Recently a number of acupuncture clinical trial projects mainly conducted by conventional scientists have generated many negative results. A large meta-analysis of patient-level acupuncture data for the treatment of chronic pain conditions have demonstrated that the effects of verum acupuncture on pain improvement have statistically significant, but small, differences compared with sham-acupuncture procedures and no difference between acupuncture points and non-points. These conclusions have puzzled the acupuncture community and made confusion for acupuncture research and practices. The purpose of this paper was to compare differences between acupuncture clinical practices and the trial studies, which include "acupuncture technical principles", "acupuncture clinical trial design", and "acupuncture practice based on the theory of traditional Chinese medicine". These factors contribute to the puzzle between the acupuncture community/practice and acupuncture clinical trials, which can be improved in future studies.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Chronic Disease ; Clinical Trials as Topic ; Humans ; Meta-Analysis as Topic ; Pain Management ; methods ; Research Design

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Aged ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Moxibustion ; Punctures ; Tennis Elbow ; therapy ; Treatment Outcome

Objective　Recently,it was reported the analy sis of bone free radical by using electron spin resonance (ESR),so this article aimed to determine the changes of bone free radical in fluoresis rats.Methods　To analyze the free radical level of bone in fluoresis rats fed with different dose of calcium by ESR method.Results　The free radical of bone in the group of low ca lcium level and the group low calcium+fluorides was higher than that in the cont rol group (P<0.01),but that in normal animal feeds (calcium-rich)+fluoride group was lower than that in the control group.Conclusions　Low doses of fluoride did not resulted in the increase of free radical in calcium-rich condition at short time,but at low calcium condition,fluoride could increase the level of free radical,these suggested that simple overdose of fluoride did not change the level of free radical of bone.

AIM:To study the action of nucleoside diphosphate kinase A(NDPK-A)on the growth of S_ 180,H_ 22,Lewis and H460.METHODS:S_ 180 or H_ 22 cell(5?106)were inoculate subcutaneously into the right armpit of 85 Kunming mice,which were randomized into 8 groups.Lewis lung carcinoma cells(2?105)were inoculate subcutaneously into the right armpit of 85 C57BL/6 mice,which were randomized as Kunming mice.From the 2nd day,the treated groups were given different dose of rhNDPK-A once a day for 8 days(for S_ 180 or H_ 22 by iv)or for 10 days(for Lewis by ip),and the control group was given physiological saline only.H460 tissue pieces about 1.5 mm?1.5 mm?1.5 mm each were inoculated subcutaneously into the armpit of 38 Balb/c/neu mice.After the volume of xenograft become 100 mm?100 mm?100 mm,the nude mice were randomized into 5 groups and given different dose of rhNDPK-A once a day for 17 days.2 days after above treatments,the mice were killed and dissected.The knubs were peeled off and weighted.RESULTS:The growth of S_ 180,H_ 22 and H460 were inhibited by rhNDPK and the growth of H_ 22 was inhibited by rhNDPK at dose of 20 mg/kg combined with cisplatin(0.5 mg/kg).But the growth of Lewis lung cancer was not inhibited.CONCLUSION:rhNDPK-A inhibited the growth of S_ 180,H_ 22 and H460.rhNDPK-A(20 mg/kg)potentiated the antitumor action of cisplatin on H_ 22.

The metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular disease, is closely related to environmental and lifestyle risk factors. Increasing evidence suggests that environmental risk factors may involve an increase in xenobiotic exposure, for example due to environmental toxins, medications, high meat intake, food additives and supplements; while lifestyle risk factors, such as sedentary lifestyles, may involve a decrease in the detoxification and elimination of xenobiotics. The skin, the body's largest organ, plays a distinct role in the detoxification and elimination of xenobiotics and the body lipid homeostasis, which is affected by sedentary lifestyle and physical activity, as well as by ambient temperature. Thus, it seems that decreased skin biotransformation and excretion, for example due to low ambient temperature and sedentary lifestyle, may be an important risk factor for metabolic syndrome. This review aims to provide insight into the role of the skin in the development of metabolic syndrome.
Humans ; Metabolic Syndrome ; physiopathology ; Risk Factors ; Skin ; physiopathology ; Skin Physiological Phenomena

