Acupuncture is a traditional empirical medicine, and evidence-based medicine(EBM) is a new medical method and development of the empirical medicine. Since 1990s, Chinese acupuncture workers began to absorb and use the methods and principles of EBM to guide acupuncture clinical research and practice. Now more and more domestic acupuncture clinicians use and follow the methods and principles of EBM. On the systemic review of acupuncture-associated articles in Cochrane library, previously effective acupuncture therapy lacks adequate evidences, which may be related to the low quality of randomized controlled trials(RCTs). In the future, only developing specialized team of acupuncture clinical research and clinical research center can radically elevate the levels of acupuncture clinical research and evaluation. Meanwhile, developing China's evidence-based acupuncture should base itself on the characteristics of acupuncture, such as emphasis on original research in ancient books,high-quality single RCTs and systemic review of non-randomized researches.

Objective:To analyze the rules and characteristics of acupoints selection in acupuncture RCT literature on therapy of Bell palsy.Methods:Acupuncture Prescription Database was established through collecting RCT literature of acupuncture treatment of Bell palsy.The characteristics and rules of acupoints selection were investigated by means of data mining method.Results:After data mining-based analysis on acupuncture therapy of Bell palsy,we found that points on Yangming Meridians were frequently used,especially ST 4.Selection of local acupoints and distal points were important.Conclusion:According the means of data mining,the results revealed that acupoints selection along related meridian was the important principle for Bell palsy,and the special acupoints were the main part of prescriptions.

0.05).Conclusion The patients with CFS show a disorder of circadian rhythm.However,each index of CFS has no significant difference on the overall level.The imbalance of circadian rhythm is the pathologic characteristic of CFS.

Objective To assess the influence of PBL formation study effectiveness of TCM students.Methods The controlled studies with the teaching format of both PBL and LBL were included to assess the effectiveness of learning,by searching CBM,CNKI and VIP database.All data was analyzed on Revman 5.1.Results 9 articles were included ; All were low in the quality of their methodology,and the theoretical scores of students in PBL or LBL format shows no statistical difference [SMD=3.76,95％ CI ( -0.62,8.15 ) ].PBL format was superior to LBL on students' practical scores [SMD=7.62,95％ CI ( 3.92,11.32 ) ]; Compared to LBL format,PBL proved to have a better influence on students' self-assessment for learning ability[OR=3.69,95％ CI( 1.88,7.21 )].Conclusion PBL helps to enhance the activeness of students,to improve their practical ability,which is valuable if applied in clinical concerned courses.But the included studies were low in quality; more rigorously randomized controlled teaching trials are expected to verify the conclusion.

Aim TostudytheroleofASIC1aonthe matrix turnover and MAPK expression of the rat articu-lar chondrocytes with extracellular acidosis. Methods ArticularchondrocyteswereisolatedfromSprague-Dawley rats, and their phenotype was determined by toluidine blue and immunocytochemical staining. The GAG content of cell culture supernatant was deter-mined by dimethyl-methylene blue spectrophotometric assay, while Hyp content by chloramine T assay. ELISA assay was used to measure MMP-2 , TIMP-2 content. Furthermore, the ERK1/2, p38 MAPK phos-phorylation protein expression levels were tested by Westernblotassay.Results ASIC1acontributedto the effect of GAG, Hyp and TIMP-2 levels reduction induced by extracellular acidification, while the effect of MMP-2 was weaker. Moreover, ASIC1a could in-crease the ERK1/2 , p38 MAPK phosphorylation pro-teinexpressionlevels.Conclusion ASIC1acould regulate rat articular chondrocytes matrix turnover via ERK1/2 and p38 MAPK signaling pathway, and there-by inhibit the rat articular cartilage damage induced by acidosis.

The development of TCM acupuncture represents a internationalized and modern trend. A recent study with the title of "Acupuncture for chronic knee pain: a randomized clinical trial" published in Journal of the American Medical Association on October 1st, 2014, which raised doubts on acupuncture efficacy as well as traditional manipulation and acupoint theory, makes some negative impact and challenges on the development of acupuncture. From the view of future development of acupuncture, the potential influence of this research on acupuncture development is proposed, and by combining acupuncture theory, some discussions and doubts on the research design and outcome explanations are made. Additionally, enlightenments of this research on further clinical research are summarized.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Chronic Pain ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Low-Level Light Therapy ; Male

