Objective To assess the quality of literature of clinical studies on acupuncture in treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome.Methods The literatures between 1998-2008 were searched by means of electronic retrieval.Type and methodology,general condition,criteria for diagnosis and assessment of therapeutic effects,following-up and side effects etc.in clinical studies were evaluated according to principles and methods of clincial epidemiology and evidence-based medicine.Results Of the 78 literatures enrolled,76 were studied in China and published in Chinese journal of China,only 2 were English literature and published in English journal of China.Only 7 were authentic randomized controlled trials(RCTs),21 quasi-randomized controlled trials and RCTs can't contact with authors,3 non-randomized concurrent controlled trials and 47 narrative studies.50 had clear international recognized diagnostic ctriteria.22 mentioned enrolled or excluded criteria.26 adopted TCM criteria for therapeutic effects,27 evaluated therapeutic effects with grading.4 the sample content above 100,33 between 60 and 99,4 mentioned compliance evaluation,3 described retreat cases,2 reported follow-up.11 reported adverse reaction.Conclustion Clinical studies on acupuncture in treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome were mainly carried through in China,and the quality of study and literature is low comparatively.Therefore,high quality's RCTs with strict design are needed urgently in this area and the researchers should contribute to journals overseas.

Objective To improve the estimation and the percentage of electrogastrogram(EGG)slow wave rhythm with power spectrum estimation and calculation rule set.Methods Chirp Z-transformation was introduced for estimation power spectrum of EGG,which can obtain both high frequency resolution and accurate estimation of power;while the power proportion of main frequency components in each segment was used to substitute for conventional method in time domain.Results The variance of proposed method was about one-eighth of that of conventional method.Incorporating the power proportion of main frequency components,the proposed method gave better results especially for those EGG signals in which abnormal frequencies appeared frequently.Conclusion As compared with the conventional method,the proposed method is less affected by segmentation process in estimating the percentage of EGG slow wave rhythm,which may promote future clinical applications.

OBJECTIVEBy using questionnaire method to understand the evaluation regarding cost-effectiveness of acupuncture for migraine in both doctors and patients.

METHODSBy using questionnaire method, questionnaires for doctors and patients were made respectively; by using network platform, two sets of questionnaires were publicly released, which were filled in online. The results were real-time background collected and then analyzed.

RESULTSTotally 696 effective questionnaires for patients and 114 questionnaires for doctors were collected. The results indicated that (1)the direct cost (including treatment fee and material fee) for preventive treatment of migraine was 109 yuan per time in regular acupuncture, 152 yuan per time in regular acupuncture + electroacupuncture (EA) and 238 yuan per time in acupoint catgut embedding. The travelling expense was 42 yuan per time within the city and 193 yuan per time between cities. The indirect cost included cost for loss of working time (208 yuan per time), cost for treatment time (acupoint catgut embedding: 10 to 30 min per time, once one to three weeks; the remaining two treatments: 20 to 50 min per time, once to 5 times every week), time cost for arriving and departing hospital (1 to 3 hours per time within the city and 4 hours per time between cities). From the angle of treatment course, acupoint catgut embedding reduced the treatment frequency, leading to a lower total cost. (2)A mong the reasons to select different acupuncture methods to treat migraine, the results of patient questionnaire indicated that the focus in the patients who selected acupoint catgut embedding was different from that in the patients who selected two other treatments. The main advantage of acupoint catgut embedding was superior and lasting efficacy with low cost. The results of doctor questionnaire indicated the main reason to select acupoint catgut embedding was "lasting efficacy after single treatment" (87. 5%) and "lower frequency of treatment" (75. 0%). (3) The main reason to obstruct the popularization of acupoint catgut embedding was this method was not widely known.

CONCLUSIONThe acupoint catgut embedding is one ideal preventive treatment for migraine, which has higher cost-effectiveness, however, currently it is not widely applied. In future advertisement and training program should be strengthened to perform targeted popularization of acupoint catgut embedding for migraine.

Acupuncture Therapy ; economics ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Cost-Benefit Analysis ; Female ; Health Care Costs ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Migraine Disorders ; economics ; psychology ; therapy ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult

OBJECTIVETo summarize and analyze rules for acupoint selection and prescription composition in clinical literature regarding acupuncture for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

METHODSCHKD, VIP and Wan-fang databases were retrieved. The clinical literature data included in the study was collected. The descriptive statistical analysis was conducted on the main acupoints, main meridians of main acupoints, distribution of main acupoints, application of special points and rules for acupoint composition.

RESULTSFifty-two articles were included, involving 55 main acupoints with a total frequency of 375. The most frequent acupoints of acupuncture for PCOS were Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Guanyuan (CV 4), Zigong (EX-CA 1), Zhongji (CV 3) and Qihai (CV 6). The meridians of main acupoitns were conception vessel, spleen meridian of foot-taiyin and stomach meridian of foot-yangming. The main acupoints were distributed in the lower abdomen, lower limbs and back. In the special points, the use of front-mu points, five-shu points and back-shu points was more frequent. The prescription was usually consisted of 5 to 7 acupoints, (6. 9 ± 3. 6) acupoints in average.

