Objective:To observe the clinical efficacy of acupoint massage plus moxibustion in treating refractory insomnia.
Methods:Sixty patients with refractory insomnia were randomized into two groups, 30 in each group. The treatment group was intervened by acupoint massage on the face and head plus moxibustion at Yongquan (KI 1);the control group was intervened only by the same acupoint massage. For both groups, the treatment was given once a day, and the therapeutic efficacy was evaluated after 4-week treatment.
Results:The total effective rate was 93.3%in the treatment group versus 80.0%in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).
Conclusion:Acupoint massage plus moxibustion can produce a better efficacy than acupoint massage alone in treating refractory insomnia.

Objective Based on the research of the mechanism of fibroblast proliferation,the principle of synovial hyperplasia is explored in rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods CCK-8 method was used to observe the stimulation effect of LPS on fibroblast proliferation.By confocal scanning microscopy,the expression of TLR-4 on fibroblast membrane was observed; Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR method was used to detect the stimulatory effect of macrophage migration inhibitory factor on TLR-4 expression of fibrob-lasts and further analyzed the changes of TLR-4 expression on the cell membrane by flow cytometry.Results The LPS could stimulate fibroblast proliferation,and the fibroblasts expression of TLR4 per se.After stimulated by macrophage migration inhibitory factor,the expression of fibroblast TLR-4 was increased by about 20％-30％.Conclusion MIF increases the TLR-4 expression of fibroblasts that potentially enhance cell proliferation induced by LPS.

italic>Mycobacterium tuberculosis, responsible for tuberculosis (TB), remains a major health problem worldwide and is one of the infectious diseases causing increased morbidity and mortality worldwide. Biotin, namely vitamin H, is an important cofactor necessary for fatty acid biosynthesis, gluconeogenesis and amino acid metabolism in organisms including Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Due to its inability to ingestion biotin from outside, Mycobacterium tuberculosis can only obtain biotin through biotin biosynthesis. Different from the classical BioC-BioH, BioI-BioW and non-classical BioZ pathways, Mycobacterium tuberculosis synthesized biotin by "BioC-BioH(2)" pathway in the early stage. This review focuses on the unique biotin synthesis pathway of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its key genes, especially the response of this pathway and biotin-dependent carboxylase to tuberculosis first-and second-line drugs, as well as inhibitors and natural products targeting biotin synthesis.

[ ABSTRACT] AIM:To investigate the effect of astragaloside IV on neurological function and the protein expres -sion of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), Notch1 and NF-κB in acute cerebral hemorrhage (ACH) rats.METHODS:ACH model in rats was established via injection of autologous blood , and the rats were divided into 4 groups:sham, ACH, ACH+astragaloside IV (100 mg/kg) and ACH+astragaloside IV (200 mg/kg) groups.The impairment of neurological func-tion in each group was graded , and the brain coefficient and water content were calculated .The serum level of NSE was measured by ELISA.Additionally, the expression of Notch1 and NF-κB was determined by Western blot .RESULTS:As-tragaloside IV improved the neurological function and decreased the brain coefficient and water content in ACH rats .Moreo-ver, the ACH-induced increase in NSE was inhibited after astragaloside IV treatment .Similarly, astragaloside IV also sig-nificantly attenuated the expression of Notch 1 and NF-κB in ACH rats.CONCLUSION: Astragaloside IV attenuates the impairment of neurological function in ACH rats , which may be through decreasing the NSE level and down-regulating the expression of Notch1 and NF-κB.

BACKGROUND: Current treatmemt strategy cannot efficiently relieve or reverse the disk degeneration, and neither surgical treatment nor nonsurgical treatment has gained satisfactory long-term effect. Therefore, more and more researches have focused on the cell therapy. OBJECTIVE: To explore the present states and application prospect of cell therapy, especially stem cells for degenerative intervertebral disc repair.METHODS: A computer-based search for related articles in PubMed database published between January 2011 and January 2016 using the English keywords of stem cell, intervertebral disk degeneration. Literatures addressing cell therapy for degenerative intervertebral disc repair were selected, and the articles published lately or original researches in authoritative journals were preferred.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: A total of 205 articles were selected firstly, and 50 eligible articles were enrolled finally in accordance with the inclusion criteria. The mixtures of stem cells and carrier are injected into the degenerative intervertebral disk, to repair or displace abnormal cells. This strategy has been accepted by many researchers, and considered as a promising treatment. However, there is little evidence about the safety of clinical treatment with cell therapy, which still needs to be explored in depth.

