OBJECTIVETo observe the impact of electroacupuncture (EA) on the quality of life in the patients of female mixed urinary incontinence (MUI) and evaluate its clinical efficacy.

METHODSEA was adopted in 25 cases of MUI at Zhongliao (BL 33) and Huiyang (BL 35), needle retaining for 30 min each time. The treatment was given once every two days, three treatments a week, totally for 12 weeks of treatment. The incontinence quality of life questionnaire (I-QOL), the incontinence impact questionnaire-7 (IIQ-7), the urogenital distress inventory short form (UDI-SF) and the visual analogue scale (VAS) were adopted in the comparison before and after treatment. The efficacy was evaluated.

RESULTSThe curative rate was 52.0% (13/25) and the total effective rate was 96.0% (24/25) in 25 cases. In comparison before and after treatment, in I-QOL, the score of limiting behaviors was increased up to (30.32 ± 3.39) from (11.52 ± 2.45), the score of psychosocial impacts was up to (36.48 ± 2.90) from (13.52 ± 2.25) and the score of social isolation was up to (21.52 ± 1.61) from (9.84 ± 2.23). The score of IIQ-7 was decreased, down to (2.48 ± 1.36) from (11.96 ± 3.45), the score of UDI-SF was down to (2.92 ± 0.95) from (8.84 ± 2.58) and VAS score was down to (1.40 ± 0.91) from (6.96 ± 1.65). The differences were all significant statistically in comparison (all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONEA improves effectively the quality of life in MUI patients and the clinical efficacy is apparent.

Adult ; Aged ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Quality of Life ; Treatment Outcome ; Urinary Incontinence ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Urination

OBJECTIVETo verify the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) for female stress urinary incontinence (SU).

METHODSForty-two patients were randomly divided into an observation group(20 cases) and a control group (22 cases). EA at Zhongliao (BL 33) and Huiyang (BL 35) was used in the observation group. Sham acupuncture at non meridian points, one can beside Zhongliao (BL 33) and Huiyang (BL 35), was applied, and placebo EA was adopted in the control group. Treatment with needle retained for 30 min a time was given once every other day and three times a week for continuous six weeks in the two groups. Urinary and reproductive simple score (UDI),visual analogue scale (VAS) and the frequency of nocturnal enuresis were observed before treatment, at the second, forth and sixth week of treatment in the two groups, and the efficacy was compared.

RESULTSThe effective rates of the observation group were 80.0% (16/20), 95.0% (19/20) and 95.0% (19/20), which were better than 40.9% (9/22), 31.8% (7/22) and 27.3% (6/22) of the control group at the second, forth and sixth week of treatment. The differences were statistically significant between the two groups (all P < 0.05). After treatment in the observation group, the results of UDI, VAS and frequency of nocturnal enuresis were improved compared with those before treatment (all P < 0.05). Along with treatment, all indices were gradually improved, and the change at the sixth week was the most obvious in observation group. The results of the observation group were better than those of the control group at all times (all P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONEA achieves obvious effect for female SUI, and effectively improves the lower urinary trace symptoms, the degree of urinary incontinence and the frequency of nocturnal enuresis. The effect becomes increasingly better along with treatment within six weeks.

Acupuncture Points ; Electroacupuncture ; Female ; Humans ; Treatment Outcome ; Urinary Incontinence, Stress ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Urination

As an interface between external electronic devices and internal neural nuclei, microelectrodes play an important role in many fields, such as animal robots, deep brain stimulation and neural prostheses. Aiming at the problem of high price and complicated fabrication process of microelectrode, a microelectrode twisting machine based on open source electronic prototyping platform (Arduino) and three-dimensional printing technology was proposed, and its microelectrode fabrication performance and neural stimulation performance were verified. The results show that during the fabrication of microelectrodes, the number of positive twisting turns of the electrode wire should generally be set to about 1.8 times of its length, and the number of reverse twisting rings is independent of the length, generally about 5. Moreover, compared with the traditional instrument, the device is not only inexpensive and simple to manufacture, but also has good expandability. It has a positive significance for both the personalization and popularization of microelectrode fabrication and the reduction of experimental cost.
Equipment Design ; Microelectrodes ; Printing, Three-Dimensional

Objective To investigate the effect of Nutlin-3a,a mouse double minute 2 homolog(MDM2)inhibitor,on lipid metabolism of mouse adipose.Methods High-fat diet-induced obesity(DIO)C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into a control group injected with DMSO and an experimental group injected with Nutlin-3a.Then we conducted glucose tolerance(GTT)and insulin tolerance(ITT)tests.The epididymal white adipose tissue(eWAT),inguinal white adipose tissue(iWAT)and brown adipose tissue(BAT)of animals were isolated and microscopy of WATs with hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining was performed to observe the morphological changes of adipocytes.The expression of lipid metabolism related gene cell death-inducing DFF45-like effector C(CIDEC)in eWAT were detected by qPCR and Western blot.Results Compared with the control group,Nutlin-3a was found to promote the body weight(P＜0.001),but no effect on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in DIO mice.Nutlin-3a treatment decreased the size of adipocytes and fat deposition in adipose tissue and downregulated the mRNA and protein levels of CIDEC in eWAT.Conclusions Nutlin-3a inhibits the formation of lipid droplets by downregulating expression of CIDEC in white adipose tissue.