Objective To compare the efficacies of electrothermal needle acupuncture versus nimesulide in treating knee osteoarthritis and the relieving effects of them on the pain and explore the possible mechanism of electrothermal needle treatment for knee osteoarthritis.Method Eighty patients with knee osteoarthritis were randomly allocated to electrothermal needle and Western medicine groups, 40 cases each.The electrothermal needle group received electrothermal needle therapy and the Western medicine group took nimesulide sustained-release tablets.The therapeutic effects were compared after thecompletionof treatment.Therelieving effects of the two treatments on the pain were evaluated using the Pain Visual Analogue Scale(VAS).Serum SOD and MDA were measured in all the subjects before and after treatment.Result The marked efficacy rate and the total efficacy rate for knee osteoarthritis were higher in the electrothermal needle group than in the Western medicine group.There was no significant post-treatment difference in the VAS pain score between the electrothermal needle and Western medicine groups.After treatment, serum SOD increased and MDA decreased in the electrothermal needle group and they did not change significantly in the Western medicine group.Conclusion Electrothermal needle therapy can well relieve the symptoms of knee osteoarthritis.Its relieving effect on the pain is equal to that of nimesulide.The mechanism of electrothermal needle treatment for knee osteoarthritis may be relatedto its improving bodilyoxidative stress levels.

Objective To compare the efficacy of ozone injection plus electrothermal acupuncture versus oral glucosamine and nimesulide in treating knee osteoarthritis and investigate the effects of the two treatments on the WOMAC total score and the pain, stiffness and physical function scores.Method Eighty patients with knee osteoarthritis were randomly allocated to combination and Western medicine groups, 40 cases each. The combination group received a combined treatment with intra-articular ozone injection and electrothermal acupuncture and the Western medicine group took glucosamine hydrochloride and nimesulide sustained-release tablets. The WOMAC score was recorded in the patients before and after treatment. The therapeutic effects were evaluated using the WOMAC score. Result The control and marked efficacy rate of ozone injection plus electrothermal acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis was higher than that of Western medicine. The WOMAC score decreased in both groups after treatment (P<0.05) but decreased more in the combination group than in the Western medicine group (P<0.05). There were no significant post-treatment differences in the pain and stiffness scores between the combination and Western medicine groups (P>0.05). The physicalfunction score decreased more in the combination group than in the Western medicine group (P<0.05).Conclusion Ozone injection plus electrothermal acupuncture is more effective than Western medicine in treating knee osteoarthritis. It is more effective in improving knee function but not in relieving the pain and joint stiffness in comparison with Western medicine.

Objective: To determine the anti rejection effects of CTLA 4 Ig fusion protein on cardiac allografts in mice and to discuss its mechanism in vivo . Methods: BALB/c recipients were performed cervical heterotopic heart transplantation to receive C57BL/6 donor hearts with a cuff technique. BALB/c recipients were intraperitoneally injected with CTLA 4 Ig [100 ?g/d?15 times], control immunoglobins and PBS to observe the survival time of allografts with ECG. The hyporesponsiveness of splenic T cell, the polarization of the T subsets were analyzed after the recipients treated with CTLA 4 Ig. Results: After treated with CTLA 4 Ig, the survival of cardiac grafts was significantly prolonged compared with the control groups, and more than 40% cardiac grafts survived over 2 months. The splenic T cells isolated from recipients did not respond to restimulation of donor splenocytes in MLR, but did exhibit the capacity to proliferate in response to C3H splenocytes(third party).The levels of IL 2 and IFN ? decreased and the level of IL 10 increased in CTLA 4 Ig treated mice. Conclusion: Administration of CTLA 4 Ig can induce donor specific tolerance, which induce T subsets to polarize toward Th2 subset and hyporesponsiveness to alloantigen, and prolong the survival time of the cardiac grafts effectively. [

Objective: In this study, black tea and Citrus maxima (BT-CM), yellow tea and C. maxima (YT-CM), green tea and C. maxima (GT-CM) as subjects, the active ingredient content and antioxidant activity of three tea and C. maxima (T-CM) were analyzed. The effects of three T-CMs on apoptosis of liver cells in vitro and its mechanism were further explored. Methods: National standard method and HPLC were used for active ingredient analysis. MTT, cell flow cytometry and Western blot were used to analyze the effects of three T-CMs on cell proliferation, apoptosis, and its underlying molecular mechanism. Results: The content of tea polyphenols, free amino acids, ratio of polyphenols and amino acids, ester catechins, non-ester catechins and caffeine in YT-CM and GT-CM was significantly higher than that of BT-CM. The in vitro antioxidant capacity of YT-CM and GT-CM was also significantly stronger than that of BT-CM. Three T-CMs had the effects of inhibiting proliferation, arresting cell cycle and inducing apoptosis in HepG2 and Bel7402 cells, especially YT-CM and GT-CM. Western blot analysis showed three T-CMs activated PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway and regulated the expression levels of apoptosis-related proteins Bax, Bcl-2 and Caspase-3/9. YT-CM and GT-CM had better ability to change the signal pathway than BT-CM. Conclusion: In short, T-CMs, which combined different degrees of fermentation tea with C. maxima, were rich in nutrients and biologically active substances. T-CMs, especially YT-CM and GT-CM, are healthy drinks that help to prevent and treat liver cancer.