Forty cases of bronchial asthma were treated by comprehensive methods of acupuncture, ear-embedding and acupoint-injecting. Thirty-six cases were treated by single body acupuncture and 38 cases were treated by herbal medicine for comparison. The therapeutic effects were analyzed among the three groups. The total effective rate was 95.0% in the comprehensive group, 80.6% in the single acupuncture group and 73.7% in the herbal medicine group, with a significant difference (P＜0.05) among the three groups. The combined use of acupuncture, ear-embedding method and acupoint-injecting method were better than single acupuncture and herbal medicine in the treatment of asthma.

AIM:To study the effect of Hand2 (one of basic helix-loop-helix proteins’ transcription factors) expression on the development of the cardiac tissues in the fetal rats from gestational diabetes mellitus ( GDM) parents, and to investigate the potential pathogenesis of GDM-induced congenital cardiac defects in rats.METHODS: The adult Spra-gue-Dawley female rats were randomly divided into blank control group (n=24), GDM group (n=30), negative control group ( n=30) and insulin intervened group ( n=30) .The GDM model was established by intraperitoneal injection of 2%streptozotocin (STZ, 40 mg/kg body weight) to the pregnant rats on the successive day.The rats in insulin intervened group were injected with intermediate-acting insulin in order to keep the fasting blood glucose in the normal range.The rats in negative control group were injected with citric acid-sodium citrate buffer solution in the same position.Blood glucose and body weight were examined every day 72 h after STZ injection.On E12, E15 and E19, the rats were anesthetized and the embryonic cardiac tissues were collected after caesarean section.The histopathological changes of the cardiac tissues were observed under microscope with HE staining.The expression of Hand2 was analyzed by the method of immunohisto-chemistry.The expression of Hand2 in the cardiac tissues at mRNA and protein levels was determined by real-time fluores-cence quantitative PCR and Western blotting.RESULTS:During the development of embryonic heart, the protein expres-sion of Hand2 in the cardiac tissues was showed dynamic changes.Observed on E12, obviously increased on E15, and at the highest level on E19.Compared with the other 3 groups, the protein and mRNA expression of Hand2 in GDM group was decreased at the time points of E12 and E15.CONCLUSION:The morbidity of fetal cardiac malformation is significantly increased in GDM group, suggesting that Hand2 may be involved in the development of cardiac malformation in GDM.

OBJECTIVE:To observe the efficacy and safety of prednisone combined with human immunoglobulin(pH4)for intra-venous injection in the treatment of idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura. METHODS:85 patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura were divided into control group(42 cases)and observation group(43 cases). Control group received 1.6 mg/(kg·d)Predni-sone tablet,orally,for continuous 4 weeks;observation group received 400 mg/(kg·d)human immunoglobulin(pH4)for intravenous injection,intravenous injection,for continuous 5 d,then 1.6 mg/(kg·d)Prednisone tablet,orally,for continuous 4 weeks. All pa-tients were given Adrenal color hydrazone tablet,Vitamin C tablet and other conventional treatment. Clinical efficacy,platelet number, T lymphocyte subsets(CD3+,CD3+CD4+,CD3+CD8+,CD19+),TNF-α,IL-6 before and after treatment,time of platelet number reached normal and reached peak value,peak value of platelet number and the incidence of adverse reactions in 2 groups were ob-served. RESULTS:The total effective rate and peak value of platelet number in observation group were significantly higher than control group,time of platelet number reached normal and reached peak value were significantly shorter than control group,the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05). Before treatment,there were no significant differences in platelet number,T lymphocyte sub-sets,IL-6 and TNF-αlevel in 2 groups(P>0.05);after treatment,platelet number,CD3+and CD3+CD4+in 2 groups were significant-ly higher than before,and observation group was higher than control group,IL-6,TNF-αlevel,CD3+CD8+and CD19+were signifi-cantly lower than before,and observation group was lower than control group,the differences were statistically significant(P<0.05). And there was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions in 2 groups(P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS:Prednisone com-bined with human immunoglobulin(pH4) for intravenous injection shows better efficacy than prednisone alone in the treatment of idio-pathic thrombocytopenic purpura,it can increase platelet number,adjust immune function,and do not increase the incidence of ad-verse reactions.

Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most fatal cancers worldwide. According to GLOBOCAN 2020, it was estimated that there were 600, 000 new EC cases and 540 000 EC deaths, while nearly half of all newly diagnosed cases of EC and associated deaths worldwide occurred in China. The annual incidence and mortality of EC have been reduced in the last 20 years in China. However, the early symptoms and signs of EC are not easily distinguished and the disease tends to be within the middle and late stage of pathogenesis when identified, leading to its low 5-year survival rate. Therefore, it could help effectively reduce the burden of EC by clarifying its etiology and risk factors, as well as taking preventive and early diagnosis measures. This article reviews the epidemiology, etiology, screening and early diagnosis of EC in China, to provide systematic references for EC prevention and control.

