Portal hypertension is a common clinical disease and brings a series of complications including the formation of gastrointestinal varicose veins, ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, and abdominal varicose veins. Most of these complications are related to the opening of collateral circulation after the increase in portal venous pressure. On one hand, collateral circulation helps to alleviate the high portal venous pressure, and on the other hand, it brings related complications to patients. This article reviews recent reports and studies on collateral circulation related to portal hypertension, in order to increase our knowledge of collateral circulation in portal hypertension and improve clinical diagnosis and treatment of such disease.

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic efficacy and safety of transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) for the treatment of portal hypertension of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.Methods Ninety-five portal hypertension patients with hepatic carcinoma were enrolled.TIPS was performed in 63 patients and the other 32 patients received support medical care.The data referred to survival time of the 95 patients after treatment was collected by follow-up visit.The informations about success rate of TIPS,hepatic encephalopathy,rebleeding and causes of death were assessed.The Kaplan-Meier method was used to compare the survival time between two groups.The association of survival time with Child-Pugh classification and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score was analyzed.Results The success rate of TIPS was 97.8% with reduction of mean portal vein pressure of 13.6 cmH2O(1 cmH2O=0.098 kPa).The incidence of hepatic encephalopathy was 20.6% and rebleeding was 26.3% six months after TIPS treatment.Fifty-six patients treated with TIPS died at the end of follow-up.Twelve of which were died of variceal bleeding complicated with portal hypertension.The median survival time of TIPS group (3.67 months) was significantly longer than that of control group (1 month). Moreover, the median survival time in patients with low MELD score (≤13) was significantly longer than that in those with high MELD seore (＞13, x2=4.71,P=0.03). Whereas the median survival time was decreasing from Child-Pugh A to C(x2=15.6,P=0.00). Conclusions TIPS is one of effective and safe therapeutic methods to control portal hypertension. However, liver function is an important factor for selcetion of TIPS.

The liver has a very special dual blood supply, including the portal vein (65%~75%) and hepatic artery (25%~35%). The hepatic veins returns blood to the systemic circulation via the portal vein, and hepatic artery after hepatic sinusoidal confluence. The lesions on the hepatic vein and its branches can cause ischemia and hypoxia or obstruction of the drainage system, portal hypertension, upper gastrointestinal variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, and so on. Clinically, hepatic vascular diseases are relatively rare, so the diagnosis and treatment are relatively difficult. Herein, we review the diseases related to the hepatic vascular system.

ObjectiveTo observe the effect of Jiaji electroacupuncture combined with neurodynamic mobilization on nerve conduction velocity and the expression of Netrin-1, Slit2 and Rho GTPases after sciatic nerve injury in rabbits. MethodsA total of 216 New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into nomal control group (NC), vector virus group (VV), Jiaji electroacupuncture combined with neurodynamic mobilization group (EN), Netrin-1 group (N1), Slit2 group (S2) and N1+S2 group. Each group was divided into three subgroups according to the postoperative treatment time points (one, two and four weeks), with twelve rabbits in each subgroup. The rabbit model of Sunderland Ⅲ degree injury of the left sciatic nerve was established by clamping method. There was no intervention in NC, and virus was injected during the preparation of the model. Jiaji electroacupuncture and neurodynamic mobilization were administrated three days after operation in EN group. Nerve conduction velocity of sciatic nerve was measured with electromyography. The sciatic nerve and L_4-6 spinal cords were obtained, the expression of Netrin-1 and Slit2 mRNA were detected real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and immunofluorescence double staining, and the expression of Rac1, Cdc42 and RhoA protein were observed via Western blotting. ResultsOne, two and four weeks after modeling, the nerve conduction velocity was more in EN group and N1+S2 group than in N1 group and S2 group (P < 0.05); the Netrin-1 and Slit2 mRNA expression were higher in the EN group and N1+S2 group than in the VV group and NC group (P < 0.05); the protein expression of Rac1 and Cdc42 were higher, and the protein expression of RhoA was lower in EN group and N1+S2 group than in N1 group, S2 group and VV group (P < 0.05). ConclusionJiaji electroacupuncture combined with nerve mobilization may promote the axonal regeneration by regulating the expression of Netrin-1 and Slit2, adjusting the imbalance of Rho GTPases enzyme system, and then promoting cytoskeleton reorganization and peripheral nerve regeneration after injury.

China is a big country with liver diseases, and various hepatitis viruses, drug poisons, and alcohol can cause liver injury and even liver failure. The key to the prognosis of patients with liver failure is liver self-repair and regeneration. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) has been extensively studied as a tumor marker in liver cancer, but its role in liver regeneration in patients with liver failure awaits further studies. This article summarizes the basic research on AFP in liver regeneration and the clinical research on AFP in acute liver failure and acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), as well as the previous research findings of our group that AFP is an important prognostic index and regeneration factor for liver regeneration after hepatitis B virus-related ACLF. The analysis shows that further studies on the role of AFP in the prognosis of various types of liver failure and the mechanism of liver regeneration will help deepen our understanding of AFP and liver regeneration, thereby providing new ideas and methods for the clinical diagnosis, treatment, and prognostic evaluation of patients with various types of liver failure.

