1.Endoscopic spine surgery for obesity-related surgical challenges: a systematic review and meta-analysis of current evidence
Wongthawat LIAWRUNGRUEANG ; Watcharaporn CHOLAMJIAK ; Peem SARASOMBATH ; Yudha Mathan SAKTI ; Pang Hung WU ; Meng-Huang WU ; Yu-Jen LU ; Lo Cho YAU ; Zenya ITO ; Sung Tan CHO ; Dong-Gune CHANG ; Kang Taek LIM
Asian Spine Journal 2025;19(2):292-310
Obesity presents significant challenges in spinal surgery, including higher rates of perioperative complications, prolonged operative times, and delayed recovery. Traditional open spine surgery often exacerbates these risks, particularly in patients with obesity, because of extensive tissue dissection and larger incisions. Endoscopic spine surgery (ESS) has emerged as a promising minimally invasive alternative, offering advantages such as reduced tissue trauma, minimal blood loss, lower infection rates, and faster recovery. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and outcomes of ESS techniques, including fully endoscopic and biportal endoscopic lumbar discectomy and decompression, in patients with obesity and lumbar spine pathologies. A comprehensive literature search of the PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Scopus databases yielded 2,975 studies published between 2000 and 2024, of which 10 met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis revealed significant improvements in pain relief (Visual Analog Scale) and functional outcomes (Oswestry Disability Index), with comparable results between patients with and without obesity. Patients who are obese experienced longer operative times and have a slightly higher risk of symptom recurrence; however, ESS demonstrated lower rates of wound infections, shorter hospital stays, and faster recovery than traditional surgery. These findings position ESS as a viable and effective option for managing lumbar spine conditions in patients with obesity, addressing obesity-related surgical challenges while maintaining favorable clinical outcomes. However, limitations such as study heterogeneity and the lack of randomized controlled trials highlight the need for further high-quality research to refine ESS techniques and optimize patient care in this high-risk population.
2.Endoscopic spine surgery for obesity-related surgical challenges: a systematic review and meta-analysis of current evidence
Wongthawat LIAWRUNGRUEANG ; Watcharaporn CHOLAMJIAK ; Peem SARASOMBATH ; Yudha Mathan SAKTI ; Pang Hung WU ; Meng-Huang WU ; Yu-Jen LU ; Lo Cho YAU ; Zenya ITO ; Sung Tan CHO ; Dong-Gune CHANG ; Kang Taek LIM
Asian Spine Journal 2025;19(2):292-310
Obesity presents significant challenges in spinal surgery, including higher rates of perioperative complications, prolonged operative times, and delayed recovery. Traditional open spine surgery often exacerbates these risks, particularly in patients with obesity, because of extensive tissue dissection and larger incisions. Endoscopic spine surgery (ESS) has emerged as a promising minimally invasive alternative, offering advantages such as reduced tissue trauma, minimal blood loss, lower infection rates, and faster recovery. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and outcomes of ESS techniques, including fully endoscopic and biportal endoscopic lumbar discectomy and decompression, in patients with obesity and lumbar spine pathologies. A comprehensive literature search of the PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Scopus databases yielded 2,975 studies published between 2000 and 2024, of which 10 met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis revealed significant improvements in pain relief (Visual Analog Scale) and functional outcomes (Oswestry Disability Index), with comparable results between patients with and without obesity. Patients who are obese experienced longer operative times and have a slightly higher risk of symptom recurrence; however, ESS demonstrated lower rates of wound infections, shorter hospital stays, and faster recovery than traditional surgery. These findings position ESS as a viable and effective option for managing lumbar spine conditions in patients with obesity, addressing obesity-related surgical challenges while maintaining favorable clinical outcomes. However, limitations such as study heterogeneity and the lack of randomized controlled trials highlight the need for further high-quality research to refine ESS techniques and optimize patient care in this high-risk population.
