ObjectiveTo study the method,indications, advantage and shortcoming of laparoscopic repair of inguinal hernia. MethodsFrom Jun. 1995 to Jun. 2000,50 patients with inguinal hernia were treated with laparoscopy. There were 34 indirect inguinal hernia, 9 direct inguinal hernia and 7 concealed hernia. The transabdominal preperitoneal laparoscopic mesh repair of hernia(TAPP) was performed in 34 patients. Closure of the internal orifice of hernia was performed in 7 patients. Totally extraperitoneal repair was performed in 9 patients. ResultsAll cases were operated successfully. The mean operation time was 59.3(15～180) mins. The average length of postoperative stay was 5.4(3～7)days. There were no death record and no conversion operation. There was one early failure owing to the use of too small a piece of mesh. There has been no long-term recurrence. ConclusionThe results indicate that mesh repair of hernias is a satisfactory technique with a low recurrence rate and a low major complication rate.

Talk teaching is an effective form of teaching research activity.It focuses on the teachers,teaching ideas and their abilities of curriculum development,curriculum designing and teaching practice.It is of great significance in optimizing pathophysiologic teaching,improving the teaching effect and teachers'quality.It is worth discussing and promoting.Talk teaching should be the basic skill necessary to the teachers of basic medicine.

AIM: To explore the effect of atorvastatin on the expression of α-SMA and TGF-β1 in the adventi-tia of ApoE-/-mice with atherosclerosis, and to investigate the underlying mechanism of atorvastatin therapy.METHODS:Male ApoE-/-mice (n =40) at 6-weeks of age were used to establish the atherosclerosis model by feeding with high fat diet. The mice were randomly divided into model group and atorvastatin group.In atorvastatin group, the mice were lavaged with atorvastatin at dose of 20 mg? kg-1? d-1 .The mice in model group were given normal saline.C57BL/6 mice of the same age served as control group, feeding with ordinary food.The mice were respectively sacrificed at the time points of 10 and 15 weeks after feeding with different diets.The ascending aorta was removed for serial sectioning.Some sections were per-formed with Movat staining in order to observe the morphological changes of the tissues, and to measure the relative athero-sclerotic plaque area and the thickness of the adventitia.Some sections were stained with Sirius red to identify the collagen synthesis.Immunohistochemistry assay was prepared to observe the expression of α-SMA and TGF-β1 in the adventitia at different time points.The expression of TGF-β1 at mRNA and protein levels in the thoracoabdominal aorta was measured by RT-qPCR and Western blot.RESULTS: Compared with model group, the formation of plaque in atorvastatin group signifi-cantly descended.Meanwhile the adventitial thickness and collagen synthesis also decreased.The results of immunohisto-
chemical staining showed that compared with 10 weeks-model group, α-SMA and TGF-β1 in 15 weeks-model group was in-creased.The expression of α-SMA and TGF-β1 in atorvastatin group decreased significantly compared with model group. The expression of TGF-β1 at mRNA and protein levels in model group were higher than those in control group.They de-creased in atorvastatin group compared with model group.Compared with 10 weeks-model group, the mRNA and protein of TGF-β1 in 15 weeks-model group were increased.CONCLUSION: Atorvastatin modulates adventitial fibroblast phenotype differentiation by suppressing expression of TGF-β1 and intervenes atherosclerotic development in ApoE.

Objective To investigate the consistency of fetal gallbladder volume (FGV) during middle-late pregnancy with three-dimensional ultrasonic virtual organ computer-aided analysis (VOCAL) technique at different rotation angles,and to analyze the correlation between FGV and gestation age.Methods A total of 157 healthy pregnant women underwent prenatal screening were included.The reference range of FGV was measured with three-dimensional ultrasonic VOCAL at 30°,18° and 12° rotation angle,respectively.The correlation between FGV and gestation age was observed,and the consistency of FGV values measured with VOCAL at different rotation step angles was compared.Results The correlations between FGV values measured with VOCAL at 30°,18°,12° rotation step angles and gestation age were all excellent (r=0.92,0.88,0.90;all P＜ 0.001).The consistency of FGV values measured with VOCAL at different rotation step angles was very good (30° and 18°,ICC=0.94;30° and 12°,ICC=0.97;18° and 12°,ICC=0.94).Conclusion Three-dimensional ultrasonic VOCAL can be used to establish the reference range of fetal gallbladder volume in middle-late pregnancy.The consistency of FGV values measured with VOCAL at different rotation step angles was very good,and the correlation between FGV and gestation age was excellent.

