Objective To investigate the expression of signal transduction molecule STAT-1 in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who received interferon-alpha (IFNα) treatment with different responses. Methods A total of 13 CHB patients received IFNα treatment, among who 5 demonstrated complete viral response ( Group A) and 8 showed no response ( Group B). All patients underwent liver biopsy before and after the therapy. STAT-1 mRNA of liver tissue was semi-quantified by RT-PCR and levels of STAT-1 protein were detected by Western-blot. Results Absorbance values (A) of STAT-1 mRNA in group A and B were (1. 18±0.06) and (0.21±0.04) respectively (t =35.27, P<0. 01). The levels of STAT-1 protein of liver tissue in group A were also significantly higher than those in group B. Conclusion IFNα resistance may be closely related to the down-regulation of STAT-1.

Objective To explore the effect of cluster needling of scalp acupuncture combined with treadmill training on axonal regener-ation and expression of S-100 protein in rats with sciatic nerve injury. Methods Ninety male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided in-to blank group, sham group, model group, treadmill group and cluster needling of scalp point combined with treadmill group (combination group), each group was further divided into 7, 14 and 21 days subgroups, with 6 rats in each subgroup. The sciatic nerve of rats was clamped in the model group, the treadmill group and the combination group. The sham group was subjected to the same surgical procedure with sciat-ic nerve exposure but without crush injury. Three days after modeling, the treadmill group was treated with treadmill training, and the combi-nation group was treated with cluster needling of scalp acupuncture and treadmill training, while the other groups were grabbed regularly, with no other intervention. The sciatic functional index (SFI) was tested, the condition of axon growth was observed with HE staining, and the expression of S-100 protein was examined with immunohistochemistry at each time point. Results At each time point, SFI was higher, the axon grew better, and the S-100 protein was higher expressed in the treadmill group and the combination group than in the model group (P<0.05), especially in the combination group (P<0.05). Conclusion Cluster needling of scalp acupuncture combined with treadmill training can accelerate the regeneration of axons and increase the expression of S-100 protein and improve sciatic function after sciatic nerve injury.

The researches that stroke was treated by cluster needling of scalp acupuncture combined with rehabilitation in the past 10 years were reviewed, noting that it can significantly reduce the dysfunctions in stroke patients, prompting that the cluster needling of scalp acupuncture and modern rehabilitation techniques was combined, was a new method for stroke rehabilitation treatment.

Objective To evaluate the therapeutic effects of capsule Huoluoshugan on schistosomal hepatocirrhosis.Methods Ninety-six patients with schistosomal hepatocirrhosis were selected and divided randomly into three groups:Huoluoshugan group,interferon-?(IFN-?)group and control group,and treated with capsule Huoluoshugan,IFN-? and routine therapy,respectively.The course of treatment was 6 months in all groups.Before and after the treatment,the symptoms,physical signs,indexes of liver function and hepatic fibrosis,and changes of B-type ultrasonic images were detected for all the patients.Results The indexes of liver function,hepatic fibrosis and B-type ultrasonic image of the patients in Huoluoshugan group improved obviously compared with the control group after the treatment(P0.05).In addition,there was no obvious adverse reactions during the treatment in the patients of Huoluoshugan group.Conclusion Capsule Huoluoshugan can reduce the indexes of hepatic fibrosis and improve the liver function in patients with schistosomal hepatocirrhosis.

Objective To investigate the efficacy of acupuncture and rehabilitation therapy on lower limb motor function, and to explore a cortical mechanism using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Methods From December, 2020 to July, 2021, 24 stroke patients with lower limb motor dysfunction in our hospital were randomly divided into rehabilitation group (n = 12) and acupuncture-rehabilitation group (n = 12), and received routine rehabilitation training and acupuncture-rehabilitation intervention for four weeks, respectively. The control group included ten healthy subjects matched the patients. Before and after intervention, the lower limb motor function of the patients was assessed with Fugl-Meyer Assessment-Lower Extremities (FMA-LE), and all the subjects accepted fNIRS examination. The functional intensity and lateralization index (LI) of supplementary motor area (SMA), premotor cortex (PMC) and sensory motor cortex (SMC) were calculated based on oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO2). Results There was no significant difference in FMA-LE score between the rehabilitation group and the acupuncture-rehabilitation group before the intervention (P > 0.05). After four weeks of intervention, FMA-LE scores improved in both groups (t > 3.770, P < 0.001), and improved more in the acupuncture-rehabilitation group than in the rehabilitation group (t = 2.252, P < 0.05). Before intervention, the average functional connection was more intensitive in the control group than in the two patients groups (P < 0.05), and there was no significant difference between the later two groups (t = 0.458, P > 0.05). After intervention, the average functional connection increased in both groups (t > 2.178, P < 0.05), and the functional connection of the affected PMC of acupuncture-rehabilitation group increased (P < 0.05). The LI in SMC increased in the acupuncture-rehabilitation group (P < 0.05). There was a significant positive correlation between the change of functional connection of the affected PMC and the change of FMA-LE scores in the acupuncture-rehabilitation group (r = 0.579, P < 0.05). Conclusion Acupuncture with rehabilitation therapy can significantly improve the lower limb motor function and asymmetrical activation of SMC in stroke patients. The recovery of lower limb motor function may be related to the enhanced activation of affected PMC.

