OBJECTIVE: To observe the distribution characteristics of sensitization areas on the body surface in the rat models with functional constipation and diarrhea, explore the regulatory patterns of electroacupuncture (EA) of different intensities at "Tianshu" (ST25) on distal colon motility, and clarify the roles of the neurons of different subtypes in the enteric nervous system (ENS) displayed in the regulatory effect. METHODS: Of 90 SD male rats of SPF grade, 15 rats were randomized into a normal group, a constipation group and a diarrhea group, 5 rats in each one. The stool form and fecal water content, as well as the distribution of the Evans blue (EB) extravasation on the body surface after the intravenous injection with EB on the tails were observed. Eighteen rats were randomized into a normal +2 mA group, a normal +4 mA group and a normal + 6 mA group, 6 rats in each one. Using physiological signal acquisition system, the area under the curve and the average amplitude of colon peristalsis were recorded and analyzed, and the immediate effect on distal colon peristalsis observed after EA with different intensities at "Tianshu" (ST25). Thirty rats were randomized into a normal group, a constipation group, a diarrhea group, a constipation +2 mA group, and a diarrhea +6 mA group, 6 rats in each one, so as to observe the cumulative effect on colon motility disorder in the rat models of constipation and diarrhea after EA at "Tianshu" (ST25). Twelve rats were randomized into a constipation +2 mA group and a diarrhea +6 mA group, 6 rats in each one, to observe the immediate effect on colon motility disorder in the rat models of constipation and diarrhea after EA at "Tianshu" (ST25). Fifteen rats were randomly divided into a normal group, a constipation group, a diarrhea group, a constipation +2 mA group, and a diarrhea + 6 mA group, 3 rats in each one. Using the whole-mount staining technique, the expression of vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT)-positive neurons and nitric oxide synthase (nNOS)-positive neurons in ENS was detected. According to the group divisions, the functional constipation models were established by intragastric administration of loperamide hydrochloride (10 mg/kg, once daily, for consecutive 7 days), and the functional diarrhea models were prepared by intragastric administration of folium sennae decoction (10 mL/kg, once daily, for consecutive 2 days). The interventions were delivered with EA of different intensities (the electric current of 2, 4 or 6 mA) at bilateral "Tianshu" (ST25), separately, with the continuous wave and the frequency of 10 Hz used. RESULTS: Compared with the normal group, the fecal amount was decreased, and the fecal water content was reduced in the rats of the constipation group (P<0.001); and loose stool was presented and the fecal water content increased in rats of the diarrhea group (P<0.001). EB extravasation on the body surface happened in the region from T₆ to S₂ of the rats in the constipation and diarrhea groups, and it was more concentrated in the lower abdominal and the lower back regions from T₁₀ to L₃. Compared with the indexes before EA, in the normal +2 mA group and the normal +4 mA group, the areas under the curve and the average amplitude of the distal colon peristalsis were higher during EA delivery (P<0.01, P<0.05), showing a stimulatory immediate effect; and the post-effect was obtained after EA at 2 mA. Whereas, these two indexes were declined during EA in the rats of the normal +6 mA group (P<0.001), showing an inhibitory immediate effect. After many interventions with EA, when compared with those before EA, the above two indexes rose in the constipation +2 mA group (P<0.05, P<0.01), and they were dropped in the diarrhea +6 mA group (P<0.01, P<0.05). The area under the curve of the colon peristalsis in the constipation +2 mA group was higher than that of the constipation group (P<0.001), and that in the diarrhea +6 mA group was lower compared with that in the diarrhea group (P<0.001). The stimulatory effect of EA on colon motility in the constipation +2 mA group was stronger than that of the normal + 2 mA group (P<0.05), and its inhibitory effect was not different statistically in comparison between the normal +6 mA group and the diarrhea +6 mA group (P>0.05). In ENS of the distal colon, after EA at 2 mA, the proportion of VAChT-positive neurons was higher than that of the activated nNOS-positive neurons (P<0.001); and after EA at 6 mA, the activated nNOS-positive neurons were dominant (P<0.001). CONCLUSION In the functional constipation and diarrhea rat models, the sensitization areas on the body surface are centralized in the lower abdominal and the lower back regions of T₁₀ to L₃. Electroacupuncture at "Tianshu" (ST25) has a bidirectional regulatory effect on distal colon motility, and this effect is coordinated with the intensity of electroacupuncture, and may be mediated by ENS neurons of different subtypes.
Animals ; Electroacupuncture ; Male ; Rats ; Colon/innervation* ; Acupuncture Points ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Constipation/physiopathology* ; Gastrointestinal Motility ; Humans ; Diarrhea/physiopathology*