A total of 1 100 patients underwent renal transplantation in the Organ Transplantation Center,Second Affiliated Department of General Hospital of Chinese PLA between 1988 and 2008 were collected,and retrospective analysis was performed in five female patients with malignant tumor,which appeared at 68 months (20-132 months) following renal transplantation,including 2 with renipelvic and uretal cancer and 3 with bladder cancer. Two of the 3 patients with bladder cancer presented homolateral renipelvic and uretal metastasis. Three cases and 1 case of upper uretal cacer were observed at the homolateral or heterolateral of kidney grafts respectively. The main characteristic of sign was iterative and painless gross hematuria. The 5 patients underwent renal transplantation with intravesical instillation therapy and nephrectomy. All patients were survived without rejection in the 1-62 months follow-up. The incidence of malignancy in renal allograft recipients is much higher than that in normal ones,which is related to the long term use of immunosuppressants. Urinary epithelial cancer is the main complicating carcinoma and the first choice of treatment is surgical operation. Based on the normal renal grafts function,the dose of immunosuppressants should be as low as possible,Moreover,radiotherapy or chemiotherapy should be adopted according to the types and stages of tumor complicating renal transplantation.

ObjectiveTo study the relationship between 18F-FDG uptake and tumor cell density,glucose transporter expression,cellular proliferation and angiogenesis before and after radiotherapy in C6 glioma rats.MethodsThirty C6 glioma-bearing male SD rats were randomly divided into three groups:A,B and C ( 10 rats in each group).Two weeks later,18F-FDG PET/CT was performed in group A.In groups B and C,18 F-FDG PET/CT was performed at 48 h and 1 week after radiotherapy,respectively.The ratio of SUVmax of tumor to muscle (T/M) was calculated.HE staining,immunohistochemical staining and Western blot were used to measure tumor cell density,Ki67 labeling index ( LI),microvessel density ( MVD),Glut-1 and VEGF expression quantitatively.The one-way analysis of variance and bivariate correlation analysis were used to compare the changes of each indicator and evaluate the correlation between T/M and biological indicators,respectively.Results Significant differences of T/M,tumor cell density,Ki67 LI,MVD,Glut-1 and VEGF among groups A,B and C were observed ( F =6.77,60.66,104.56,95.49,9.13,24.48,respectively,all P ＜0.05).Least significant difference (LSD) test showed that there was no significant difference between group A and B in T/M,tumor cell density and Ki67 LI ( 10.86 ± 3.31,730.50 ± 78.93,20.02 ± 2.14 vs 9.23 ± 4.56,672.70 ± 92.98,18.56 ± 2.26).However,the indicators of group C (5.16 ± 2.52,355.60 ± 72.62,7.81 ± 1.76 ) were significantly decreased compared with those of groups A and B (all P ＜0.05 ).MVD and Glut-1 expression of group B increased slightly compared with those of group A ( 19.50 ± 1.96,0.20 ± 0.09 vs 17.90 ± 2.02,0.15 ± 0.04),but the difference was not statistically significant.Nevertheless,the two indicators were significantly decreased in group C ( 8.40 +1.84 and 0.07 ±0.06,P ＜0.05).VEGF expression in group B (0.42 ±0.13) was significantly higher than that in groups A and C (0.17 ±0.04 and 0.16 ± 0.09) ( both P ＜ 0.05 ).The changes of T/M were positively correlated with the changes of tumor cell density between groups A and B ( r =O.81,P ＜ 0.05 ).Changes of T/M were positively correlated with the changes of tumor cell density,Ki67 LI,MVD and Glut-1 between groups A and C (r =O.83,0.71,0.68,0.62,all P ＜ 0.05 ).ConclusionsThe changes of 18 F-FDG uptake in C6 glioma rats were only correlated to the changes of tumor cell density at 48 h after radiotherapy.However,the changes of 18F-FDG uptake closely correlate to the changes of a variety of biological indicators at 1 week post radiotherapy.

Objective To investigate the correlation between ~(18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake and hypoxia inducible factor1α (HIF-1α) level,microvessel density (MVD) in human gliomas.Methods ~(18)F-FDG PET scan was performed preoperatively in 41 patients with gliomas (including 23 highgrade and 18 low-grade tumors).The ratios of maximum standardized uptake value(SUV_(max))between tumor (T)and contralateral white matter (WM) were calculated (T/WM).Immunohistochemical stain methods were used to evaluate the level of HIF-1α and measure the MVD in tumors.Correlation analysis between SUV_(max) of T/WM and HIF-1α level,MVD wag performed.The t-test,one-way ANOVA test,Spearman rank correlation and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were calculated using SPSS 11.5 software.Results (1)The SUV_(max) of T/WM,HIF-1α level and MVD in high-grade and low-grade tumors groups were 3.39±1.43,95.7% and 44.13±16.1 vs 1.46±0.55.55.6% and 18.83±7.07,respectively.The difierences of SUV_(max) of T/WM,HIF-1α level and MVD between two groups were statistically significant (t=-5.921,z=-3.938,t=-6.745,all P＜0.05).(2)Among 41 gliomas,the strong positive expression of HIF-1α was observed in 8,mederate in 9,weak in 15 and negative expression was found in 9,SUV_(max) of T/WM and MVD increased with increasing HIF-1α level.The differences of SUV_(max) of T/WM and MVD among 4 different groups were statistically significant (F=7.41,P＜0.05).(3) The MVD of all gliomas was ranged from 9.76 to 94.52,which correlated with SUV_(max) of T/WM(r=0.759,P＜0.05).Conclusions The SUV_(max) of T/WM correlates with HIF-1α level and MVD in gliomas.Therefore,~(18)F-FDG PET provides preoperatively a noninvasive assessment of hypoxia or angiogenesis in human glionma.

The effects of dietary supplementation with Clostridium butyricum on growth performance and humoral immune response in Miichthys miiuy were evaluated. One hundred and fifty Miichthys miiuy weighing approximately 200-260 g were divided into five groups and reared in 15 tanks with closed circuiting culture system. The animals were fed 5 diets: basal diet only (control) or supplemented of the basal diet with C. butyricum at doses of 10(3) (CB1), 10(5) (CB2), 10(7) (CB3) or 10(9) (CB4) CFU/g. Compared with the control, the serum phenoloxidase activity was significantly increased by the supplementation (P<0.05), acid phosphatases activity was increased significantly (P<0.05) at the doses of 10(9) CFU/g. Serum lysozyme activity peaked at dose of 10(7) CFU/g and in the skin mucus at dose of 10(9) CFU/g. Immunoglobulin M level in the serum and skin mucus was increased except at dose of 10(3) CFU/g (P<0.05). The growth at the dose of 10(9) CFU/g was higher than that of the control (P<0.05). It is concluded that supplementation of C. butyricum can mediate the humoral immune responses and improve the growth performance in Miichthys miiuy.
Animal Feed ; microbiology ; Animals ; Antibody Formation ; physiology ; Clostridium butyricum ; immunology ; Dietary Supplements ; microbiology ; Fishes ; growth & development ; immunology ; Probiotics ; administration & dosage

Objective To investigate the changes of quantitative parameters of dynamic enhanced CT in non-small cell lung cancer before and after targeted therapy,and compare them with the traditional evaluation criteria,in order to find the parameters which can be exploited for timely,objective evaluation of the effect of targeted therapy.Methods The study included 21 patients with targeted therapy who had received dynamic enhanced CT before and after treatment.Enhancement time-density curves were obtained based on the CT values of the lesion at individual time points,and the functional indices:peak height (PH),the time to peak height (Tp),the ratio of PH of the mass to aorta (M/A) and perfusion value were calculated.The effects of the treatment on these indices were evaluated and compared with the effect of the treatment on lesion diameter. Results Twenty-one patients had 33 rechecking results. There was a statistically significant agreement between lesion diameter-based treatment evaluation and perfusion-based treatment evaluation ( U =8.761,P ＜ 0.01 ). The perfusion value decreased in patients with disease regression[before treatment:(0.28 ±0.11 ) ml · min-1 · ml-1,after targeted therapy(0.18 ±0.09) ml ·min-1 · ml-1,t =- 3.2722,P =0.0042],but increased in patients with disease progression[before treatment(0.21 ±0.08) ml · min-1 · ml-1,after targeted therapy:(0.34 ±0.11 ) ml · min-1 · ml-1,t =2.6064,P =0.0403].Conclusions On dynamic enhanced CT in non-small cell lung cancer patients after targeted therapy,perfusion value changed in the same trend as the diameter of tumor.The effectiveness of targeted therapy may be evaluated by perfusion value changes.