OBJECTIVETo evaluate clinical effect and safety of floating needle therapy and duloxetine in treating patients with persistent somatoform pain disorder (PSPD).

METHODSTotally 108 PSPD patients were randomly assigned to the floating needle treatment group, the duloxetine treatment group, and the placebo treatment group, 36 in each group. Patients in the floating needle treatment group received floating needle therapy and placebo. Those in the duloxetine treatment group received duloxetine and simulated floating needle therapy. Those in the placebo treatment group received the placebo and simulated floating needle therapy. All treatment lasted for six weeks. Efficacy and adverse reactions were evaluated using Simple McGill pain scale (SF-MPQ) and Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS) before treatment and immediately after treatment, as well as at the end of 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th week of treatment, respectively. Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD, 17 items), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAMA) were assessed before treatment and at the end of 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th week of treatment, respectively. Patients in the floating needle treatment group and the duloxetine treatment group with the total reducing score rate of SF-MPQ in Pain Rating index (PRI) ≥ 50% after 6 weeks' treatment were involved in the follow-up study.

RESULTS(1) Compared with the same group before treatment, SF-MPQ score, HAMD score and HAMA total scores all decreased in all the three groups at the end of 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 6th week of treatment (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Besides , each item of SF-MPQ significantly decreased immediately after treatment in the floating needle treatment group (P < 0.01). Compared with the placebo treatment group, SF-MPQ, HAMD, and HAMA total score in the floating needle treatment group significantly decreased after 1, 2, 4, and 6 weeks of treatment (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). SF-MPQ score, HAMD score and HAMA total score in the duloxetine treatment group also significantly decreased after 2, 4, and 6 weeks of treatment (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). (2) There were 3 patients (8.3%) who had adverse reactions in the floating needle treatment group, 17 (50.0%) in the duloxetine treatment group, and 7 (21.2%) in the placebo treatment group. Compared with the placebo treatment group, the incidence of adverse reaction increased in the duloxetine treatment group (χ² = 6.04, P < 0.05). Besides, it was higher in the duloxetine treatment group than in the floating needle treatment group (χ² = 14.9, P < 0.05). (3) There were 19 patients in the floating needle treatment group and 17 patients in the duloxetine treatment group involved in the follow-up study. Compared with 6 weeks after treatment, no significant difference was observed at 3 and 6 months after treatment in the score of SF-MPQ, HAMD, and HAMA in the floating needle treatment group and the duloxetine treatment group. No significant difference was observed between the two groups (P > 0.05). There were 5 patients (29.4%) who had adverse reactions in the duloxetine treatment group, and no adverse reactions were observed in the floating needle treatment group. The adverse reaction rate was significantly different between the two groups (χ² = 4.26, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSFloating needle therapy and duloxetine were effective in treatment of patients with PSPD. However, floating needle therapy could relieve pain more rapidly than duloxetine, with obviously less adverse reactions.

Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Analgesics ; therapeutic use ; Anxiety Disorders ; Duloxetine Hydrochloride ; therapeutic use ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Needles ; Pain ; Pain Management ; methods ; Pain Measurement ; Psychiatric Status Rating Scales ; Somatoform Disorders ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Objective: To discuss the characteristics of symptoms improvement based on the follow-up evaluation of Eustachian tube balloon dilation medium to long-term efficacy in patients with symptomatic Eustachian tube dysfunction (SETD). Methods: Patients from 2015 to 2017 were followed up after Eustachian tube balloon dilation (with the sense of aural fullness, or tinnitus and hearing ambiguity). All participants had been done ETDQ-7 before surgery and were re-evaluated with ETDQ-7 in follow-up. The improvement of overall and individual symptoms scores in ETDQ-7, the effects of gender and the difference of scores at different stages (12-18 months, 18-24 months and 24-30 months) after the operation were analyzed. Results: There were 29 patients, including 16 males and 13 females, whose age ranged from 20 to 62 years old. The medium to long-term score of ETDQ-7 significantly declined after surgery (27.0±7.9 vs. 14.1±7.5, P<0.05). Among all symptoms, symptoms like "blockage feeling in ear or being like under the water, constriction feeling" , "sound of blisters or explosions in the ear" decreased obviously (P<0.05). Comparing different stages after surgery, the scores of ETDQ-7 existed no difference (P>0.05). And the difference of gender showed no significant influence on surgery effects. Conclusion The subjective symptoms of patients with Eustachian tube dysfunction diagnosed with SETD can be significantly improved in the medium to long-term follow-up after Eustachian tube balloon dilation, and the degree of improvement is not linearly related to the postoperative time.