3.Endoscopic spine surgery for obesity-related surgical challenges: a systematic review and meta-analysis of current evidence
Wongthawat LIAWRUNGRUEANG ; Watcharaporn CHOLAMJIAK ; Peem SARASOMBATH ; Yudha Mathan SAKTI ; Pang Hung WU ; Meng-Huang WU ; Yu-Jen LU ; Lo Cho YAU ; Zenya ITO ; Sung Tan CHO ; Dong-Gune CHANG ; Kang Taek LIM
Asian Spine Journal 2025;19(2):292-310
Obesity presents significant challenges in spinal surgery, including higher rates of perioperative complications, prolonged operative times, and delayed recovery. Traditional open spine surgery often exacerbates these risks, particularly in patients with obesity, because of extensive tissue dissection and larger incisions. Endoscopic spine surgery (ESS) has emerged as a promising minimally invasive alternative, offering advantages such as reduced tissue trauma, minimal blood loss, lower infection rates, and faster recovery. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the safety, efficacy, and outcomes of ESS techniques, including fully endoscopic and biportal endoscopic lumbar discectomy and decompression, in patients with obesity and lumbar spine pathologies. A comprehensive literature search of the PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Scopus databases yielded 2,975 studies published between 2000 and 2024, of which 10 met the inclusion criteria. The meta-analysis revealed significant improvements in pain relief (Visual Analog Scale) and functional outcomes (Oswestry Disability Index), with comparable results between patients with and without obesity. Patients who are obese experienced longer operative times and have a slightly higher risk of symptom recurrence; however, ESS demonstrated lower rates of wound infections, shorter hospital stays, and faster recovery than traditional surgery. These findings position ESS as a viable and effective option for managing lumbar spine conditions in patients with obesity, addressing obesity-related surgical challenges while maintaining favorable clinical outcomes. However, limitations such as study heterogeneity and the lack of randomized controlled trials highlight the need for further high-quality research to refine ESS techniques and optimize patient care in this high-risk population.
4.The Mechanisms of Neurotransmitters and Their Receptors in Exercise Central Fatigue
Lu-Lu GUAN ; Bo-Te QI ; Du-Shuo FENG ; Jing-Wang TAN ; Meng CAO ; Yu ZOU
Progress in Biochemistry and Biophysics 2025;52(6):1321-1336
Exercise fatigue is a complex physiological and psychological phenomenon that includes peripheral fatigue in the muscles and central fatigue in the brain. Peripheral fatigue refers to the loss of force caused at the distal end of the neuromuscular junction, whereas central fatigue involves decreased motor output from the primary motor cortex, which is associated with modulations at anatomical sites proximal to nerves that innervate skeletal muscle. The central regulatory failure reflects a progressive decline in the central nervous system’s capacity to recruit motor units during sustained physical activity. Emerging evidence highlights the critical involvement of central neurochemical regulation in fatigue development, particularly through neurotransmitter-mediated modulation. Alterations in neurotransmitter release and receptor activity could influence excitatory and inhibitory signal pathways, thus modulating the perception of fatigue and exercise performance. Increased serotonin (5-HT) could increase perception of effort and lethargy, reduce motor drive to continue exercising, and contribute to exercise fatigue. Decreased dopamine (DA) and noradrenaline (NE) neurotransmission can negatively impact arousal, mood, motivation, and reward mechanisms and impair exercise performance. Furthermore, the serotonergic and dopaminergic systems interact with each other; a low 5-HT/DA ratio enhances motor motivation and improves performance, and a high 5-HT/DA ratio heightens fatigue perception and leads to decreased performance. The expression and activity of neurotransmitter receptors would be changed during prolonged exercise to fatigue, affecting the transmission of nerve signals. Prolonged high-intensity exercise causes excess 5-HT to overflow from the synaptic cleft to the axonal initial segment and activates the 5-HT1A receptor, thereby inhibiting the action potential of motor neurons and affecting the recruitment of motor units. During exercise to fatigue, the DA secretion is decreased, which blocks the binding of DA to D1 receptor in the caudate putamen and inhibits the activation of the direct pathway of the basal ganglia to suppress movement, meanwhile the binding of DA to D2 receptor is restrained in the caudate putamen, which activates the indirect pathway of the basal ganglia to influence motivation. Furthermore, other neurotransmitters and their receptors, such as adenosine (ADO), glutamic acid (Glu), and γ‑aminobutyric acid (GABA) also play important roles in regulating neurotransmitter balance and fatigue. The occurrence of central fatigue is not the result of the action of a single neurotransmitter system, but a comprehensive manifestation of the interaction between multiple neurotransmitters. This review explores the important role of neurotransmitters and their receptors in central motor fatigue, reveals the dynamic changes of different neurotransmitters such as 5-HT, DA, NE, and ADO during exercise, and summarizes the mechanisms by which these neurotransmitters and their receptors regulate fatigue perception and exercise performance through complex interactions. Besides, this study presents pharmacological evidence that drugs such as agonists, antagonists, and reuptake inhibitors could affect exercise performance by regulating the metabolic changes of neurotransmitters. Recently, emerging interventions such as dietary bioactive components intake and transcranial electrical stimulation may provide new ideas and strategies for the prevention and alleviation of exercise fatigue by regulating neurotransmitter levels and receptor activity. Overall, this work offers new theoretical insights into the understanding of exercise central fatigue, and future research should further investigate the relationship between neurotransmitters and their receptors and exercise fatigue.
