ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of jin’s three-needle scalp electroacupuncture on Cyt-c and Caspase-3 expressions in the cerebral cortex in Intrauterine distress-induced HIBD rats and reveal the mechanism of its protective action on the brain. MethodThe abdomen was incised in a female SD rat at 21 days of pregnancy. Bilateral uterine horn blood vessels were tightly clamped with a hemostat for five minutes. An infant rat was then taken out by a cesarean section. A rat model of hypoxic-ischemic brain damage was confirmed by the use of a behavior test and braintissue sections. The rats were randomized into model and acupuncture groups. The model group was not needled. Acupuncture groups 1, 2, 3 and 4 began to be needled at 3, 5, 7 and 14 days after birth, respectively. Acupuncture treatment was given for seven consecutive days. The normal control group was naturally delivered, not used to make a model and not needled. All groups of rats were decapitated to take the brain tissue at 21 daysafter birth. Cyt-c and Caspase-3 expressions in the cerebral cortex were detected.ResultCyt-c optical density value decreased somewhat in the four acupuncture groups; there was a statistically significant difference between acupuncture group 1 or 2 and the modelgroup (P<0.05). Caspase-3 expression was significantly down-regulated in acupuncture group 1; there was a statistically significant difference compared with the model group (P<0.05).ConclusionThe protective effect of acupuncture beginning at 3 days after birthon the brain is related to the down-regulation of Cyt-c and Caspase-3 expressions in intrauterine distress-induced HIBD rats.

Objective To explore the influence of acupuncture point massage combined with limb function exercise on ankle brachial index (ABI) and pulse wave velocity (PWV) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods According to scores by grace score scale, 180 CHD patients were divided into three groups: low risk group (n=58), moderate risk group (n=68) and high risk group (n=54). Within the three groups, the patients were divided into the experiment group and the control group by using the random digital table. The control group was treated with routine nursing intervention , while the experiment groups accepted acupuncture point massage and limb function exercise training on the basis of control groups. We collected the values of ABI and PWV at four points-in-time: before intervention, 7 days after intervention, 30 days after intervention and 90 days after intervention. Results Repeated measurement data analysis of the experiment group and control group suggested that:in the moderate and high risk groups, there was statistically significant difference (P<0.05) in the data at the four time points. There was no statistically significant difference (P > 0.05) in time and group interaction effect. The difference between the experiment group and control group was statistically significant (P<0.05). Repeated measurement data analysis showed that there was no statistically significant difference (P>0.05) in ABI&PWV interaction effect at the four time points between the experiment group and control group. In the low-risk group,the differences in time points compared with the main effect were insignificant (all P>0.05). In comparison of main effect at all the four time points, there was significant different in the moderate and high risk group (P<0.05), And it suggested that time and group interaction, namely effect of time factor (1 d, 7 d, 30 d, 90 d), was not decided by the division of groups. In comparison of main effect, the difference was statistically significant (all P < 0.01) in the moderate and high-risk group, which indicated the main effect (intervention) playing main role. However, there was no statistically significant difference (P>0.05) of ABI&PWV before and 90-days after intervention. Conclusion Acupuncture point massage combined with limb function exercise can effectively improve the peripheral artery blood supply in CHD patients, lower ABI and promote PWV.