Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture at point Houxi (SI3) in treating cervical spondylotic vertebral arteriopathy. Method Three hundred and fourteen patients with cervical spondylotic vertebral arteriopathy were randomly allocated to a treatment group of 158 cases and a control group of 156 cases. The treatment group received acupuncture at points Houxi, Fengchi (GB20), Wangu (GB12), Tianzhu (BL10) and cervical Huatuo jiaji (Ex-B2) points and the control group, no acupuncture at point Houxi. The therapeutic effects were evaluated in the two groups after treatment. The recurrence rates were compared at the one-year follow-up. Result The total efficacy rate was 94.9% in the treatment group and 87.2% in the control group; there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). The recurrence rate was 5.1% in the treatment group and 13.6% in the control group at the one-year follow-up. There was a statistically significant difference in the recurrence rate between the two groups (P<0.05). Conclusion Acupuncture at point Houxi and other combined points has a better therapeutic effect on cervical spondylotic vertebral arteriopathy. It can markedly reduce the recurrence rate in the patients.

Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of warm needling moxibustion in treating irritable bowel syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency type and explore the mechanism of its action.Methods Ninety-two patients with irritable bowel syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency type were randomly allocated to treatment and control groups, 46 cases each. The same acupoints were selected in the two groups. The treatment group received warm needling moxibustion and the control group, conventional acupuncture. The abdominal overall symptom grading score was observed before and after treatment. The clinical therapeutic effects were compared between the two groups.Results The total efficacy rate was 95.6% in the treatment group and 77.8% in the control group; there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05). In the two groups, there was a statistically significant difference in the abdominal overall symptom grading score at the end of treatment and two months of follow-up compared with before treatment (P<0.05). There was a statistically significant difference in the Hamilton Depression Scale score at the end of treatment and two months of follow-up between the treatment and control groups (P<0.05). In the control group, there was a statistically significant difference in the abdominal overall symptom grading score at two months of follow-up compared with the end of treatment (P<0.05).Conclusion Warm needling moxibustion is an effective way to treat irritable bowel syndrome of liver depression and spleen deficiency type.

Objective: To explore the dose-response relationship between pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), so as to provide insights into the cut-off values of pre-pregnancy BMI and optimizing GDM prevention and control strategies. Methods: Pregnant women that admitted to Zhengzhou Central hospital in 2021 were recruited, and demographics, family history, pregnancy and delivery history and blood glucose levels during pregnancy were collected. The dose-response relationship between pre-pregnancy BMI and GDM was analyzed using restricted cubic spline (RCS) analysis. The predictive ability of pre-pregnancy BMI for GDM risk was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: A total of 2 279 participants were included in the study. The median age was 29.0 (interquartile range, 5.0) years. The median pre-pregnancy BMI was 21.1 (interquartile range, 3.8) kg/m2. There were 312 underweight women (13.69%), 825 women with low-normal weight (36.20%), 730 women with high-normal weight (32.03%), 345 overweight women (15.14%) and 67 obese women (2.94%).The prevalence of GDM was 17.20%. RCS analysis suggested a linear dose-response relationship between age, pre-pregnancy BMI and GDM (P<0.05). When pre-pregnancy BMI was higher than 21.1 kg/m2, the risk of GDM increased with pre-pregnancy BMI (P<0.05). When women aged over 29.0 years, the risk of GDM increased with age, and the dose-response relationship of GDM caused by pre-pregnancy BMI was stronger in the women aged over 29.0 years than in the women aged 29.0 years and below (P<0.05). The area under curve (AUC) was 0.654 (95%CI: 0.624-0.684). If the cut-off value of pre-pregnancy BMI was 23.0 kg/m2, the Youden index, sensitivity and specificity was 0.238, 0.472 and 0.766, respectively. If it was 24.0 kg/m2, the Youden index, sensitivity and specificity was 0.195, 0.342 and 0.853, respectively. If it was 21.1 kg/m2, the Youden index, sensitivity and specificity was 0.213, 0.676 and 0.537, respectively. Conclusions There is a linear dose-response relationship between pre-pregnancy BMI and GDM, and higher than 21.1 kg/m2 of the pre-pregnancy BMI could increase the risk of GDM.