5.Predictive value of early thyroid function changes for the curative effect of 131I therapy in patients with Graves′ disease
Yan WANG ; Feng YU ; Renfei WANG ; Zhaowei MENG ; Guizhi ZHANG ; Ruiguo ZHANG ; Danyang SUN ; Xuan WANG ; Jian TAN ; Wei ZHENG
Chinese Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging 2024;44(1):30-34
Objective:To investigate the predictive value of early thyroid function changes on the efficacy of patients with Graves′ disease (GD) after 131I therapy. Methods:Data of patients with GD (59 males, 214 females; age (37.4±11.4) years) who underwent single therapy of 131I in Tianjin Medical University General Hospital from November 2017 to January 2019 were retrospectively analyzed. Symptoms, signs and laboratory tests (serum free triiodothyronine (FT 3) and serum free thyroxine (FT 4)) of patients were observed to assess the efficacy of 131I treatment. Efficacy was divided into complete remission (CR), partial remission (PR), non-remission (NR) or relapse. The changes of thyroid function (ΔFT 3=FT 3 before treatment-FT 3 after treatment)/FT 3 before treatment×100%; ΔFT 4=FT 4 before treatment-FT 4 after treatment)/FT 4 before treatment×100%) 1 month after 131I therapy in each efficacy group and differences among them were compared by using independent-sample t test, χ2 test, one-way analysis of variance and the least significant difference t test. ROC curves were drawn to analyze the predictive values of early thyroid function changes on the efficacy of 131I treatment for GD. Logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the influencing factors for the efficacy of 131I therapy. Results:CR rate and total effective rate of 273 GD patients after single therapy of 131I were 67.03%(183/273) and 92.67%(253/273), respectively. After 1 month, CR rate of euthyroidism group ( n=95) was significantly higher than that of hyperthyroidism group ( n=178; 81.05%(77/95) vs 59.55%(106/178); χ2=4.60, P=0.032). ΔFT 3 and ΔFT 4 at the first month were statistically significant and decreased sequentially in the CR group ( n=183), PR group ( n=70), NR or relapse groups ( n=20; F values: 15.40, 12.54, both P<0.001). ROC curve analysis showed that patients with ΔFT 3≥73.64% and (or) ΔFT 4≥59.03% had a higher probability of achieving CR, with sensitivities of 84.3% and 86.7%, and specificities of 62.6% and 62.6%, respectively. Logistic regression analysis showed that 24 h radioactive iodine uptake (odds ratio ( OR)=1.095, 95% CI: 1.031-1.139), dose of 131I given per gram of thyroid tissue ( OR=1.562, 95% CI: 1.321-1.694), ΔFT 3 ( OR=1.354, 95% CI: 1.295-1.482), ΔFT 4 ( OR=1.498, 95% CI: 1.384-1.608) were factors affecting the outcome of patients with GD treated with 131I treatment (all P<0.05). Conclusion:Effects of 131I treatment can be predicted based on the change of the thyroid function at the first month after 131I treatment in patients with GD.
