Data mining technology has become a powerful tool in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research. In this paper, based on the principle and basic requirements of data mining, the mining methods and procedures were described. And then the application of data mining technology in Chinese medicine pair research was classified and summarized, such as the compatibility characters, characteristic pairs, dosage-effect relationship and property compatibility, which provide the direction and data base for modern research of Chinese medicine pair.
Cluster Analysis ; Data Mining ; methods ; Drug Interactions ; Drug Prescriptions ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods

OBJECTIVETo systematically review the clinical efficacy of acupuncture on the patients with low back pain (LBP).

METHODSRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) about pure acupuncture therapy versus other treatments in treating LBP were electronically searched in PubMed, CBM, EMbase, The Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang Data from January 2004 to May 2014. The observed index on the results were the changed scores of VAS, ODI, JOA and RMDQ. Two reviewers independently screened the literatures according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, as well as the extracted data, and assessed the methodological quality. The results of Meta-analysis was conducted by RevMan 5.2 software.

RESULTSTen RCTs involved 751 patients were finally included. The results of Meta-analysis indicated that the role of pure acupuncture group in improving the VAS score was better than that of the control group, and the combined effect size was RR = -.32, 95% CI (-1.41, -1.22); Z=27.28, P<0.00001; the role of pure acupuncture group in improving the ODI score was better than that of the control group, and the combined effect size was RR = -5.07, 95% CI (-7.50, -2.65); Z=4.10, P<0.0001; the role of pure acupuncture group on improved JOA score was better than that of the control group and the combined effect size was RR=2.83, 95% CI (2.02, 3.63), Z=6.90, P<0.00001. The role of pure acupuncture group in improving the RMDQ score was better than that of the control group, and the combined effect size was RR = -2.80, 95% CI (-3.49, -2.11), Z=7.95, P<0.00001.

CONCLUSIONThe result of meta-analysis demonstrates that pure acupuncture may have a favorable effect on self-reported pain and functional limitations in LBP patients.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Humans ; Low Back Pain ; therapy ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Treatment Outcome

Objective The clinical manifestations of Parkinson''s disease (PD) are divided into non-motor symptoms and motor symptoms.Constipation is one of the common symptoms of non-motor symptoms of the disease.Constipation symptoms in PD generally occur earlier for 5~20 years, while drug treatment for PD constipation can lead to gastrointestinal damage.This study investigated the improvement in the treatment of anorectal dynamics and constipation symptoms in Parkinson''s disease by oral mosapride and press-needle therapy of Shu-Mu point.Methods 60 patients diagnosed as constipation of Parkinson''s disease were randomly divided into control group and treatment group, 30 cases in each group;patients in the control group were treated with oral mosapride tablets, while patients in the treatment group received press-needle therapy, three times per week.The observation course in both groups last for three months and follow-up visits were conducted before and after the course.Efficacy evaluation, PAC-QOL scale and anorectal dynamic examination were applied in the follow-up visit.Results The efficiency of treatment group was 81.7%, significantly higher than control group (70%), representing significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05).Both the methods could improve the PAC-QOL scale, and significant difference was found in comparison to that before the treatment(P<0.01), while no statistical significance was found between treatment group and control group after treatment(P>0.05).As to the anorectal dynamics, significant difference was found before and after the treatment in both groups (P<0.05, P<0.01), while no statistical significance were found between the two groups after treatment(P>0.05).Conclusion Both oral mosapride and press-needle can improve the quality of life and anorectal dynamics for PD patients, representing no significant difference.However, compared with mosapride, the overall efficacy of press-needle is better in improving the symptoms of constipation in PD, featuring more convenience, higher safety, less pain and no side effect, and it is worthy of clinical application.

Transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels are widely distributed in different kinds of cells. TRP expresses highly in the prostatic cancer epithelia at different levels, but whether it expresses in chronic prostatitis epithelia or not remains poorly understood. Investigating the roles of TRP ion channels in the pathogenesis of prostatic diseases could afford us a new approach to their diagnosis and therapy.
Calcium Channels ; Calcium Signaling ; Humans ; Male ; Prostatic Diseases ; metabolism ; pathology ; Transient Receptor Potential Channels

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of acupuncture on quality of life (QOL) in post-ischemic stroke patients with dysphagia.

METHODSSixty-six patients with dysphagia were randomly assigned to 3 groups, the 23 patients in the electro-acupuncture (EA) group treated by EA, 18 in the control group received rehabilitation training combined with acupoint percutaneous electric stimulation, and 25 in the acupoint token puncturing (TP) group received rehabilitation training combined with acupoint TP, once every day for 20 days in total. Changes in QOL scale specified for dysphagia of patients before and after treatment were compared.

