Traditional Chinese medicine formula (TCMF) represents a fundamental component of Chinese medical practice, incorporating medical knowledge and practices from both Han Chinese and various ethnic minorities, while providing comprehensive insights into health and disease. The foundation of TCMF lies in its holistic approach, manifested through herbal compatibility theory, which has emerged from extensive clinical experience and evolved into a highly refined knowledge system. Within this framework, Chinese herbal medicines exhibit intricated characteristics, including multi-component interactions, diverse target sites, and varied biological pathways. These complexities pose significant challenges for understanding their molecular mechanisms. Contemporary advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping research in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), offering immense potential to transform our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying TCMFs. This review explores the application of AI in uncovering these mechanisms, highlighting its role in compound absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) prediction, molecular target identification, compound and target synergy recognition, pharmacological mechanisms exploration, and herbal formula optimization. Furthermore, the review discusses the challenges and opportunities in AI-assisted research on TCMF molecular mechanisms, promoting the modernization and globalization of TCM.
Artificial Intelligence ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacokinetics* ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Animals

Objective:To investigate the application value of magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) in evaluating the efficacy of anti-PD-1 combined with neoadjuvant therapy for microsatellite stability (MSS)/proficient mismatch repair (pMMR) locally advanced rectal cancer (LARC).Methods:The prospective single-arm phase Ⅱ study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 37 patients with MSS/pMMR LARC who were admitted to Beijing Friendship Hospital of Capital Medical University from April 2021 to September 2022 were collected. All patients underwent anti-PD-1 combined with neoadjuvant therapy and radical total mesorectal excision. Observation indicators: (1) enrolled pati-ents; (2) MRI and pathological examination; (3) concordance analysis of MRI examination reading; (4) evaluation of MRI examination. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD. Count data were expressed as absolute numbers or percentages. Linear weighted κ value was used to evaluate the concordance of radiologist assessment. Sensitivity, negative predictive value, accuracy, overstaging rate and understaging rate were used to evaluate the predictive value. Results:(1) Enrolled patients. A total of 37 eligible patients were screened out, including 21 males and 16 females, aged (61±11)years. MRI examination was performed before and after combined therapy, and pathological examination was performed after radical resection. (2) MRI and pathological examination of patients. Among the 37 patients, MRI before combined therapy showed 0, 0, 5, 24 and 8 cases in stage T0, T1, T2, T3 and T4, 10, 17 and 10 cases in stage N0, N1 and N2, 28 and 9 cases of positive and negative extramural vascular invasion (EMVI), 4 and 33 cases of positive and negative mesorectal fascia (MRF), respectively. MRI examination after combined therapy showed 15, 4, 7, 10 and 1 cases in stage T0, T1, T2, T3 and T4, 34, 2 and 1 cases in stage N0, N1 and N2, 9 and 28 cases of positive and negative EMVI, 1 and 36 cases of positive and negative MRF. There were 16, 13, 8 and 0 cases of tumor regression grading (TRG) 0, 1, 2 and 3, respectively. Postoperative pathological examination showed 18, 4, 3, 11, 1 cases in stage T0, T1, T2, T3, T4, 33, 3, 1 cases in stage N0, N1, N2, positive and negative EMVI and unknown data in 1, 35, 1 cases, positive and negative circumferential margin in 0 and 37 cases, grade 0, grade 1, grade 2, grade 3 of American Joint Committee on Cancer TRG in 18, 9, 8, 2 cases, respectively. Pathological complete response rate was 48.6%(18/37) and approximate pathological complete response rate was 24.3%(9/37). (3)Concordance analysis of MRI examination reading. The κ value of T staging and N staging on MRI before combined therapy was 0.839 ( P<0.05) and 0.838 ( P<0.05), respectively. The κ value of T staging and N staging on MRI