6.Protective effect of sodium butyrate on hypoxia tolerance in rats exposed to hypoxia and cold
Xiaoyu GUO ; Xiaoling TAN ; Qi CUI ; Hongchen XIE ; Yujie HUANG ; Xiangqiong MENG ; Wenjun JIANG ; Yu DING ; Haixia JING
Journal of Army Medical University 2024;46(8):901-911
Objective To investigate the protective effects and underlying mechanisms of sodium butyrate on rats exposed to hypoxia and cold conditions.Methods Fifty-eight male SD rats (aged 7~8 weeks,weighing 240~260 g ) were randomly divided into normoxia normothermia saline control (NNC ) group (n=10),normoxia normothermia sodium butyrate(NNB)group(n=10),hypoxia cold saline control (HCC) group (n=19),and hypoxia cold sodium butyrate (HCB)group (n=19).The intragastric dose of sodium butyrate was 200 mg/kg for the NNB and HCB groups,while the NNC and HCC groups were given normal saline of 5 mL/kg.①After continuous intragastric administration for 7 d,the rats in the HCC and HCB groups were placed in a low-pressure hypoxic chamber to simulate an altitude of 5000 m and exposed to a temperature of 8 ℃ for 7 d.Subsequently,blood samples were collected from the abdominal aorta for blood gas analysis,blood routine test,and detection for serum biochemical indicators.ELISA was used to determine serum inflammatory cytokines and endocrine hormones.The rats in the NNC and NNB groups(n=10)were fed outside the chamber and underwent the same tests in 7 d later to evaluate the protective effects of sodium butyrate on the body.②Core body temperature monitoring was conducted to assess the impact of sodium butyrate on the rmoregulation in rats exposed to hypoxia and cold(n=3).③Hypoxia exercise tolerance of the HCC group and HCB group in a hypoxic chamber (11%O2 )was evaluated for their hypoxia resistance (n=6).Results Compared to the NNC group,the rats in the HCC group exhibited significant decreases in arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2 )and arterial oxygen partial pressure (PaO2 ),serum levels of IL-4,estradiol (E2)and cortisol (F),core temperature,and exercise duration (P<0.05),and had notably increased levels of red blood cell (RBC)count,hemoglobin (HGB),hematocrit (HCT),cardiac troponin (CRDAC-T),uric acid (UA),alanine aminotransferase (ALT),total cholesterol (TC),low-density lipoprotein (LDL),IL-6 and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF)(P<0.05).Compared to the HCC group,the rats in the HCB group exhibited significant increases in SaO2,PaO2,IL-4,E2,F,corticotropin releasing hormone (CRH)and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)(P<0.05),remarkably longer exercise duration under hypoxic exposure (P<0.05 ),but decreases in RBC count,serum levels of HGB,HCT,CRDAC-T,UA,ALT,TC,LDL,IL-6,GM-CSF and free thyroxine (FT4 ),and core temperature (P<0.05).Conclusion Sodium butyrate exhibits protective effects on rats exposed to hypoxia and cold conditions,and it is helpful in their adaptation to these hypoxia and cold environments.
