To investigate the therapeutic effects and adverse reaction of acupuncture plus medication and single medication for post-stroke depression(PSD). Methods: In an open control study, 93 cases of the patients with depression were randomly allocated to three groups:30 cases in the acupuncture-medication group (AM), 30 cases in Prozac Group A (A), and 33 cases in Prozac Group B (B). The acupuncture-medication group was treated by oral administration of Prozac 20 mg/d plus acupuncture. Prozac Group A was treated by oral administration of Prozac 20 mg/d. Prozac Group B was treated by oral administration of Prozac 20-40 mg/d. All three groups were treated for 6 weeks. The therapeutic effects and adverse reaction were evaluated by Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) and Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS) respectively in the three groups. Results: The effective rate was 86.7% in the acupuncture-medication group, 63.3% in Prozac Group A and 87.9% in Prozac Group B.The therapeutic effect was better in the acupuncture-medication group than in Prozac Group A,and there was no significant difference in comparisonwith Prozac Group B (P＞0.05). But the occurrence rate of drug adverse reaction was higher in Prozac Group B than in the acupuncture-medication group. Conclusion: Simultaneous application of acupuncture and medication is a therapeutic method with affirmative effect and less side effect for post-stroke depression.

Objective To explore the correlation of heart rate variability and blood pressure rhythm day and night for patients with OSAHS and sequelae of cerebral infarction. Methods A total of 364 patients with sequelae of cerebral infarction who were admitted to our hospital from October 2011 to January 2014 were selected. 178 patients complicat-ed with OSAHS were assigned to OSAHS group, and the rest of 186 patients were assigned to non-OSAHS group. 180 people with normal results of physical examination during the same period were selected as healthy control group. In-dices such as blood pressure and heart rate variability day and night in the two groups were observed and compared. Results Indices of heart rate variability and blood pressure rhythm were compared, and the indices of patients in OS-AHS group were all much higher than those of the rest two groups (P<0.01). Indices of non-OSAHS group were all much higher than those of the healthy control group (P<0.01);oxyhemoglobin saturation during the night was compared, and OSAHS group was much lower than the rest two groups (P<0.01); oxyhemoglobin saturation in non-OSAHS group was lower than that in healthy control group (P<0.01). Conclusion OSAHS and sequelae of cerebral infarction are cor-related with heart rate variability and blood pressure rhythm, which affect the prognosis and needs to be attached high importance.

BACKGROUND: Perturbations in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell (BMSC) differentiation play an important role in steroid-induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (SONFH). At present, studies on SONFH concentrate upon the balance within BMSC osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation. However, BMSC apoptosis as well as proliferation are important prerequisites in their differentiation. The hedgehog (HH) signaling pathway regulates bone cell apoptosis. Baicalin (BA), a well-known compound in traditional Chinese medicine, can affect the proliferation and apoptosis of numerous cell types via HH signaling. However, the potential role and mechanisms of BA on BMSCs are unclear. Thus, we aimed to explore the role of BA in dexamethasone (Dex)-induced BMSC apoptosis in this study. METHODS: Primary BMSCs were treated with 10 -6 mol/L Dex alone or with 5.0 μmol/L, 10.0 μmol/L, or 50.0 μmol/L BA for 24 hours followed by co-treatment with 5.0 μmol/L, 10.0 μmol/L, or 50.0 μmol/L BA and 10 -6 mol/L Dex. Cell viability was assayed through the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). Cell apoptosis was evaluated using Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate/propidium iodide (PI) staining followed by flow cytometry. The imaging and counting, respectively, of Hochest 33342/PI-stained cells were used to assess the morphological characteristics and proportion of apoptotic cells. To quantify the apoptosis-related proteins (e.g., apoptosis regulator BAX [Bax], B-cell lymphoma 2 [Bcl-2], caspase-3, and cleaved caspase-3) and HH signaling pathway proteins, western blotting was used. A HH-signaling pathway inhibitor was used to demonstrate that BA exerts its anti-apoptotic effects via the HH signaling pathway. RESULTS: The results of CCK-8, Hoechst 33342/PI-staining, and flow cytometry showed that BA did not significantly promote cell proliferation (CCK-8: 0 μmol/L, 100%; 2.5 μmol/L, 98.58%; 5.0 μmol/L, 95.18%; 10.0 μmol/L, 98.11%; 50.0 μmol/L, 99.38%, F   =  2.33, P   >  0.05), but it did attenuate the effect of Dex on apoptosis (Hoechst 33342/PI-staining: Dex+ 50.0 μmol/L BA, 12.27% vs. Dex, 39.27%, t  = 20.62; flow cytometry: Dex + 50.0 μmol/L BA, 12.68% vs. Dex, 37.43%, t  = 11.56; Both P  < 0.05). The results of western blotting analysis showed that BA reversed Dex-induced apoptosis by activating the HH signaling pathway, which down-regulated the expression of Bax, cleaved-caspase 3, and suppressor of fused (SUFU) while up-regulating Bcl-2, sonic hedgehog (SHH), and zinc finger protein GLI-1 (GLI-1) expression (Bax/Bcl-2: Dex+ 50.0 μmol/L BA, 1.09 vs. Dex, 2.76, t  = 35.12; cleaved caspase-3/caspase-3: Dex + 50.0 μmol/L BA, 0.38 vs . Dex, 0.73, t  = 10.62; SHH: Dex + 50.0 μmol/L BA, 0.50 vs . Dex, 0.12, t  = 34.01; SUFU: Dex+ 50.0 μmol/L BA, 0.75 vs . Dex, 1.19, t  = 10.78; GLI-1: Dex+ 50.0 μmol/L BA, 0.40 vs . Dex, 0.11, t  = 30.68. All P  < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS BA antagonizes Dex-induced apoptosis of human BMSCs by activating the HH signaling pathway. It is a potential candidate for preventing SONFH.
Humans ; Hedgehog Proteins/metabolism* ; bcl-2-Associated X Protein ; Caspase 3/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction/physiology* ; Apoptosis ; Apoptosis Regulatory Proteins/pharmacology* ; Dexamethasone/pharmacology* ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells/metabolism* ; Bone Marrow Cells