Objective: To investigate the value of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level on survived hepatitis B virus-related acute-on-chronic liver failure (HBV-ACLF) patients treated with artificial liver. Methods: Clinical indicators of HBV-ACLF patients who were previously treated with plasma exchange-based artificial liver at our department were retrospectively collected. The difference of serum AFP level between the survival and the death group was compared at 30, 90 and 180 days after artificial liver treatment. The ROC curves of the subjects were plotted, and the sensitivity and specificity of AFP for the survival prediction of the patients at 30, 90 and 180 days after artificial liver surgery were calculated. AFP was divided into a high AFP group and a low AFP group using median value. AFP and postoperative survival predictive value at 30, 90, and 180 days were analyzed. Results: A total of 93 cases were included in this study. The AFP of the survival group at 30, 90, and 180 days was (231.0 ± 286.2) ng / ml, (237.69 ± 297) ng / ml, (229.44 ± 286.46) ng/ml, and the death group was (76.4 ± 104.7) ng/ml, (103.13 ± 116.99) ng / ml, (136.34 ± 2.9.29) ng/ml, respectively. AFP of the death group was significantly lower than the corresponding survival group (P < 0.05). Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analyses indicated that the area under the curve (AUC) and its 95% confidence interval at 30, 90, and 180 days after artificial liver surgery were 0.739 (0.611 ~ 0.867), 0.675 (0.550 ~ 0.80), 0.653 (0.524 ~ 0.781), respectively. The median serum AFP value was 110 ng/ml, and the survival analysis showed that the survival time of the high AFP group was significantly higher than the low AFP group at 30 d (P = 0.01), 90 d (P = 0.04) and 180 d (P = 0.03) after artificial liver surgery. Conclusion Serum AFP can be used as a predictor of survival for HBV-ACLF patients after artificial liver therapy and its clinical value needs to be further verified by the larger sample size.

【Objective】 To evaluate the safety and efficacy of long-term indwelling of Allium ureteral stent in the treatment of ureteral stricture. 【Methods】 The clinical data of patients who underwent endoscopic Allium ureteral stent implantation for ureteral stricture in our hospital during Aug.2020 and Dec.2022 were retrospectively analyzed, and the surgical conditions and adverse events were recorded. The data of serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and renal pelvis width under ultrasound were compared before surgery and 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery. 【Results】 A total of 52 patients with ureteral stricture of 1.1 (0.7, 2.0)cm were included. All operations were successful. The operation time was 82.5 (70, 114)min, intraoperative blood loss 20 (10, 20)mL, and postoperative hospitalization stay 1 (1, 2) day. During the follow-up of (13.2±7.8) months, 14 patients had stent displacement, 5 had stone obstruction of stent tubes, 7 had occasional hematuria after movement, 9 had intermittent lumbar and abdominal pain, and 1 had recurrent urinary tract infection. The serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen and renal pelvis width of 1 month, 3, 6 and 12 months after surgery were significantly decreased, while GFR was significantly increased. 【Conclusion】 Long-term indwelling of Allium ureteral stent is effective in the treatment of ureteral stricture, but the high incidence of stent displacement should arouse attention.

Osteoarthritis （OA） is characterized by articular cartilage degeneration， synovial hyperplasia， hyperosteogeny， and narrowing of joint space， which can be caused by trauma， inflammation， and other factors. With the increasing global population aging， the incidence of OA is rising year by year， making it a major public health problem that urgently needs to be addressed. Exploring effective treatment schemes is particularly important. The pathogenesis of OA is complex， including oxidative stress， autophagy， and apoptosis. Recent studies have found that ferroptosis， a new type of cell death， is also an important pathogenic factor in OA， characterized by a series of complex changes such as iron ion accumulation， glutathione （GSH） depletion， and mitochondrial dysfunction. Research shows that inhibiting ferroptosis in chondrocytes can promote chondrocyte proliferation， delay extracellular matrix （ECM） degradation， and reduce synovial hyperplasia and inflammation. Targeting ferroptosis is a new direction in the treatment of OA. OA treatment includes intra-articular injections of steroids or hyaluronic acid and artificial joint replacement， but there are limitations. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） has been widely used in the treatment of various diseases because of its low cost， low drug resistance， and few side effects. Cell and animal experiments have further confirmed that TCM can intervene in the treatment of OA with ferroptosis from multiple targets， multiple levels， and aspects， but the mechanism of its treatment of OA based on ferroptosis has not been clarified. This paper discussed iron metabolism， lipid peroxidation， cysteine/glutamate transporter system Xc^- （system Xc^-）/GSH/glutathione peroxidase 4 （GPX4） pathway， nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate（NADPH）/ferroptosis suppressor protein 1 （FSP1）/coenzyme Q₁₀ （CoQ₁₀） pathway， tumor protein p53 in OA， and related molecular targets of Chinese medicine monomers and compounds on ferroptosis inhibition. Their potential therapeutic mechanisms were further analyzed to provide theoretical guidance for the treatment of OA by TCM and useful reference for the research and development of related drugs.