OBJECTIVETo observe the neurologic damage in rat hippocampus after electromagnetic field (EMF) acute or chronic irradiation and research the protective effects of Chinese medicine diet (CMD) which comprised ferulic acid, ginsenoside, astragalus polysaccharide and rhodiola sachalinensis.

METHODSEighty rats were divided into ten groups (n = 8): normal diet with shame irradiation group (NS), normal diet with chronic irradiation group (NCI), three groups of normal diet with acute irradiation after 3 h, 24 h, 72 h (NAI), Chinese medicine diet with shame irradiation group (CS), Chinese medicine diet with chronic irradiation group (CCI), three groups of Chinese medicine diet with acute irradiation after 3 h, 24 h, 72 h (CAI). The chronic EMF irradiation were performed by electromagnetic wave at 15 W/cm2 for 20 min everyday for 8 weeks continuously. The acute EMF irradiation were performed by electromagnetic wave at 65 W/cm2 for 20 min after feeding with CMD for 8 weeks. The learning and memory were evaluated by Morris water maze before/after electromagnetic wave irradiation. The apoptotic cells in hippocampus was detected by Tunel staining. The peroxidation damage of EMF and the protective effect of CMD intervention were assayed by measuring superoxide dismutase (SOD), malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) and reactive oxygen species (ROS).

RESULTSThe acute and chronic EMF irradiation disturbed the ability of learning and memory significantly (P < 0.05), CMD intervention markedly antagonized this effect. The apoptotic cells in hippocampus increased evidently after EMF irradiation (P < 0.05), but CMD intervention reduced the apoptotic cells. The acute and chronic EMF irradiation induced the oxidative stress by down-regulating SOD activity, GSH-Px activity, ROS inhibiting and up-regulating the content of MDA obviously (P < 0.05), and CMD intervention reduced peroxidation damage significantly (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe acute and chronic EMF irradiation could initiate neurologic damage in hippocampus. CMD intervention has protective effect on the impaired learning and memory, the neuron apoptosis, the peroxidation damage induced by EMF irradiation. CMD intervention plays a significant protective role in antagonizing neurologic damage in the later stage of acute irradiation and chronic irradiation.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Electromagnetic Fields ; adverse effects ; Female ; Hippocampus ; radiation effects ; Male ; Oxidation-Reduction ; Oxidative Stress ; Phytotherapy ; Radiation Injuries, Experimental ; drug therapy ; Rats ; Reactive Oxygen Species

Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; chemistry ; Cell Cycle Proteins ; analysis ; Cyclin A ; analysis ; Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27 ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Liver Neoplasms ; chemistry ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Tumor Suppressor Proteins ; analysis

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between differential activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal transduction system and apoptosis in PC12 cells induced by electromagnetic irradiation.

METHODSCultured PC12 cells were exposed to 65 mW/cm(2) electromagnetic wave for 20 min. The PC12 cells apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry 0, 3, 12, 24 h after electromagnetic irradiation. The phosphorylations of ERK1/2, JNK and P38 MAPK were tested by Western-blot.

RESULTSElectromagnetic irradiation induced apoptosis in PC12 cells soon after irradiation. The apoptotic rate of PC12 cells increased to about 23.5% at 3 h. But compared with that at 3 h, there was no significant difference in the apoptotic rate at 12 h (P > 0.05). The apoptotic rate of PC12 cells increased sharply again at 24 h. After exposure to electromagnetic irradiation, the phosphorylations of ERK1/2 and JNK increased significantly. The increased phosphorylation of ERK1/2 lasted for 3 hours, but of JNK lasted for 12 hours, and 24 hours after irradiation. The phosphorylation of both ERK1/2 and JNK were significantly lower than that of control. The phosphorylation of P38 MAPK was always higher after electromagnetic irradiation, and there were two phosphorylation peaks at 3 h and 24 h.

CONCLUSIONThe electromagnetic irradiation can induce the activation of MAPK signal transduction system, and ERK1/2, JNK, P38 MAPK showed differential activation. The differential activation of MAPKs may play an important role in the apoptosis of PC12 cells induced by electromagnetic irradiation.

Animals ; Apoptosis ; radiation effects ; Blotting, Western ; Flow Cytometry ; MAP Kinase Kinase 4 ; metabolism ; physiology ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 ; metabolism ; physiology ; Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism ; physiology ; PC12 Cells ; Phosphorylation ; Rats ; Signal Transduction ; radiation effects ; p38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases ; metabolism ; physiology

To investigate the resources of medicinal plant, such as wild Apocynum, supervised classification based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and texture feature were used to monitor wild medicinal plants from image captured by ZY-3 and World-view-2 and compare which satellite Image are more appropriate to monitor the wild medicinal plants. The research results shows that: for more complex growth conditions wild medicinal plants Apocynum, high-resolution images Worldview-2 is more suitable for its remote identification, the low-resolution satellite ZY-3 can only recognizes the wild medicinal plants which distributed intensively. If the study target distribution is more intensive and larger scale, and cultivated type medicinal plants, the use of satellite ZY-3 in low resolution remote sensing data to identify the target can be a good choice, it is not necessary to buy high-resolution data, in order to avoid waste of expenditure, for the scattered distribution, the high-resolution satellite imagery data may be indispensable to identify targets.
Apocynum ; chemistry ; growth & development ; China ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Geographic Information Systems ; Plant Dispersal ; Plants, Medicinal ; chemistry ; growth & development ; Remote Sensing Technology ; methods

Humans ; Intestines ; immunology ; microbiology ; Liver Diseases ; immunology ; microbiology

Apoptosis ; drug effects ; Hep G2 Cells ; Hepatoblastoma ; metabolism ; Humans ; Oligonucleotides, Antisense ; pharmacology ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-mdm2 ; genetics

BACKGROUNDThe benefit of neoadjuvant chemotherapy in the management of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) still remains controversial. The aim of this meta-analysis is to evaluate the role of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy with the cisplatin and fluororacil (PF) regimen in enhancing the overall survival of and decreasing locoregional relapse and distant metastasis in HNSCC patients.

METHODSMedline and manual searches were performed to identify all published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the efficacy of the neoadjuvant chemotherapy with the PF regimen. Outcomes assessed by meta-analysis included locoregional relapse, distant metastasis, and overall survival. The odds ratio was the principle measurement of effect, which was calculated as the treatment group (chemotherapy plus locoregional treatment) versus the control group (locoregional treatment alone) and was presented as a point estimate with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

RESULTSEight RCTs were adopted for analysis. The meta-analysis showed that the odds ratio for the locoregional relapse was 0.92 (0.70 - 1.22, 95% CI), which was not statistically significant. The odds ratios for distant metastasis and overall survival were 0.47 (0.33 - 0.68, 95% CI) and 1.28 (1.01 - 1.62, 95% CI) respectively, which were both statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONSNeoadjuvant chemotherapy with the PF regimen in HNSCC patients has no effect on locoregional relapse. However, it shows a small but significant benefit in reducing distant metastasis and improving the overall survival.

Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols ; therapeutic use ; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell ; drug therapy ; mortality ; Chemotherapy, Adjuvant ; Cisplatin ; administration & dosage ; Fluorouracil ; administration & dosage ; Head and Neck Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; mortality ; Humans ; Neoadjuvant Therapy ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic

No abstract available.
Humans ; Interferon-gamma* ; Pityriasis Rosea*