Objective To explore the effect of eletroacupuncture (EA) on angiogenesis after cerebral ischemia and reperfusion through observing the number of peripheral blood endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the hippocampus.Methods Among 50 male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats,10 were randomly selected as a control group (CG).Qi deficiency and blood stasis were induced in the other 40 rats by intragastric administration of dahuang daily for 7 days.A model of focal cerebral ischemia and reperfusion injury was then created by thread-occlusion of the middle cerebral artery,except in 10 rats selected for the sham operation group (SOG) who received the same operation without tightening the thread.The successfully modeled rats were divided into a model group (MG,n =10) and an electroacupuncture group (EAG,n =10).The rats in EAG started acupuncture treatment the next day after modeling,while no treatment was given to those in the other groups.On day 1,3 and 7 after the modeling,the neurological functioning of the 4 groups was assessed using Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan locomotion scoring and the number of EPCs in the peripheral circulation was detected by flow cytometry.On the 8th day,all the rats were decapitated and the VEGF expression was detected immunohistochemically.Results The average BBB locomotion score of the EAG rose significantly from (4.50 ± 1.05) on day 1,to (13.67 ± 1.21) on day 3,and then further to (20.00 ±0.89) by day 7,significantly higher than that of MG at the same time points,but still significantly lower than that of the control group.The average number of EPCs in the peripheral circulation in the MG also increased from (26.83 ± 6.05) on day 1 to (33.67 ± 5.39) on day 3,and decreased to (32.83 ± 5.04) on day 7 after modeling,significantly lower than that of the CG [(45.50 ±9.40),(42.17 ±4.62) and (41.33 ±5.50)],the SOG [(58.00 ±8.05),(59.67±4.84) and (53.83 ±5.38)[and the EAG [(66.17 ±4.36),(127.50 ±73.75) and (55.00 ±35.15)] at each time point.After occlusion,the average expression of VEGF-positive cells in the hippocampus of the EAG [(27.80 ± 2.39)％] was significantly higher than that of the MG,and both were significantly higher than that of the CG.Conclusions Eletroacupuncture can up-regulate VEGF expression and EPCs in the peripheral blood in rats after cerebral ischemia-reperfusion,which can promote angiogenesis and neural functional recovery.

Objective: To explore the mechanism of anti-aging effect of acupuncture at Zusanli (ST 36). Methods: Thirty mice of 28 weeks old were randomly divided into 3 groups: control group, model group and acupuncture group. Sub-acute aging model was established by subcutaneous injection of D-galactose. The activity of Superoxide Dismutase(SOD) and content of serum Malondialdehyde(MDA) were measured. Morphological changes of jejunal mucosa were observed with light microscope. Result: SOD activity in the acupuncture group was highest among the three groups, whereas, MDA content was the lowest. In the model group, the ratio of normal intestinal villus was decreased, the intestinal villus was shrunk, and there were more epithelial cells desquamated. In acupuncture group, there were less abnormal intestinal villus and epithelial cell. Conclusion: Acupuncture at Zusanli (ST 36) has an effect in resisting aging by increasing the activity of serum SOD, decreasing the MDA contents, and improving the intestinal villus.

Objective Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS)is a progressive paralytic disorder resulting from the degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons.Sporadic ALS(SALS)accounm for majority of patients.ALS is a kind of complex disorder.There were several single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)reported to be associated with SALS in recently published genome-wide association(GWA)study,but there are few data from Asia ALS population and no report focus on SNP which may associated with SALS of Chinese origin.Our study is to screen and add the SNPs related to the risks of SALs in Chinese.Methods Eighty-six individuals with SALS and 94 matched controls were recruited for our study and genomic DNA from blood samples was extracted.Genotypes were determined by a matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flisht mass spectrometry based approach followed by association analysis. Results Individual genotype data for 8 SNPs,rs6700125,rs10260404, rs1942239,rs2279812,rs2405657,rs558889,rs6922711 and rs935 1470 in Chinese population showed no significant association with sporadic ALS.Combining genotype data from published GWA,rs1942239 gained in strength of allelic association(P value decreased to 9.07×10-5 from 1.48×10-4),and rs558889 deviated Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium at ALS case group which may be associated with susceptibility.Conclusions SNP rs1942239 and rs558889 may contribute to susceptibility of sporadic ALS in Chinese patient.The larger sample studies are warranted to confirm the association.

