Objective To observe the effect of acupuncture on ghrelin,estradiol (E2) and bone mineral density (BMD) in postmenopausal osteoporosis rats.Methods According to the random number table method,60 female Sprague-Dawley rats aged 3 months,were randomly divided into surgery group (40 rats) and sham group (20 rats).The osteoporosis model was established by bilateral ovariectomy.Three months after the operation,a significant decrease in BMD of lumbar vertebrae and femur of the model rats as measured by dual energy X-ray absorptionmetry against the sham group indicated successful establishment of the osteoporosis model.Then surgery group was randomly divided into a model subgroup,a acupuncture subgroup and an estrogen subgroup,with 10 rats in each subgroup.The acupuncture subgroup was treated with electroacupuncture,estrogen subgroup with subcutaneous injection of estradiol benzoate,sham group and model subgroup without any treatment.After 3 months of intervention all the rats were sacrificed,BMD of the lumbar vertebrae and femur was measured,ghrelin and E2 were determined.Results Serum ghrelin in acupuncture subgroup (399 pg/ml) and estrogen subgroup (276 pg/ml) were significantly lower (P ＜ 0.01) than that in model subgroup (546 pg/ml); serum E2 in acupuncture subgroup (128.02 pg/ml) and estrogen subgroup (182.89 pg/ml) increased significantly (P ＜ 0.05) than that in model subgroup (72.10 pg/ml) ;lumbar vertebrae BMD in acupuncture subgroup (0.212 g/cm2) and estrogen subgroup (0.231 g/cm2) increased significantly (P ＜ 0.05) than that in model subgroup (0.191 g/cm2),but in acupuncture subgroup the effect on improving the level of E2,ghrelin and lumbar vertebrae BMD was less than that in estrogen subgroup (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Acupuncture intervention can improve lumbar vertebrae BMD and serum E2 level of postmenopausal osteoporosis rat model,down regulate serum ghrelin level,but the overall effect of acupuncture is less than estrogen.

PURPOSE: With the introduction of H. pylori eradication and proton pump inhibitor, the operative treatments for the acute or chronic complications of peptic ulcer, such as perforation, bleeding and stricture, have decreased. Also owing to the development of non-operative treatment such as interventional endoscopic treatment, the surgical approach to the acute complications, like perforation and bleeding, has diminished. The non-operative treatments for the stricture and obstruction of chronic peptic ulcer in part related to discontinuation of medication have not been satisfactory. We analyzed the clinical outcomes of the patients who underwent operative treatment for outlet obstruction with peptic ulcer. Materials of Methods: From January 1994 to December 2007, we reviewed 31 patients who had been operated on at the National Medical Center for peptic ulcer obstruction. We excluded the cases of adhesive obstructions that were caused by a former ulcer operation and also the cases of obstructions found during emergency operations for treating perforation and bleeding. We classified the surgical treatment group into the bypass operation group and the surgical resection group. We evaluated the effects of the operations by the Visick score. The recurrences were confirmed only by the endoscopic observation of peptic ulcer. RESULTS: The number of patients in the bypass operation group was 6 (19.4%) and that of resection group was 25 (80.6%). The mean age was 57.5 (25~81) years. The number of male patients was 29 (93.5%) and the number of females was 2 (6.5%). The mean symptom duration was 29.6 months. There were 19 smokers (61.3%), 6 NSAID users (19.4%) and 7 H. pylori positive patients (22.6%). Two patients underwent endoscopic balloon dilatation with no success. The locations of lesion were the stomach, the duodenum and both in 9, 20 and 2 cases, respectively. There were operative complications in 13 cases (41.9%), recurrent ulcers in 2 cases (6.5%), and reoperations in 4 cases. The mean Visick score was 1.8 (1~4). There were no statistically significant clinicopathologic differences between the bypass operation group and the resection group. The two groups had 1 case each of recurrence. Although the bypass group had a greater complication rate (83.3%) than the resection group (32%), this was not statistically meaningful (P=0.175). The mean Visick score was 3.0 in the bypass group and 1.6 in the resection group, so the resection group was better (P=0.001). CONCLUSION: For a case of chronic peptic ulcer with outlet obstruction, even though it has been reported that endoscopic balloon dilatation worked well, surgery is still regarded as an important treatment. If you consider the patients' satisfaction and the difficulty of diagnosing malignant ulcers, surgical resection should be recommended more often than a bypass operation.
Adhesives ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Dilatation ; Duodenum ; Emergencies ; Female ; Gastric Outlet Obstruction ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Male ; Peptic Ulcer ; Proton Pumps ; Recurrence ; Stomach ; Ulcer