Objective To search for new therapeutic apparatus and method of acupuncture. Methods 650-660 nm semiconductor laser and 10.6 um CO2 infrared laser were coupled to generate integrated laser acupuncture. Controllable infrared electric heating device with negative ion smokeless moxa was mounted on this integrated laser acupuncture machine to compose the smokeless and pain-free acupuncture therapeutic apparatus. Results The integrated laser acupuncture has both the conventional acupuncture effect and heated effect generated by laser; Negative ion moxa under the control of infrared electric heating device can be electrically distillatod without open fire at the temperature lowering than the burning point and generate both warming effects and chemical effects. The negative ion moxa composed Tourmaline can send off massive negative ion when burning, which can decrease harmful gas and purify environment. Conclusion The new type of acupuncture therapeutic apparatus conquered insufficiencies of conventional acupuncture as pain, breakdown of needle,bleeding, infection, smoking, bad smell, burning, and blistering, and retain and enforce the acupuncture functions of treatment,health-care, and cosmetology.

Objective To investigate the correlation between the ratio change of circulating myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and cellular immune function in healthy volunteers,chronic gastritis patients,gastric intraepithelial neoplasia patients and gastric cancer patients.Methods From February 2011 to July 2011,129 peripheral blood samples were collected,including 32 healthy volunteers,48 chronic gastritis patients,27 gastric intraepithelial neoplasia patients and 22 gastric cancer patients.The percentages of peripheral blood MDSC,T lymphocyte subsets and regulatory T cells (Treg) were determined by flow cytometry.The data were analyzed by one way analysis of variance,pearson and spearman correlation.Results The percentages of circulating MDSC,CD8+ T lymphocyte and Treg were highest in gastric cancer patients (9.63％±3.24％,10.03％ ± 1.26％,69.45％±3.42％) and lowest in healthy volunteers (0.92％±0.33％,4.12％ ±0.99％,32.35％ ±4.83％).Those of gastric intraepithelial neoplasia patients (5.13％ ± 1.30％,7.54％ ± 0.79％,53.26％±4.30％) were lower than gastric cancer patients but higher than chronic gastritis patients (2.76％ ±0.64％,6.28％ ±0.61％,42.37％ ±4.02％).The differences among each groups were statistically significant (F=24.85,20.88,37.84,all P＜0.05).However,the percentage of circulating CD4+T lymphocyte was highest in healthy volunteers (65.10％±4.10％),55.15％ ± 4.00％ in chronic gastritis group,42.23％ ± 3.91％ in gastric intraepithelial neoplasia group,and lowest in gastric cancer group (26.84％ ± 3.69％).The differences among each groups were statistically significant (F=46.80,P＜0.05).A significant correlation between circulating MDSC and TNM stages of gastric cancer was also observed (r=0.856,P＜0.01).The percentage of circulating MDSC was positively correlated with Treg percentage (r =0.862,P ＜ 0.01),and negatively correlated with CD4+/CD8+ ratio (r=-0.768,P＜0.01).Conclusion The increase of MDSC percentage in peripheral blood is correlated with human cellular immune function,which might play an important role in the tumor immune evasion during the development of gastric cancer.

Endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) manifests as the aggregation of misfolded and unfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum lumen and disorder of calcium balance and can activate the signaling pathways involved in unfolded protein response, endoplasmic reticulum overload reaction, and sterol regulatory cascade response. ERS can not only exert a protective effect by inducing the expression of endoplasmic reticulum molecular chaperones such as glucose-regulated protein 78 and glucose-regulated protein 94, but also induce cell apoptosis. At present, there is still no systematic understanding of ERS involvement in the development and progression of liver diseases. This article summarizes the research advances in ERS-related signaling pathways and related liver diseases and elaborates on the role of ERS-mediated cell apoptosis in liver diseases. The intervention of ERS signaling pathways may provide a reference for the research and treatment of liver diseases in the future.