RESULTSThe total effective rate was 69.6% in the EA group, 50.0% in the control group and 64.0% in the TP group with insignificant difference among them (P > 0.05), but the improvements dealing with patients' general condition, time for taking food, frequency of uneasiness, emotion, appetite, social intercourse ability, fatigue, sleep and mental health, etc. in the EA group were superior to those in the other two groups (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture could improve the QOL of patients with dysphagia after ischemic stroke.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Deglutition Disorders ; complications ; therapy ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Ischemia ; complications ; Logistic Models ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Multivariate Analysis ; Quality of Life ; Stroke ; complications ; Time Factors ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the condition and characteristics of drug-induced liver injury (DILI) of anti-infective agents and provide reference for the prevention and treatment of anti-infective agents related DILI. METHODS:Based on retrospective analysis,a total of 572 DILI reports of anti-infective agents were collected from PLA ADR monitoring center during 2009 to 2013, and then analyzed statistically in terms of patient’s age and gender,main diagonosis,categories of DILI-inducing drugs,type,route of administration,occurrence time,lab indicator,DILI types and clinical manifestations,the application of liver protective drugs,out-comes,etc. RESULTS:Among 572 DILI cases,there were 412 cases(72.03%)of male patients and 160 cases(27.97%)of female patients,and average age of the patients was(44.54±23.75)years old. ADRs were related to 57 kinds of anti-infective agents in 6 cat-egories. Rifampin was the most frequent in suspected drugs,followed by isoniazid,moxifloxacin,fluconazole,azithromycin,cefurox-ime, cefoperazone/sulbactam, levofloxacin, cefoxitin and voriconazole. Intravenous infusion was the main administration route (74.48%). The occurrence time of ADRs was mainly within two weeks (86.19%). Hepatocellular damage (93.33%) was the main type in 360 cases of ADR for evaluation of liver injury types. The majority of cases(82.17%)were cured or improved after drug with-drawal and symptomatic treatment. CONCLUSIONS:Cephalosporin,fluoroquinolones,antituberculosis and antifungal drugs might be the common agents which caused liver injury. Hepatocellular damage is the most frequent type. Most of patients have a favourable prognosis. Clinical medical staffs should strengthen the awareness of DILI caused by anti-infective agents and ehance the prevetion of it.

The clinical efficacy and safety of auricular acupuncture (AA) for treatment of primary insomnia was evaluated. After a comprehensive retrieval in domestic and foreign databases, literatures were strictly screened and Revman 5.2 software was applied to perform a Meta-analysis on eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs). The evidence quality was assessed with GRADE profiler 3.6 software. As a result, 8 articles were included involving 894 patients. Compared among AA and sham AA, placebo AA, blank control, there was significant difference in Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) [WMD = -3.48, 95% CI (-3.96, -3.00)], sleep latency LWMD = -10.14, 95% CI (-17.16, -3.12)] and sleep awakening times [WMD = -9.98, 95% CI (-1.10,-0.48)]. Compared between AA and western medication, there was significant difference in PSQI [WMD = -3.62, 95% CI (-4.59, -2.65)]. The evidence quality was moderate in AA vs. sham AA, placebo AA or blank control, while that of the rest was extremely low. No reports of adverse events were described in all studies. In conclusion, for the treatment of primary insomnia, AA could effectively improve sleep quality, but due to the low evidence quality, cautious attitude should be taken on this conclusion, and clinical trials with large sample and high quality were needed in the further.
Acupuncture, Ear ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Sleep ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; physiopathology ; therapy

A method of comprehensive chemical pattern recognition of Atractylodis Rhizoma was established by GC-MS fingerprint, principal component analysis, cluster analysis and discriminant analysis. A DB-wax column (0.25 mm x 60 m, 0.25 microm) with El ion source and 70 V electron multiplier were used for GC-MS analysis. Using principal component analysis, cluster analysis, and discriminant analysis, 15 common peaks of sample fingerprints for chemical pattern recognition research were analysed. The same results were obtained from the fingerprint, principal component analysis and cluster analysis, which could use to distinguish genuine Atractylodes lancea, ungenuine A. lancea and A. chinensis. Thus, this method could be used for the quality control and comprehensive evaluation of Atractylodis Rhizoma.
Atractylodes ; chemistry ; China ; Discriminant Analysis ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry ; methods ; Quality Control ; Rhizome ; chemistry

Objective To investigate whether the effect of puerarin on right ventricle hypertrophy of pulmonary hypertensive rats induced by chronic hypoxia-hypercapnia was related to new peptide Apelin or its receptor(APJ).Methods Thirty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into three groups, they are control group,hypoxia-hypercapnia 4-week model group,and hypoxia-hypercapnia 4-week plus puerarin group.The concentrations of Apelin-36 protein in plasma and homogenate of right ventricular muscle were detected by radioimmunoassay.The mRNA expressions of Apelin and APJ in right ventricu- lar muscle were measured by semi-quantitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR). Results The weight ratio of right ventricle to left ventricle plus septum[RV/(LV+S)] in model group was significantly higher than that in control group(P0.05).The plasma concen- tration of Apelin-36 protein in model group was significantly higher than that in control group(P

OBJECTIVETo construct a recombinant adenovirus vector carrying antisense heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) cDNA and observe its effect on inhibiting the growth of laryngeal carcinoma Hep-2 cells.

METHODSThe HSP70 gene fragment encoding the 5' region was cloned reversely into the shuttle plasmid PAdTrack-CMV, and the resultant plasmid was recombined with the backbone plasmid PadEasy-1 in the E.coli Bj5183 cells to generate the recombinant adenovirus vector. The adenovirus were then packaged and amplified in 293 cells, and the viral titer was determined using GFP.

RESULTSThe recombinant adenovirus vector carrying antisense HSP70 cDNA was constructed successfully with a viral titer of 8 x 10(9). HSP70 expression of Hep-2 cells was obviously blocked by antisense HSP70 RNA, and Western blotting and immuohistochemistry demonstrated that cells transfected with antisense HSP70 did not express or express HSP70 at low levels. Flow cytometry presented apoptotic peak in the antisense HSP70-transfected cells, but not in the control cells.

CONCLUSIONThe recombinant adenovirus vector containing antisense HSP70 cDNA can effectively deliver antisense HSP70 gene into Hep-2 cells, suggesting the great potential of this gene therapy strategy in management of human laryngeal carcinoma.

Adenoviridae ; genetics ; Cell Line, Tumor ; DNA, Antisense ; pharmacology ; DNA, Complementary ; genetics ; Genetic Therapy ; Genetic Vectors ; biosynthesis ; HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins ; genetics ; Humans ; Laryngeal Neoplasms ; therapy ; RNA, Antisense ; pharmacology ; Transfection