Animals ; Antioxidants ; physiology ; Dehydroepiandrosterone ; physiology ; Lipid Metabolism ; physiology ; Male ; Oxidative Stress ; drug effects ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley

OBJECTIVETo compare the therapeutic differences among scalp acupuncture combined with auricular point sticking, body acupuncture and western medication for treatment of vascular dementia (VD).

METHODSNinety cases were randomly divided into a combined therapy group (31 cases), a body acupuncture group (29 cases) and a western medication group (30 cases). The combined therapy group was treated with scalp acupuncture at forehead middle line, parieral middle line, temporal front line and temporal rear line as well as auricular point sticking at naogan (AT3,41), shen (CO10), shenmen (TF4), zhen (AT3), once a day; the body acupuncture group was treated with acupuncture at Baihui (GV 20), Fengchi (GB 20), Zusanli (ST 36) and so on, once a day; the western medication group was treated with oral administration of aniracetam tablets, 0.2 g per time, twice a day. Fourteen days were considered as a treatment course, and totally 3 courses were required. The mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and activities of daily living (ADL) were applied to assess the changes of cognitive behavior ability before and after treatment among three groups. Also the efficacy among three groups were compared.

RESULTSOne case dropped out in the body acupuncture group and western medication group, respectively. The total effective rate was 90.334 (28/31) in the combined therapy group, which was superior to 85.734 (24/28) in the body acupuncture group and 79.3% (23/29) in the western medication group (both P < 0.05). After the treatment, the scores of MMSE and ADL were all improved among three groups, which was the most significant in the combined therapy group (MMSE: 23.32 +/- 4.45 vs 21.23 +/- 4.13, P < 0.05; 23.32 +/- 4.45 vs 20.41 +/- 4. 01, P < 0.01; ADL: 53.18 +/- 21.55 vs 51.92 +/- 20.42, P < 0.05; 53.18 +/- 21.55 vs 49.42 +/- 19.43, P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe scalp acupuncture combined with auricular point sticking could improve the clinical symptoms and cognitive behavior ability in patients with vascular dementia, which has superior total efficacy to body acupuncture and western medication aniracetam tablets.

Activities of Daily Living ; Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Aged ; Cognition ; Dementia, Vascular ; psychology ; therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Scalp

Objective:To observe the efficacy and safety of dexzopiclone plus auricular acupressure in intervening primary insomnia.Methods:A total of 72 participants who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial,with 36 cases allocated to a treatment group and 36 cases allocated to a control group.Both groups were given dexzopiclone as the routine treatment.Patients in the treatment group were given auricular acupressure with Wang Bu Liu Xing (Semen Vaccariae) seeds at the auricular acupoints related to sleep and emotion based on meridian theory,whereas for patients in the control group,the medical plasters with Wang Bu Liu Xing (Semen Vaccariae) seeds were only gently stuck to acupoints unrelated to sleep without stimulation.Patients in both groups were required to visit the hospital once a week for replacing the seeds and plasters.The course of intervention lasted for 8 weeks and the patients were followed up for another 4 weeks.Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and Karolinska sleep diary (KSD) were used to evaluate the outcomes.Meanwhile,adverse effects were monitored and recorded.Results:In the enrolled 72 cases,4 patients (one in the treatment group and three in the control group) reported thirst and a bitter taste,and one case in the control group reported nausea and vomiting.At last,3 cases in the control group dropped out for adverse reactions,and 69 cases completed the clinical trial.After 8 weeks of treatment,the global scores of PSQI in both treatment and control groups decreased significantly compared with the baseline (both P＜0.001).Furthermore,the global score of PSQI in the treatment group was lower than that in the control group (P＜0.01).The global scores of PSQI in both groups at the follow-up were significantly different from the baseline (both P＜0.001),but insignificantly different compared with the post-treatment results (both P＞0.05).According to KSD,both treatment protocols could prolong the total sleep time,shorten sleep-onset latency,improve sleep efficacy and sleep quality significantly,and the changes in the treatment group were more significant.The total effective rate was 88.9％ in the treatment group,higher than 81.8％ in the control group,though the difference was statistically insignificant (P＞0.05).Conclusion:Dexzopiclone plus auricular acupressure is effective and safe for patients with primary insomnia both in short and long terms,and it is more effective than monotherapy of dexzopiclone.