Objective To investigate the expression of DNMT3b and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters of pancreatic cancer.Methods The expressions of DNMT3b protein in 12 pancreatic cancer tissues and para-cancerous tissues were detected by Western blot.The expressions of DNMT3b protein in 59 pancreatic cancer tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry.The association of DNMT3b expression and clinicopathological parameters of pancreatic carcinoma were analyzed.Results Western blot results showed the expressions of DNMT3b protein in pancreatic cancer tissues and para-cancerous tissues were 0.69 ±0.13and 0.14 ±0.03,and the protein level of DNMT3b in pancreatic cancer tissues were significantly higher than that in para-cancerous tissues (t =4.464,P ＜0.05 ).Immunohistochemistry examination showed that the positive rates of DNMT3b protein were 59％ in pancreatic cancer tissues and negative in para-cancerous tissues.DNMT3b expression was positively correlated with the TNM stage and lymph node metastasis.Conclusions DNMT3b is highly expressed in pancreatic cancer tissues,and it is related with malignant biological behaviors of pancreatic cancer cells.

AIM: To explore the role of PI3K/Akt/nNOS in Zhouluotong extract resisting diabetic peripheral neuropathy.METHODS:The Schwann cells were divided into normal group ( D-glucose 25 mmol/L) , model group ( D-glucose 100 mmol/L) , Zhouluotong extract Z-6 +high glucose group, Zhouluotong +high glucose group, mecobalamine+high glucose group.The viability, nitric oxide content and the Ca2+-ATPase activity in Schwann cells were determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 , nitric oxide assay kit and Ca2+-ATPase assay kit, respectively.The apoptosis of Schwann cells were analyzed by flow cytometry.The expression of Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, Bax, Bak and caspase-3, and the phosphorylation levels of nNOS and Akt were determined by Western blotting.The signal pathway of PI3K/Akt was explored by dominant negative PI3K and Akt (δp85 and DN-Akt) transient transfection assay.RESULTS:Under high-glucose culture, the cell viability, nitric oxide content in culture supernatant, the expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL, and the phosphorylation levels of Akt and nNOS in the Schwann cells were significantly increased.The cell apoptosis, the expression of Bax, Bak and caspase 3 in the Schwann cells were significantly decreased by Zhouluotong extract Z-6, compared with model group.In-creased nitric oxide content and the up-regulation of nNOS were observed.However, the effects of blocking PI3K/Akt, the upstream pathway of nNOS , by transfection with DN-δp85 on Akt phosphorylation in the Schwann cells was still unclear. CONCLUSION:Zhouluotong extract Z-6 changes the phosphorylation of nNOS, and the expression of anti-apoptotic fac-tors , caspase-3 and pro-apoptotic factors in Schwann cells under high-glucose culture, thus reducing apoptosis and elevating viability.The relationship to PI3K/Akt/nNOS pathway needs further investigation.

ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) on some inflammatory mediators during the progression of hepatic alveolar echinococcosis (HAE) and its clinical significance. MethodsA total of 15 patients with HAE who underwent partial liver resection in Qinghai University Affiliated Hospital from June 2018 to September 2019 were enrolled, and the marginal zone of HAE lesion was resected as AE group; 15 normal liver tissue samples collected during the same period of time were selected as control group. Western blot and qRT-PCR were used to measure the protein and mRNA expression of protein kinase R-like ER kinase (PERK), CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein homologous protein (CHOP), caspase-12, and glucose-regulated protein-78 (GRP-78), and q-PCR was used to measure the mRNA expression of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). The Mann-Whitney U test was used for comparison of non-normally distributed continuous data between two groups, and the t-test was used for comparison of normally distributed continuous data between two groups; a Pearson correlation analysis was performed to investigate the correlation between two variables. ResultsCompared with the control group, the AE group had significantly higher protein expression levels of PERK, CHOP, caspase-12, and GRP78 (U=4.165, 3.461, 2.577, and 3.344, all P＜0.001) and their mRNA expression levels (t= 34003, 4.461, 53.573, and 55.224, all P＜0.001). The AE group had significantly higher mRNA expression levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF than the control group (t=6.090, 12.578, and 53.573, all P＜0.001). The protein expression levels of PERK, CHOP, caspase-12, and GRP-78 were positively correlated with the mRNA expression levels of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF (all r＞0.700, all P≤0.05). ConclusionPositive correlation is observed between the activation of ERS and inflammatory mediators in HAE, and excessive activation of ERS can change the secretion of several inflammatory mediators to exacerbate liver injury, while further studies are needed to clarify the specific mechanism.