BACKGROUND:Cartilage tissue engineering scaffold is a substitution for extracellular matrix, and there is a great significance on the shape and pore structure of the scaffold.
OBJECTIVE:To retrospectively focus on the fabrication technology of three-dimensional porous cartilage tissue engineering scaffolds.
METHODS:The first author searched PubMed, ELSEVIER SCIENCEDIRECT, Wanfang and CNKI databases (2000/2013) to retrieve relevant articles about the fabrication technology tissue-engineered cartilage scaffolds. The key words were“cartilage tissue engineering;scaffolds;fabrication”in English and Chinese, respectively. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The fabrication technologies of three-dimensional porous cartilage tissue
engineering scaffolds are as fol ows:Phase separation/freeze-drying, hydrogels, rapid prototyping manufacturing, electrospinning, solvent casting/particulate leaching, gas foaming. The current cartilage studies have demonstrated that the pore size has a significance on the regeneration of the cartilage tissue, the pore size ranging from 100-250μm al ows for the regeneration of bone and cartilage tissue. The scaffold fabricated by the solvent casting/particulate leaching and gas foaming technology at a pore size of 100-250μm is suitable for the bone and cartilage tissue regeneration. To obtain the adequate biological and mechanical properties, researchers usual y combine a variety of methods to fabricate the cartilage tissue engineering scaffolds.

Objective To investigate the effects of therapeutic exercise(cage running)on the expression of Bel-2 and Bax in neuronal cells after cerebral hemorrhage(ICH)in rats. Methods A total of 120 male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 270 to 300 g were divided into a trial group(ICH and exercise group,n=40),a control group (ICH only,n=40)and a sham-operated group(sham ICH operation and no exercise,n=40).The brains were removed at 7,14,21 and 28 days after ICH.The activation of Bcl-2 and Bax WaS measured by immunohistochemical techniques,Western blotting and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR).Results (1)Bel-2-positive and Bax-positive cells appeared in tissues surrounding the hematoma in the cortex.The number of Bcl-2-posotive and Bax-positive cells was nearly zero in the sham-operated group.In the trim group.the number of Bcl-2-positive cells increased significantly from the 21 st to the 28th day.Bax.positive cells decreased from the 7th to the 28th day after ICH when compared with the control group and the sham-operated group.(2)The expression of Bcl-2mRNA and Bax-mRNA as shown by Western blotting and RT-PCR methods was synchronous with the immunohistochemistry results.The peaks of Bcl-2mRNA and BaxmRNA expression were a little earlier than those of Bcl-2 and Bax proteins. Conclusion Exercise can mitigate neuronal cell apoptosis by upregulating the expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-2 mRNA,and downregulating the expression of Bax and Bax mRNA.

Objective To evaluate the effects of TIMP-1 and Ang-1 gene-modified BMSCs transplantation on the left ventricular function of rats with myocardial infarction.Methods The rat BMSCs were.transfected with eukaryotic expression plasmid encoding TIMP-1 or/and Ang-1 gene by liposome.Acute myocardial infarction was made in male rats by ligation of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery.BMSCs carrying TIMP-1 or/and Ang-1 gene were injected into the ischemic myocardium after LAD ligatior.Four weeks after the administration,cardiac function was assessed by echocardiography and the hearts were harvested and sectioned for immunohistochemistry to examine the apoptosis,the collagen content and angiogenesis density.Results TIMP-1 and Ang-1 genemodified BMSCs transplantation significantly improved the cardiac function,myocardial apoptosis was alleviated,collagen content decreased and the angiogenesis density in border-zone was increased significantly (P＜0.05).Conclusions The results suggest that the combination of TIMP-1 and Ang-1-gene modified BMSCs transplantation can improve the cardiac function of rats with myocardial infarction.The increase of the blood supply,the alleviation of myocardial apoptosis and ventricle remolding after myocardial infarction possibly play important roles in the mechanism.

Background and purpose: Epithelial ovarian carcinoma is the most malignant tumor in female reproductive system because of its resistance to chemotherapy. Fructose-1, 6-bisphosphatase (FBP1) is a rate-limiting enzyme in gluconeogenesis used to catalyze the hydrolysis of fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate to fructose-6-phosphate and inorganic phosphate, thereby inhibiting the effect of glycolysis in tumor cells. This study aimed to investigate the association between the expression of FBP1 and chemosensitivity. Methods: The expression level of FBP1 in ovarian cancer patients was measured by immunohistochemistry. Results: According to the results of immunohistochemistry in 209 ovarian carcinoma specimens, the percentage of positive FBP1 expression was about 49.3% (103/209). Loss of FBP1 was a negative factor of survival (42.6 months vs 62.1 months, P=0.003). Besides, patients who were sensitive to chemotherapy displayed significantly higher scores of FBP1 expression than patients who were resistant to therapy (P=0.007). Conclusion: The rate-limiting enzyme FBP1 in gluconeogenesis can be used as a biomarker for predicting the chemoresistance and prognosis of ovarian cancer patients.

