The thrombolytic therapy has been widely used in treating acute cerebral infarction (ACI), but various severe complications restrict its clinical application. However, Chinese medicine shows its advantages in the treatment of ACI after thrombolytic therapy. Qi benefiting and blood activating method is an important principle and mean for supporting the vital qi and removing the surplus evil. By using this method, its short-term and long-term efficacy could be improved after thrombolytic therapy.
Cerebral Infarction ; drug therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; methods ; Thrombolytic Therapy

OBJECTIVETo explore the effects of integrative medicine (IM) rehabilitation protocolon motor function, activity of daily living, and quality of life (QOL) in hemiplegia patients after stroke.

METHODSTotally 120 patients with post-stroke hemiplegia were allocated to four groups using sealed envalope drawing, i.e., the rehabilitation group, the Chinese medical treatment group, the acupuncture group, and the comprehensive rehabilitation group, 30 cases in each group. Based on routine rehabilitative training, patients in the Chinese medical treatment group, the acupuncture group, and the compre-hensive rehabilitation group received standardized treatment based on syndrome typing, Shi's Consciousness-Restoring Resuscitation acupuncture, Chinese herbs + acupuncture comprehensive rehabilitatino protocol, respectively. The treatmet cycle consisted of 4 weeks with 24-week follow-ups. Fugl-Meyer motor assessment (FMA), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), and Stroke-Specific Quality of Life Scale(SS-QQL), and safety assessment were taken as main effect indices before treatment, at week 4 of treatment, at week 12 and 24 of follow-ups, respectively.

RESULTSThere was no statistical difference in FMA score, MBI score, SS-QOL score among the four groups before treatment (P > 0.05). These scores were significantly improved in the four groups at week 4 of treatment, week 12 and 24 of follow-ups, respectively (P < 0.05). Besides, FMA score and SS-QOL score were significantly improved in the comprehensive rehabilitation group at each corresponding time point, as compared with other treatment groups (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe comprehensive protocol could significantly improve motor function, activity of daily living in hemiplegia patients after stroke, and further improve their QOL. Its effect was better than other single treatment.

Activities of Daily Living ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Hemiplegia ; rehabilitation ; Humans ; Integrative Medicine ; methods ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Motor Skills ; Quality of Life ; Stroke Rehabilitation ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To assess the relationship between pre-pregnancy body mass index(BMI),weight gain during pregnancy,and the risk of neonatal asphyxia.Methods Data was collected in 6 counties/cities covered by Peri-natal Health Care Surveillance System which was part of a Sino-American cooperative project on neural tube defects prevention established in 1992.The study population consisted of 83 030 women who attended premarital/preconception medical physical examination program and had delivered single live birth with at least 20 gestational weeks from 1995 to 2000 in Jiaxing area,Zhejiang province.Results from the Chi-square test were employed to test the differences in the rates of neonatal asphyxia between groups with different BMI and other characteristics.Multivariate logistic regression method was conducted to examine the association between pre-pregnancy BMI,gestational weight gain,and the risk of asphyxia.Results The average rate of neonatal asphyxia was 11.3%(95% CI:11.1%-11.6%).The rates of neonatal asphyxia among women with BMI＜18.5 kg/m2,18.5-22.9 kg/m2,23.0-24.9 kg/m2,and≥25.0 kg/m2 were 11.0%(95% CI:10.5%-11.5%),11.3%(95% CI:11.1%-11.6%),11.8%(95% CI:11.0%-12.6%),and 12.9%(95% CI:11.6%-14.4%)respectively.The rates of neonatal asphyxia were 12.4% among women with weight gain＜0.3 kg/wk.higher than women with higher weight gain.After adjusting for residencial area,maternal age,educational level,occupation,parity,times of prenatal visit,high-risk experiences during pregnancy,high-risk experiences at time of delivery,gestational week and birth weight,the estimated ORs were 1.03(95% CI:0.97-1.09),1.06(95% CI:0.96-1.16)and 1.14(95% CI:1.00-1.31),respectively.These ORs became 1.02(95% CI:0.95-1.09),1.01(95% CI:0.90-1.13)and 1.08(95% CI:0.92-1.28)after further adjusting the variable "gestational weight gain".The estimated ORs for neonatal asphyxia were 1.06(95% CI:1.01-1.12)for women with weight gain at 0.3-kg/wk and 1.09(95% CI:1.02-1.20)for women with weight gain＜0.3 kg/wk when compared to those with weight gain≥0.5 kg/wk.Conclusion Lower weight gain seemed to have the effect of increasing the risk of neonatal asphyxia.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of Tibetan medicine Ruyi Zhenbao Pills (RZPs) in the treatment of patients with motor and sensory dysfunction after stroke. METHODS: A total of 120 convalescent stroke patients hospitalized in the Rehabilitation Department of Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine from June 2017 to December 2019 were enrolled in this trial. Patients were assigned to control (60 cases) and research (60 cases) groups by computer random assignment. All patients received internal treatment and modern rehabilitation training. On this basis, the research group was given oral RZPs for 4 weeks, while the control group was given oral placebo. The primary outcome was motor function of the affected side evaluated by simplified Fugl-Meyer Motion Assessment Scale (FMA-M). The secondary outcomes included sensory function, activity of daily living (ADL), quality of life, balance function, and pain, which were assessed by Fugl-Meyer Sensory Assessment Scale (FMA-S), Modified Barthel Index (MBI), Special Scale of the Quality of Life (SS-QOL), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), and Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), respectively. All of the assessments were performed before treatment, and 4 and 8 weeks after treatment. Vital signs, liver and kidney functions, routine blood test, blood coagulation profile, and routine urinalysis of patients were monitored. RESULTS: After 4-week treatment, the FMA-M, BBS and FMA-S scores in the research group significantly increased compared with the control group (P<0.05). At 8-week follow-up, the BBS and MBI scores in the research group were higher than the control group (P<0.05). There was no statistical difference between the 2 groups in the SS-QOL and VAS scores at 4 and 8 weeks (P>0.05). Moreover, after treatment, there was no significant difference in vital signs, liver and kidney functions, blood coagulation function, blood routine and urinalysis between the 2 groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION RZPs improved limb motor, balance, and sensory functions of stroke patients during recovery period with good safety. (Trial registration No. NCT04029701).
Activities of Daily Living ; Humans ; Quality of Life ; Stroke/drug therapy* ; Stroke Rehabilitation ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate the antioxidative effect and mechanism of luteolin on rat cardiomyocytes and isolated hearts followed by simulated ischemia/reperfusion (SI/R) injury.

METHODSThe left ventricular cardiomyocytes and the isolated hearts from adult rats were subjected to SI/R injury. The experiment groups included control, SI/R, luteolin + SI/R (Lut + SI/R), vitamin E (Vit E) + SI/R, and LY294002 + luteolin + SI/R (LY + Lut + SI/R) groups. Cell viability, shortening amplitude, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA), expression levels of Akt, phosphorylated Akt, NOX2 (gp91phox), NOX2 mRNA, mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) and phosphorylated p38MAPK were all measured after 3-h simulated ischemia and 2-h simulated reperfusion procedure in cardiomyocytes. Vit E was used as a standard control. The contractile function of isolated hearts was further observed after they were subjected to 30-min global ischemia and 120-min reperfusion.

RESULTSPretreatment with 8-μmol/L luteolin substantially increased cell viability and shortening amplitude, while reducing evidence of oxidative stress-induced damage in the cells. In addition, the expression of NOX2, NOX2 mRNA and phosphorylation of p38MAPK were all downregulated. Furthermore, pretreatment with 40-μmol/L luteolin improved the recovery of myocardial contractile function following SI/R-induced injury, and luteolin markedly increased phosphorylation of Akt. However, all of the above effects were partially inhibited by the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) inhibitor, LY294002.

CONCLUSIONSLuteolin prevents SI/R-induced myocardial damage by reducing oxidative stress-induced injury in isolated rat hearts and cardiomyocytes, and the cardioprotection induced by luteolin was partially mediated by the PI3K/Akt pathway.

OBJECTIVE: High-fat diet (HFD) and inflammation are two key contributors to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Shenling Baizhu powder (SLBZP), a classical herbal compound, has been successfully used to alleviate NAFLD. However, its specific mechanisms are not fully understood. In this study, we assessed the anti-NAFLD effect of SLBZP in vivo. METHODS: Rats were fed an HFD with or without SLBZP or with probiotics. At the end of week 16, an echo magnetic resonance imaging (EchoMRI) body composition analyser was used to quantitatively analyse body composition; a micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) imaging system was used to evaluate whole body and liver fat; and the Moor full-field laser perfusion imager 2 was used to assess liver microcirculation, after which, all rats were sacrificed. Then, biochemical indicators in the blood and the ultrastructure of rat livers were evaluated. Protein expression related to the liver Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/Nod-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) signalling pathway was assessed using Western blot analysis. Further, high-throughput screening of 29 related inflammatory factors in liver tissue was performed using a cytokine array. RESULTS: SLBZP supplementation reduced body weight, serum free fatty acid, and insulin resistance index (P < 0.05). It also ameliorated liver microcirculation and ultrastructural abnormalities. EchoMRI and micro-CT quantitative analyses showed that treatment with SLBZP reduced fat mass and visceral fat (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). In addition, SLBZP decreased the expression of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-activated TLR4/NLRP3 signalling pathway-related proteins and altered the expression levels of some inflammatory cytokines in liver tissues. CONCLUSION SLBZP can inhibit NLRP3 inflammasome activation and interleukin-1β release by suppressing LPS-induced TLR4 expression in rats with HFD-induced NAFLD. Thus, SLBZP may be beneficial for the prevention and treatment of inflammatory damage and associated diseases.
Animals ; Liver ; NLR Family, Pyrin Domain-Containing 3 Protein ; Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease/drug therapy* ; Powders ; Rats ; Toll-Like Receptor 4 ; X-Ray Microtomography