BACKGROUND: Neuroleptic agents are effective in treating Tourette syndrome (TS). Side effects such as acute myodystonia and oculogyric crisis as well as the risk of delayed dyskinesia have led to search for alternative therapy.OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of metoclopramide in controlling the symptoms of TS and improving the intelligence and memory function without causing extrapyramidal side effects.DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial and blind method.SETTING: Neurological Department of Xiangya Hospital Affiliated to Central South University; Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Hunan Province; Neurological Department of the First People's Hospital of Nanning City; Public Health College of Central South University.PARTICIPANTS: Fifty patients with TS came from Tic Specialty Clinic,Neurological Department of Xiangya Hospital, between January 2000 and June 2001. Patients and their family members agreed toaccept our medical treatment and reexamination on fixed dates. There were 38 males and 12 females aged 5-21 years with the mean age of (10.4±4.2) years. All of them were divided into metoclopramide group and haloperidol group with 25 in each group.METHODS: Metoclopramide and haloperidol were white tablets bottled without tag (100 tablets of white color medicine in each bottle). The two types of medicine in each bottle were marked Ⅰ or Ⅱ, respectively. The blind method (patients, their parents and evaluation blinded) was used to test the real biochemical nature of the medicine. Medicine was given by a specific doctor on regular days (2, 4, 8, 16 weeks) to patients on their revisit. The daily dose of metoclopramide for body weight was 0.5-2 mg/(kg· d) and haloperidol was 0.05 mg/(kg· d) and was assigned 3-4 times (principle of dose individuality). In addition, TS patients with severe tics in metoclopramide group would receive metoclopramide 10 mg by intramuscular injection twice a day, at the initial treatment for 2-4 days. ①Before and after treatment, TS severity of patients at weeks 2, 4, 8 and 16 was evaluated by YGTSS (the total score was 100 points; the higher the score, the more severe the condition and overall impairment). ② The clinical curative effect of the medicines was evaluated with YGTSS deduction rate before and after treatment. ③ Asberg side-effect rating score: The lower the score, the fewer and milder the side effects. ④ The cognition function was evaluated with WISC score before treatment and after 3 months of treatment. WISC consisted of language and performance components with 11 subtests, while memory scale category had 10 subtests (memory score lower than the standard indicated problem in memory function).MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: ① Comparison of YGTSS in patients before and after treatment; ② comparison of efficacy in patients of the two groups; ③ comparison of intelligence quotient and memory quotient of patients before and after treatment; ④ adverse events and side effects.RESULTS: Totally 50 patients entered the final analysis. ① Comparison of Tourette' s syndrome in patients before and after treatment: YGTSS score in the two groups decreased significantly after treatment. The comparison of the differences suggested that metoclopramide had better curative effect than haloperidol. In metoclopramide group, YGTSS score was reduced steadily at weeks 2, 4, 8 and 16. In haloperidol group, YGTSS score was also reduced steadily at weeks 2, 8 and 16, but it was similar at week 2 and week 4. ② Comparison of efficacy in patients of the two groups: The total clinical curative effect rate was 92% (23/25) in both groups withoutany difference (P ＞ 0.05). ③ Comparison of intelligence quotient beforeand after treatment: In both metoclopramide group and haloperidol group itwas higher after treatment than before treatment (93.0±15.1, 87.0±14.6; 93.2±17.0, 87.3±13.6, t=3.43, 2.3, P ＜ 0.01). ④ Comparison of memory quo tient of patients before and after treatment: It was higher only in metoclo pramide group after treatment than before treatment (87.8±12.8, 75.8±15.5, t=3.30, P ＜ 0.01). ⑤ Score of Asberg side effects: It was lower in metoclo pramide group than in haloperidol group [(1.00±0.76), (3.24±1.40) points, t=7.05, P ＜ 0.01]. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that metoclopramide is effective in con trolling the symptoms of TS and improving intelligence and memory function. Metoclopramide causes mild side effects, but no extrapyramidal side effects.

Women undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) may experience repeated implantation failure (RIF). Under the guidance of "Yu Pei Qi Sun" theory, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) compounds can improve the quality of sperm and eggs of both husband and wife by anti-oxidative stress, improving mitochondrial function and reducing excessive apoptosis before IVF-ET to obtain high-quality embryos; TCM compounds can also promote angiogenesis, anti-oxidative stress, regulation of estrogen and progesterone receptor content, regulate immunity to improve female endometrial receptivity to facilitate embryo implantation; it can also invigorate the spleen and kidney after transplantation and caring for the fetus to help implantation, as well as alleviate the anxiety of patients during transplantation.

ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical efficacy and possible mechanism of Erzhi Tiangui prescription on repeated implantation failure （RIF） of kidney deficiency syndrome. MethodSeventy patients with RIF of kidney deficiency syndrome who underwent natural cycle frozen-thawed embryo transfer （FET） in the Reproductive and Genetic Center of the Affiliated Hospital of Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine were enrolled and randomly divided into a treatment group （35 cases） and a control group （35 cases）. Patients in the treatment group took oral Erzhi Tiangui prescription from the third day of each menstrual cycle two months before the FET cycle and continued to take it until the day of transplantation from the third day of the menstrual cycle in the month of transplantation. Those in the control group did not accept traditional Chinese medicine （TCM）. In addition，10 patients who successfully achieved clinical pregnancy after the first natural cycle FET were screened from the reproductive medical record bank of this hospital and assigned to the normal group. Peripheral blood samples of patients in the three groups on the day of embryo transfer were collected from the specimen bank of the Reproductive and Genetic Center. Serum soluble programmed death molecule-1 （sPD-1），soluble programmed death molecule-ligand 1 （sPD-L1），transforming growth factor-β （TGF-β），interleukin-17 （IL-17）， and interleukin-10 （IL-10） levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. The changes in kidney deficiency syndrome scores， the final biochemical pregnancy rates， clinical pregnancy rates， and embryo implantation rates of the treatment group and the control group before and after treatment were observed. ResultCompared with the normal group，the model group showed increased serum levels of sPD-1 and IL-17（r=0.347，P<0.05），decreased levels of IL-10 and TGF-β （P<0.01），and non-significant change in sPD-L1 level. Serum sPD-1 was positively correlated with IL-17 （P<0.05） and negatively correlated with IL-10（r=-0.521，P<0.01） and TGF-β（r=-0.457，P<0.01） in RIF patients with kidney deficiency syndrome. After TCM treatment，compared with the control group， the treatment group showed improved TCM syndrome score （P<0.05） and increased clinical pregnancy rate and embryo transfer rate（P<0.05），but there was no statistically significant difference in the biochemical pregnancy rate between the two groups. ConclusionAbnormal expression of sPD-1 in patients with RIF of kidney deficiency syndrome breaks the balance of T helper 17 （Th17）/regulatory T cell （Treg），which is not conducive to embryo implantation and pregnancy maintenance. Erzhi Tiangui prescription，a TCM for tonifying the kidney，can significantly improve the symptoms of kidney deficiency in patients with RIF of kidney deficiency syndrome，reduce the concentrations of sPD-1 and IL-17 in the peripheral serum，increase the levels of TGF-β and IL-10，regulate the peripheral Th17/Treg immune balance，and increase the implantation rate and clinical pregnancy rate，which has a high clinical value.