Advances in 3D bioprinting for urethral tissue reconstruction

Urethral conditions affect children and adults, increasing the risk of urinary tract infections, voiding and sexual dysfunction, and renal failure. Current tissue replacements differ from healthy urethral tissues in structural and mechanical characteristics, causing high risk of postoperative complications. 3D bioprinting can overcome these limitations through the creation of complex, layered architectures using materials with location-specific biomechanical properties. This review highlights prior research and describes the potential for these emerging technologies to address ongoing challenges in urethral tissue engineering, including biomechanical and structural mismatch, lack of individualized repair solutions, and inadequate wound healing and vascularization. In the future, the integration of 3D bioprinting technology with advanced biomaterials, computational modeling, and 3D imaging could transform personalized urethral surgical procedures.

Methodological rigour in preclinical urology: a systematic review reporting research quality over a 14-year period

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the prevalence and trends of essential study design elements in preclinical urological studies, as well as key factors that may improve methodological rigour, as the demand for methodological rigour in preclinical studies is increasing since research reproducibility and transparency in the medico-scientific field are being questioned.

METHODS AND RESULTS

PubMed was searched to include preclinical urological studies published between July 2007 to June 2021. A total of 3768 articles met the inclusion criteria. Data on study design elements and animal models used were collected. Citation density was also examined as a surrogate marker of study influence. We performed an analysis of the prevalence of seven critical study design elements and temporal patterns over 14 years. Randomisation was reported in 50.0%, blinding in 15.0%, sample size estimation in 1.0%, inclusion of both sexes in 6.3%, statistical analysis in 97.1%, housing and husbandry in 47.7%, and inclusion/exclusion criteria in 5.0%. Temporal analysis showed that the implementation of these study design elements has increased, except for inclusion of both sexes and inclusion/exclusion criteria. Reporting study design elements were associated with increased citation density in randomisation and statistical analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

The risk of bias is prevalent in 14-year publications describing preclinical urological research, and the quality of methodological rigour is barely related to the citation density of the article. Yet five study design elements (randomisation, blinding, sample size estimation, statistical analysis, and housing and husbandry) proposed by both the National Institutes of Health and Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments guidelines have been either well reported or are being well reported over time.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

PROSPERO CRD42022233125.

The Molecular Mechanism and Therapeutic Application of Autophagy for Urological Disease

Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation process known as autophagic flux, involving the engulfment of damaged proteins and organelles by double-membrane autophagosomes. It comprises microautophagy, chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA), and macroautophagy. Macroautophagy consists of three stages: induction, autophagosome formation, and autolysosome formation. Atg8-family proteins are valuable for tracking autophagic structures and have been widely utilized for monitoring autophagy. The conversion of LC3 to its lipidated form, LC3-II, served as an indicator of autophagy. Autophagy is implicated in human pathophysiology, such as neurodegeneration, cancer, and immune disorders. Moreover, autophagy impacts urological diseases, such as interstitial cystitis /bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS), ketamine-induced ulcerative cystitis (KIC), chemotherapy-induced cystitis (CIC), radiation cystitis (RC), erectile dysfunction (ED), bladder outlet obstruction (BOO), prostate cancer, bladder cancer, renal cancer, testicular cancer, and penile cancer. Autophagy plays a dual role in the management of urologic diseases, and the identification of potential biomarkers associated with autophagy is a crucial step towards a deeper understanding of its role in these diseases. Methods for monitoring autophagy include TEM, Western blot, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry, and genetic tools. Autophagosome and autolysosome structures are discerned via TEM. Western blot, immunofluorescence, northern blot, and RT-PCR assess protein/mRNA levels. Luciferase assay tracks flux; GFP-LC3 transgenic mice aid study. Knockdown methods (miRNA and RNAi) offer insights. This article extensively examines autophagy's molecular mechanism, pharmacological regulation, and therapeutic application involvement in urological diseases.

Recent Advances in Cell Membrane Coated-Nanoparticles as Drug Delivery Systems for Tackling Urological Diseases

Recent studies have revealed the functional roles of cell membrane coated-nanoparticles (CMNPs) in tackling urological diseases, including cancers, inflammation, and acute kidney injury. Cells are a fundamental part of pathology to regulate nearly all urological diseases, and, therefore, naturally derived cell membranes inherit the functional role to enhance the biopharmaceutical performance of their encapsulated nanoparticles on drug delivery. In this review, methods for CMNP synthesis and surface engineering are summarized. The application of different types of CMNPs for tackling urological diseases is updated, including cancer cell membrane, stem cell membrane, immune cell membrane, erythrocytes cell membranes, and extracellular vesicles, and their potential for clinical use is discussed.

Hematospermia as a manifestation of severe hypertension in a young man

Whilst hematospermia may indicate urological disease, it is a rare manifestation of severe systemic hypertension. We describe the case of a young man with hematospermia associated with a blood pressure of 228/135. Blood pressure treatment led to resolution of his hematospermia. Physicians must be aware of this potential association.

Survey on lower urinary tract symptoms and sleep disorders in patients treated at urology departments

OBJECTIVES

This study examined the association between sleep disorders and lower urinary tract symptoms in patients who had visited urology departments.

METHODS

This was an independent cross-sectional, observational study. Outpatients who had visited the urology departments at the Kinki University School of Medicine or the Sakai Hospital, Kinki University School of Medicine, between August 2011 and January 2012 were assessed using the Athens Insomnia Scale and the International Prostate Symptom Score.

RESULTS

In total, 1174 patients (mean age, 65.7 ± 13.7 years), with 895 men (67.1 ± 13.2 years old) and 279 women (61.4 ± 14.6 years old), were included in the study. Approximately half of these patients were suspected of having a sleep disorder. With regard to the International Prostate Symptom Score subscores, a significant increase in the risk for suspected sleep disorders was observed among patients with a post-micturition symptom (the feeling of incomplete emptying) subscore of ≥1 (a 2.3-fold increase), a storage symptom (daytime frequency + urgency + nocturia) subscore of ≥5 (a 2.7-fold increase), a voiding symptom (intermittency + slow stream + hesitancy) subscore of ≥2 (a 2.6-fold increase), and a nocturia subscore of ≥2 (a 1.9-fold increase).

CONCLUSION

The results demonstrated that the risk factors for sleep disorders could also include voiding, post-micturition, and storage symptoms, in addition to nocturia.