Objective To explore the effects of cluster needling of scalp acupuncture combined with rehabilitation (Tang's Approach) onforelimb motor function and expression of synaptophysin and growth-associated protein (GAP-43) in rats after focal cerebral ischemia.Methods Endothelin-1(ET-1) was used to induce focal cerebral ischemia model in rats with forelimb dysfunction. The rats were randomlydivided into 5 groups: sham operation group, model group, rehabilitation group, acupuncture group, and acupuncture with rehabilitationgroup, each group was divided into 4 subgroups by 3 d, 7 d, 14 d, and 21 d. 24 hours after modeling, the cluster needle of scalp point withskilled forelimb reaching was trained in the acupuncture with rehabilitation group, skilled forelimb reaching was trained in the rehabilitationgroup, and the cluster needle of scalp point only were punctured and stimulated in the acupuncture group. But the model group had no intervention.The success rates of forelimb reaching were analyzed and immuno-histochemical technique was used to observe the expression ofsynaptophysin and GAP-43 in cortical ischaemic lesions of the rats in each group at different time points. Results At different time pointsafter the treatment, the successful rate of forelimb reaching in the acupuncture with rehabilitation group was higher than the model group, rehabilitationgroup, and acupuncture group (P<0.05). Conclusion The cluster needling of scalp acupuncture combined with rehabilitationcan promote recovery of forelimb motor function in rats after focal cerebral ischemia, which may associate with the expression of synaptophysinand GAP-43 in cortex surro`unding following focal cortical ischaemic lesions.

Objective To explore the effects of task-oriented training on forelimb motor function and expression of synaptophysin andgrowth associated protein (GAP)-43 in rats after focal cerebral ischemia. Methods Endothelin-1 (ET-1) was used to induce focal cerebralischemia model in rats with forelimb dysfunction. The rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: sham operation group, model group,task-oriented training group and treadmill running group, each group was divided into 4 subgroups by 3 d, 7 d, 14 d, and 21 d. 24 hours aftermodeling, the rats in task-oriented training group were trained with forelimb reaching and the rats in the treadmill running group weretrained by treadmill, and the model group had no intervention. Motor function of rats was evaluated by net screen test, and immunohistochemistrystaining was used to observed the expression of GAP-43 and synaptophysin in cortical ischemia lesions of the rats in each groupat different time points. Results The scores of behavioral tests were better in the task-oriented training group than in the model group (P<0.01) and the treadmill group (P<0.05) on the 14th and 21st days after modeling. The expression of GAP-43 was higher in the task-orientedtraining group than in the model group (P<0.05) and the sham group (P<0.01) on the 7th and 21st days after modeling. The expression ofsynaptophysin was higher in the task-oriented training group than in the model group (P<0.05) and the sham group (P<0.05) on the 14th andthe 21st days after modeling. Conclusion Task-oriented training can facilitate the recovery of forelimb motor function of rats after focal cerebralischemia, and it may be partially related to the up-regulation of expression of GAP-43 and synaptophysin in peri-infarction cortex.

Objective To investigate changes of regulatory T (Treg) cell proportion and activity in patients with decompensated hepatitis B-related cirrhosis complicated with bacterial infections.Methods Thirty patients with decompensated hepatitis B-related cirrhosis complicated with bacterial infections,20patients with decompensated hepatitis B-related cirrhosis without bacterial infection and 10 healthy controls were recruited in the study from Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University during January 2009 and December 2011.Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were obtained from blood samples via density gradient centrifugation.The proportion of CD4+ CD25+ CD127low Treg cells in CD4+ cells was detected by flow cytometry.The immune activity of Treg cells isolated from PBMCs was observed by a suppression assay of allogeneic mixed lymphocyte response (MLR).Results Patients with decompensated hepatitis B-related cirrhosis complicated with bacterial infections had significantly lower percentage of Treg cells in CD4 + T cells of PBMCs than the patients with decompensated hepatitis B-related cirrhosis without bacterial infections [(4.07±1.18)％ vs.(9.74 ±3.00)％,t =9.35,P＜0.01].The suppression ability to homologous PBMCs proliferation of Treg cells isolated from patients with decompensated hepatitis B-related cirrhosis complicated with bacterial infections was significantly weakened as demonstrated in MLR assay [ cpm =(22.79 ± 4.94) × 103],which had a statistical difference compared with both the patients with decompensated hepatitis B-related cirrhosis without bacterial infection and the healthy controls [ cpm =(6.43±1.19) × 103 and (5.96 ± 1.25) × 103 respectively; t =16.09 and 16.51,P＜ 0.01].Conclusion There is a decrease of both quantity and activity of Treg cell in the patients with decompensated hepatitis B-related cirrhosis complicated with bacterial infections.

Liver failure is a familiar severe disease, with no good clinical early diagnostic indicators and treatment methods. Studies have shown that non-encoding RNA (ncRNA) characterized by microRNA (miRNA) and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) can be used not only as an early diagnostic indicator of liver failure, but also play a key regulatory role in an inflammatory response to liver failure, hepatocyte death and hepatocyte regeneration. Simultaneously, the epigenetic regulation of ncRNA also participates in the initiation and progression of liver failure. This article reviews the relationship between miRNA, lncRNA, and liver failure to find new targets for the diagnosis and treatment of liver failure.

Promoting equity and access to medicine is important to guarantee health equity. The international communities commonly guarantee equity and access to medicine through free pharmaceutical policy. In most coun-tries, free pharmaceutical policy covers patients who cannot afford, children under 5, pregnant women and elderly people. The free medicines include essential medicines, medicines for chronic and infectious diseases, vaccines, etc. Financing of free medicines comes from health insurance, direct government investment and international aid, and the medicine delivery mainly depends on the public medical institutions. Free pharmaceutical policy in China mainly refers to medicines for infectious diseases and vaccines, and the coverage is narrow. This paper argues that since China has been becoming one of the middle income countries, the amount of free medicines should be in-creased, especially for chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, etc. The equity and access to medicine in China should be further promoted by providing all essential medicines for free.