Objective To investigate the changes of prevalence of hyperuricemia ( HUA) and its correlations with blood glucose and lipid in healthy adults receiving physical examination at Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) from 2012 to 2017. Meth-ods An observational approach was adopted for the data analysis.The test results of uric acid (UA),fasting blood glucose (FBG),to-tal cholesterol (TC),triacylglycerol (TG),low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C),high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), creatinine (Cr) and Urea of 399 089 cases (206 881 males and 192 208 females) at PUMCH from January 2012 to December 2017 were collected and statistically analyzed.Results The total prevalence of HUA was 17.4% in which the prevalence of males was signif-icantly higher than that of females (25.6% vs 8.5%,χ2＝20 234.850,P＜0.01).During the years of 2012 to 2017,the prevalence of HUA was 26.5%,24.7%,28.6%,23.9%,24.8% and 24.5% in males,and 13.8%,6.3%,7.9%,6.1%,6.2% and 6.8% in females for each year respectively.The prevalence of HUA in males aged 18 to 64 years old was significantly higher than that in the age-matched fe-males (all P＜0.05).However, the prevalence of HUA in males aged≥65 years old was similar to the age-matched females.There was no statistically significant difference of HUA prevalence between males and females aged ≥65 in 2013,2015,2016 and 2017 ( χ2＝1.792,0.017,1.440 and 0.205 respectively;all P＞0.05).The percentages of hyperlipidemia in both males and females of HUA group were higher than those of non-HUA group respectively (all P＜0.01).The percentage of hyperglycemia in males of non-HUA group was higher than that of HUA group,but the percentage of hyperglycemia in females of non-HUA group was lower than that of HUA group ( all P＜0.01).High levels of TC,TG and FBG were risk factors of HUA with increased OR values in increased concentrations of TC,TG and FBG,respectively.Conclusion During the recent 6 years, in healthy adults receiving physiced examination at PVMCH, the preva-lence of male HUA diagnosed was at overall high level,but the prevalence of female HUA was in decreasing and relatively stable trend. Hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia should be the risk factors of HUA.

Objective:The characteristics of women with false elevated testosterone were analyze and the literature was reviewed to provide reference for clinical laboratory identification of false elevated testosterone.Methods:The characteristics of three patients with false elevated testosterone in Peking Union Medical College Hospital were analyzed retrospectively, and the results of different detection platforms and methods for the determination of testosterone levels were compared. International and domestic literatures related to false elevation of testosterone and detection methods of testosterone were searched for a comprehensive analysis from PUBMED and CNKI.Results:The levels of testosterone in 3 female patients were elevated by immunoassay and normal by mass spectrometry. They were excluded from the diagnosis of hyperandrogenemia. A total of 38 literatures related to testosterone detection were retrieved, of which 9 case reports of pseudohyperandrogenemia, among which 12 cases of pseudohyperandrogenemia were reported in 2 domestic literatures in 2021. All cases were confirmed by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Previous studies have clearly indicated that the result of routine immunoassay in clinical laboratory for the determination of female testosterone have poor correlation with the results of LC-MS/MS, with varying degrees of deviation.Conclusions:Immunoassay tests for female testosterone is susceptible to interference and lead to elevated false results. It is suggested that clinical laboratories evaluate the detection methods used and establish a identification program, and confirm samples with suspected pseudoelevated testosterone elevation using other immune platforms or LC-MS/MS.