Through the investigation of relevant literature, the concepts, methods, languages and tools of ontology were explored, and the suitable methods and tools for the ontology construction of acupoint anatomy were selected. The current mainstream anatomical ontology and related ontology of TCM were investigated so as to provide the reference for the ontology construction of acupoint anatomy. According to the knowledge attributes of acupoint anatomy, the foundational model of anatomy (FMA) was served as the reusable ontology, and in association with the attribute classification of traditional Chinese medicine language system (TCMLS), the construction approach to acupoint anatomical ontology was explored. By taking "anatomical entity of acupoints" as the top-level concept, the demonstrative study on the anatomical ontology construction was conducted on the acupoints of lung meridian of hand-taiyin.
Acupuncture Points ; Humans ; Meridians ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Biological Ontologies

Objective:To analyze the clinicopathological features of giant ovarian masses(mean diameter≥10 cm)and analyze the clinical characteristics of patients in different age groups.Methods:The clinicopathological characteristics of 311 patients diagnosed with giant ovarian masses by surgery at Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital,Affiliated Hospital of Medical School,Nanjing University from January 2014 to December 2022 were retrospectively analyzed.Patients were further stratified by age and mass size to compare the differences of clinical and patho-logical features among different age groups and different mass diameter groups.Results:①The median age of thepatients were 44(24,60)years old.The first symptoms were as follows:ovarian mass discovered during physi-cal examination,abdominal pain,bloating,conscious abdominal distension,and symptoms of compression.②The surgical methods were as follows:unilateral oophorectomy(30.5％,95/311),ovarian cystectomy(28.9％,90/311),tumor staging or cytoreductive surgery(28.0％,87/311),total hysterectomy with bilateral adnexectomy(12.5％,39/311).③The pathological types were benign(49.5％,154/311),malignant(31.8％,99/311)and borderline(18.7％,58/311).④ Patients complained abdominal distension in＜20 years old group were signifi-cantly higher than the other two groups(P＜0.05).The ovarian resection rate in the＞50-year-old group was higher than that of the other two groups(P＜0.05),and the rate of unilateral ovarian resection in the＜20-year-old group was still as high as 30.1％(15/49).⑤ The size of the mass correlated with the duration of the disease.When the disease course was between 1 to 6 months,the mass diameter line＞30 cm was the most common(P＜0.05).The incidence of borderline tumors in the＞30 cm group was significantly higher than that in the other two groups,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).Conclusions:Ovarian mucinous and mucinous borderline tumors are the most common types of giant adnexal masses.The size of the mass tends to increase with the prolongation of the disease course.The incidence of borderline tumors increases with the in-crease of mass.Health education for young people should be strengthened.When abdominal pain,abdominal bloating,especially lower abdominal distension occurs,they should seek medical treatment in time to avoid adnex-ectomy due to borderline tumors.