7.Analysis of Pharmacodynamic Material Basis and Action Mechanism of Anemarrhenae Rhizoma-Phellodendri Chinensis Herb Pair in the Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes before and after Salt Processing Based on Serum Pharmacochemistry and Net-work Pharmacology
Xiangqi MENG ; Chunling ZHANG ; Yaoxia JIA ; Jinjie LEI ; Yangmiao XIA ; Rui TAN ; Lingying YU
Journal of Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2024;40(5):479-493
OBJECTIVE To analyze the serum chemical composition of rats after intragastric administration of water extract of crude Anemarrhenae Rhizoma-crude Phellodendri Chinensis and salted Anemarrhenae Rhizoma-salted Phellodendri Chinensis based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry(LC-MS)technology,predict the effect of salt processing on the treatment of type 2 dia-betes in Anemarrhenae Rhizoma-Pheellodendri Chinensis combined with network pharmacology,and preliminarily verify it through in vitro experiments.METHODS Rats were continuously intragastrically administered with crude Anemarrhenae Rhizoma-crude Phello-dendri Chinensis drug pair and salted Anemarrhenae Rhizoma-salted Phellodendri Chinensis drug pair water extract twice,with an in-terval of 1 h.After 60 min of the last administration,the blood was taken from the abdominal aorta,and the protein was precipitated by methanol.After dissolution,the chromatographic column was Shim-pack GIST C18(4.6 mm×150 mm,5 μm);the mobile phase A was 0.1%formic acid water,and the mobile phase B was 0.1%formic acid-acetonitrile;gradient elution,positive and negative ion full scan mode,mass scan range 100-1 500 m/z.Combined with the secondary spectrum of the database and literature,the blood compo-nents of crude Anemarrhenae Rhizoma-crude Phellodendri Chinensis drug pair and salted Anemarrhenae Rhizoma-salted Phellodendri Chinensis drug pair were analyzed and identified.The disease targets of type 2 diabetes were retrieved,and the protein interaction net-work analysis,GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were performed on the intersection targets of blood components and diseases.The"blood components-targets"network diagram was constructed,and the selected core components and core targets were verified by molecular docking using AutoDock software.In the verification experiment,HepG2 cells were used as the experimental ob-ject,and the insulin resistance model was induced by high insulin and high glucose.CCK8 method was used to test the effect of Rhizo-ma Anemarrhenae-Phellodendri Chinensis on cell proliferation before and after salt processing.Western blot was used to detect the ex-pression of PI3K-AKT signaling pathway-related proteins.RESULTS 15 prototype components and 1 mangiferin metabolic compo-nent were identified in the serum of rats.17 prototype components and 1 mangiferin metabolite were identified in the rat serum of the water extract of Anemarrhenae Rhizoma-Phellodendri Chinensis after salt processing.The contents of mangiferin,berberine and 3-isobutylglutaric acid in the blood components after salt-processing were higher than those in the raw products.According to the results of KEGG and GO,the treatment of type 2 diabetes may be related to the transcriptional regulation of RNA polymerase,inflammatory re-sponse,AGE-RAGE,PI3K-AKT pathway and insulin resistance.Cell experiments showed that the ratio of p-PI3K/PI3K,p-AKT/AKT and GLUT4 protein expression could be up-regulated before and after salt processing,and the effect of salt processing group was better than that of the crude group.CONCLUSION This experiment preliminarily revealed the components of Anemarrhenae Rhizo-ma-Phellodendri Chinensis drug pair entering the blood before and after salt exposure,and suggested that ferulic acid,berberine,ber-berrubine,mangiferin,mTOR,SIRT1,EGFR and PPARA may be the main components and targets of Rhizoma Anemarrhenae-Phel-lodendri Chinensis after salt processing to enhance the therapeutic effect of type 2 diabetes.The mechanism may be to enhance the role of PI3K-AKT and other related signaling pathways,providing an important reference for the pharmacodynamic material basis and clini-cal application of Anemarrhenae Rhizoma-Phellodendri Chinensis before and after salt processing.
8.Intravascular ultrasound assisted endovascular therapy for renal artery stenosis
Guifang TAN ; Zepeng SHI ; Zhigang LIU ; Shen LI ; Chunyu YU ; Meng ZHANG ; Yi ZHANG ; Rong XING ; Chunmei ZHANG ; Yong QIAN
Chinese Journal of Interventional Imaging and Therapy 2024;21(11):654-658
Objective To observe the value of intravascular ultrasound(IVUS)for assisting endovascular therapy for renal artery stenosis(RAS).Methods Thirty patients with RAS who underwent endovascular therapy were retrospectively analyzed.Parameters of renal artery and plaques in RAS segment measured with CT angiography(CTA)and IVUS before treatment were compared.Bland-Altman diagram was performed to evaluate the consistency of lumen cross-sectional stenosis rate and plaque eccentricity index between CTA and IVUS.The stent parameters measured with IVUS were recorded immediately after implantation of balloon-expandable covered stents.Results Before treatment,the minimum lumen diameter,lumen cross-sectional stenosis rate and stenotic segment length of IVUS were all larger,while maximum lumen diameter and lumen eccentricity index of IVUS were both smaller than those of CTA(all P<0.05).No significant difference of plaque eccentricity index,plaque type nor stenosis distal remodeling was found between CTA and IVUS(all P>0.05).The average difference between IVUS and CTA for evaluating lumen cross-sectional stenosis rate and plaque eccentricity index was-0.020(-0.096,0.050)and-0.020(-0.130,0.091),respectively.The consistency of IVUS and CTA for evaluating plaque eccentricity index was better than that of lumen cross-sectional stenosis rate.The stent symmetry,stent eccentricity index,stent expansion coefficient and stenosis coverage rate immediately after implantation measured with IVUS was(82.69±14.61)%,(1.54±9.16)%,(99.81±10.70)%and 100%,respectively.Among 30 cases,2 cases(2/30,6.67%)underwent postdilation since poor stent apposition.Conclusion IVUS could assist evaluating lumen and plaque parameters of stenotic renal arteries,guiding stent release and real-timely monitoring the effect of endovascular therapy.
9.Efficiency of different large language models in China in response to consultations about PCa-related perioperative nursing and health education
Xiao-Wen TAN ; Wen-Fang CHEN ; Na-Na WANG ; Hui-Yu LI ; Juan LI ; Yu-Mei CAO ; Meng-Qi ZHU ; Kun LI ; Ting-Ling ZHANG ; Dian FU
National Journal of Andrology 2024;30(2):151-156
Objective:To evaluate the efficiency of the four domestic language models,ERNIE Bot,ChatGLM2,Spark Desk and Qwen-14B-Chat,all with a massive user base and significant social attention,in response to consultations about PCa-related perio-perative nursing and health education.Methods:We designed a questionnaire that includes 15 questions commonly concerned by patients undergoing radical prostatectomy and 2 common nursing cases,and inputted the questions into each of the four language models for simulation consultation.Three nursing experts assessed the model responses based on a pre-designed Likert 5-point scale in terms of accuracy,comprehensiveness,understandability,humanistic care,and case analysis.We evaluated and compared the performance of the four models using visualization tools and statistical analyses.Results:All the models generated high-quality texts with no mis-leading information and exhibited satisfactory performance.Qwen-14B-Chat scored the highest in all aspects and showed relatively sta-ble outputs in multiple tests compared with ChatGLM2.Spark Desk performed well in terms of understandability but lacked comprehen-siveness and humanistic care.Both Qwen-14B-Chat and ChatGLM2 demonstrated excellent performance in case analysis.The overall performance of ERNIE Bot was slightly inferior.All things considered,Qwen-14B-Chat was superior to the other three models in con-sultations about PCa-related perioperative nursing and health education.Conclusion:In PCa-related perioperative nursing,large language models represented by Qwen-14B-Chat are expected to become powerful auxiliary tools to provide patients with more medical expertise and information support,so as to improve the patient compliance and the quality of clinical treatment and nursing.
10.Exploring the Theoretical Basis of Qi-Shi-Sheng-Jiang-Gui-Yuan Decoction in Treating GERD Based on the Correlation Between"Regulating Pivot with Pivot"and ICC Mitophagy
Zhenyi LUO ; Yu ZHANG ; Huaying MENG ; Yunyan ZHANG ; Liqun LI ; Lijian LIU ; Jinjing TAN ; Sheng XIE
World Science and Technology-Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine 2023;25(9):2989-2995
The Gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD)is related to the dynamic disorder of the digestive tract caused by the imbalance of the viscera and meridians.The spleen and stomach are the hub of the qi machinery,transforming the essence of water and valley into energy and regulating the Yin and Yang of all bodies.The sympathetic balance between Ren-Du and Qi is the motivity of the spleen and stomach.Interstitial cells of Cajal(ICC)are the hub of digestive motility,which can maintain mitochondrial energy metabolism through mitochondrial autophagy and improve the digestive motility.Therefore,in this paper,the molecular biological basis of GERD was discussed based on the"regulating pivot with pivot"theory that the pivots of viscera and meridians drive ICC mitochondrial energy balance.It also explains the feasibility of Qi-Shi-Sheng-Jiang-Gui-Yuan Decoction in treating GERD based on"regulating pivot with pivot",which is helpful to realize the microscopization and concretization of"regulating pivot with pivot"theory and realize the modernization of TCM theory.

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