CONCLUSIONIn the modern treatment of acupuncture for PCOS, Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Guanyuan (CV 4), Zigong (EX-CA 1), Zhongii (CV 3) and Qihai (CV 6) are most used. With the theories of meridian and zang-fu as essential references, the acupoint selection is based on disease differentiation and meridian circulation. Additionally, the methods for selecting the adjacent points and the distant points are adopted.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Meridians ; Polycystic Ovary Syndrome ; therapy

The ancient documents and modern literature in recent 15 years have been retrieved and reviewed on acupuncture treatment of migraine.This article has analyzed syndrome and disease differentiation,acupoint-selection and combination as well as therapies and manipulations,and further provided clinical application thoughts based on therapeutic evaluation of the above aspects.

Objective Myocardial infarction and subsequent heart failure remain the most dominant health challenges worldwide.Therapeutic angiogenesis has emerged as a potential novel treatment for severe ischemic heart disease and there is increasing evidence that cell transplantation may improve the perfusion and contractility of myocardium in animal models.This study was designed to examine the endothelial growth potential and whether transplantation of human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells can improve local blood flow in a mouse ischemic hindlimb model.Methods The mesenchymal stem cells derived from human umbilical cord of passage 5 were differentiated in an endothelial differentiation medium containing vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in vitro.Samples were observed for 2 weeks.The human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells were transplanted into a hindlimb ischemia mouse model in vivo.Four weeks later,immunofluence was used to identify the migration and differentiation of the transplanted cells towards endothelial linage.Laser Doppler perfusion image was used to evaluate the local blood flow of the hindlimb.Results Results After incubation with VEGF and bFGF,the human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells started to form interconnected clusters and a network was formed.Four weeks after transplantation,the transplanted cells were sprouting f0rom the local injection and differentiated into endothelial cells,contributed to the recovery of local blood flow obviously as compared with control group.Conclusion Human umbilical cord derived mesenchymal stem cells have the ability to differentiate into endothelial cells,contribute to the local angiogenesis in a hindlimb ischemia mouse model and represent a new source for therapeutic angiogenesis for clinical applications.

AIM: To investigate the expression of SCL (stem cell leukemia) gene in bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) and bone marrow hematopoietic cells from patients with aplastic anemia (AA) and normal individuals. METHODS: Bone marrow stromal cells from AA (9 cases) and normal individuals (33 cases) were amplified by long-term in vitro culture. The adherent and nonadherent cells were collected respectively. RT-PCR-ELISA assay was then performed to detect the expression of SCL gene and the housekeeping gene ?_2 microglobulin (?_2M). The expression ratio of SCL gene were analyzed and its expression level was normalized by ?_2M gene acting as an internal calibration for the purpose of semi-quantitative analysis. RESULTS: The expression ratio of SCL gene was lower in BMSCs from AA (22.2%) than that in normal controls (69.7%, P

AIM: To investigate the expression of transcription factor GATA-3 gene in the bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs) from patients with aplastic anemia (AA) and normal controls. METHODS: The expression of GATA-3 gene was analyzed by using RT-PCR-ELISA in BMSCs from 34 normal cases and 9 cases with AA. The standardized semi-quantitative expression level of GATA-3 gene in BMSCs from patients with AA was compared with normal controls. RESULTS: The expression of GATA-3 gene was detected in BMSCs from both normal controls and the cases with AA. The expression level of GATA-3 gene in BMSCs from AA was significant higher than that from the normal controls (P

One hundred and seventy-one cases of hyperlipidemia were treated by moxibustion on Shenque (CV 8) and bilateral Zusanli (ST 36). After moxibustion, the blood-lipid contents of the patients with hyperlipidemia of various types were all lower than those before moxibustion.There was a significant difference between them. It is indicated that moxibustion on Shenque (CV 8) and bilateral Zusanli (ST 36) had the functions of reinforcing the spleen and kidney,warning yang, removing the stasis and treating both the principal and the secondary aspects of a disease for hyperlipidemia, which embodied the advantage of the function of regulating organism of moxibustion. The treatment by regulating can mobilize the regulating function of self to get the benign and bi-directional regulating effect for the various indexes of lipid metabolism and reach the intention of lowering blood-lipid.

The development and compilation of Evidence-based Guidelines of Clinical Practice with Acupuncture and Moxibustion: Adult Bronchial Asthma are introduced from three aspects, named the guideline methodology, the guideline structure and the guideline content. Based on the acupuncture-moxibustion practice and clinical research, the evidence-based medicine method is adopted. During the development and compilation of the guideline, the characteristics and advantages of acupuncture and moxibustion are specially considered in the treatment of this disease; the latest optimum evidences at home and abroad, experts' experience and patients' value are closely integrated with each other. Additionally, the worldwide accepted assessments of evidence quality and the recommendation (GRADE system) are combined with the clinical evidences of the ancient and modern famous acupuncture-moxibustion experts, and the clinical research evidences are with the experts' consensus to the large extent. The purpose of the guideline is to provide the maximal guidance to the clinical physicians.
Asthma ; therapy ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; standards ; Humans ; Moxibustion ; standards ; Practice Guidelines as Topic ; Reference Books