Benign prostatic hyperplasia （BPH） is a common chronic progressive disease in middle-aged and elderly men， characterized by prostate enlargement and bladder outlet obstruction， leading to symptoms such as frequent urination， urgency， and difficulty urinating. The pathogenesis of BPH involves factors such as aging， hormonal metabolic abnormalities， inflammatory responses， and imbalances in cell proliferation and apoptosis. Currently， the main treatment methods for BPH include medication， physical therapy， and surgical intervention. However， medication may cause side effects like sexual dysfunction and hypotension， physical therapy has limited efficacy， and surgery carries risks and postoperative complications. Therefore， there is an urgent need to find safer and more effective treatment options. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， with its focus on treatment based on syndrome differentiation and a holistic approach， offers therapeutic advantages through multiple pathways and mechanisms. Recent studies have shown that TCM regulates pathways such as phosphoinositide-3-kinase/protein kinase B （PI3K/Akt）， nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB）， mitogen-activated protein kinases （MAPK）， nuclear factor E₂-related factor 2/antioxidant response element （Nrf2/ARE）， androgen receptor （AR）， transforming growth factor-β （TGF-β）/Smad， and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α/vascular endothelial growth factor （HIF-1α/VEGF） to inhibit oxidative stress and inflammatory response， reduce prostate cell proliferation， and promote apoptosis， thus exerting therapeutic effects. This article summarizes and analyzes the roles of these signaling pathways in the occurrence and development of BPH and the mechanisms of TCM intervention， aiming to provide scientific evidence for clinical treatment and drug development for BPH.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia （BPH） is a common chronic progressive disease in middle-aged and elderly men， characterized by prostate enlargement and bladder outlet obstruction， leading to symptoms such as frequent urination， urgency， and difficulty urinating. The pathogenesis of BPH involves factors such as aging， hormonal metabolic abnormalities， inflammatory responses， and imbalances in cell proliferation and apoptosis. Currently， the main treatment methods for BPH include medication， physical therapy， and surgical intervention. However， medication may cause side effects like sexual dysfunction and hypotension， physical therapy has limited efficacy， and surgery carries risks and postoperative complications. Therefore， there is an urgent need to find safer and more effective treatment options. Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）， with its focus on treatment based on syndrome differentiation and a holistic approach， offers therapeutic advantages through multiple pathways and mechanisms. Recent studies have shown that TCM regulates pathways such as phosphoinositide-3-kinase/protein kinase B （PI3K/Akt）， nuclear factor-κB （NF-κB）， mitogen-activated protein kinases （MAPK）， nuclear factor E₂-related factor 2/antioxidant response element （Nrf2/ARE）， androgen receptor （AR）， transforming growth factor-β （TGF-β）/Smad， and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α/vascular endothelial growth factor （HIF-1α/VEGF） to inhibit oxidative stress and inflammatory response， reduce prostate cell proliferation， and promote apoptosis， thus exerting therapeutic effects. This article summarizes and analyzes the roles of these signaling pathways in the occurrence and development of BPH and the mechanisms of TCM intervention， aiming to provide scientific evidence for clinical treatment and drug development for BPH.

Objective To investigate the effects of different use methods of tourniquet on hidden blood loss and knee joint swelling in total knee arthroplasty(TKA),and to explore its potential benefits for postoperative rehabilitation.Methods A prospective study was conducted from March 2018 to March 2023 in Xuzhou Municipal Hospital Affiliated to Xuzhou Medical University,involving 131 patients who underwent TKA.The patients were divided into three groups based on the method of tourniquet use:44 patients routinely used a tourniquet in group A,48 patients only used a tourniquet during the application of bone cement in group B,and 39 patients did not use tourniquet in group C.Operation time,dressing changes,intraoperative blood loss,total blood loss,explicit blood loss,hidden blood loss,percentage of hidden blood loss,postoperative blood transfusion,hemoglobin(Hb),hematocrit(HCT),C-reactive protein(CRP),and creatine kinase(CK)were compared among groups.The pain and functional recovery were evaluated by visual analogue scale(VAS)and knee society clinical rating system(KSS)before surgery,and 3 days,1 month,and 3 months after surgery.The degree of limb swelling and the range of motion of the knee were also compared among groups.Results Group A had shorter operation time and less frequency of postoperative dressing changes than the other two groups(P<0.05).The hidden blood loss and total blood loss in group A were significantly less than those in group C(P<0.05),and the hidden blood loss and total blood loss volume in the three groups from low to high was group A

