Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Myocardial Ischemia ; prevention & control ; therapy ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; prevention & control ; therapy

OBJECTIVETo observe the therapeutic effect and safety of three-step acupuncture for the secondary prevention of ischemic cerebral apoplexy.

METHODSOne hundred and twenty cases of first-episode ischemic cerebral apoplexy were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group according to the visiting sequence, 60 cases in each group. Both groups were treated on the basis of the routine treatment, the observation group was treated with three-step acupuncture combined with oral administration of Aspirin for six months. The threestep acupuncture includs scalp acupuncture, body point acupuncture and rehabilitation training. The control group was treated with oral administration of Aspirin alone. Six-month follow-up was done in two groups. Then the recurrence rate of ischemic cerebral apoplexy, the improvement of neurologic impairment, activity of daily living and TCM symptom scores and the safety of three-step acupuncture between two groups were compared.

RESULTSThe recurrence rate was 10.2% (5/49) in observation group, and 16.7% (9/54) in control group. There was no significant difference between two groups (P > 0.05). The observation group was superior to the control group in improving the scores of the neurologic impairment, activity of daily living and TCM symptom (P < 0.01, P < 0.001). There was no severe adverse reaction in two groups except 2 cases of gastrointestinal reaction caused by oral administration of Aspirin in control group.

CONCLUSIONThree-step acupuncture has a certain therapeutic effect for both treatment and the secondary prevention of ischemic cerebral apoplexy, and it is one of the safe and effective methods for treating and preventing ischemic cerebral apoplexy in clinic.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Brain Ischemia ; prevention & control ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Secondary Prevention ; Stroke ; prevention & control ; therapy

Animals ; Animals, Newborn ; Brain Edema ; prevention & control ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain ; prevention & control ; Progesterone ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) in neonates is the brain injury caused by perinatal asphyxia or hypoxia and is a major cause of death in neonates and nervous system dysfunction in infants and young children. Although to a certain degree, mild hypothermia therapy reduces the mortality of infants with moderate to severe HIE, it cannot achieve the expected improvements in nervous system dysfunction. Hence, it is of vital importance to search for effective therapeutic methods for HIE. The search for more therapies and better preventive measures based on the pathogenesis of HIE has resulted in much research. As an important link in the course of HIE, energy failure greatly affects the development and progression of HIE. This article reviews the research advances in the treatment and prevention of energy failure in the course of HIE.
Energy Metabolism ; Humans ; Hypothermia, Induced ; Hypoxia-Ischemia, Brain ; prevention & control ; therapy ; Infant, Newborn ; Infant, Newborn, Diseases ; prevention & control

OBJECTIVETo analyze the mechanism of neuroprotection of insulin and which blood glucose range was benefit for insulin exerting neuroprotective action.

DATA SOURCESThe study is based on the data from PubMed.

STUDY SELECTIONArticles were selected with the search terms "insulin", "blood glucose", "neuroprotection", "brain", "glycogen", "cerebral ischemia", "neuronal necrosis", "glutamate", "γ-aminobutyric acid".

RESULTSInsulin has neuroprotection. The mechanisms include the regulation of neurotransmitter, promoting glycogen synthesis, and inhibition of neuronal necrosis and apoptosis. Insulin could play its role in neuroprotection by avoiding hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia.

CONCLUSIONSIntermittent and long-term infusion insulin may be a benefit for patients with ischemic brain damage at blood glucose 6-9 mmol/L.

Blood Glucose ; drug effects ; Brain Ischemia ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; prevention & control ; Insulin ; therapeutic use ; Neuroprotective Agents ; therapeutic use

Burns ; complications ; metabolism ; therapy ; Fluid Therapy ; Humans ; Hypoxia ; etiology ; metabolism ; prevention & control ; Ischemia ; etiology ; metabolism ; prevention & control

Cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury(CIRI) is an important factor hindering the recovery of ischemic stroke patients after blood flow recanalization. Mitochondria, serving as the "energy chamber" of cells, have multiple important physiological functions, such as supplying energy, metabolizing reactive oxygen species, storing calcium, and mediating programmed cell death. During CIRI, oxidative stress, calcium overload, inflammatory response, and other factors can easily lead to neuronal mitochondrial dyshomeostasis, which is the key pathological link leading to secondary injury. As reported, the mitochondrial quality control(MQC) system, mainly including mitochondrial biosynthesis, kinetics, autophagy, and derived vesicles, is an important endogenous mechanism to maintain mitochondrial homeostasis and plays an important protective role in the damage of mitochondrial structure and function caused by CIRI. This paper reviewed the mechanism of MQC and the research progress on MQC-targeting therapy of CIRI in recent 10 years to provide theoretical references for exploring new strategies for the prevention and treatment of ischemic stroke with traditional Chinese medicine.
Brain Ischemia/prevention & control* ; Calcium/metabolism* ; Humans ; Ischemic Stroke ; Mitochondria/pathology* ; Reactive Oxygen Species/metabolism* ; Reperfusion Injury/prevention & control*

Animals ; Berberine/therapeutic use* ; Brain Ischemia/prevention & control* ; Glutathione Peroxidase ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Reperfusion Injury/prevention & control*

BackgroundRemote ischemic postconditioning (RIPostC) appears to protect distant organs from ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI). However, cerebral protection results have remained inconclusive. In the present study, a meta-analysis was performed to compare stroke patients with and without RIPostC.

MethodsCNKI, WanFang, VIP, CBM, PubMed, and Cochrane Library databases were searched up to July 2016. Data were analyzed using both fixed-effects and random-effects models by Review Manager. For each outcome, risk ratio (RR) and mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated.

ResultsA total of 13 randomized controlled trials that enrolled a total of 794 study participants who suffered from or are at risk for brain IRI were selected. Compared with controls, RIPostC significantly reduced the recurrence of stroke or transient ischemic attacks (RR = 0.37; 95% CI: 0.26-0.55; P < 0.00001). Moreover, it can reduce the levels of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (MD: 1.96; 95% CI: 2.18-1.75; P < 0.00001), modified Rankin Scale score (MD: 0.73; 95% CI: 1.20-0.25; P = 0.00300), and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (MD: 4.17; 95% CI: 4.71-3.62; P < 0.00001) between the two groups. There was no side effect of RIPostC using tourniquet cuff around the limb on ischemic stroke treating based on different intervention duration.

ConclusionThe present meta-analysis suggests that RIPostC might offer cerebral protection for stroke patients suffering from or are at risk of brain IRI.

Brain Ischemia ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Ischemic Attack, Transient ; prevention & control ; therapy ; Ischemic Postconditioning ; methods ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Stroke ; prevention & control

Brain Ischemia ; metabolism ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Ischemic Preconditioning ; methods ; Myocardial Reperfusion Injury ; metabolism ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Reperfusion Injury ; metabolism ; pathology ; prevention & control