after combined therapy was 0.531 ( P<0.05) and 0.846 ( P<0.05), respectively. The κ value of EMVI and MRF was 0.708 ( P<0.05) and 0.680 ( P<0.05) before combined therapy, and they were 0.561 ( P<0.05) and 1.000 ( P<0.05) after combined therapy, respectively. The κ value of TRG 3-round reading for TRG was 0.448 ( P<0.05). (4) Evaluation of MRI examination. ① MRI evaluation of T and N staging. The accuracy of MRI examination after combined therapy for distinguishing stage T0 was 75.7%[28/37, 95% confidence interval ( CI) as 62.2%-89.2%], the understaging rate was 8.1%(3/37, 95% CI as 0-18.9%), the overstaging rate was 16.2%(6/37, 95% CI as 5.4%-29.7%). The accuracy of MRI examination for distinguishing stage T0-T2 was 86.5%(32/37, 95% CI as 73.0%-97.3%), its understaging rate and overstaging rate were 8.1%(3/37, 95% CI as 0-18.9%) and 5.4% (2/37, 95% CI as 0-13.5%), respectively. The accuracy of MRI examination for distinguishing N staging was 91.9%(34/37, 95% CI was 81.1%-100.0%), its understaging rate and overstaging rate were 5.4%(2/37, 95% CI as 0-13.5%) and 2.7%(1/37, 95% CI as 0-8.1%), respectively. Among 18 patients in pathological stage T0, the overstaging rate of MRI was 33.3%(6/18). All the 4 patients in pathological stage T1 and 3 pati-ents in pathological stage T2 had correct diagnosis. There were 3 cases with understaging among 12 patients in pathological stage T3-T4. Among the 37 patients in pathological stage N0-N2, 34 cases had correct diagnosis, 1 case was overstaged as stage N1 due to a round mesorectal lymph node with short diameter as 6 mm, and 2 cases were diagnosed as stage N0 due to the small lymph nodes with the maximum short diameter as 3 mm. ② MRI evaluation of EMVI and MRF. The accuracy, sensitivity and negative predictive value of MRI for evaluating EMVI were 86.5%(32/37, 95% CI as 75.0%-97.2%), 100.0% and 100.0%, respectively, and the overestimation rate of EMVI was 13.9%(5/36, 95% CI as 2.8%-25.0%), and no underestimation occurred. Of 35 pathologically negative EMVI patients, a rate of 14.3%(5/35) of patients were positive on MRI. The main reason for overestaging was that thickened fibrous tissue outside the rectal wall was mistaken for vascular invasion. The accuracy of MRI for evaluating MRF was 97.3%(36/37, 95% CI as 91.9%-100.0%), and 1 case (1/37, 2.7%, 95% CI as 0-8.1%) was overestimated as positive MRF due to misdiagnosis of pararectal MRF lymph nodes. The negative predictive value of MRI for assessing MRF was 100.0%. ③ MRI evaluation of TRG. The accuracy, understaging and overstaging rates of MRI for evaluating pathological TRG 0 were 78.4%(29/37, 95% CI as 64.9%-91.9%), 8.1%(3/37, 95% CI as 0-18.9%), 13.5%(5/37, 95% CI as 5.4%-27.0%), respectively. The accuracy, understaging and overstaging rates of MRI for evaluating pathological TRG 0-1 were 89.2%(33/37, 95% CI as 78.4%-97.3%), 8.1%(3/37, 95% CI as 0-18.9%), 2.7%(1/37, 95% CI as 0-8.1%), respectively. Of the 18 patients with pathologic complete response, 5 cases were diagnosed as pathological TRG 1 and 13 cases as pathological TRG 0. One near-pCR patient was assessed as pathological TRG 2. Two patients with pathological TRG 3 were incorrectly diagnosed on MRI. Conclusions:Anti-PD-1 combined with neoadjuvant therapy can downstage the LARC pati-ents with MSS/pMMR. MRI is effective in predicting T staging, N staging, EMVI, MRF and TRG. However, overstaging should be prevented.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of Bufeitang on intestinal flora of rats with lung Qi-deficiency syndrome of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease（COPD）， and to explore the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine in regulating intestinal flora and thus restoring the balance of lung-gut axis. MethodA total of 84 rats were randomly divided into 7 groups， including blank group， model group， fecal bacterial transplantation（FMT） group， dexamethasone group and low， medium and high dose groups of Bufeitang， 12 rats in each group. Except for the blank group， cigarette and sawdust fumigation combined with intratracheal instillation of lipopolysaccharide（LPS） were used to establish the COPD rat model with lung Qi-deficiency syndrome in all other groups. The low， medium and high dose groups of Bufeitang were intragastric administrated with Bufeitang（3.645， 7.29， 14.58 g·kg^-1）， the FMT group was given fecal bacteria liquid enema（10 mL·kg^-1）， dexamethasone group was given dexamethasone acetate tablet suspension by