Objective To evaluate the efficacy and safety of concurrent chemoradiotherapy versus sequential chemoradiotherapy in the treatment of locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. Methods The relevant literature was searched in PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI and Wanfang databases from the inception to October 15, 2023, and the literature was screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Review Manager 5.3 software was used for meta-analysis of the literature, and the Cochrane bias risk assessment tool was used to evaluate the quality of the literature. Results Finally, 14 randomized controlled studies were included covering a total of 1048 patients. The results of meta-analysis showed that the overall response rate [OR=2.39, 95%CI (1.83, 3.11)], 1-year survival rate [OR=1.81, 95%CI (1.39, 2.35)], 2-year survival rate [OR=1.75, 95%CI (1.27, 2.42)] and 3-year survival rate [OR=2.33, 95%CI (1.49, 3.66)] were superior to sequential chemoradiotherapy (P<0.001). In terms of safety, concurrent chemoradiotherapy increased the incidence of radiation esophagitis (P<0.05), but there was no statistical difference in the incidence of leukopenia and radiation pneumonia (P>0.05). Conclusion For patients with locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer, the short-term efficacy of concurrent chemoradiotherapy is better than that of sequential chemoradiotherapy and can improve the 1-, 2- and 3-year survival rates, but the toxic side effects of the treatment are slightly greater than those of the sequential chemoradiotherapy.

Hypertriglyceridemia （HTG） is the second leading cause of acute pancreatitis in China and can be caused by primary factors， namely gene mutations， which may lead to recurrent hypertriglyceridemic acute pancreatitis （HTG-AP） and difficulties in effective control of triglyceride. This article reports an adult Chinese male patient who experienced eight attacks of HTG-AP and was found to carry a de novo heterozygous mutation， p.K327N， of the GPD1 gene， which may cause the persistent high level of triglyceride and recurrent attacks of HTG-AP.

Prostate cancer （PCa） is one of the most common malignant tumors in the male genitourinary system. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt） signaling pathway is a carcinogenic pathway responsible for the migration， proliferation， and drug resistance of various cancers. In recent years， as the research on the pathogenesis of PCa is deepening， the role of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in the development of PCa has attracted much attention. Traditional Chinese medicine， comprehensively regulating multiple components， targets， and pathways， has shown great potential in the treatment of PCa. This article reviews the research progress of traditional Chinese medicine targeting the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in the treatment of PCa and discusses the expression of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in PCa， which involves inhibiting apoptosis of PCa cells， promoting the cell cycle， invasion， and migration of PCa cells， promoting tumor tissue angiogenesis， and mediating the androgen receptor. Additionally， it summarizes the single Chinese medicines that target and regulate this pathway， including Hedyotis diffusa， Taxus chinensis， Bovisc Alculus， and Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma. The active ingredients of these Chinese medicines mainly include flavonoids， alkaloids， terpenes， polyphenols， lignans， and other compounds. The Chinese medicine compound prescriptions targeting the PI3K/Akt pathway mainly include Wenshen Sanjie prescription， Jianspi Lishi Huayu prescription， Yishen Tonglongtang， Qilan prescription， Xihuangwan， and modified Shenqi Dihuangtang. This review is expected to provide a scientific basis for deeply understanding the pathogenesis of PCa and identifying potential therapeutic targets， as well as to provide new ideas for clinical research and drug development for PCa.

Objective To compare the short-term efficacy and safety of inflatable video-assisted mediastinoscopic transhiatal esophagectomy (IVMTE) and minimally invasive transthoracic esophagectomy (MITE) in the treatment of esophageal cancer. Methods The Cochrane Library, EMbase, PubMed, Wanfang Database, VIP, and CNKI were searched. Literatures related to the short-term efficacy and safety of IVMTE and MITE in the treatment of esophageal neoplasms published from the establishment of the database to December 2023 were searched and meta-analysis was conducted by using RevMan5.4. Quality of case control study or cohort study was assessed by the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) and quality of randomized controlled trial was assessed by Cochrane Handbook. Results A total of 14 studies (12 case control studies and 1 prospective cohort study wiht NOS score more than 7 points and 1 randomized controlled trial wiht low bias risk) were included, comprising 1 163 patients, with 525 in the IVMTE group and 638 in the MITE group. The results of meta-analysis revealed that the IVMTE group exhibited significantly shorter operative time [MD=−60.42, 95%CI (−83.78, −37.07), P<0.001] and postoperative hospital stay [MD=−2.44, 95%CI (−2.93, −1.94), P<0.01] compared to the MITE group. Moreover, intraoperative blood loss [MD=−34.67, 95%CI (−59.11, −10.23), P=0.005], three-day postoperative drainage [MD=−286.66, 95%CI (−469.93, −103.40), P=0.002], incidence of postoperative pulmonary infection [OR=0.38, 95%CI (0.26, 0.56), P<0.001], lung leakage rate [OR=0.12, 95% CI (0.02, 0.63), P=0.01] and overall complication rate [MD=0.41, 95%CI (0.22, 0.75), P=0.004] were all lower in the IVMTE group compared to those in the MITE group. However, the MITE technique demonstrated superiority over IVMTE regarding intraoperative lymph dissection number [MD=−3.52, 95%CI (−6.36, –0.68), P=0.02] and intraoperative recurrent laryngeal nerve injury [OR=1.78, 95%CI (1.22, 2.60), P=0.003]. No significant difference was observed between both methods concerning anastomotic fistula. Conclusion Compared to MITE, IVMTE has advantages such as shorter operation time, less intraoperative blood loss, shorter hospital stay, less postoperative drainage within 3 days, and a lower incidence of pulmonary complications. In terms of laryngeal recurrent nerve injury and lymphatic dissection, MITE operation offers more benefits.

Objective To systematically evaluate the efficacy of adjuvant radiotherapy after thymoma resection. Methods The PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Wanfang, VIP, CNKI databases were systematically searched to find relevant literature comparing the efficacy and effectiveness of thymoma resection and thymoma resection+postoperative radiation therapy (PORT) for treating thymoma published from inception to January 2024. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to evaluate the quality of included retrospective studies, and Review Manager 5.4 software was used to perform meta-analysis. Results A total of 23 articles were included, all of which were retrospective studies. There were a total of 13742 patients, including 6980 patients in the simple surgery group, with 3321 males and 3659 females, and an average age of 54.08 years; 6762 patients in the surgery+PORT group, with 3385 males and 3377 females, and an average age of 53.76 years. The NOS scores of the included literature were all≥7 points. The results of the meta-analysis showed that compared with the simple surgery group, the surgery+PORT group had higher 1-year overall survival rate [OR=0.32, 95%CI (0.25, 0.42), P<0.001], 3-year overall survival rate [OR=0.55, 95%CI (0.48, 0.64), P<0.001], 5-year overall survival rate [OR=0.66, 95%CI (0.58, 0.75), P<0.001], 10-year overall survival rate [OR=0.71, 95%CI (0.57, 0.88), P=0.002], 1-year disease-free survival rate [OR=0.47, 95%CI (0.23, 0.93), P=0.030], 5-year disease-free survival rate [OR=0.61, 95%CI (0.45, 0.84), P=0.003], 3-year disease-specific survival rate [OR=0.44, 95%CI (0.35, 0.55), P<0.001], 5-year disease-specific survival rate [OR=0.53, 95%CI (0.44, 0.63), P<0.001] and 10-year disease-specific survival rate [OR=0.53, 95%CI (0.35, 0.82), P=0.004]. But there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of 3-year disease-free survival rate [OR=0.86, 95%CI (0.61, 1.22), P=0.400], 10-year disease-free survival rate [OR=0.70, 95%CI (0.47, 1.05), P=0.080] and 1-year disease-specific survival rate [OR=0.83, 95%CI (0.55, 1.26), P=0.380]. Conclusion PORT after thymoma resection has more advantages than simple surgical treatment in terms of 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year overall survival, 1- and 5-year disease-free survival, and 3-, 5- and 10-year disease-specific survival.

Objective     To systematically evaluate the accuracy of endoscopy-based artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted diagnostic systems in the diagnosis of early-stage esophageal cancer and provide a scientific basis for its diagnostic value. Methods    PubMed, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Wanfang database, VIP database and CNKI database were searched by computer to search for the relevant literature about endoscopy-based AI-assisted diagnostic systems for the diagnosis of early esophageal cancer from inception to March 2022. The QUADAS-2 was used for quality evaluation of included studies. Meta-analysis of the literature was carried out using Stata 16, Meta-Disc 1.4 and RevMan 5.4 softwares. A bivariate mixed effects regression model was utilized to calculate the combined diagnostic efficacy of the AI-assisted system and meta-regression analysis was conducted to explore the sources of heterogeneity. Results    A total of 17 articles were included, which consisted of 13 retrospective cohort studies and 4 prospective cohort studies. The results of the quality evaluation using QUADAS-2 showed that all included literature was of high quality. The obtained meta-analysis results revealed that the AI-assisted system in the diagnosis of esophageal cancer presented a combined sensitivity of 0.94 (95%CI 0.91 to 0.96), a specificity of 0.85 (95%CI 0.74 to 0.92), a positive likelihood ratio of 6.28 (95%CI 3.48 to 11.33), a negative likelihood ratio of 0.07 (95%CI 0.05 to 0.11), a diagnostic odds ratio of 89 (95%CI 38 to 208) and an area under the curve of 0.96 (95%CI 0.94 to 0.98). Conclusion    The AI-assisted diagnostic system has a high diagnostic value for early stage esophageal cancer. However, most of the included studies were retrospective. Therefore, further high-quality prospective studies are needed for validation.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of folic acid coated-crosslinked urethane-doped polyester elastomer (fCUPE) nerve conduit in repairing long distance peripheral nerve injury. METHODS: Thirty-six 3-month-old male Sprague Dawley rats weighing 180-220 g were randomly assigned to 3 groups, each consisting of 12 rats: CUPE nerve conduit transplantation group (group A), fCUPE nerve conduit transplantation group (group B), and autologous nerve transplantation group (group C), the contralateral healthy limb of group C served as the control group (group D). A 20-mm-long sciatic nerve defect model was established in rats, and corresponding materials were used to repair the nerve defect according to the group. The sciatic function index (SFI) of groups A-C was calculated using the Bain formula at 1, 2, and 3 months after operation. The nerve conduction velocity (NCV) of the affected side in groups A-D was assessed using neuroelectrophysiological techniques. At 3 months after operation, the regenerated nerve tissue was collected from groups A-C for S-100 immunohistochemical staining and Schwann cell count in groups A and B to compare the level of nerve repair and regeneration in each group. RESULTS: At 3 months after operation, the nerve conduits in all groups partially degraded. There was no significant adhesion between the nerve and the conduit and the surrounding tissues, the conduit was well connected with the distal and proximal nerves, and the nerve-like tissues in the conduit could be observed when the nerve conduit stents were cut off. SFI in group A was significantly higher than that in group C at each time point after operation and was significantly higher than that in group B at 2 and 3 months after operation ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference in SFI between groups B and C at each time point after operation ( P>0.05). NCV in group A was significantly slower than that in the other 3 groups at each time point after operation ( P<0.05). The NCV of groups B and C were slower than that of group D, but the difference was significant only at 1 month after operation ( P<0.05). There was no significant difference between groups B and C at each time point after operation ( P>0.05). Immunohistochemical staining showed that the nerve tissue of group A had an abnormal cavo-like structure, light tissue staining, and many non-Schwann cells. In group B, a large quantity of normal neural structures was observed, the staining was deeper than that in group A, and the distribution of dedifferentiated Schwann cells was obvious. In group C, the nerve bundles were arranged neatly, and the tissue staining was the deepest. The number of Schwann cells in group B was (727.50±57.60) cells/mm ², which was significantly more than that in group A [(298.33±153.12) cells/mm ²] ( t=6.139, P<0.001). CONCLUSION The fCUPE nerve conduit is effective in repairing long-distance sciatic nerve defects and is comparable to autologous nerve grafts. It has the potential to be used as a substitute material for peripheral nerve defect transplantation.
Rats ; Animals ; Male ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Polyesters ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries/surgery* ; Elastomers ; Urethane ; Sciatic Nerve/injuries* ; Carbamates ; Nerve Tissue ; Nerve Regeneration/physiology*