Objective To observe the effect of different stimulative ways of scalp penetration acupuncture on acute stroke. Methods 90 inpatients with acute stroke from July, 2011 to July, 2014 were randomly divided into manual acupuncture group (n=30), electroacupuncture group (n=30) and simple acupuncture group (n=30). All the groups accepted scalp penetration acupuncture from Baihui (GV20) to Taiyang (EX-HN5) and stimulated manually, electrically and simply maintained, respectively. They were assessed with Neurological Deficit Score (NDS), measured with neuron-specific enolase (NSE) before and 14 days after treatment. The incidence of improvement was observed. Re-sults The NDS was the least in the manual acupuncture group (P<0.05), as well as the serumal level of NSE (P<0.05). The incidence of im-provement was the most in the manual acupuncture group (P<0.05). Conclusion The manual stimulation of scalp penetration acupuncture is more effective on the acute stroke.

OBJECTIVETo explore the induction of L-forms of Mycobacterium abscess using isoniazid.

METHODSMycobacterium abscess were cultured in aqueous culture media in the presence or absence of 128 µg/ml isoniazid. The culture media containing isoniazid were filtered with 0.45 µm membrane, and the filtrate was subcultured in nutrient agar media for reversion. The isoniazid-free and isoniazid-containing media and the reversion bacteria were observed for cell wall integrity by cell wall staining and transmission electron microscopy, and the microstructures of the cell surfaces were observed by scanning electron microscopy. The isoniazid-containing culture was subcultured in L-form agar media, and the isoniazid-free culture and the reversed bacteria in nutrient agar media to observe the colony morphology. The reversed and non-induced bacteria were identified for 16S rDNA.

RESULTSThe bacteria induced with 128 µg/ml isoniazid showed cell wall defect, presenting with a spherical cell morphology and typical fried egg-like colonies in L-form agar media, while in isoniazid-free cultures, the cells showed intact cell walls with rod-like shapes and round colony morphologies on nutrient agar. The reversed bacteria, showing also intact cell walls with rod-like shapes and round colonies on nutrient agar, had identical 16S rDNA with the non-induced bacteria.

CONCLUSIONIsoniazid can induce the L-forms of mycobacterium abscess for use in studies of multidrug resistance and treatment of the bacteria.

Cell Wall ; drug effects ; Culture Media ; Isoniazid ; pharmacology ; L Forms ; drug effects ; Mycobacterium tuberculosis ; cytology ; drug effects