Clinically nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas are the most common types among pituitary adenomas. These tumors are usually diagnosed in their later stages due to the absence of clinical symptoms and detectable hormonal hypersecretion. Although these tumors are benign, they are hard to be completely removed during neurosurgery due to the massive invasion into the surrounding tissues at diagnosis. Furthermore, relapse is common. In recent years, medical treatment of pituitary adenomas has witnessed a rapid development. New medications have shown certain effectiveness in reducing the tumor size and improving the clinical symptoms.
Adenoma ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Pituitary Neoplasms ; drug therapy

OBJECTIVETo investigate the epidemiology of dental caries and its correlated factors of 12-year-old children in Dongxiang, Baoan and Yugu races.

METHODSAccording to the method of third national oral health epidemiologic investigation, 448 12-year-old children in Dongxiang, Baoan and Yugu races were randomly collected and the epidemiological investigation of dental caries, oral bacteriological detection and oral hygiene behavior were carried out.

RESULTS1) The caries prevalence rate of Dongxiang, Baoan and Yugu races were 40.52%, 44.29%, 46.45%, respectively. The average caries of Dongxiang, Baoan and Yugu races were 0.92, 0.90, 1.13, respectively. 2) The main ranks of Streptococcus mutans in saliva were class 2 and class 3 in Dongxiang and Baoan races. However, it was class 0 or class 1 in Yugu race. The level of Streptococcus mutans in dental plaque was higher in Dongxiang and Baoan races than in Yugu race. 3) The children's everyday brushing rate was higher in Yugu race than in Dongxiang and Baoan races (P<0.01). But there were no difference between Dongxiang and Baoan races.

CONCLUSIONThe caries prevalence rates of 12-year-old children in Dongxiang, Baoan and Yugu races are high. The main factors of high caries prevalence rate were low brushing rate and dental plaque couldn't be removed effectively. Oral health education should be strengthened in the three race areas.

Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Child ; China ; Dental Caries ; Dental Plaque ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Oral Hygiene ; Prevalence ; Saliva ; Streptococcus mutans

To investigate the prevalence of drug-resistance mutations, resistance to antiretroviral drugs, and the subsequent virological response to therapy in treatment-naive and antiretroviral-treated patients infected with HIV/AIDS in Henan, China, a total of 431 plasma samples were collected in Queshan county between 2003 and 2004, from patients undergoing the antiretroviral regimen Zidovudine + Didanosine + Nevirapine (Azt+Ddi+Nvp). Personal information was collected by face to face interview. Viral load and genotypic drug resistance were tested. Drug resistance mutation data were obtained by analyzing patient-derived sequences through the HIVdb Program (http://hivdb.stanford.edu). Overall, 38.5% of treatment-naive patients had undetectable plasma viral load (VL), the rate significantly increased to 61.9% in 0 to 6 months treatment patients (mean 3 months) (P＜0.005) but again significantly decrease to 38.6% in 6 to 12 months treatment patients (mean 9 months) (P＜0.001) and 40.0% in patients receiving more than 12 months treatment (mean 16 months) (P＜0.005). The prevalence of drug resistance in patients who had a detectable VL and available sequences were 7.0%, 48.6%, 70.8%, 72.3% in treatment-na(1)ve, 0 to 6 months treatment, 6 to 12 months treatment, and treatment for greater than 12 months patients, respectively. No mutation associated with resistance to Protease inhibitor (PI) was detected in this study. Nucleoside RT inhibitor (NRTI) mutations always emerged after non-nucleoside RT inhibitor (NNRTI) mutations, and were only found in patients treated for more than 6 months, with a frequency less than 5%, with the exception of mutation T215Y (12.8%, 6/47) which occurred in patients treated for more than 12 months. NNRTI mutations emerged quickly after therapy begun, and increased significantly in patients treated for more than 6 months (P＜0.005), and the most frequent mutations were K103N, V106A, Y181C, G190A. There had been optimal viral suppression in patients undergoing treatment for less than 6 months in Queshan,Henan. The drug resistance strains were highly prevalent in antiretroviral-treated patients, and increased with the continuation of therapy, with many patients encountering virological failure after 6 months therapy.