gavage（0.135 mg·kg^-1）， the blank group and model group were given equal amount of distilled water. Fresh feces were collected after 28 d of continuous intervention for 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Lung and colon tissues were stained with hematoxylin-eosin（HE） for pathomorphological observation， and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA） was performed to detect the contents of tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α） and interleukin-8（IL-8） in lung tissues. ResultCompared with the blank group， the model group showed severe abnormal lung tissue structure with alveolar atrophy and collapse accompanied by severe inflammatory cell infiltration. Compared with the model group， the extent of injury was significantly improved， and inflammatory cell infiltration was reduced with basically normal alveolar structure in the high dose group of Bufeitang. Compared with the blank group， the model group had severely abnormal colonic tissue structure， the epithelial cells in the mucosal layer were eroded and shed， the number of inflammatory cells increased， the submucosal layer was edematous and the gap was enlarged. Compared with the model group， the extent of damage was significantly improved in the medium and high dose groups of Bufeitang， the epithelial cells in the mucosal layer were neatly and closely arranged， with only a small amount of inflammatory cell infiltration and no significant degeneration. Compared with the blank group， the TNF-α and IL-8 levels of lung tissue in the model group were significantly increased（P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the TNF-α and IL-8 levels of lung tissues in the low， medium and high dose groups of Bufeitang were significantly decreased（P<0.01）. Bufeitang significantly modulated the number of bacteria species as well as alpha and beta diversity of model rats， corrected the return of intestinal flora to normal abundance and diversity， and positively regulated 4 differential phyla（such as Firmicutes， Proteobacteria） and 13 differential genera（such as Turicibacter， Lactobacillus， Anaerobiospirillum， Intestinimonas） in COPD model rats with lung Qi-deficiency syndrome， and down-regulated 2 carbohydrate metabolic pathway functions， including the pentose phosphate pathway（non-oxidative branch） Ⅰ and the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle. ConclusionBufeitang can modulate the abundance and diversity of intestinal flora species， affect the function of metabolic pathways， repair the structure of lung and colon tissues， regulate the level of inflammatory factors， and thus improve COPD with lung Qi-deficiency syndrome. The mechanism may be related to its regulation of inflammation-related intestinal flora to restore the balance of lung-gut axis in COPD with lung Qi-deficiency syndrome.

Objective:To investigate the effect of bilateral globus pallidus internus deep brain stimulation (GPi-DBS) on motor performance, quality of life, sleep quality, neuropsychological status, and mood in patients with Meige syndrome.Methods:The clinical data of 17 patients with Meige syndrome accepted bilateral GPi-DBS in Department of Neurosurgery, People's Hospital of Peking University from May 2019 to March 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. Established and validated rating scales were used to assess the motor performance, quality of life, sleep quality, neuropsychological status, and mood at baseline, and 1 and 2 years after GPi-DBS.Results:Burke-Fahn-Marsden dystonia rating scale (BFMDRS) motor total scores decreased from 14.4±6.2 at baseline to 4.3±2.2 and 3.5±1.9 at 1 and 2 years after GPi-DBS, with significant differences ( P<0.05). BFMDRS disability total scores decreased from 6.2±4.0 at baseline to 2.8±2.0 and 2.2±1.5 at 1 and 2 years after GPi-DBS, with significant differences ( P<0.05). In 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36), the scores of physical function, role-physical, general health sub-items at 1 and 2 years after GPi-DBS were significantly higher than those at baseline ( P<0.05). No significant differences were noted in scores of sleep quality, neuropsychological function, or mood scales at 1 and 2 years after GPi-DBS compared with those at baseline ( P>0.05). Conclusion:Bilateral GPi-DBS is effective and safe in Meige syndrome, which can improve dystonic symptom and quality of life without adverse effects on sleep quality, neuropsychological function, or emotional status.

Objective:To explore the pathogenesis of glossopharyngeal neuralgia (GPN) in central nervous system from perspective of brain morphology.Methods:A prospective study was performed. Twenty-seven patients with right primary GPN admitted to Department of Neurosurgery, People's Hospital of Peking University from April 2019 to June 2023 and 27 healthy subjects (controls) matched with age, gender, dominant hand, and education level during the same period were recruited. These patients were divided into GPN with neurovascular compression group ( n=18) and GPN without neurovascular compression ( n=9) based on intraoperative presence of neurovascular compression. SPM8 software based on Matlab R2017b programming platform and VBM8 toolbox were used to process the whole-brain high-resolution 3D-T1 brain structural image data of the participants and analyze the differences in the gray matter volume of each brain region between the 2 groups. Pearson correlation was applied to analyze the correlations of gray matter volumes in brain regions enjoying significant difference with baseline data and pain characteristics of these GPN patients. Results:Compared with controls, patients with GPN had significantly reduced gray matter volumes in the left anterior cingulate gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, transverse temporal gyrus, precentral gyrus, postcentral gyrus, right insula, thalamus, inferior parietal lobule, precentral gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and inferior temporal gyrus ( P<0.05, FDR corrected). Compared with GPN patients with neurovascular compression, GPN patients without neurovascular compression had significantly reduced gray matter volume in the bilateral anterior cingulate gyrus ( P<0.05, FDR corrected). Changes of gray matter volume in the right insula were negatively correlated with disease duration of GPN patients ( r=-0.521, P=0.005). Conclusion:GPN patients have extensive gray matter atrophy in the brain, which may play an essential role in GPN development and maintenance.

Laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair (LIHR) has been widely used in clinical practice and has become the main surgical method for inguinal hernia repair. Although hematoma after LIHR is less common than seroma, it may lead to more serious complications and should be paid enough attention. Currently, the prevention and treatment strategies for hematoma after LIHR are still lacking in sorting and summary. The authors elaborate on the prevention and treatment of hematoma after LIHR, aiming at providing references for clinical surgeons to ensure the life safety of patients and promote rapid recovery after surgery.

ObjectiveTo investigate the mechanism of Gegen Qinliantang（GQT） on the intestinal flora of antibiotic-associated diarrhea（AAD） by 16S rRNA sequencing and network pharmacology. MethodSixty SD rats were randomly divided into six groups（n=10）， including blank group， model group， GQT high-， medium- and low-dose groups（10.08， 5.04， 2.52 g·kg^-1） as well as Lizhu Changle group（0.15 g·kg^-1）， except for the blank group， each group was given clindamycin（250 mg·kg^-1） by gavage once a day for 7 consecutive days. After successful modeling， the blank group and the model group were given equal volumes of normal saline by gavage. The other groups were given corresponding doses of drugs by gavage for 14 days. Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology Database and Analysis Platform（TCMSP） was used to screen the active components and targets of GQT， GeneCards， Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man（OMIM） database， Pharmacogenetics and Pharmacogenomics Knowledge Base（PharmGKB）， DrugBank and DisGeNET were used to search for AAD disease targets. The drug-disease common targets were obtained by R software. STRING was applied to analyze the target protein-protein interaction， and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes（KEGG） pathway enrichment analysis was performed. Then hematoxylin-eosin（HE） staining was used to observe the pathological changes of the colon， and 16S rRNA sequencing of AAD colon content flora structure further verified the results of network pharmacology. ResultThrough network pharmacology， it was found that 238 active components were screened from GQT and acted on 276 component targets， among which quercetin， puerarin， wogonin and apigenin were the main core components of GQT， 1 097 AAD disease targets and 127 drug-disease intersection targets. The protein-protein interaction network mainly included core targets such as protein kinase B1（Akt1）， interleukin（IL）-6 and IL-1β， which were mainly enriched in the IL-17 signaling pathway. It was verified through animal experiments that compared with the blank group， the colon structure of the model group was seriously abnormal， the intestinal epithelial columnar cells were damaged， the goblet cells were reduced， and a large number of inflammatory cells were infiltrated. Compared with the model group， the colon structure of the GQT high-dose group improved， but there were still abnormalities， the colon structure of GQT medium- and low- dose groups and Lizhu Changle group improved significantly and reached the normal level. GQT could improve the structural diversity of AAD intestinal flora. At the phylum level， the abundance of Firmicutes was increased and the abundance of Bacteroidetes was decreased. At the genus level， the abundance of Lactobacillus was increased， and the abundances of Prevotella and Bacteroides were decreased. Among them， Lactococcus could be used as a biomarker for AAD treatment with GQT， and the prediction of functional metabolism of intestinal flora revealed that GQT could promote acetate and lactate metabolic pathways in the intestine. ConclusionGQT may activate IL-17 signaling pathway by acting on the targets of Akt1 and IL-6 through key components such as quercetin and wogonin， and improve the abundance of Lactococcus in the intestinal tract as well as acetate and lactate metabolic pathways， so as to play a role in repairing the intestinal barrier for the treatment of AAD.