Objective To investigate the mechanism of inducing macrophage polarization induced by acupoint effect of electroacupuncture to promote the repair of acute skeletal muscle injury.Methods 45 SD rats were randomly divided into blank group,model group,electroacupuncture group(EA group),sodium chrominate group (DSCG group) and electroacupuncture+sodium chrominate group (hereinafter referred to as EA+DSCG group),with 9 rats in each group. The rats in the EA group and the EA+DSCG group were subjected to EA intervention at the right "Chengshan" (BL57) and "Yanglingquan"(GB34),with a frequency of 2 Hz/100 Hz. The gait changes of rats were recorded by animal gait analyzer. The morphological changes of the right gastrocnemius were observed by HE staining. The changes of mast cell aggregation and degranulation in local skin muscles of "chengshan" point were observed by toluidine blue staining. The expressions of Pax7,MyoD and skin mast cells and 5-HT in the right gastrocnemius were detected by immunofluorescence method. The positive expressions of CD68 and CD206 in right gastrocnemius macrophage was observed by immunohistochemical staining.Results Compared with blank group,the wiggle time of the right hind leg in model group and DSCG group increased,stride length decreased,HE staining showed inflammatory cell infiltration,myocyte enlargement,degeneration and necrosis. The degranulation rate of local skin mast cells in "Chengshan" (BL57) area increased,and the expressions of mast cell tryptase,5-HT,Pax7,MyoD,CD68 and CD206 increased (P<0.05). Compared with model group,the wiggle time of the right hind leg in EA group and EA+DSCG group decreased,stride length increased,HE staining showed that inflammatory cell infiltration was reduced,muscle cells were uniform in size and arranged neatly. Mast cell degranulation rate increased significantly in EA group,and the expressions of mast cell tryptase,5-HT,Pax7,MyoD and CD206 increased (P<0.05),while CD68 expression decreased (P<0.05). Compared with EA+DSCG group,the degranulation rate of mast cells and the expressions of mast cell tryptase,5-HT,Pax7,MyoD and CD206 increased (P<0.05),while CD68 expression decreased in EA group (P<0.05). Conclusion EA "Chengshan" (BL57) and "Yanglingquan" (GB34) can stimulate acupuncture points to locally induce mast cell degranulation,promote the polarization of macrophages,and then activate muscle satellite cells to play the regulatory process of repairing skeletal muscle injury.

Background::Bladder cancer, characterized by a high potential of tumor recurrence, has high lifelong monitoring and treatment costs. To date, tumor cells with intrinsic softness have been identified to function as cancer stem cells in several cancer types. Nonetheless, the existence of soft tumor cells in bladder tumors remains elusive. Thus, our study aimed to develop a microbarrier microfluidic chip to efficiently isolate deformable tumor cells from distinct types of bladder cancer cells.Methods::The stiffness of bladder cancer cells was determined by atomic force microscopy (AFM). The modified microfluidic chip was utilized to separate soft cells, and the 3D Matrigel culture system was to maintain the softness of tumor cells. Expression patterns of integrin β8 (ITGB8), protein kinase B (AKT), and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) were determined by Western blotting. Double immunostaining was conducted to examine the interaction between F-actin and tripartite motif containing 59 (TRIM59). The stem-cell-like characteristics of soft cells were explored by colony formation assay and in vivo studies upon xenografted tumor models. Results::Using our newly designed microfluidic approach, we identified a small fraction of soft tumor cells in bladder cancer cells. More importantly, the existence of soft tumor cells was confirmed in clinical human bladder cancer specimens, in which the number of soft tumor cells was associated with tumor relapse. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the biomechanical stimuli arising from 3D Matrigel activated the F-actin/ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis pathways to enhance the softness and tumorigenic capacity of tumor cells. Simultaneously, we detected a remarkable up-regulation in ITGB8, TRIM59, and phospho-AKT in clinical bladder recurrent tumors compared with their non-recurrent counterparts.Conclusions::The ITGB8/TRIM59/AKT/mTOR/glycolysis axis plays a crucial role in modulating tumor softness and stemness. Meanwhile, the soft tumor cells become more sensitive to chemotherapy after stiffening, that offers new insights for hampering tumor progression and recurrence.

Objective To investigate the appropriate venous access for obese patients undergoing metabolic and bariatric surgery by comparing the clinical outcomes of different lengths of peripheral intravenous catheters.Methods Inpatients who underwent bariatric surgery in a tertiary hospital in Zhejiang from August 2022 to December 2022 were selected as the study population using a fixed-point continuous convenience sampling method.A stratified block randomisation method was used to divide the group into an experimental group 1(mini-midline catheters),an experimental group 2(midline catheters)and a control group(short peripheral intravenous catheters,Short PIVCs).The incidence of catheter-related complications,the rate of extubation due to complications,the duration of catheter retention,the time to first catheter-related complication were compared in the 3 groups.Results A total of 186 patients were included,with 62 patients in each group.The overall incidence of catheter-related complications in experimental group 1,experimental group 2,and control group were 25.81％,8.06％,and 58.06％.The extubation rates due to complications were 19.35％,4.84％,and 41.94％,and the duration of catheter retention was 7.00(6.00,7.00)d,7.00(6.00,7.00)d,6.00(3.00,6.25)d.The differences were statistically different(P＜0.05)when comparing the 3 groups.Among them,the differences in the overall incidence of catheter-related complications and the rate of extubation due to complications were statistically significant when comparing experimental group 1 with the control group,experimental group 2 with the control group,and experimental group 1 with experimental group 2(P＜0.017);the duration of catheter retention in both experimental group 1 and experimental group 2 were higher than it in the control group,and the differences were statistically different(P＜0.017).Conclusion The complication rate of mini-midline catheters and midline catheters is lower than that of short ones,and the indwelling time is consistent with the perioperative period of metabolic and bariatric surgery,which is suitable for use in patients undergoing metabolic and bariatric surgery.

Objective To investigate the role and regulatory mechanism of stress-inducing protein 1(SESN1)in liver gluconeogenesis of fasting mice.Methods RT-qPCR was used to detect mRNA expression of SESN1 in liver tissues of C57BL/6J mice and primary mouse hepatocytes treated with forskolin(Fsk)and dexamethasone(Dex).HepG2 cells were transfected with plasmids and the effects of SESN1 overexpression on mRNA expression of gluconeogenesis related genes PGC-1α,PEPCK and G6Pase was detected by RT-qPCR.The effect of SESN1 on the promoter activity of PGC-1α in HepG2 cells was studied using a dual luciferase reporter system.The effect of SESN1 on PGC-1α deacetylation was detected by overexpression of SESN1 and inhibition of SIRT1 expression.By knocking down SIRT1 expression,we detected whether it mediated the changes in mRNA levels of SESN1 in-duced gluconeogenesis related genes.Results The mRNA expression of SESN1 was significantly increased in liver tissues of starved C57BL/6J mice and in primary hepatocytes treated with Fsk and Dex(P<0.001).Over-expression of SESN1 in HepG2 cells promoted mRNA expression of PGC-1α,PEPCK and G6Pase(P<0.001)and promoter activity of PGC-1α(P<0.001).Over-expression of SESN1 decreased the acetylation level of PGC-1α in primary hepatocytes.Sirt family inhibitors NAM and shRNA adenovirus interfered with SIRT1 expression respective-ly,and antagonized the deacetylation effect of SESN1 on PGC-1α.The expression of PGC-1α,PEPCK and G6Pase induced by SIRT1 was also significantly impaired(P<0.000 1).Conclusions SESN1 regulates liver gluconeogene-sis in mice with a SIRT1-dependent mechanism.

Objective To investigate the effect of Nutlin-3a,a mouse double minute 2 homolog(MDM2)inhibitor,on lipid metabolism of mouse adipose.Methods High-fat diet-induced obesity(DIO)C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into a control group injected with DMSO and an experimental group injected with Nutlin-3a.Then we conducted glucose tolerance(GTT)and insulin tolerance(ITT)tests.The epididymal white adipose tissue(eWAT),inguinal white adipose tissue(iWAT)and brown adipose tissue(BAT)of animals were isolated and microscopy of WATs with hematoxylin-eosin(HE)staining was performed to observe the morphological changes of adipocytes.The expression of lipid metabolism related gene cell death-inducing DFF45-like effector C(CIDEC)in eWAT were detected by qPCR and Western blot.Results Compared with the control group,Nutlin-3a was found to promote the body weight(P＜0.001),but no effect on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in DIO mice.Nutlin-3a treatment decreased the size of adipocytes and fat deposition in adipose tissue and downregulated the mRNA and protein levels of CIDEC in eWAT.Conclusions Nutlin-3a inhibits the formation of lipid droplets by downregulating expression of CIDEC in white adipose tissue.

Clinical research is usually aimed at and guided by therapeutic efficacy. Clarifying the placebo effect and the nocebo effect from treatment outcomes is an important issue in clinical research. This paper reviews the meaning of the placebo effect， suggesting that factors that may produce the placebo effect in clinical practice include past experience associations， patient expectations， suggestion， and doctor-patient relationships. It also summarizes the characteristics of the nocebo effect， its influencing factors， and its impact on clinical prognosis. Combining the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine， this paper explores the design of acupuncture clinical trials that can reflect the measurement of the placebo effect， attempting to provide a clearer interpretation of the placebo effect in the evaluation of acupuncture efficacy in traditional Chinese medicine. Taking primary insomnia as an example， a prospective randomized placebo-controlled trial is designed to observe and evaluate the relationship between the treatment effects of acupuncture and the placebo effect in different patients under the treatment of the same doctor. Group comparisons will help better distinguish clinical effects in different situations. The authors also attempt to explore the responsive population to the placebo effect and the effects of placebos in different populations.

Objective:To investigate the outcomes of periacetabular osteotomy (PAO) through modified Smith-Petersen or Bikini approach with an auxiliary posterolateral incision for developmental dysplasia of hip (DDH).Methods:85 patients (97 hips) who underwent PAO through modified Smith-Petersen or Bikini approach with auxiliary posterolateral incision for DDH in the 920th Hospital of Joint Logistics Support Force of Chinese People's Liberation Army or the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University from January 2016 to January 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 70 females and 15 males, with an average age of 28.6±8.4 years (12-49). According to the Hartofilakidis classification, all patients were classified as type Ⅰ. There were 77 hips classified as Grade 0 and 20 hips classified as Grade 1 according to the T?nnis classification. The X-ray evaluation including the lateral central edge angle (LCEA), t?nnis angle (TNS) and anterior central edge angle (ACEA), visual analogue score (VAS) and modified Harries hip score (mHHS) were recorded preoperatively and during each postoperative follow-up. The cumulative sum (CUSUM) method was used to fit the learning curves of operation time.Results:All patients were followed-up with an average of 52.7±18.9 months (21 to 84). The average operative time and intraoperative blood loss were 95.9±28.2 min (65 to 215) and 414.7±97.0 ml (250 to 900), respectively. The learning curve of operation time was 10 cases. The average LCEA 32.39° (30.29°, 34.92°), TNS 3.14° (1.56°, 5.67°) and ACEA 31.55° (29.07°, 33.88°) were all significantly improved compared to preoperative values ( Z=-30.764, P<0.001; Z=30.595, P<0.001; Z=-38.134, P<0.001). The average VAS was reduced from 5.18±0.88 points preoperatively to 1.27±0.93 points postoperatively with significant difference ( t=51.231, P<0.001). The average mHHS was increased from 73.12±9.17 to 92.02±4.05 postoperatively with significant difference ( t=-26.902, P<0.001). No patients received total hip arthroplasty during the follow-up period. Conclusion:Bernese PAO through modified Smith-Petersen or Bikini approach with a small auxiliary posterolateral incision was not only a safe and effective method for the treatment of DDH but also shortened the learning curve and reduced difficulty of the surgery.