Objective To investigate the effect of early acupuncture at Huatuo jiaji points on striatalβ-endorphin and dynorphin levels in rats with post-stroke limb spasm.Methods Seventy SD rats were randomized into group A (normal) of 9 rats and group B (sham operation) of 10 rats. After a model of post-stroke limb spasm was made in the remaining rats, they were randomized into groups C (model), D (acupuncture at Huatuo jiaji points) and E (baclofen). Group D received acupuncture at Huatuo jiaji points and group E, an oral gavage of baclofen tablets. After seven days of treatment, striatalβ-endorphin and dynorphin levels were neasured by radioimmunoassay.Resultsβ-endorphin levels increased significantly in groups C, D and E compared with groups A and B (P<0.01) and also in groups D and E compared with group C (P<0.01,P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference inβ-endorphin levels between groups D AND E (P>0.05). Dynorphin levels increased significantly in groups C, D and E compared with groups A and B (P<0.05,P<0.01). There was no statistically significant difference in dynorphin levels between groups D and E (P>0.05).Conclusions Acupuncture at Huatuo jiaji points can increase striatalβ-endorphin levels but not change striatal dynorphin levels, which conforms to the relationship between enkephalin and spasm, and improve the animal’s spasticity.

Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of micro-invasive point-through-point thread-embedding in treating acute stage of post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome. Method Sixty patients were randomized into a treatment group and a control group, 30 in each group. Patients in the treatment group were intervened by micro-invasive point-through-point thread-embedding in addition to rehabilitation training, while patients in the control group were by rehabilitation training alone. Before treatment and after 4-week treatments, Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was used to estimate shoulder pain, modified Barthel Index (MBI) to detect the activities of daily life, and Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale to measure the motor function of upper limb. Result Before treatment, there were no significant differences in comparing the involved indexes between the two groups (P>0.05), and the indexes were significantly improved after intervention in both groups (P<0.05). Conclusion Micro-invasive point-through-point thread-embedding can reduce pain intensity, improve the activities of daily life and motor function of upper limb of patients in acute stage of post-stroke shoulder-hand syndrome.

In the paper, by taking acupuncture and migraine as the key words to retrieve CNKI and PubMed database, the literature analysis was done on the mechanism study on experimental migraine treated with acupuncture in rat model. The results showed that acupuncture mechanism study focused on the regulation and control of the relevant neurotransmitters/neuromodulators of migraine, such as calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), serotonin (5-HT), nitric oxide (NO), etc. Moreover, in the paper, the review had been done on the neurotransmitters/neuromodulators involved in the study.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Animals ; Disease Models, Animal ; Humans ; Migraine Disorders ; genetics ; metabolism ; therapy ; Nitroglycerin ; metabolism ; Rats ; Serotonin ; metabolism

Professor XIA Shouren is a famous acupuncture master in China and has devoted his life to clinical practice, teaching and scientific study of TCM. In his 50 years of medical career, he has studied Chinese and western medicine, innovated ancient masters' experiences, adhered to the theory of "less but highly-effective needling", specified at genjie points and deeply explored the specificity of acupoints. Additionally, the acupuncture stfudy has been firstly conducted in the diagnosis and treatment of trigeminal neuralgia in China and his own unique academic thought has been formed. Professor XIA Shouren makes the contribution to the theory, practice and inheritance of acupuncture and moxibustion.
Acupuncture ; education ; history ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; history ; China ; History, 20th Century ; Humans ; Male

OBJECTIVETo evaluate the clinical efficacy on primary varicose veins treated with He's fire needle therapy.

METHODSFifty patients of primary varicose veins were randomized into an observation group (25 cases) and a control group (25 cases). In the observation group, He's fire needle therapy was applied for 8 weeks. The fire needling was done on the sites of varicose veins till the bleeding stopped automatically. Additionally, acupuncture with filiform needle was applied to Heyang (BL 55), Chengjin (BL 56), Chengshan (BL 57) and Kunlun (BL 60) on the affected side. In the control group, no intervention was given. The follow-up visit was conducted regularly and since the 8th week, the same treatment as the observation group was provided in the control group. The revised venous clinical severity score (RVCSS) was used for the evaluation of the primary outcomes. The methods for the evaluation of the secondary efficacy outcomes included the venous insufficiency epidemiologic and economic study of quality of life questionnaire scale (VEINES-QOL/sym questionnaire), the venous insufficiency epidemiologic and economic study of symptom score (VEINES-Sym score), the venous insufficiency epidemiologic and economic study of quality of life scale (VEINES-QOL score) and the Homburg varicose vein severity score (HVVSS). The evaluation was conducted at the baseline, at the end of the 4th week and the 8th week separately. The follow-up evaluation was done at the end of the 16th week in the observation group.