Background::Whether the dynamic weight change is an independent risk factor for mortality remains controversial. This study aimed to examine the association between weight change and risk of all-cause and cause-specific mortality based on the Linxian Nutrition Intervention Trial (NIT) cohort.Methods::Body weight of 21,028 healthy residents of Linxian, Henan province, aged 40-69 years was measured two times from 1986 to 1991. Outcome events were prospectively collected up to 2016. Weight maintenance group (weight change <2 kg) or stable normal weight group was treated as the reference. Cox proportional hazard model was performed to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) to estimate the risk of mortality.Results::A total of 21,028 subjects were included in the final analysis. Compared with the weight maintenance group, subjects with weight loss ≥2 kg had an increased risk of death from all-cause (HR All-cause = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.09-1.19, P <0.001), cancer (HR Cancer = 1.12, 95% CI: 1.03-1.21, P = 0.009), and heart disease (HR Heart diseases = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.11-1.31, P <0.001), whereas subjects with weight gain ≥5 kg had 11% (HR Cancer = 0.89, 95% CI: 0.79-0.99, P = 0.033) lower risk of cancer mortality and 23% higher risk of stroke mortality (HR Stroke = 1.23,95% CI: 1.12-1.34, P <0.001). For the change of weight status, both going from overweight to normal weight and becoming underweight within 5 years could increase the risk of total death (HR Overweight to normal = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.09-1.27; HR Becoming underweight = 1.35, 95% CI: 1.25-1.46) and cancer death (HR Overweight to normal = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.04-1.39; HR Becoming underweight = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.24-1.67), while stable overweight could increase the risk of total death (HR Stable overweight = 1.11, 95% CI: 1.05-1.17) and death from stroke (HR Stable overweight = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.33-1.56). Interaction effects were observed between age and weight change on cancer mortality, as well as between baseline BMI and weight change on all-cause, heart disease, and stroke mortality (all Pinteraction <0.01). Conclusions::Weight loss was associated with an increased risk of all-cause, cancer, and heart disease mortality, whereas excessive weight gain and stable overweight were associated with a higher risk of stroke mortality. Efforts of weight management should be taken to improve health status.Trial registration::https://classic.clinicaltrials.gov/, NCT00342654.

OBJECTIVE： To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of TCM compound preparation for tonifying kidney and activating blood circulation， and to provide evidence-based reference for rational drug use in the clinic. METHODS： By retrieving Cochrane library， PubMed， Embase， CBM， CNKI， VIP and Wanfang database， randomized controlled trials （RCTs） about TCM compound preparation for tonifying kidney and activating blood circulation （trial group） versus calcium or non-calcium agents （control group） in the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis were included. After literature screening， data extraction and quality evaluation with bias risk evaluation tool and Jadad scale of Cochrane system evaluator manual 5.1.0， Meta-analysis was conducted by using Stata 12.0 software， and trial sequential analysis （TSA） was conducted by using TSA 0.9 software. RESULTS： Totally 18 RCTs were included， involving 1 408 patients. The results of Meta-analysis showed that total response rate [RR＝1.35，95％CI（1.17，1.54），P＜0.000 1] and bone density[SMD＝0.24，95％CI（0.16，0.32），P＜0.000 1] of trial group were significantly higher than those of control group； blood calcium [SMD＝－0.05，95％CI（－0.09，0.00）， P＝0.033] of trial group was significantly lower than that of control group. There was no statistical significance in the levels of urine creatinine [SMD＝－1.60，95％CI（－5.94，2.74），P＝0.470]， urinary calcium/urine creatinine ratio [SMD＝－0.05，95％CI（－0.14，0.04），P＝0.295]， urinary hydroxyproline/urine creatinine ratio [SMD＝－0.16，95％CI（－1.04，0.72），P＝0.726]， ALT [SMD＝0.51，95％CI（－3.26，4.28），P＝0.790]， AST [SMD＝0.23，95％CI（－5.22，4.77），P＝0.929]， serum alkaline phosphatase [SMD＝－0.22，95％CI（－0.68，0.25），P＝0.361]， serum phosphate [SMD＝－0.02，95％CI（－0.11，0.07），P＝0.639]， urea nitrogen [SMD＝－0.19，95％CI（－0.70，0.31），P＝0.453]， estradiol [SMD＝0.62，95％CI（－0.28，1.52），P＝0.177]， IL-6 [SMD＝－1.78，95％CI（－4.86，1.30），P＝0.258] or VAS [SMD＝0.55，95％CI（－1.03，2.13），P＝0.496] between 2 groups. No server ADR was found in 2 groups. TSA showed that there were extract evidences for total response rate of TCM compound preparation in the treatment postmenopausal osteoporosis. CONCLUSIONS： TCM compound preparation for tonifying kidney and activating blood circulation shows significant therapeutic efficacy for postmenopausal osteoporosis， and can improve serum calcium and bone density with good safety.