Objective: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at Huantiao (GB 30) and Weizhong (BL 40) on thigmesthesia, gait function, and expression levels of serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and immunoglobulin M (IgM) in rabbits with lumbar intervertebral disc herniation (LIDH). Methods: Forty healthy New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into a blank control group, a model group, an EA at acupoint group and an EA at non-acupoint group, with 10 rabbits in each group. The LIDH pathological model of rabbit was established using the self-made LIDH model maker. The thigmesthesia and gait function of rabbits were recorded by Siegal method. The serum IgG and IgM expression levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: EA at Huantiao (GB 30) and Weizhong (BL 40) could improve the clinical symptoms of thigmesthesia and gait function, and inhibit the expressions of serum IgG and IgM in the LIDH rabbits, which were significantly different compared with those in the model group and EA at non-acupoint group. Conclusion: EA at Huantiao (GB 30) and Weizhong (BL 40) can improve the clinical symptoms of LIDH rabbits, which is associated with inhibition of the serum IgG and IgM expressions and reduction of the immunoinflammatory factor release. This may be one of the mechanisms of EA at Huantiao (GB 30) and Weizhong (BL 40) in the treatment of LIDH.

OBJECTIVETo observe the differences in the clinical efficacy on depression in comparison among the alliance of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine, simple herbal medicine and flupentixol and melitracen tablets.

METHODSTwo hundred and twenty-seven cases were randomized into a Chinese medicine group(75 cases), an acupuncture + medication group(78 cases) and a western medicine group(74 cases). In the Chinese medicine group, Shugan Jianwei Anshen Decoction was prescribed, in which Radix Bupleuri and Radix Paeoniae Alba were the monarch herbs, one dose a day. In the acupuncture + medication group, on the basic treatment of Chinese medicine, acupuncture was combined every day at Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), Shenmen (HT 7), Lingdao (HT 4), Daling (PC 7), Laogong (PC 8), Yongquan (KI 1), etc. In the western medicine group, deanxit was taken orally, 1 tablet after getting up in the morning and after lunch respectively. The treatment lasted for 8 weeks in the three groups. The change of Hamilton depression scale (HAMD) score and clinical efficacy were observed before and after treatment.

RESULTSIn 8 weeks of treatment, in the acupuncture + medication group, 19 cases were cured, 35 cases were markedly effective, 14 cases were effective and 10 cases failed, the effective rate was 87.2%; in the western medicine group, 11 cases were cured, 32 cases were markedly effective, 18 cases were effective and 13 cases failed, the effective rate was 82.4%; in the Chinese medicine group, 5 cases were cured, 14 cases were markedly effective, 35 cases were effective and 21 cases failed, the effective rate was 72.0%. HAMD assessment was done in 8 weeks of treatment, which was (5.71 +/- 4.32) scores in the acupuncture + medication group, (6.09 +/- 3.78) scores in the western medicine group and (9.24 +/- 3.49) in the Chinese medicine group, the differences were significant in the Chinese medicine group compared with the western medicine group and the acupuncture + medication group (both P < 0.05). The differences in the scores after treatment were not significant statistically between the acupuncture + medication group and the western medicine group (both P > 0.05), but the cured and markedly effective rate in the acupuncture + medication group was superior to that in the western medicine group (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe alliance of acupuncture and medication achieves the definite efficacy on depression, characterized as less adverse reactions and better safety.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Combined Modality Therapy ; Cooperative Behavior ; Depression ; drug therapy ; psychology ; therapy ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Treatment Outcome ; Young Adult

In this work, the experimental conditions for two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of subretinal fluids (SRF) matrix metalloproteinases were established. The conditions tested included the composition of lysis solution and lysis method, the composition of rehydration solution and isoelectric focusing program (IEF), the composition of equilibration buffer and equilibration process and the composition of incubation solution and incubation methods. The main equipments used were IPGphor isoelectric focusing system from Amersham pharmacia and PROTEAN II xi cell from Bio-Rad, the gel strips used were the 18 cm long, pH 3 - 8 Linear immobiline DryStrips. Among the 9 samples analyzed, 2 were PVR-A, 2 were PVR-C1, 2 were PVR-C2, 2 were PVR-C3 and the remaining one could not be classified definitely. The new 2-DE MMPs method is better than Gelatin SDS-PAGE zymograhpy method, as it is higher in resolution, sensitivity and reproducibility. The experimental results suggested that the four types of MMPs expressed differently at different stages of PVR. Two of the MMPs isomers have same molecular weight (MW) but different in isoelectic points (pI). The four MMPs are determined to be MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-9 and MMP-9, with MMP-9 has two active forms. In addition, MMP-9 and MMP-1 may be present in PVR-A samples but not in PVR-C samples, whereas MMP-2 is present in PVR-C but not in PVR-A samples. These results revealed the complex profiles of MMPs' expression in PVR. The new method can be applied to test MMPs expression in tissues, cells and other types of samples with a little modification in the protocol, and can be followed by mass spectroscopic analysis of MMPs.
Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional ; Humans ; Isoelectric Focusing ; Matrix Metalloproteinases ; analysis ; Reproducibility of Results ; Retina ; enzymology