The use of two inhibitors of Mek1/2 and Gsk3β (2i) promotes the generation of mouse diploid and haploid embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from the inner cell mass of biparental and uniparental blastocysts, respectively. However, a system enabling long-term maintenance of imprints in ESCs has proven challenging. Here, we report that the use of a two-step a2i (alternative two inhibitors of Src and Gsk3β, TSa2i) derivation/culture protocol results in the establishment of androgenetic haploid ESCs (AG-haESCs) with stable DNA methylation at paternal DMRs (differentially DNA methylated regions) up to passage 60 that can efficiently support generating mice upon oocyte injection. We also show coexistence of H3K9me3 marks and ZFP57 bindings with intact DMR methylations. Furthermore, we demonstrate that TSa2i-treated AG-haESCs are a heterogeneous cell population regarding paternal DMR methylation. Strikingly, AG-haESCs with late passages display increased paternal-DMR methylations and improved developmental potential compared to early-passage cells, in part through the enhanced proliferation of H19-DMR hypermethylated cells. Together, we establish AG-haESCs that can long-term maintain paternal imprints.

Objective:To investigate the effects of compression treatment on occurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after tension-free inguinal hernia repair.Methods:The retrospective cohort study was conducted. The clinical data of 13 263 patients with inguinal hernia who were admitted to 58 medical centers from January to December in 2017 were collected, including 1 668 in Beijing Chaoyang Hospital of Capital Medical University, 782 in East Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University, 558 in Huadong Hospital of Fudan University, 525 in Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 488 in Ruijin Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, 382 in Tianjin People's Hospital, 378 in Peking University Third Hospital, 364 in Beijing Hospital, 356 in Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, 348 in Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, 348 in Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, 328 in Affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, 304 in Beijing Luhe Hospital of Capital Medical University, 296 in People's Hospital of Changshou District in Chongqing, 290 in Anhui Provincial Hospital, 281 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, 281 in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous People's Hospital, 247 in Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, 220 in Wuhan NO.1 Hospital, 214 in the First Hospital of China Medical University, 213 in West China Hospital of Sichuan University, 206 in the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, 202 in Taiyuan Central Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, 197 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou University, 191 in Zhongda Hospital of Southeast University, 190 in Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, 189 in Xuzhou Central Hospital, 188 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, 187 in the Second Hospital Affiliated to Naval Medical University, 175 in Chengdu Fifth People's Hospital, 173 in Tianjin Nankai Hospital, 172 in the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, 172 in Zhangjiakou First Hospital, 161 in Henan Provincial People's Hospital, 153 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University, 149 in Shandong Provincial Hospital, 142 in the Second Hospital of Shandong University, 137 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan University of Medicine, 136 in the Fourth Hospital of Harbin Medical University, 127 in Pingjiang District of the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 102 in the Central Hospital of Wuhan, 100 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, 98 in Peking Union Medical College Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 97 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, 96 in Xijing Hospital Affiliated to Air Force Medical University, 90 in the Fourth Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, 81 in Hunan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Medicine, 80 in the First Hospital of Tsinghua University, 80 in Xinhua Hospital of Hubei Province, 61 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, 57 in Peking University International Hospital, 50 in Peking University First Hospital, 39 in Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, 38 in Jilin Yan'an Hospital, 37 in China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, 20 in Taikang Xianlin Drum Hospital, 16 in Chinese PLA General Hospital, 3 in the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University. There were 11 852 males and 1 411 females, aged from 18 to 102 years, with a median age of 64 years. Of 13 263 patients, 9 995 with compression treatment after tension-free inguinal hernia repair were divided into compression group and 3 268 without compression treatment after tension-free inguinal hernia repair were divided into non-compression group. Observation indicators: (1) compression treatment of patients in the compression group; (2) occurrence of VTE after tension-free inguinal hernia repair in the two groups; (3) analysis of influencing factors for VTE after tension-free inguinal hernia repair. Follow-up using telephone interview was performed to detect history of patient's thrombosis, medical history of patient's family and the incidence of postoperative VTE up to February 2018. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M ( P25, P75) or M (range), and comparison between groups was analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Count data were described as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test. Univariate analysis and multivariate analysis were conducted using the Logistic regression model. Results:(1) Compression treatment of patients in the compression group: of the 9 995 patients in the compression group, 6 086 underwent compression treatment with 0.5 kg of sandbag or 500 mL of packed 0.9% sodium chloride solution, 1 881 underwent compression treatment with trusses, 745 underwent compression treatment with girdles, 675 underwent compression treatment with elastic underwear combined with 0.5 kg of sandbag, and 608 underwent compression treatment with elastic underwear. (2) Occurrence of VTE after tension-free inguinal hernia repair in the two groups: patients of the two groups after matching were followed up. Occurrence of VTE after matching were 15 and 1 in the compression group and non-compression group, respectively, showing no significant difference between the two groups ( χ2=2.010, P>0.05). (3) Analysis of influencing factors for VTE after tension-free inguinal hernia repair: results of univariate analysis showed that cases with varix of lower limb, cases with oral contracep-tives or hormone replacement therapy history, cases with VTE history, clinical classification, clinical typing, surgical method, cases with anticoagulant drugs history, cases undergoing oral antiplatelet drugs, cases undergoing postoperative VTE prevention with medication were related factors for occurrence of VTE after tension-free inguinal hernia repair ( odds ratio=13.98, 37.71, 19.21, 4.43, 4.21, 0.07, 0.08, 0.10, 31.04, 95% confidence interval: 3.15?62.11, 8.35?170.24, 6.15?60.00, 1.43?13.76, 1.20?14.82, 0.01?0.49, 0.02?0.27, 0.04?0.29, 8.53?112.93, P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis showed that cases with VTE history and surgical method were independent influencing factors for occurrence of VTE after tension-free inguinal hernia repair ( odds ratio=7.78, 11.19, 95% confidence interval: 2.06?29.42, 1.45?86.55, P<0.05). Conclusion:Cases with VTE history and surgical method are independent influencing factors for occurrence of VTE after tension-free inguinal hernia repair.

Objective:To study the clinicopathological features of adrenocortical oncocytic tumors (ACOT) and to compare the diagnostic values of Lin-Weiss-Bisceglia (LWB) score and Helsinki score.Methods:Forty-four cases of ACOT diagnosed at Beijing Friendship Hospital, China from March 2008 to July 2019 were histologically analyzed to evaluate their malignant potential (benign versus malignant) according to two scoring criteria. Immunohistochemical studies (EnVision method) were also used.Results:There were 23 males and 21 females with an average age of 46 years. Histologically, the tumor cells were arranged in trabecular, chrysanthemum-shaped, glandular and microcapsule structures, while clear cells were rare or absent. Most of the tumor cells were moderately atypical, and intranuclear inclusion bodies were conspicuous. Immunohistochemical staining showed that tumor cells were positive for Melan A, inhibin, Syn and calretinin. The average proliferation index was 3% in benign ACOT, about 5% in ACOT of malignant potential, and>20% in malignant ACOT. According to the LWB score, 61.4% (27/44) of the tumors were on the left side and had multiple lesions. The percentage of benign ACOT was 59.1% (26/44), malignant potential 6.8% (3/44), malignant 34.1% (15/44), respectively. Among the 15 malignant ACOT, the mitotic figures>5/50 HPF were found in 13 cases, necrosis in 11 cases and capsule invasion in 10 cases. According to the Helsinki score, 65.9% (29/44) of the tumors were benign, and 34.1% (15/44) were malignant. There was no significant difference between the two scoring standards ( P>0.05). During the follow-up of 9 to 144 months, 31 patients survived without disease and 13 patients relapsed or had metastasis. Conclusions:ACOT more likely be benign than malignant. The left side is more common. Malignant tumors are prone to recurrence and metastasis. The morphological parameters (high mitotic index, necrosis, and capsular invasion) in the LWB scoring standards combined with immunohistochemical parameters (Ki-67) in the Helsinki score are helpful for the diagnosis of malignant ACOT and are important predictors of poor prognosis.