OBJECTIVE To study the toxicity-reducing effects and mechanisms of Niuhuang Jiedu Tablets(NHJDT)by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry(GC-MS)metabolomics.METHODS 24 mice were randomly divided into control,realgar(1.0 g·kg-1)and NHDJT(1.0 g·kg-1)groups with 8 mice in each group.The liver and kidney of mice were collected for patho-logic examination after 14 d oral administration to mice.The content of alanine aminotransferase(ALT)and aspartate aminotransferase(AST)in liver and creatinine(Cr)and uric acid(UA)in kidney was also determined.The differences of endogenous metabolites in liver and kidney were further analyzed by GC-MS metabolomics.RESULTS The contents of ALT and AST in the liver as well as the Cr and UA in kidney of mice were significantly changed after NHJDT intervention(P<0.05).NHJDT alleviated the pathological dam-age of liver and kidney in mice.A total of 17 biomarkers related to detoxification were screened,including citric acid,ascorbic acid,asparagine,levodopa and phenylalanine.The changes of metabolites mainly involved in glutamine and glutamate metabolism,arginine biosynthesis,tryptophan metabolism,tyrosine and tryptophan biosynthesis,and phenylalanine metabolism.CONCLUSION NHJDT with compound compatibility could reduce the hepatorenal toxicity of realgar.The detoxification mechanism may be related to the regu-lation of amino acid metabolism.

Objective:To evaluate the relationship between preoperative serum cystatin C (Cys C) concentration and postoperative delirium (POD) in the patients.Methods:Three hundred and ninety patients, aged >50 yr, of American Society of Anesthesiologists Physical Status classification Ⅰor Ⅱ, scheduled for elective knee and hip replacement under combined spinal-epidural anesthesia, with Mini-Mental State Examination scores >23 at 1 day before operation, were included in the study. Peripheral blood samples were collected before operation, and the serum Cys C concentration was measured by the latex-enhanced immunoturbidimetric assay. The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) 2 ml was collected after successful spinal-epidural puncture for determination of amyloid-β 42 (Aβ42), total tau (T-tau) and phosphorylated tau (P-tau) concentrations by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The patients were divided into POD group and non-POD group according to whether POD occurred. The logistic regression analysis was used to identify the risk and protective factors for POD, and the mediating effect of CSF biomarkers was analyzed. The receiver operating characteristic curve was drawn to evaluate the accuracy of serum Cys C concentration and combination of serum Cys C conceatration and CSF biomarker concentration in predicting POD.Results:Three hundred and twenty-seven patients were finally enrolled, and the incidence of POD was 13.5%. The results of logistic regression showed that increased serum Cys C concentration and increased concentrations of P-tau and T-tau in CSF were risk factors for POD, while increased concentration of Aβ42 and increased Aβ42/P-tau ratio and Aβ42/T-tau ratio in CSF were protective factors for POD ( P<0.05) after adjusting for multiple confounding variables such as age, sex, years of education, Mini-Mental State Examination score, smoking history, drinking history, hypertension and diabetes history. The mediation analysis showed that the relationship between serum Cys C concentration and POD was mediated by T-tau concentration in CSF (11.1%) and by Aβ42/T-tau ratio in CSF (18.0%). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of serum Cys C and CSF biomarker concentrations in predicting POD was 0.807 ( P<0.001). Conclusions:Increase in preoperative serum Cys C concentration is a risk factor for POD. T-tau concentration and Aβ42/T-tau ratio in CSF serve as the key mediators in the relationship between preoperative serum Cys C concentration and POD.

