OBJECTIVETo observe the effect and explore the mechanism of needling Quchi and Taichong points in treating hypertension patients and the influence on blood levels of angiotension converting enzyme (ACE) and endothelin (ET) levels.

METHODSSixty hypertension patients were randomly divided into the Taichong needling group (A), Quchi needling group (B) and control group (C, treated by Captopril). Changes of plasma ET was determined by radioimmunoassay (RIA) and serum ACE content was measured by chemical colorimeter.

RESULTSThe effect of lowering systolic pressure at 15 min after needling in Group B was better than that in Group A (P < 0.01), but it was inferior to the latter at 120 min after withdrawal of needle (P < 0.05), while after one course treatment, the effect in Group B and C was obviously better than that in Group A (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01). Content of serum ACE significantly increased in Group B and that of plasma ET significantly decreased in Group A, showing significant difference between the two groups, all P < 0.01.

CONCLUSIONNeedling Quchi and Taichong all show hypertensive effect, the former is obviously higher than that of the latter. They could regulate the blood level of ACE and ET, protect and repair vascular endothelial cells, but the key links of their mechanism might be different.

Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Endothelin-1 ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Hypertension ; blood ; therapy ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A ; blood ; Radioimmunoassay

Objective To study the outcomes of AIDS intervention programs and to provide scientific evidence for developing pertinent strategy on intervention among men who have sex with men (MSM).Methods MSM were recruited through snowballing and investigated by face to face interview in 2006 and 2007 respectively.SPSS 12.0 was used to compare the change of cognition about AIDS,sexual behavior,prevalence rates of HIV and Syphilis before and after the intervention program among the population under study.Results The cognition about AIDS among MSM was obviously improved after the intervention with the rate increased from 74.3% to 82.4% (P=0.01).The rate of last time condom use among MSM increased from 56.4% to 65.5% (P=0.00).The rate of consistent condom use during six months among MSM increased from 31.8% to 41.9% (P=0.00).The rates of both condom use during commercial sex with men and with women did not change much among MSM.The prevalence rates of HIV in 2006 and 2007 were 10.4% and 10.8% and of syphilis in 2006 and 2007 were 9.3% and 7.3% respectively which were not significantly different between before and after the intervention.Conclusion The cognition about AIDS among MSM was improved obviously.However,the rate of consistent condom use was still low,reflecting the segregation phenomenon between their behavior and cognition.All our findings implied that it was crucial to carry out AIDS prevention and control programs.