OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinical efficacy of argon plasma coagulation (APC) combined with laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair and fundoplication in the treatment of hiatal hernia associated with Barrett esophagus.

METHODSA total of 61 cases of hiatal hernias with Barrett esophagus from June 2010 to January 2014 in the Department of Minimal Invasive Surgery, Hernia and Abdominal wall Surgery, People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uyhur Autonomous Region were prospectively enrolled and were randomly allocated into two groups by computer system. Twenty-nine patients received esomeprazole 40 mg/d after APC treatment for 8 weeks (APC with medicine group). Thirty-two patients underwent laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair and Nissen fundoplication after APC treatment (APC with surgery group). All the patients were reviewed by gastroscope and pathologic examination at half a year and one year after operation respectively. Differences of disease improvement and recurrence between the two groups were evaluated.

RESULTSIn APC with medicine group, the Barrett's esophagus was relieved after one or two times of APC treatment, however, gastroscope and pathology revealed recurrence of Barrett's esophagus in 7 cases at half a year, and cumulative 16 cases of recurrences were detected after one year follow-up(16/29, 55.2%). In APC with surgery group, only one patient had recurrent Barrett's esophagus at half a year, and a total of two at one year follow-up by gastroscope examination(2/32, 6.3%). Significantly low recurrence rate of Barrett's esophagus was observed in APC with surgery group compared to APC with medicine group(P<0.01). Furthermore, recurrent hiatal hernia was detected in only one case in APC with surgery group. No esophageal cancer was found in both groups during follow-up.

CONCLUSIONAPC combined with laparoscopic hiatal hernia repair and fundoplication is an ideal method for patients with hiatal hernia and Barrett's esophagus.

Objective To investigate the effect of tumor-associated macrophage exosomes on glycolysis of pancreatic cancer cells and its mechanism.Methods The THP-1 cells were induced to differentiate into the M0 and M2 macrophages,and the exosomes(M0 exo and M2 exo)were extracted.The pancreatic cancer cells CAPAN-2 and ASPC-1 were divided into the PBS group,the M0 exo group,the M2 exo group and the M2 exo+siKRAS group,and co-incubated with equal volumes of PBS,10 μg/mL of M0 exo,10 μg/mL of M2 exo,and transfection of KRAS siRNA and 10 μg/mL of M2 exo,respectively.Transmission electron microscopy was used to observe the structure of exosomes;CCK-8 was used to detect the cell proliferation capacity;the kit was used to detect the glucose uptake rate and production level of lactic acid,and Western blot was used to detect the exosome markers expression,KRAS protein expression and ERK1/2 phosphorylation level.Results THP-1 was induced to differentiate into M2 macrophages expressing Arg-1 and IL-10 marker proteins.M0 exo and M2 exo had a bilayer membrane structure with a particle size of about 100 nm and expressed exosomal marker proteins of CD9,CD81,and TSG101.Compared with the PBS group,the cell proliferation,glucose uptake rate,production level of lactic acid of CAPAN-2 and ASPC-1 cells in the M2 exo group increased significantly(P<0.05),and the KRAS expression and ERK1/2 phosphorylation level were significantly increased(P<0.001).Compared with the M2 exo group,the proliferation,glucose uptake rate and production level of lactic acid of CAPAN-2 and ASPC-1 cells in the M2 exo+siKRAS group decreased significantly(P<0.05).Conclusion Tumor-associated macrophage exosomes can promote the glycolysis of pancreatic cancer cells via the activation of KRAS signaling pathway.