OBJECTIVETo raise some problems in the literature of acupuncture and moxibustion for treatment of peripheral facial paralysis and improving suggestions.

METHODSThe CHKD system was used to search out 817 papers of acupuncture for treatment of peripheral facial paralysist, which were reviewed, organized and summarized.

RESULTSIn the literature of acupuncture for treatment of peripheral facial paralysis, insufficient understanding in the relative information of clinical data, naming of intractable facial paralysis, differentiation between of the sequelae and complications, the criteria or cproblems in the literature and so on were found.

CONCLUSIONThere are some common and representative problems in these papers of acupuncture for treatment of peripheral facial paralysis, which may result in incorrect opinion about the theory and clinical study of acupuncture for treatment of peripheral facial paralysis. Sufficiently considering and resolving the above problems can not only improve the quality of the papers on acupuncture for treatment of peripheral facial paralysis as a whole, but also have active influence on both treatment and diagnosis of this disease.

Acupuncture Therapy ; methods ; Facial Paralysis ; complications ; therapy ; Humans

OBJECTIVETo investigate the clinicopathologic features and immunohistochemical of the basal-like subtype of invasive breast carcinoma (BLBC), and to discuss the diagnosis standard.

METHODSImmunohistochemistry was performed in 448 cases of breast carcinoma and these cases were categorized into luminal A, luminal B, null subtypes, HER2-overexpressing and basal-like and their clinicopathologic features were observed under light microscope with stains of HE and immunohistochemical InVitrogen staining.

RESULTSAmong the breast cancer patients, the incidence of BLBC was 15.4% (69/448). Morphologic features significantly associated with BLBC constituently included nest structure and showing diffuse growth pattern, large scarring areas without cells in tumor, geographic necrosis, pushing margin of invasion, lymphocytic infiltrate in various degree in tumor stroma, syncytial tumor cell without clear boundaries, tumor cell showing vesicular unclear chromatin and nucleolus, markedly elevated mitotic count, metaplasia (all P < 0.01). Meanwhile, most BLBC showed strong immunoreactivity for CK5/6, CK14, CK17 (all P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONBLBC showed distinct morphologic and immunophenotypic features.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Breast Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; Breast Neoplasms, Male ; metabolism ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Basal Cell ; metabolism ; pathology ; Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast ; metabolism ; pathology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Keratin-14 ; metabolism ; Keratin-17 ; metabolism ; Keratin-5 ; metabolism ; Keratin-6 ; metabolism ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Receptor, ErbB-2 ; metabolism ; Receptors, Estrogen ; metabolism ; Receptors, Progesterone ; metabolism

Adrenal Gland Neoplasms ; pathology ; Adrenal Glands ; pathology ; Adult ; Aged ; Female ; Humans ; Lymphoma ; pathology ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Positron-Emission Tomography

Small intestinal obstruction is a common complication of primary gastrointestinal cancer or metastatic cancers.Patients with this condition are often poor candidates for surgical bypasses,and placement of self-expanding metal stent (SEMS) can be technically challenging.In this study,we examined the feasibility of combined application of single-balloon enteroscope (SBE) and colonoscope for SEMS placement in patients with malignant small intestinal obstruction.Thirty-four patients were enrolled in this study,among which 22 patients received SEMS placement by using SBE and colonoscope,while the other 12 patients received conservative medical treatment.The patients were followed up for one year.Stent placernent was technically feasible in 95.5％ (21/22).Clinical improvement was achieved in 86.4％ (19/22).For the 19 clinical success cases,the average time of benefits from a gastric outlet obstruction scoring system (GOOSS) increase ≥1 was 111.9±89.5 days.For the 12 patients receiving conservative medical treatment,no significant improvement in GOOSS score was observed.Moreover,a significant increase of Short-Form-36 health survey score was observed in the 19 patients at time of 30 days after stent placement.By Kaplan-Meier analysis,a significant survival improvement was observed in patients with successful SEMS placement,compared with patients receiving conservative medical treatment.Taken together,combined use of SBE and colonoscope makes endoscopic stent placement feasible in patients with malignant small intestinal obstruction,and patients can benefit from it in terms of prolonged survival and improved quality of life.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression of androgen receptor (AR) and hepatitis B virus X protein (HBx) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and analyze the relationship between AR and HBx expressions.