OBJECTIVETo compare therapeutic effects between moxibustion and infrared therapy for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis.

METHODSFrom January 2007 to June 2008 period, 65 patients with knee osteoarthritis were divided into treatment and control groups randomly uniform random number table generated from SAS statistical software. Among 35 patients in the treatment group, 17 patients were male and 18 patients were female, ranging in age from 45 to 75 years, with an average of (61.2+/-6.4) years; the course of disease ranged from 9 to 43 months, with a mean of (23.6+/-13.8) months; the preoperative Lysholm score ranged from 19 to 28 scores, averaged (24.3+/-3.3) scores. In the control group, there were 30 patients, including 13 males and 17 females, ranging in age from 47 to 79 years, with an average of (62.5+/-9.3) years; the course of disease ranged from 8 to 45 months, with a mean of (24.6+/-16.6) months; the preoperative Lysholm score ranged from 20 to 29 scores, averaged (25.9+/-3.0) scores. The patients in the treatment group were treated with moxibustion, and the patients in control group were treated with infrared therapy. All the patients were followed up for 4 weeks. The Lysholm scores were compared between the two groups.

RESULTSAccording to Lysholm score for clinical efficacy, treatment group got (87.5+/-5.6) scores and the control group were (85.9+/-3.5) scores, the Lysholm score of the treatment group was higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). Among pain score, joint flexion and extension score, joint stability score, and up and down stairs score, the pain and joint stability scores of patients in the treatment group were higher than those of control group (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONCompared with infrared therapy, moxibustion treatment for knee osteoarthritis can get better joint function, which is effect to alleviate the patient's pain, improve joint stability, improve the efficacy, and is valued to be promoted.

Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Moxibustion ; methods ; Multicenter Studies as Topic ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

OBJECTIVETo investigate and research WHOQOL-BREF evaluation of the clinical effect of application of moxibustion for treatment of knee osteoarthritis, to provide clinical according for the treatment.

METHODSFrom January 2007 to June 2008, 90 cases of knee osteoarthritis were randomly divided into treatment group and control group. In treatment group there were 45 cases included 16 males and 29 females with an average age of (62.5 +/- 7.4) years; the average course was (26.5 +/- 14.6) months; Lysholm score of knee function before treatment was (65.5 +/- 3.5) hours on average. In control group, there were 45 cases included 11 males and 34 females with an average age of (62.5 +/- 9.3) years;the average course was (24.6 +/- 16.6) months; Lysholm score of knee function before treatment was (66.3 +/- 2.3) hours on average. Applied Quality of Life Scale WHOQOL-BREF in line with the inclusion criteria of the study evaluation. While applied Lysholm scoring of knee joint for supporting the evaluation criteria. All data were statistical analyzed by package SPSS 11.5.

RESULTSMoxibustion was applied to treat the knee osteoarthritis and the quality of life was evaluated according to the WHOQOL-BREF scale score. The scores of the physical state, psychological state, as well as their own general health status of subjective feeling, and so on in treatment was significantly higher than that in control group (P < 0.05). According to Lysholm scoring, the score in treatment group was significantly higher than that of control group, too (t = 0.65, P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONApplication of moxibustion for treatment of knee osteoarthritis is a simple, economical and practical, and can avoid the further development of the disease, but also to improve the joint function and improve quality of life.

Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Moxibustion ; Osteoarthritis, Knee ; pathology ; physiopathology ; therapy ; Quality of Life ; Treatment Outcome ; World Health Organization

OBJECTIVETo confirm the malignant phenotype of hepatocarcinoma cell (HCC) lines at various stages of differentiation (MHCC97L, MHCC97H and HCCLM3) and to explore their expression levels of cancer stem cell (CSC) markers.

METHODSThe invasive and proliferative properties of each HCC line were assessed by transwell assay and the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) colorimetric assay. Sensitivity to chemotherapy was assessed by treatment with oxaliplatin and determination of the half inhibitory concentration (IC50). The expression of CD90, EpCAM and CD24 was measured by flow cytometry.

RESULTSThe number of cells that migrated through the invasion assay membrane were significantly different between the three HCC lines: HCCLM3 (30.57 +/- 8.95) more than MHCC97H (21.33 +/- 4.17) more than HCC97L (9.33 +/- 3.85), P less than 0.01. The IC50 was significantly different between the three HCC lines: HCCLM3 (36.57 +/- 6.95) mumol/L more than MHCC97H (26.35+/-3.88) mumol/L more than MHCC97L (17.68 +/- 3.25) mumol/L. The CSC marker with the highest expression on all three HCC lines was CD90 (HCCLM3: 0.92% +/- 0.21%, MHCC97H: 1.98% +/- 0.23%, and MHCC97L: 2.55% +/- 0.34%), followed by EpCAM (2.11% +/- 0.32%, 3.23% +/- 0.18%, and 4.38% +/-0.49%, respectively), and CD24 as the lowest (0.68% +/- 0.37%, 1.22% +/- 0.26%, and 1.36% +/- 0.24%, respectively).

CONCLUSIONHigher expression of CSC markers on HCC lines is associated with a stronger invasive ability and higher sensitivity to chemotherapy.

Antigens, Neoplasm ; metabolism ; CD24 Antigen ; metabolism ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; metabolism ; pathology ; Cell Adhesion Molecules ; metabolism ; Cell Differentiation ; Cell Line, Tumor ; Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Neoplastic Stem Cells ; cytology ; metabolism ; Signal Transduction ; Thy-1 Antigens ; metabolism

Soy isoflavones have been reported to be natural chemopreventive in several types of human cancer. Daidzein and genistein are two main components of soy isoflavones. In our previous study, they were shown to be anti-proliferative and induce cell cycle arrest at S phase of SHZ-88 rat breast cancer cells. We hypothesized that soy isoflavones might exert its anticancer effect by activating cAMP/PKA pathway. The present study was designed to analyze the effect of soy isoflavones on the cAMP/PKA pathway in SHZ-88 cells. Daidzein and genistein were dissolved in DMSO. Cells were treated with 50 mug/ml daidzein and 15 mug/ml genistein, respectively, and with only equal DMSO in the culture medium as control. The cellular cAMP content was tested by radioimmunoassay (RIA). The activity of adenylate cyclase (AC), phosphodiesterase (PDE) and PKA were measured by RIA and (gamma-(32)P) ATP incorporation. Reverse transcript-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to analyze the expression of cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) mRNA of the cells. The results showed that the concentration of cAMP in the cells treated with 50 mug/ml daidzein and 15 mug/ml genistein was significantly increased by 9.5%and 11.0%, respectively, 5 min later (P<0.05), then increased by 31.0%and 40.3%, respectively, 10 min later (P<0.01), compared with that of the control group cells. The activity of AC was not affected during the course of experiment, but that of PDE was decreased to 71.8%and 71.6%, respectively, in the control group 5 min later (P<0.05). The PKA activity was increased to 125.8%and 122.3%, respectively, in the control group 20 min after the cells were treated with daidzein and genistein (P<0.05), and kept at high level till 40 min after treatment. CREB mRNA of the cells treated with daidzein and genistein was increased by 31.6%and 51.1%, respectively, 3 h later (P<0.05), then began to decrease 6 h after treatment. The current study suggests that soy isoflavones activate the cAMP/PKA pathway in SHZ-88 rat breast cancer cells by inhibiting the activity of phosphodiesterase.