OBJECTIVE To investigate the synergistic effect and mechanism of curcumin （CUR） combined with zerumbone （ZER） on the biological behavior of non-small cell lung cancer （NSCLC） A549 cells. METHODS CCK-8 method and Gin’s formula were used to screen the optimal concentration combination for synergistic effect after the combination of CUR and ZER. The cells were divided into blank group， CUR group， ZER group， and CUR+ZER group. Flow cytometry was used to evaluate cell apoptosis， and clone formation experiment was used to evaluate cell proliferation ability， scratch experiment and Transwell migration experiment were used to evaluate cell migration ability， and Transwell invasion experiment was used to evaluate cell invasion ability. Western blot assay was used to detect the protein expressions of phosphorylated phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase （p- PI3K）， phosphorylated protein kinase B （p-Akt）， and vascular endothelial growth factor A （VEGF-A）. RESULTS The half inhibitory concentrations of CUR and ZER on A549 cells were approximately 16 and 12 μmol/L， respectively； the drug combination of CUR 8 μmol/L+ZER 6 μmol/L had the highest efficiency enhancement index， with the cell proliferation inhibition rate of （77.41±4.16）%， indicating the most significant synergistic effect. Compared with the CUR and ZER groups， the cell apoptosis rate in the CUR+ZER group was significantly increased （P＜0.01）， while the cell clone formation rate， cell migration rate， the number of migrating cells， the number of invading cells， and relative expression levels of p-PI3K， p-Akt， and VEGF-A proteins in the cells were significantly reduced （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS The combination of CUR and ZER has a synergistic effect， significantly promoting the apoptosis of NSCLC cells， and inhibiting cell proliferation， migration， and invasion. Its potential mechanism may be closely related to the inhibition of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway， thereby down-regulating the protein expression of VEGF-A.

OBJECTIVETo summarize the treatment status of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) in Shandong province,by analyzing the clinicopathological features and prognostic factors.

METHODSClinicopathological and follow-up data of 1 165 patients with gastric GIST between January 2000 and December 2013 from 23 tertiary referral hospitals in Shandong Province were collected to establish a database. The risk stratification of all cases was performed according to the National Institutes of Health(NIH) criteria proposed in 2008. Kaplan-Meier method was used to calculate the survival rate. Log-rank test and Cox regression model were used for univariate and multivariate prognostic analyses.

RESULTSAmong 1 165 cases of gastric GIST, 557 were male and 608 were female. The median age of onset was 60 (range 15-89) years. Primary tumors were located in the gastric fundus and cardia in 623 cases(53.5%), gastric body in 346 cases(29.7%), gastric antrum in 196 cases(16.8%). All the cases underwent resection of tumors, including endoscopic resection (n=106), local resection (n=589), subtotal gastrectomy(n=399), and total gastrectomy(n=72). Based on the NIH risk stratification, there were 256 cases (22.0%) at very low risk, 435 (37.3%) at low risk, 251 cases (21.5%) at intermediate risk, and 223 cases (19.1%) at high risk. A total of 1 116 cases(95.8%) were followed up and the median follow-up period was 40 (range, 1-60) months. During the period, 337 patients relapsed and the median time to recurrence was 34 (range 1-60) months. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year survival rates were 98.6%, 86.1% and 73.4%, respectively. The 5-year survival rates of patients at very low, low, intermediate, and high risk were 93.1%, 85.8%, 63.0% and 42.3% respectively, with a statistically significant difference (P=0.000). Multivariate analysis showed that primary tumor site (RR=0.580, 95%CI:0.402-0.835), tumor size (RR=0.450, 95%CI:0.266-0.760), intraoperative tumor rupture(RR=0.557, 95%CI:0.336-0.924), risk classification (RR=0.309, 95%CI:0.164-0.580) and the use of imatinib after surgery (RR=1.993, 95%CI:1.350-2.922) were independent prognostic factors.

CONCLUSIONSThe choice of surgical procedure for gastric GIST patients should be based on tumor size. All the routine procedures including endoscopic resection, local excision, subtotal gastrectomy and total gastrectomy can obtain satisfactory curative outcomes. NIH classification has a high value for the prediction of prognosis. Primary tumor site, tumor size, intraoperative tumor rupture, risk stratification and postoperative use of imatinib are independent prognostic factors in gastric GIST patients.

Humans ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome ; Constipation/therapy* ; Probiotics/therapeutic use* ; Patients