Objective To study the expression and significance of acid-sensing ion channels(ASICs)in rat articular cartilage with adjuvant arthritis. Methods Complete Freund's adjuvant(CFA) was prepared by suspending heat-killed Bacillus Calmette Guerin(BCG) in liquid paraffin at 10 mg/ml. CFA-induced arthritis was developed by injection of 100 μl CFA emulsion intradermally into the right hind paw. The morphological changes of articular tissues was observed by light microscope; RT-PCR and immunoblotting analyses were used to detect ASICs in rat articular cartilage with adjuvant arthritis. Results RT-PCR and western blot showed that ASIC1a, ASIC2a and ASIC3 were present in the articular cartilage of normal and model group, the ASICs mRNA levels in the model group were higher than in the normal group detected by semiquantitative analysis (P＜0.01), ASICs protein levels in model group were higher than those in the normal group (P＜0.01) when examined by immunoblotting. Conclusion The results show that the expression of ASICs in AA articular cartilage is enhanced and it may be related with articular cartilage breakdown.

Apoptosis refers to the programmed death process of cells modulated by genes. It plays an important role in promoting the evolution of organisms, regulating the development of multiple systems, and maintaining the stability of internal environment. The major apoptosis pathways include mitochondrial pathways, death receptor pathways, and endoplasmic reticulum pathways. With the rapid development of the scientific research on acupuncture, it’s revealed that cell apoptosis should be closely related to the action of acupuncture. So far, the major apoptosis factors involved in relevant researches are P53, Bcl-2 family, Cyt-C, Caspase, Fas/Fasl, TNFR1/TNF-?, and FADD-Caspase8, and PERK, etc. Via influencing these apoptosis factors or genes, acupuncture can produce various effects in improving tissue ischemia, protecting neural cells, reducing inflammation, and correcting endocrine disorders. This article summarized and reviewed the apoptosis pathways and key factors related to the action of acupuncture, to provide some beneficial references for future studies.

Aim To explore the therapeutic effect of total flavones of Bidens Bipinnata L (TFB) on liver fibrosis in rats and its mechanism. Methods The model of rat liver fibrosis was adopted which was induced by CCl4 injection. The effects of TFB were observed on the levels of serum HA,PCⅢ,CIV and Hyp in rats liver fibrosis,and on liver histopathological changes as well as collagen hyperplasia formation in liver tissue. The apoptosis of HSC were detected by double-staining of ?-smooth muscle actin (?-SMA) and TUNEL. The study in vitro was carried out on the culture of isolated hepatic stellate cells. Cell proliferation was detected with MTT assay. Cell apoptosis was detected by electron microscopy and flow cytometry. Results TFB can significantly reduce serum HA,PCⅢ,CⅣ and Hyp contents in liver fibrosis of rats,improve the liver pathologic injury,reduce collagen hyperplasia in liver of liver fibrosis rats,inhibit the activation and proliferation of HSC,and promote the apoptosis of HSC. In addition TFB could significantly inhibit the proliferation and increased the apoptosis of isolated and cultured HSC compared with the control group. Conclusions TFB has a significant therapeutic effect on the liver fibrosis rats,probably its inhibition of proliferation and stimulation of activated HSC apoptosis may be an important mechanism of its therapeutical effect against liver fibrosis.

Aim To explore the effect of 4-amino-2-trifluoromethyl-phenyl retinate(ATPR)on proliferation,differentiation activity in K562 cell line,and to research the mechanisms.Methods Cell proliferation was assessed by MTT assay.Cell differentiation index was analyzed by NBT reduction test.Morphologic changes were observed by Wright's staining in the light microscope. Cell cycle was determined by FCM.The mRNA expression of Cyclin D1,Cyclin E,CDK2,CDK4,CDK6,P21cip1,P27kip1,P57kip2,PCNA mRNA were detected by RT-PCR.While the protein expression of cyclin D1 and CDK4 was detected by Western blot.Results The growth of K562 cells was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner.NBT reduction test indicated that the ATPR could induce differentiation of K562 cells and increase the positive cell ratio.Morphologic changes were observed after Wright's staining using inverted phase contrast microscope.The proportion of cells in G0/G1 phase increased while S phase cells decreased.Cell cycle progression was blocked in the G1 phase.The expression of Cyclin E,cyclin D1,CDK2,CDK4,CDK6 mRNA decreased,while PCNA,P21 cip1,P27 kip1 change was not obvious,but P57 (kip2) mRNA expression was increased.Cyclin D1 and CDK4 protein expressions were reduced as well.Conclusions ATPR inhibits the growth of K562 cells and induces differentiation.P57 kip2 plays a key role in differentiation.Moreover,high level of P57kip2 is regulated via inhibiting its degradation through reducing proteasome-dependent proteolysis,and ATPR plays a role in cell cycle arrest.