5.3 and Stata14. Results: A total of 4 studies involving 22,312 participants were included. The meta-analysis results showed that the risk of osteoporosis in the ED group was significantly higher than that in the non-ED group [odds ratio (OR) = 2.66, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.42 to 4.98, P = .002, I ² = 68%]. Interestingly, compared with older participants, the increased risk of osteoporosis in ED patients seemed to be more pronounced in younger participants. Despite the lack of data for meta-analysis, more than half of the literature mentioned this tendency. We found the source of heterogeneity through sensitivity analysis, and there was no significant effect on the results before and after the removal of this literature, indicating that our results were robust. No obvious publication bias was found through Egger method (P = .672). Conclusion: People with ED have a higher risk of osteoporosis, especially among younger males. Because the assessment of osteoporosis is economical and noninvasive, ED patients should be evaluated by bone mineral density or men with osteoporosis should be further assessed for erectile function.

Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) plays a significant role in various tumor types, including prostate cancer. However, its specific role and underlying mechanisms in prostate cancer remain unclear. This study investigates the role of PTHrP and its interaction with the c-Met in prostate cancer. PTHrP was overexpressed and knocked down in prostate cancer cell lines to determine its effect on cell functions. Xenograft tumor models were employed to assess the impact of PTHrP overexpression on tumor growth. To delve into the interaction between PTHrP and c-Met, rescue experiments were conducted. Clinical data and tissue samples from prostate cancer patients were gathered and analyzed for PTHrP and c-Met expression. PTHrP overexpression in prostate cancer cells upregulates c-Met expression and augments cell functions. In contrast, PTHrP-knockdown diminishes c-Met expression and inhibits cell functions. In vivo experiments further demonstrated that PTHrP overexpression promoted tumor growth in xenograft models.Moreover, modulating c-Met expression in rescue experiments led to concurrent alterations in prostate cancer cell functions. Immunohistochemical analysis of clinical samples displayed a significant positive correlation between PTHrP and c-Met expression. Additionally, PTHrP expression correlated with clinical parameters like prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels, tumor stage, lymph node involvement, distant metastasis, and Gleason score. PTHrP plays a crucial role in prostate cancer progression by upregulating c-Met expression. These insights point to PTHrP as a promising potential biomarker for prostate cancer.

Background: Erectile dysfunction(ED) is a common male sexual dysfunction that significantly affects quality of life in men and induce a significant public health problem. Nowadays, vascular dysfunction is known as a common cause of ED. Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) became co-morbidity with ED as vascular event. The increasing number of males with both diseases is a public health problem that deserves our attention.Results: Seven commom genes of DEGs were obtained in ED and AMI. Fifteen terms mainly including I−kappaB kinase/NF−kappaB signaling et al and five KEGG pathways mainly including Toll−like receptor signaling pathway were also obtained. Further, the diagnostic value of top 6 hub genes were identified. Conclusion: The hub genes IKBKG, RIPK1, TNF, RPS27A, TLR2, and TNFAIP3 were selected and their diagnostic values were validated. They may play an important potential role in the occurrence and offer viable targets for treating inflammation-mediated vascular dysfunction in the ED and AMI.

Tumor angiogenesis and cancer stem cells (CSCs) are critical features of malignancies. Research has shown that CSCs promote blood vessel formation, while increased vasculature, in turn, supports CSC proliferation—creating a detrimental feedback loop that drives disease progression. However, studies investigating vascularization and stem-like properties in bladder cancer (BLCA) remain limited. In our investigation, we applied clustering techniques and LASSO methodology to assess the significance of vascularization- and stemness-related genes in predicting responses to chemotherapy and immunotherapy in BLCA. Using multivariate Cox regression analysis, we identified Von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) as the primary prognostic marker associated with both vascularization and stem-like traits. Tissue array analysis of 40 BLCA specimens, combined with molecular docking simulations, revealed interactions between HDAC6 and VHL that influence stem-like behavior and angiogenesis in BLCA. Additionally, VHL showed strong correlations with treatment responses to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy in BLCA. In conclusion, our findings highlight the critical role of vascularization- and stemness-related genes in determining therapeutic outcomes in BLCA and underscore the regulatory relationship between VHL and HDAC6 in modulating treatment response.