Objective:To investigate the expression of miR-203a in bladder cancer (BC) cell lines (RT-112, T24, 5637, UM-UC-3) and evaluate the effects on BC cell proliferation and radiosensitivity.Methods:Mir-203a mimics, mir-203a inhibitor, CDK6 siRNA, CDK6 expression plasmid and corresponding negative controls were transfected into BC cells. Quantitative real-time PCR was used to detect the expression of miR-203a in BC cell lines and human bladder epithelial immortalized cell line (SV-HUC-1). CCK8 assay was used to investigate the regulation of miR-203a and cyclin-dependent kinases 6(CDK6) on the proliferation of BC cells. Colony formation assay was performed to assess the effect of miR-203a and CDK6 on the radiosensitivity of BC cells. The target gene of miR-203a was confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. The effect of miR-203a on CDK6 protein expression was detected by Western blot. Multi-group comparison was performed by one-way ANOVA and two-group comparison was conducted by t-test. Results:Compared with the SV-HUC-1 cells, the expression levels of miR-203a in RT-112, T24, 5637 and UM-UC-3 cells were significantly down-regulated (all P<0.05). Compared with NC group, overexpression of miR-203a significantly inhibited the proliferation of BC cells, whereas knockdown of miR-203a significantly promoted the proliferation of BC cells (both P<0.05). Compared with NC group, overexpression of miR-203a significantly increased the sensitivity of BC cells to radiotherapy, whereas knockdown of miR-203a significantly weakened the sensitivity of BC cells to radiotherapy (both P<0.05). CDK6 was the target of miR-203a. Compared with NC group, overexpression of miR-203a significantly down-regulated the expression level of CDK6 protein, whereas knockdown of miR-203a significantly up-regulated the expression level of CDK6 protein (both P<0.05). After overexpression of CDK6 in T24 and UM-UC-3 cells transfected with miR-203a mimics, the cell proliferation ability was significantly increased, whereas the sensitivity to radiotherapy was significantly decreased compared with mir-203a mimics (both P<0.05). After CDK6 was silenced in RT-112 and 5637 cells transfected with miR-203a inhibitor, the proliferation ability of cells was significantly decreased, whereas the sensitivity to radiotherapy was remarkably increased compared with miR-203a inhibitor group (both P<0.05). Conclusion:miR-203a can serves as a tumor suppressor gene to inhibit the proliferation of BC cells and enhance the radiosensitivity of BC cells.

Objective To compare the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at different acupoints on the neuroethology and expression of neurocan after focal cerebral infarction in rats. Methods The healthy male adult Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group (n=5), model group (n=20), Shuigou-Baihui (SB) group (n=20), Ganshu-Shenshu (GS) group (n=20) and Zusanli-Quchi (ZQ) group.All the rats were modeled with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) except sham group, and were randomly divided into 5 sub-groups as 1 d, 3 d, 7 d, 14 d and 21 d after cerebral ischemia. Their neuroethology was evaluated with Longa's score, and the expressions of neurocan mRNA and protein were detected with RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry in ischemic cortex. Results No dysfunction was found in the sham group. The neurological function recovered gradually 3 d after modeled, and improved significantly 7~21 d after modeled in each EA group compared with those in the model group (P<0.05). The expression of neurocan mRNA and protein gradually increased 1 d after modeled in the model group, peaked 14 d after modeled, and remained high level 21 d after modeled (P<0.01). The expressions of neurocan mRNA and protein were less in each EA group than in the model group 3 d after modeled (P<0.05), and were less in the SB group and GS group than in ZQ group (P<0.05). Conclusion The expression of neurocan increased significantly in ischemic cortex. EA may down-regulate the expression of neurocan after acute cerebral infarction, and improve the neuroethology. EA at SB and GS is more effective than at ZQ.

Objective To explore the value of MRI dynamic contrast-enhanced in differentiating adrenal adenomas from nonadenomas with washout rate of enhancement and the increased SI ratio. Methods Thirty-six patients with 41 adrenal masses enrolled into this study. All these masses underwent conventional T 1WI and T 2WI sequence first, and then FMPSPGR sequence through the center of each mass. Precontrast and dynamic contrast-enhanced FMPSPGR scans were preformed after administration of contrast material of Gd-DTPA intravenously. The signal intensity(SI) of masses was measured on the screen by electronic cursor. The washout rate of enhancement and increased SI ratio were compared between adenomas and nonadenomas. The differentiating adrenal adenomas from nonadenomas were carried out based on combination of the washout rate and the increased SI ratio, meanwhile, the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis of adenomas were evaluated well.Results The sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis of adenomas were 74% and 73%,and accuracy was 73% when the washout ratio was used as a indicator at 5 min. The sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis of adenomas would be improved markedly when the combination of the washout ratio and the increased SI ratio was used as a indicator.The sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis of adenomas were 95%, 91% respectively,and accuracy was 93%. Conclusion Using MRI dynamic contrast-enhanced based on combination of washout rate of enhancement and the increased SI ratio,the diagnosis and differentiating diagnosis of adrenal adenoma and nonadenoma can be improved.