To investigate the inhibitory effects of siRNA expression vector on proto-oncogene Pokemon expression in SW480 cells and to provide experimental basis for further research about the biological function of Pokemon.siRNA expression vectors were constructed to express a short hairpin RNA against Pokemon.The recombinants were transfected into SW480 cells with liposome.Cellular morphology and transfection efficiency were observed.The expression of Pokemon were checked by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR and Western blot.MTT assay was used to detect the effect of siRNA on the growth of SW480 cells and Fluorescence Activated Cell Sorter was applied to study cell apoptosis of SW480 cells.The transfection efficiency was about 36% and the cellular morphology changed greatly at 48h after transfection.siRNA expression vectors could specifically reduce the expression of Pokemon mRNA and protein in SW480 cells.Compared with negative control,the inhibition ratio of Pokemon mRNA expression was 34.2% and 67.7%,in 24th hour and 48th hour,the inhibition ratio of Pokemon protein was 48.3% and 73.6%,in 48th and 72th hour,respectively.Transfection with Pokemon siRNA expression vectors could inhibit cell growth and induce cell apoptosis of SW480 cells.siRNA expression vectors were successfully established that could effectively inhibit the expression of Pokemon in SW480 cells.Pokemon gene silencing could decrease growth and increase apoptosis of SW480 cells.

Purpose:A comparison of the therapeutic effect studied by ?-rag,selec- tive asteriography and TAIC on advancing gastric carciomas with HM(hepatic metastasis) in 41 cases and NHM(without hepatic metastasis)the other 35 were reported.The correla- tion of primary and metastatic lesions including the efficacy of TAIC were also evaluated, Materials and Methods:Every case was undergone CAG;in addition LGA+CA were al- ways performed in cases of carcinoma of cardiac end of stomach so as CHA,either CA or LGA for gastric antrum carcinomas;while FDM(5Fu+CDDDP+MMC)were the drugs used for the majority of the patients.Results showed the number with large extent gastric carcinoma(≥one part of gastric zone)accompanied by moderate to severe deformaties in HM group were obviously greater than those of the NHM group(P

Humans ; Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes ; classification

AIM:To compare the clinical efficacy of three combined surgical treatments for cataract induced by silicone oil -filled eye.
METHODS: The data of 75 eyes of 75 patients with cataract induced by silicone oil-filled eye were reviewed. Those patients were divided into group A, B, C. The patients in group A were treated by phacoemulsification combined with silicone oil removal through pupil and IOL implantation, the patients in group B were treated by phacoemulsification combined with silicone oil removal through 23G vitrectomy system and IOL implantation, the patients in group C were treated by phacoemulsification combined with silicone oil removal through 20G vitrectomy system and IOL implantation. The operation time, intraocular pressure, best corrected visual acuity ( BCVA ) , discomfort days and complications before and after the surgery were compared.
RESULTS: The differences of the intraocular pressure were not statistically significant between the three groups after the surgery. The BCVA of the three groups were all improved, but the differences were not statistically significant between three groups. The differences in postoperative complications showed no statistically significant. Otherwise, group A and B cost less operation time. The discomfort days of group A were less than other groups.
CONCLUSION: Three different surgical methods were safe and effective, appropriate surgical approach could be chosen according to the patients' clinical manifestations. For patients with cataract induced by silicone oil-filled eye whose retina recovered well, phacoemulsification combined with silicone oil removal through pupil and IOL implantation is a time-saving, safe and effective method.

Animals ; Humans ; Ischemic Preconditioning, Myocardial ; MicroRNAs ; Myocardial Ischemia ; genetics ; prevention & control