Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Hiccup ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged

The effects of acupuncture on functional regulation of biological systems have been studied extensively. The most interesting feature of acupuncture is the bidirectional regulatory ability to restore homeostatic values of body systems from either up or down states, which was found by Chinese biomedical researchers several decades ago, and has recently been observed by peers internationally. Acupuncture can produce two physiological response patterns, an immediate short-term response or/and a long-lasting response. The bidirectional regulatory effects of acupuncture are rarely observed under physiological states (normal homeostasis), rather, they are usually observed under pathological states (abnormal homeostasis) with long-lasting response patterns. This suggests that the effects of acupuncture under pathological states are different from the mechanisms under normal physiological states. This is important for understan-ding and developing acupuncture therapy, and also gives insight into understanding the biological control process itself. The present paper reviews the experimental literature and discusses the four conditions that produce bidirectional regulation of acupuncture, i.e. the inherent properties of the target systems, the functional states of the target system, the acupoint characteristics, and the stimulation parameters. Finally, two hypotheses are proposed to explain the mechanisms of bidirectional effects of acupuncture. The possible peripheral mechanism is that acupuncture can stimulate different types of peripheral nerve fibers to produce opposite regulatory effects; and the possible central mechanisms is that acupuncture might activate the adaptive control process of the central nervous system to restore homeostatic balance.

Penetration enhancers are substances to improve the rate or amount of transdermal permeation which is an important factor in transdermal drug delivery systems (TDDS). Recent researches have found that some of the new penetration enhancers have a higher penetration-effect, little irritation, fewer adverse reactions, and stable properties. In this article, domestic and foreign research reports on penetration enhancers have been collected and summarized. The research progress of penetration enhancers were reviewed, with a purpose to provide a reference for reasonable selection of penetration enhancers.

Objective To evaluate the value of contrast-enhanced CT in diagnosis of mesenteric fibromatosis (MF).Methods CT images of 6 patients with pathologically proved mesenteric fibromatosis were retrospectively analyzed.The imaging characteristics analysis in-cluded the number,size,density of the lesion,the degree and quality of enhancement,as well as the relationship with the surrounding tissues.Results Singular lesion located in the mesentery was found in all the 6 patients (100%).The size of all cases ranges from 2.0 cm to 8.5 cm and the mean diameter was 6.5 cm.CT scan showed 5 tumors were homogeneous (83.3%),while one tumor had mixed den-sity (1 6.7%).On contrast-enhanced CT images,5 cases showed mild enhancement (83.3%),while 1 case showed moderate en-hancement (1 6.7%).And 4 cases appeared as heterogeneous enhancement (66.7%).4 cases of lesions infiltrated the surrounding tissue(66.7%)and the peripheral intestines were compressed in 2 cases(33.3%).5 masses were surrounded by mesenteric vessels (83.3%).Conclusion MF has certain CT manifestations,especially when mesenteric vascular surrounded the lesion.CT can provide important information for the diagnosis of this disease.

Objective To study the clinical value of HRCT in staging of lung interstitial disease(LID) in connective tissue disease(CTD).Methods 222 patients with CTD confirmed clinically underwent HRCT scan.The staging of LID according to the HRCT features of LID were done and the therapeutic effect was compared between each stage.Results In 222 cases ,64 cases were negative on HRCT as stage 0,158 cases had disseminated LID in different degree,including stage Ⅰ in 107,stage Ⅱ in 36 and stage Ⅲ in 15.There were significant statistically between the therapeutic effect and staging of LID.Conclusion The staging of CTD with LID by HRCT is helpful for judging the extent of LID and clinical treatment.

Objective To evaluate the feasibility of histogram analysis of susceptible signal intensity in differentiating papillary (pRCC) from chromophobe renal cell carcinoma(ChRCC). Methods Thirteen cases with pRCC and 9 cases with ChRCC, who underwent susceptible-weighted imaging(SWI), MR common scanning and enhancement, were assessed retrospectively. The histogram parameters of susceptible signal intensity were measured, including maximum, minimum, mean, median, skewness and kurtosis. The independent samples t test(normal distribution) and Mann-Whitney rank sum test(skewed distribution) were used to compare the differences in SWI parameters between pRCCs and ChRCCs. Receiver operating characteristic curve was used to evaluate the efficiency of the whole-tumor SWI parameters in differentiating pRCCs from ChRCCs. Results The significant differences of the minimum, mean, median and skewness between pRCCs and ChRCCs were present(P<0.05), and there was no significant differences in maximum and kurtosis between between pRCCs and ChRCCs(P>0.05). In all the histogram parameters, the area of ROC curve of mean value was largest(0.80). The sensitivity of minimum value (84.62％) was the highest and and the specificity of skewness(100.00％) was the highest. Conclusion Histogram analysis of susceptible signal intensity can help differentiate pRCCs from ChRCCs.

Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; chemistry ; Drugs, Investigational ; Humans ; Plasma

Objective To seek the specific receptors associated with hepatitis B virus (HBV) adhesion by separating the binding protein of the HBV preS1 region in HepG2 and performing the mass spectrometry .Methods The immunomagnetic bead method was adopted to separate HepG2 membrane protein combined with preS1 peptide fragment and the binding protein was separated by the sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) ,then the destination strips was analyzed by LC-MS/MS mass spectrometry and retrieved by the database .Results 16 bands were separated from HepG2 membrane proteins combined with preS1 by SDS-PAGE ;14 kinds of proteins were identified from 6 bands with better repeatability separated from HepG 2 membrane proteins combined with preS1 .Conclusion Protein analyzed by the mass spectrometry is mainly related with the material transport , cellular signal transduction ,antigen presentation ,immune regulation and energy metabolism .

AIM To establish an HPLC method for the simultaneous content determination of four constituents in Xiaojie'an Capsules (Forsythiae Fructus,Leonuri Herba,Spatholobi Caulis,etc.).METHODS The analysis of chloroform extract of this drug was carried out on a 30 ℃ thermostatic Diamond C1scolumn(250 mm ×4.6 mm,5 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of acetonitrile (A)-0.05 mol/L monosodium phosphate (B) flowing at 1.0 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and the detection wavelength was set at 278 nm.RESULTS Berberine hydrochloride,palmatine chloride,phillyrin and rutin showed good linear relationships within the ranges of 0.033 7-0.337 2 μg (r =0.999 1),0.054 8-0.548 3 μg (r =0.999 0),0.025 9-0.258 8 μg (r=0.999 2) and 0.008 4-0.084 2 μg (r =0.999 6),whose average recoveries were 98.8％ (RSD =1.3％),99.8％ (RSD =0.7％),98.8％ (RSD =1.3％) and 96.8％ (RSD =1.0％),respectively.CONCLUSION This sensitive and accurate method can be used for the quality control of Xiaojie'an Capsules.

Objective To investigate the possibility of performing epicanthoplasty with same stage small incision blepharoplasty. Methods At the same stage of designing small incision blepharo-plasty, modified "Z" plasty without flap transposition was designed. The upper lid incisive line of epi-canthoplasty was bided in the double eyelid fold, while the lower eyelid incision located at the edge of eyelid. Results A series of 56 patients were treated with this method. Satisfactory esthctical result of double eyelid fold and inner canthus shape was achieved. Conclusion This modified method including epicanthoplasty combined with same stage small incision blepharoplasty has the advantages of minimal scar formation, easy to design perform and in accordance with physiology.