Objective To observethe clinical efficacy of comprehensive acupuncture treatment in treating primary open-angle glaucoma, and to objectively evaluate the therapeutic efficacy.Method Twenty-eight patients (53 eyes) who received acupuncture treatment were recruited. By adopting a self-control design, the changes of intraocular tension, mean defect (MD) of vision field, mean sensitivity (MS), vision, and score of Quality of Life Scale for Patients with Visual Impairment (QLSPVI) were observed after 3-month acupuncture treatment.ResultThe intraocular tension of the 28 patients declined obviously after the treatment (P<0.01); MD, MS and vision didn't show significant improvements after the treatment (P>0.05); the QLSPVI score dropped significantly after the treatment (P<0.01);the total effective rate was 86.8%; the therapeutic efficacy wasn't correlated with age, disease duration, and treatment duration (P>0.05).Conclusion Acupuncture treatment can effectively reduce the intraocular tension, control the deterioration of MD and MS, maintain the level of vision, and enhance the quality of life of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma; with the same disease duration, the longer the treatment, the better the therapeutic efficacy.

Obesity and binge drinking often coexist and work synergistically to promote steatohepatitis; however, the underlying mechanisms remain obscure. In this mini-review, we briefly summarize clinical evidence of the synergistical effect of obesity and heavy drinking on steatohepatitis and discuss the underlying mechanisms obtained from the study of several mouse models. High-fat diet (HFD) feeding and binge ethanol synergistically induced steatohepatitis and fibrosis in mice with significant intrahepatic neutrophil infiltration; such HFD-plus-ethanol treatment markedly up-regulated the hepatic expression of many chemokines with the highest fold (approximately 30-fold) induction of chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 1 (Cxcl1), which contributes to hepatic neutrophil infiltration and liver injury. Furthermore, HFD feeding activated peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma that subsequently inhibited CXCL1 upregulation in hepatocytes, thereby forming a negative feedback loop to prevent neutrophil overaction; whereas binge ethanol blocked this loop and then exacerbated CXCL1 elevation, neutrophil infiltration, and liver injury. Interestingly, inflamed mouse hepatocytes attracted neutrophils less effectively than inflamed human hepatocytes due to the lower induction of CXCL1 and the lack of the interleukin (IL)-8 gene in the mouse genome, which may be one of the reasons for difficulty in development of mouse models of alcoholic steatohepatitis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Hepatic overexpression of Cxcl1 and/or IL-8 promoted steatosis-to-NASH progression in HFD-fed mice by inducing neutrophil infiltration, oxidative stress, hepatocyte death, fibrosis, and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase activation. Collectively, obesity and binge drinking synergistically promote steatohepatitis via the induction of CXCL1 and subsequent hepatic neutrophil infiltration.

ObjectiveTo investigate the effect of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) on the recurrence of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative treatment. MethodsPubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, CNKI, CBM, Wanfang Data, and VIP were searched for the clinical studies of DAA and the recurrence of HCV-related HCC published up to April 2020. Stata 14.0 software was used to perform the meta-analysis. The Cochran Q test was used to evaluate heterogeneity between studies; the fixed effects model was used for non-heterogeneous data, and the random effects model was used for heterogeneous data. The Egger regression method or the Begg rank correlation method was used to evaluate the presence or absence of publication bias. ResultsA total of 10 articles (11 studies) were included in our study, among which 8 articles (9 studies) compared the effect of DAA versus the absence of anti-HCV therapy on the recurrence of HCC after curative treatment. There were 991 patients in DAA group and 808 patients in untreated group. The results of the meta-analysis showed that DAA reduced the recurrence rate of HCC after curative treatment in patients with HCV infection (hazard ratio ［HR］=0.42, 95% confidence interval ［CI］: 0.28?0.36, P＜0.001). Three articles compared the effect of DAA versus interferon for the treatment of hepatitis C on the recurrence of HCC after curative treatment, with 267 patients in DAA group and 212 in interferon group, and the results of the meta-analysis showed that DAA and interferon had a similar effect on the recurrence rate of HCV-related HCC (HR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.64-1.15, P=0.298). ConclusionBoth interferon and DAA can significantly reduce the recurrence risk of HCV-related HCC after curative treatment, with no significant difference between them.

Objective To observe the effect of Shoutai Pills on endometrial decidualization of mice with recurrent spontaneous abortion(RSA);To explore its possible mechanism in the treatment of RSA based on histone modification.Methods Totally 40 female CBA/J mice were divided into normal group,model group,Shoutai Pills low-dosage group(7.5 g/kg),Shoutai Pills high-dosage group(15 g/kg)and dydrogesterone group(3 mg/kg).The normal group were co housed with BALB/C male mice,while the other groups were co housed with DBA/2 male mice to establish an RSA mouse model.After modeling,the administration groups were given corresponding medication solution by gavage,while the normal group and model group were given equal volume of pure water by gavage for 10 consecutive days.The embryo condition was observed and the embryo loss rate was calculated,ELISA was used to detect serum prolactin(PRL)content,HE staining was used to observe the morphological changes of decidual tissue,RT-PCR was used to detect PRL mRNA expression in decidual tissue,Western blot was used to detect the protein expressions of H4ac,H3K27ac,H3K27me3.Results Compared with the normal group,the model group mice showed a significant increase in embryo loss rate,a significant decrease in serum PRL content,disordered arrangement of decidual cells,and extensive bleeding and necrosis;the expression of PRL mRNA and protein in decidual tissue significantly decreased,the protein expressions of H4ac and H3K27ac significantly decreased,while the expression of H3K27me3 protein significantly increased,with statistical significance(P<0.05).Compared with the model group,the embryo loss rate of Shoutai Pills low-and high-dosage groups and the dexamethasone group significantly decreased,the serum PRL content significantly increased,tightly arranged decidual cells,reduced necrosis,and intact glands;the expression of PRL mRNA and protein in decidual tissue of mice in Shoutai Pills high-dosage group and the dexamethasone group significantly increased,the protein expressions of H4ac and H3K27ac significantly increased,the expression of H3K27me3 protein significantly decreased,with statistical significance(P<0.05).Conclusion Shoutai Pills can promote endometrial decidualization in RSA mice,which is related to the changes of histone modification in endometrial stromal cells.