Etiological research is necessary for understanding the occurrence and epidemiological patterns of diseases, and is also a prerequisite for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of clinical diseases. Mendelian randomization(MR), a method of research that combines genetics and epidemiology, has the advantage of exploring the causal relationship between exposure and disease genetically as well as avoiding confounding factors and reverse causation. Thus, it has been extensively utilized in the etiological study of diseases. This paper reviews the implementation of MR in the research of ocular diseases and provides ideas and approaches for the investigation of related mechanisms as well as the development of intervention strategies.

Cancer genomics has led to the discovery of numerous oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes that play critical roles in cancer development and progression.Oncogenes promote cell growth and proliferation,whereas tumor suppressor genes inhibit cell growth and division.The dysregulation of these genes can lead to the development of cancer.Recent studies have focused on non-coding RNAs(ncRNAs),including circular RNA(circRNA),long non-coding RNA(lncRNA),and microRNA(miRNA),as therapeutic targets for cancer.In this article,we discuss the oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes of ncRNAs associated with different types of cancer and their potential as therapeutic targets.Here,we highlight the mechanisms of action of these genes and their clinical applications in cancer treatment.Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer development and identifying specific therapeutic targets are essential steps towards the development of effective cancer treatments.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effects of Tongluo Juanbi granules on chondrocyte apoptosis and Toll-like receptor 4 （TLR4）/myeloid differentiation factor 88 （MyD88）/nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB） signaling pathway of rabbits with knee osteoarthritis （KOA） and study the mechanism of Tongluo Juanbi granules in the prevention and treatment of KOA. MethodThirty New Zealand rabbits were randomly assigned to the following five groups （n=6）： sham group， model group， low-dose and high-dose groups of Tongluo Juanbi granules （4.1 and 8.2 g·kg^-1·d^-1）， and celecoxib group （10.9 mg·kg^-1·d^-1）. The KOA model was established by destabilization of the medial meniscus （DMM） for six weeks. Six weeks after the modeling， the drug was given once a day for eight weeks. The pathological changes of cartilago articularis were observed by hematoxylin-eosin （HE） staining and Safranin O-Fast Green staining. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling （TUNEL） staining was performed to detect chondrocyte apoptosis. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was used to detect the contents of interleukin-1β （IL-1β） and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） in synovial fluid. The mRNA and protein expression levels of genes related to the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction （Real-time PCR） and Western blot， respectively. ResultCompared with the sham group， the cartilago articularis of the model group significantly degenerated. Mankin's score was increased （P<0.01）， and the contents of IL-1β and TNF-α in synovial fluid were increased （P<0.01）. The number of apoptosis of chondrocytes was increased （P<0.01）. The mRNA and protein expressions of TLR4， MyD88， and NF-κB p65 in cartilage tissue were up-regulated （P<0.01）， while the mRNA and protein expressions of Bcl-2 were down-regulated （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， chondrocyte degeneration in both low-dose and high-dose groups of Tongluo Juanbi granules was improved， and Mankin's score was decreased （P<0.01）. The contents of IL-1β and TNF-α were decreased （P<0.01）， and the number of apoptosis of chondrocytes was decreased （P<0.01）. The mRNA and protein expressions of TLR4， MyD88， and NF-κB p65 in cartilage tissue were down-regulated （P<0.01）， while the mRNA and protein expressions of Bcl-2 were up-regulated （P<0.01）. In addition， in the above observation indicators， the high-dose group of Tongluo Juanbi granules was significantly superior to the low-dose group of Tongluo Juanbi granules. ConclusionTongluo Juanbi granules could inhibit chondrocyte apoptosis in rabbits with KOA and improve cartilage degeneration， which may be related to inhibiting inflammatory responses mediated by TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway.