OBJECTIVETo explore the optimized rehabilitation program in the treatment of post-stroke hemiplegia at the recovery stage.

METHODSBased on the randomized controlled principle, 60 patients were randomized into an rehabilita tion + massage group (group A) and an rehabilitation + acupuncture group (group B), 30 cases in each one. Bobath sport therapy and functional training were adopted in the two groups. In the group A, the massage therapy was added. The rolling method and palm-rubbing method were used on the affected side, the pressing, kneading and plucking methods were applied to Jianliao (LI 15), Jianzhen (SI 9), Quchi (LI 11), Huantiao (GB 30), Weizhong (BL 40), Chengshan (BL 57), Zusanli (ST 36) and the other acu points; and the nipping method was adopted at the twelve Jing-well points. In the group B, acupuncture was applied to Baihui (BL 20), Jianliao (LI 15), Quchi (LI 11), Shousanli (LI 10), Huantiao (GB 30), Yanglingquan (GB 34), Jiexi (ST 41) and the other acupoints. The treatment was given once a day, 5 treatments a week in the two groups. The efficacy was evaluated in 3 weeks. Fugl-Meyer scale, Barthel index (BI) score, modified Rankin scale and stroke-specific quality of life (SS-QOL) were used to assess the limb motor function, the activity of daily life (ADL), independent activity of life and the quality of life of the patients in the two groups before and after treatment. Based on the total cost and benefit, the health economics evaluation was conducted in the patients of the two groups.

RESULTSThe treatments all improved the limb motor function (group A: 26.00 (22) vs 37.00 (33); group B: 30.50 (21) vs 39.50 (36)), the independent activity of life, ADL (group A: 43.50 +/- 22.25 vs 57.50 +/- 22.25; group B: 52.83 +/- 16.59 vs 66.67 +/- 12.82) and the quality of life (group A: 122.23 +/- 30.00 vs 145.50 +/- 28.14; group B: 132.43 +/- 23.87 vs 151.47 +/- 22.37) in the patients of the two groups. The differences in all the indices were significant statistically before and after treatment in the two groups (all P<0.05). Above indices after treatment were not different obviously between the two groups (all P>0.05). In terms of health economics, the expense was decreased by RMB 688.48 while BI was increased by every 5 score in group A in comparison with the group B.

CONCLUSIONBoth the rehabilitation and massage therapy and the rehabilitation and acupuncture therapy improve the limb motor function and the quality of life in the patients of post-stroke hemiplegia. The therapeutic efficacies are similar between the two therapeutic programs. The program of rehabilitation and massage is more economical in the aspects of ADL improvement, being advantageous at simple operation and low cost.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Aged ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Female ; Hemiplegia ; physiopathology ; rehabilitation ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Massage ; Middle Aged ; Motor Activity ; Stroke ; complications ; Treatment Outcome

Objective To investigate the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) after cerebral infarction and treatment with curcumin combined with electroacupuncture.Methods Middle cerebral artery occlusion was successfully introduced to simulate cerebral infarction in 60 healthy,male Wistar rats.They were then randomly divided into a control group,an electroacupuncture group,a curcumin group and a curcumin combined with electroacupuncture group (the observation group),each of 15.After the modeling,the four groups were given the planned interventions for 2 weeks,with the control group receiving no intervention.All of the rats were sacrificed after neurobehavioral scoring and immunological staining of brain tissue from the infarction area was used to detect the expression of BDNF and NGF.Results The average Bederson score in the observation group was significantly lower than those of the other groups.Cells expressing BDNF and NGF were significantly more numerous in the observation group than in the other three groups.Conclusion Curcumin combined with electroacupuncture can significantly improve the expression of BDNF and NGF in the infarcted area,and this may play a neuroprotective role.

Animals ; Cyclic AMP ; metabolism ; Cyclic GMP ; metabolism ; Male ; Myocytes, Cardiac ; metabolism ; Physical Conditioning, Animal ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Swimming

Objective To provide scientific evidence for the effectiveness of upper limb training after stroke.Methods Surface electromyograms (sEMGs) of the triceps braehii and biceps brachii were recorded in stroke patients during maximum isometric voluntary contraction (MIVC).A total of 18 patients with hemiparesis were studied.During the elbow's MIVC,flexor and extensor peak torque were measured,and sEMGs of the biceps and tri- ceps brachii were recorded.Results During MIVC,the biceps braehius of the intact side registered a stronger EMG than that of the affected side when the elbow flexed,but the differenees in the triceps braehii readings were not significant.The triceps bracbius of the intact side gave a stronger iEMG than the affected side when the elbow extend- ed,but the iEMG form the biceps brachius of the affeeted side was higher than that of the intact side.The co-contrac- tion ratio (CCR) of the triceps brachius on the affected side was higher than that of the intact side.Though there was a tendency for the CCR of the biceps brachius on the affected side to be higher than the intact side,any difference was not statistically significant.For both flexor and extensor MIVC,the peak torque on the affected side was lower than that of the intact side.Conclusions Elbow spastieity in hemiplegic patients is mainly attributable to the flexor muscles.In the rehabilitation of the upper limb after stroke,it is important when training extensor strength to inhibit co-contraction of the antagonistic muscle.

Designing of natural product-like compounds using natural products as template structures is an important strategy for the discovery of new drugs. Gambogic acid (GA), which is a Garcinia natural product with a unique caged xanthone scaffold, inhibits potent antitumor activity both in vitro and in vivo. This review summarized the researches on the identification of the antitumor pharmacophore of GA, and the design, structural optimization and structure-activity relationship (SAR) of natural product-like caged xanthones based on it.
Antineoplastic Agents ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; pharmacology ; Biological Products ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Cell Proliferation ; drug effects ; Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor ; Garcinia ; chemistry ; Humans ; Molecular Structure ; Structure-Activity Relationship ; Xanthones ; chemical synthesis ; chemistry ; isolation & purification ; pharmacology

This article was aimed to explore the method of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) health maintenance knowledge base building. TCM health maintenance knowledge classification method was studied under the guidance of TCM health maintenance classification system to construct a special literature database to store TCM health maintenance knowledge. Based on TCM literature resources, TCM health maintenance knowledge service platform was designed and developed for the static display and dynamic query support of TCM health maintenance knowledge. The content of knowledge base will be accessed to the whole society. The results showed that the construction method can be a system arrangement and modern interpretation of TCM health maintenance knowledge, in order to support TCM health maintenance knowledge base and its update and service system. It was concluded that under the guidance of TCM theories, the construction of TCM health maintenance knowledge base will realize the health maintenance knowledge-sharing and service requirement of TCM.

AIM: To investigate the influence of He-Ne laser on connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) expression and collagen formation of fibroblast in filtration site after trabeculectomy in rabbit, and to discuss the mechanism for preventing scar formation with He-Ne laserin vivo.METHODS: The upper nasal limbus area next to the upper rectus muscle in right eyes Received 10 minutes He-Ne laser irradiation (200mW/cm2) every day for three days, the left eyes served as control. Twenty-four hours after the last irradiation, both eyes of the rabbits were took trabeculectomy surgery. The expressions of CTGF in the filtration area were tested on the 7th, 14th and 28th day after surgery and collagen density was tested on the 14th and 28th day after surgery. Each of the time point had 7 rabbits. RESULTS: The expression of CTGF was lower than that of the control group's on the 7th and 14th day after trabeculectomy surgery (P=0.01, P=0.005). When examined on the 14th and 28th day, the collagen density of irradiation group were significantly lower than that of the control group's (P=0.013, P=0.01).CONCLUSION: Pretreating the filtration area with 200mW/cm2 He-Ne laser may be helpful in preventing scar formation after trabeculectomy in rabbit, possibly due to downregulation of the expression of CTGF and collagen synthesis in fibroblasts. He-Ne laser may be developed into a new scar preventing method in filtration surgery.

Objective To explore the prognostic value of pediatric critical illness score(PCIS)and pediatric risk of mortality score(PRISMⅢ)and the accuracy for evaluating the state of children with acute respiratory distress syndrome(ARDS).Methods Seventy-one cases hospitalized children from 29 days to 14 years old of Hebei ARDS cooperation group were selected during the 13 months between 2005 and 2006.All cases were confirmed according to ARDS diagnostic standard.For prospective studies,the patients were scored simultaneously with PCIS and PRISMⅢ at different times:when the patients entered PICU,when the patients were in the worst situation in PICU,when the patients were diagnosed as ARDS and when ARDS was serious.The data were performed by using Logistic regression etc.Results Values of Logistic regression were P

Objective To determine clinical characteristics and the effects of drug-eluting stents on the occurrence of major adverse cardiac events during percuteneous coronary artery interventional(PCI)and long- term outcomes in patients with chronic renal insufficiency(CRI).Methods Nine hundreds and seventy three patients with angiographically-documented coronary artery disease(lumen inner diameter narrowing＞50%), included 516 patients complicated with experienced renal impairment(CRI group)and 457 with normal renal function(control group).Baseline clinical data and coronary angiographic features were recorded.Results Comparing with control group,patients in CRI group were older with higher incidence of hypertension or diabetes and simultaneously complicated by reduced left ventricular ejection fraction,and more complex coronary lesions(type C).During follow-up(mean 17 months),the mortality was significantly higher in CRI than in control group(6.2% vs 3.3%,P＜0.05),but the former with CRI was significantly lower by using drug-eluting stents in comparing with bare-metal stents(4.1% vs 8.5%,P＜0.05).Conclusion Patients with CRI often complicated with severe coronary artery disease,the mortality after PCI would be significantly reduced by using drug-eluting stents.

Objective To investigate the effects of output power,action time and radiofrequency(RF) needle on the cool-tip radiofrequency ablation(RFA) by experimental tools and to determine the value of ultrasonography in size evaluation of RFA zone.Methods The cool-tip RFA to fresh calf liver were monitored by ultrasound.The experiments by single electrode needle were performed with different combination of output power (80 W,120 W) and time (5 min,8 min,10 min).The cluster needle was used for assessment at 5 min with different output power(80 W,120 W).After the end of trial,the longitudinal specimens were cut open.The view and size of the ablation zone were recorded with naked eyes.The pathological changes displayed by optical microscope were recorded as well.Results The measurement of ablation zone with naked eyes showed with the ablation zone expanded with time in 80 W-power cases,but the pace of expansion slowed down,but in 120 W-power cases,expansion of the ablation zone was not obvious; the ablation zone in 120 W-power was bigger than that in 80 W-power at 5 min,their difference decreased with time,and the ablation zones were similar at 10 min.The cluster needle can produce ablation zone with lesser aspect ratio than that of single electrode needle,consequently similar to circle.Ultrasonic measurement of the ablation zone had real discrepancy.Most of longitudinal diameters were greater than the real ones,while in large ablation lesions,vertical diameters were often less than the real ones.Under optical microscope,no change could be found in shape and structure of the cells in ablation zone.Conclusion The output power and performing time have impact on ablation.The high-power output increased heat production as well as reduction of heat conduction.Compared with single electrode needle,the cluster needle produced ablation zone closer to real hepatic tumor,thus has more reliable effect to small hepatocellular carcinoma with diameter around 2 cm.The ultrasond has a great significance in RFA guidance,but it could not accurately define the border of ablation zone.