RESULTSDuring the study, 5 cases were dropped out, accounting for 10%. RVCSS score in the observation group was lower than that in the control group at the end of the 4th and 8th weeks separately (both P < 0.05). VEINES-QOL score and HVVSS score in the observation group were higher than those in the control group at the end of the 4th and 8th weeks separately (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). VEINES-Sym score in the observation group was increased as compared with that of the control group at the end of the 4th and 8th weeks, but the difference was significant at the end of the 8th week (P < 0.01). HVVSS score at the end of the 8th and 16th weeks was reduced as compared with that at the end of the 4th week in the observation group (both P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONHE's fire needle therapy is effective on primary varicose veins. It significantly reduces the severity of disease, the severity of symptoms and the attack frequency of symptoms so that the quality of life is improved in the patients. Additionally, the good long-term efficacy is maintained in 8 weeks after treatment. When the duration of treatment is increased from 4 weeks to 8 weeks, HE's fire needle therapy remarkably improves the efficacy for reducing the symptom severity.

Acupuncture Therapy ; instrumentation ; methods ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Quality of Life ; Treatment Outcome ; Varicose Veins ; therapy

This article summarized clinical studies and mechanism research literature on acupuncture in treating chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting in the latest 20 years. It found that the domestic and foreign researches tend to regard acupuncture as an effective method for the treatment of chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting, which still requires further high-level clinical researches to verify. Acupuncture may prevent and treat chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting through multiple mechanisms, and studies on these mechanisms show extensive research prospect.

Migraine is the most common type of primary headache.The ideal animal models of migraine should be able to well replicate the key pathophysiological mechanism of migraine.According to the different pathogeneses,this article reviews the advances in research on the animal models of migraine from the aspect of making methods,determination criterion,advantages and disadvantages,and the scope of application,

Objective:To investigate the therapeutic effect of electroacupuncture on vestibular central balance disturbance. Methods: Forty-six patients with vestibular central balance disturbance were randomly divided into a treatment group of 23 cases and a control group of 23 cases. After 4 weeks 'treatment, the effects were evaluated by Berg balance scale, Visual analog scale and a staticdynamic balance test. Results: The effective rate was 87.0% in the treatment group and 65.2% in the control group. There was a significant difference (P＜ 0.05). After treatment, Berg balance scale score, eye opening with two feet standing time and eye closure with two feet standing time were better in the treatment group than in the control group after treatment (P＜ 0.05). Conclusion: This therapy is effective for vestibular central balance disturbance.

Objective To find out the distribution of TCM constitution on the patients with stroke in Beijing. Method The TCM Constitution Questionnaire was used to evaluate 489 patients with stroke in three hospitals in Beijing. Results The qi-deficiency constitution (140 patients, 28.63%), yin-deficiency constitution (95 patients, 19.43%), blood-stasis constitution(89 patients, 18.20%) and phlegm-heat constitution (73 patients, 14.93%) were the most common constitution, while qi-depression constitution (22 patients, 4.50%) and yang-deficiency constitution (20 patients, 4.09%) were the less common. The top three constitution in middle aged wereqi-deficiency (33 patients, 27.27%), phlegm-heat (23 patients, 19.01%) and blood stasis (22 patients, 18.18%). The top three constitution in the aged groupwere qi-deficiency (107 patients, 29.08%), yin-deficiency (76 patients, 20.65%) and blood-stasis (67 patients, 18.21%). Conclusions Stroke is closely related with imbalance of TCM constitution. The prevention and treatment of stroke patients with different ages should vary according to the constitutions.

Objective To investigate neurological function, volume of cerebral infarction, changes of lipid peroxidation, and the intervention effect of compound angelica injection (CAI) on rats with focal cerebral ischemia injury. Methods Models of rat with cerebral ischemia were reproduced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). All animals were randomly divided into sham-operation group, model group, CAI group, and edaravone group. 1 hour after the models were established, rats in the sham-operation group and model group received intraperitoneal injection with normal saline, while rats in CAI group and edaravone group received intraperitoneal injection with relevant medicine for continuing 7 days. Volume of cerebral infarction was detected by Tetrazole staining method, neurologic function were detected by neuroethology, and concentration of MDA in brain tissue was also detected. Results After 7-day cerebral ischemia, compared with the model group, volume of cerebral infarction in CAI group was significantly reduced (P<0.05), and the concentration of MDA was a little lower. Conclusion CAI has significant protective effects which can significantly improve neurological function, reduce volume of cerebral infarction, and alleviate the effects of lipid peroxidation of rats with focal cerebral ischemia injury.