METHODSTumor tissues and peritumoral tissues of 83 HBV-associated HCC cases were investigated in this study. Fourteen cases of HBV-negative HCC and 13 cases of hemangioma peritumoral tissues were considered as control. AR and HBx mRNA levels were determined by quantitative fluorescence real-time RT-PCR and their protein levels were assayed by Western blot. The expression of AR and HBx proteins in tissues were examined with EnVision immunohistochemical staining. The methylation status of AR promoter was determined using methylation-specific PCR (MSP).

RESULTSBoth expression levels of AR mRNA and protein of the peritumoral tissues were significantly higher (0.17) than that of tumor tissues (0.09) in HBV-associated HCC (P < 0.01), but such a difference was not found in HBV-negative HCC (0.06 vs. 0.07, P > 0.05). The level of AR expression in peritumoral tissues was associated with tumor differentiation in HBV-associated HCC. AR mRNA and protein levels of peritumoral tissues in HBV-associated HCC were significantly higher than that in HBV-negative HCC and hemangioma (all P < 0.05). In the tumor tissues, HBV-associated HCC had significantly higher AR expression than HBV-negative HCC at mRNA level (P < 0.05), but not at protein level. Spearman rank correlation analysis showed that the AR mRNA or AR protein levels were positively correlated with HBx in both tumor and peritumoral tissues in HBV-associated HCC, but the expressions of AR and HBx were not associated with AR promoter methylation status. The relative expression levels of AR mRNA and protein in the HBV-associated peritumoral tissues were negatively correlated with tumor differentiation (r = -0.213, P < 0.05; r = -0.313, P < 0.05), the higher the AR expression, the poorer differentiation. But this correlation of AR mRNA and protein was not shown in the hepatocellular carcinoma tissues.

CONCLUSIONSHBx may enhance AR expression in HBV-associated HCC, but AR promoter demethylation maybe not been involved in its main mechanism. An increased AR expression is probably an early event during the development and progression of HBV-associated HCC, and AR expression in the peritumoral tissue is correlated with HBV-associated HCC differentiation. AR may play different roles in HBV-associated HCC and HBV-negative HCC.

Adult ; Aged ; Blotting, Western ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; metabolism ; pathology ; virology ; Cell Differentiation ; DNA Methylation ; Female ; Hemangioma ; metabolism ; Hepatitis B virus ; isolation & purification ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Liver ; metabolism ; Liver Neoplasms ; metabolism ; pathology ; virology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Promoter Regions, Genetic ; RNA, Messenger ; metabolism ; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction ; Receptors, Androgen ; genetics ; metabolism ; Trans-Activators ; metabolism

In order to have a good grasp of rules of acupuncture for severe peripheral facial paralysis, the early clinical features of severe peripheral facial paralysis (Bell's palsy) are studied and analyzed from the aspect of injury level, injury degrees, clinical syndromes and symptoms; consequently, the treatment strategies with acupuncture are proposed. The severe peripheral facial paralysis is an important research area in clinic trials which verifies the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Facial Paralysis ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Humans ; Male

OBJECTIVETo establish perfect criteria for clinical evaluation and assessment of therapeutic effects of peripheral facial paralysis.

METHODSWith reference to relative evaluating criteria, and in combination with self-characteristics of TCM and functional characteristics of facial nerves, and via clinical repeated investigation and control evaluation, put forward a scale for peripheral facial nerve rating, criteria for facial nerve grading, criteria of syndrome types and criteria of assessment of therapeutic effects.

RESULTSClinical preliminary determination indicated that the assessment contents were characterized by rational reference, convenience and objectiveness.

CONCLUSIONThe program can used as criteria for clinical evaluation and assessment of therapeutic effects, but it needs support of clinical effectiveness and determination of confidence, and multi-central studies.

Acupuncture Therapy ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Facial Nerve ; physiology ; Facial Paralysis ; diagnosis ; therapy ; Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional