Objective This study evaluated the effects of combined procedure of surgical treatment and cell transplantation on dilated cardiomyopathy. Methods Eight patients (5 men and 3 women) with moderate to severe mitral regurgitation from end-stage dilated cardiomyopathy underwent surgery. Four patients were in functional class (FC) Ⅳ, six were in FC Ⅲ. There age ranged from 15 to 56 years. The preoperative ejection fraction (EF) ranged from 0.15 to 0.32 (mean 0.26 ± 0.08). Mitral valve replacement was performed in 5 patients and mitral valve repair in 3. Auto-bone marrow monenuclear cells were harvested, isolated, washed, and resuspended for direct injection after surgical procedure. Results All patients survived and were discharged from the hospital. After a mean follow-up period of 18 months ( 12 - 42 months). Echocardiography showed postoperative ejection fraction and wall movement velocity increased after 6 months. Radionuclide ventriculography showed myocardial perfusion improved significantly. Conclusion Combined procedure of surgical treatment and cell transplantation led to significant improvement in cardiac function in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effect of acupuncture along affected meridian on the mem- brane metallo-endopeptidase (MME) gene expression of migraine patients without aura (MO) of Gan-yang hyperactivity syndrome (GYHS).

METHODSTotally 20 MO patients of GYHS were randomly assigned to the acupoint group (acupuncture along affected meridian) and the non-acupoint group, 10 cases in each group. Needling was performed once per day for 10 consecutive days. Gene chip technology was used to obtain two sets of gene expression profiles and analyzed using Gene Ontology (GO).

RESULTSIn the acupoint group, MME gene expression decreased after needling (P = 0.0023).That gene was rich in the beta-amyloid metabolic process (P = 3.16E-05) and the peptide metabolic process (P = 0.009612). Its expression was not seen in the non-acupoint group.

CONCLUSIONThe effect of point selection along affected meridian could be achieved possibly by regulating the MME gene expression.

Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Endrin ; analogs & derivatives ; metabolism ; Humans ; Meridians ; Migraine Disorders ; therapy ; Syndrome

With more and more attention and investment on acupuncture scientific researches, considerable outcomes and achievements has been acquired, but the shortcoming of low transformation rate of acupuncture research achievements is gradually exposed. Nowadays there is no related report on this problem, so based on achievement translational research in other areas and practical situation of acupuncture, the existing problems and solutions are analyzed. As a result, the existing problems include (1) the research content is mainly basic research and clinical research but less acupuncture device research, leading to limited transformation efficiency; (2) the evaluation system and transformation pattern are still needed to be perfect. The solutions are (1) to properly evaluate the research achievements of acupuncture, (2) to advocate the concept and method of translational medicine, (3) to reform the policy and system, and (4) to establish valid platforms covering research, outcomes and transformation.
Acupuncture ; economics ; legislation & jurisprudence ; manpower ; Biomedical Research ; Biotechnology ; economics ; legislation & jurisprudence ; manpower ; China ; Humans ; Technology Transfer

Objective:With proteomic approach,to find the differentially expressed proteins spots in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs) of healthy people and intracerebral hemorrhage patients with liver yang forming wind syndrome(LYFWS) treated by Zhenganxifeng decoction(ZGXFD) to investigate the possible proteins of LYFWS and the cure mechanism of ZGXFD.Methods: 10 intracerebral hemorrhage patients with LYFWS were treated by ZGXFD for 7-10 days.10 healthy people were selected taken as healthy controls.10ml venous blood was drawed from every subjects and PBMCs were isolated from blood by using lymphocytes separation medium.The total proteins was extracted from PBMCs.The total proteins from either intracerebral hemorrhage patients or healthy controls were prepared by means of immobilized pH gradient based on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis.After Coomassie brilliant blue G250 staining,gel-image analysis was performed by PDQuest.The differentially expressed proteins spots were identified by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry(MALD I-TOF-MS).Results: Gel-image analysis revealed that there were 22 proteins spots expressed differentially.20 proteins spots were expressed differentially in the intracerebral hemorrhage patients with LYFWS as compared with healthy control,of which 8 proteins were down-regulated,7 proteins were up-regulated and 5 proteins were lost.After treated by ZGXFD,4 proteins were down-regulated,5 proteins were up-regulated and 2 proteins were lost,9 proteins weren’t expressed di erentially as compared with healthy control.8 of 20 di erentially expressed proteins spots in the intracerebral hemorrhage patients with LYFWS identi ed by MALDI-TOF-MS as compared with healthy control.These proteins are related to cell metabolism,signal transduction and so forth,of which 6 proteins were down-regulated,1 proteins were up-regulated and 1 proteins were lost.After treated by ZGXFD,2 proteins were down-regulated,1 proteins were lost,5 proteins weren’t expressed di erentially as compared with healthy control.Conclusion: 2-DE pro les of intracerebral hemorrhage patients with LYFWS in PBMCs had been established.The proteins of intracerebral hemorrhage patients with LYFWS had been identi ed,which were related to cell metabolism,signal transduction and so forth.This research presented that ZGXFD could adjust multiple di erentially expressed proteins of intracerebral hemorrhage patients with LYFWS.It was also indicated that the cure mechanism of ZGXFD was to regulate multitarget proteins.

A PubMed search is carried out using the keyword "acupuncture" from in the top four journals: New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), The Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), The Lancet, and British Medical Journal (BMJ). The papers with full texts on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture are included up till July 2009, and the corresponding trial design and trial quality in these papers are extracted and analyzed. The results reveal that papers published in these four journals are mostly on randomized controlled trials with good design, high quality and large sample size. Therefore, if Chinese researchers publish papers in these journals, appropriate trial design adhering to the characteristics of acupuncture should be used; the results should be reported according to CONSORT statement and STRICTA recommendations. Moreover, obtaining assistance from foreign research team is also important.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Animals ; Humans ; Periodicals as Topic ; PubMed ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Research Design

Objective To systematically review the effectiveness and safety of statins for chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) combining with pulmonary hypertension (PH).Methods The electronic searches in databases of PubMed,EMbase,the Cochrane Library,Web of Science,CBM,CNKI,VIP and Wanfang Data were conducted from the date of their establishment to January 2016 and the references of the include studies were also retrieved for collecting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) or quasi-RCTs on statins treating COPD combining with PH.Two researchers independenlty screened the literature according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria,extracted the data,assessed the quality of the included studies by adopting the Cochrane collaboration' s tool for assessing risk of bias,and performed Meta-analysis by using RevMan 5.3 software.Results A total of 24 studies involving 1 587 cases were included.The results of Meta-analysis showed that:compared with the control group,simvastatin significantly improved FEV1 [MD =0.23,95％ CI:0.16-0.31,P ＜ 0.000 01],FEV1 ％ [MD =6.73,95％ CI:1.34-12.12,P =0.01],FVC [MD =0.39,95％ CI:0.34-0.45,P ＜ 0.000 01],6 minutes walk distance (6MWD)· [MD=59.09,95％CI:54.24-63.93,P ＜0.000 01] and decreased mPAP [MD=6.73,95％ CI:1.34-12.12,P =0.01],SPAP [MD =-4.53,95 ％ CI =-8.87--0.19,P =0.04].Atorvastatin significantly improved FEV1 [MD =6.22,95 ％ CI:2.51-9.93,P =0.001] and 6 MWD [MD =24.10,95 ％ CI:12.98-35.23,P ＜ 0.000 1] and decreased sPAP [MD =-6.44,95％CI:-7.95--4.93,P＜0.00001] andmPAP [MD=-3.51,95％CI:-5.81--1.22,P=0.003].But no significant difference was found in the improvement of FEV1,FVC or FEV1/FVC.Fluvastatin significantly decreased sPAP [MD=-5.89,95％ CI:-6.99--4.79,P ＜0.000 01].There was a significant decrease in the Borg dyspnoea score in statins group [MD =-3.37,95％ CI:-4.61--2.14,P ＜ 0.000 01] as compared with the controls.In addition,the incidence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) was similar between statins and the control group.Conclusion Current evidence suggests that statins may decrease pulmonary hypertension in patients with COPD combining with PH.However,high-quality clinical trials with large sample size are needed to verify whether the improvement of pulmonary function,6MWD and Borg dyspnoea score are the class effect or the incidence of ADRs is disparate among different statins.

Objective To establish an animal model for implantable ventricular assist device. Methods Seven male calves, body weight 120 to 180 kg, were anesthetized and underwent surgical implantation through a left thoracotomy at the 4th intercostal space. The domestic-made implantable ventricular assist device (DIVAD) was implanted after cardiopulmonary bypass and induction of ventricular fibrillation. The major indexes of mechanical properties of the DIVAD are similar to those of imported devices. The DIVAD was 29.5 mm × 72 mm, with a total weight of 158 g. The maximal pump speed was 9000 rpm and the maximal pump flow was 8 L/min in in vitro experiment. A flow meter was incorporated into the pump. The DIVAD was constructed with an external controller, and the pump can be monitored and adjusted through it. The inflow cannula was positioned into the left ventricle and the outflow cannula was sutured to the descending aorta. The pump was run at 3,500 to 8,000 rpm. The cardiopulmonary bypass was weaned. The pump output and animal condition was continuously monitored. Heparin was administered to maintain the activated clotting time at 1.5 to 2 times its baseline value. Results All the seven calves weaned from cardiopulmonary bypass. The mean survival time is 20.28 hours with a range from 0.5 to more than 93 hours. Conclusion Calf is the right animal model for NIVAD implantation and there are some characteristics in its perioperative treatment. The establishment of this animal model may play important role for further improvement of NIVAD.

Summarize recent 20 years' achievements in studying literature of channels and collaterals, analyze the problems in literature studies of collaterals and comment on literature studies of collaterals, and hold that systematical summarization and study of traditional theories of collaterals can explore collateral theory and its clinical application value, and summarization of literature should refine and raise theoretical structure and scientific connotation of the collateral theory, and serve for modern studies of collaterals and collateral diseases on the basis of systematical summarization and studies of traditional literature of collaterals.
Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Meridians

In recent years the science of acupuncture and moxibustion has been keeping on development all over the world. It is shown as the strengthening of legislation and management, the flourishing of education and training, the expanding of clinical indications and the increasing level of clinical research. The developmental trends of the science of acupuncture and moxibustion in the world include that it will be paid more attention to by the international mainstream medicine, the clinical research will still focus on the certifying therapeutic effectiveness, and that it will be able to do more attribution to the therapy of difficult and complicated cases. Understanding the developmental status and trend of the science of acupuncture and moxibustion abroad is important for promoting the domestic development and internationalization of the science of acupuncture and moxibustion.
Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Biomedical Research ; Humans ; Moxibustion

Acupuncture Therapy ; Biomedical Research ; Evidence-Based Medicine ; Humans ; Treatment Outcome