The international dissemination of Chinese acupuncture represents a successful model of medical and cultural exchange between the East and the West, as well as an exemplary case of Chinese culture going global. In 1971, following the announcement by Xinhua News Agency that "acupuncture anesthesia technology had achieved success", American medical educator Professor Edmunds Grey Dimond became the first foreign doctor to visit China for an investigation of acupuncture anesthesia. His efforts significantly contributed to the promotion of Chinese acupuncture within western medical communities. From the perspective of acupuncture humanities, this article reviews and analyzes Dimond's academic background, his journey to study acupuncture anesthesia in China, and his unique insights into acupuncture, exploring how his open-minded and objective approach facilitated the acceptance and dissemination of acupuncture anesthesia and acupuncture techniques in the West.
China ; Humans ; History, 20th Century ; Acupuncture Therapy/history* ; Acupuncture/history* ; Acupuncture Analgesia/history* ; History, 21st Century

This paper systematically sorts out the historical evolution and modern research progress of moxibustion in the treatment of essential hypertension.It analyzes the development of moxibustion in the treatment of hypertension from early experience to the for-mation of theory,from clinical exploration,initial systematization of clinical research to the current development results,reflecting the scientific and innovative transformation of moxibustion in the treatment of essential hypertension.It reveals that moxibustion can achieve antihypertensive effects through multiple pathways,including neuron-body fluid regulation,renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system reg-ulation,cell signaling pathway regulation,vascular homeostasis,and immune system function regulation,emphasizing its internal con-sistency from macroscopic syndrome differentiation to microscopic mechanism.Through systematic integration,it can not only highlight the unique advantages of moxibustion in"multi-dimensional adjustment",but also provide a new perspective for breaking through the single-target limitation of current antihypertensive drugs.

This paper systematically sorts out the historical evolution and modern research progress of moxibustion in the treatment of essential hypertension.It analyzes the development of moxibustion in the treatment of hypertension from early experience to the for-mation of theory,from clinical exploration,initial systematization of clinical research to the current development results,reflecting the scientific and innovative transformation of moxibustion in the treatment of essential hypertension.It reveals that moxibustion can achieve antihypertensive effects through multiple pathways,including neuron-body fluid regulation,renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system reg-ulation,cell signaling pathway regulation,vascular homeostasis,and immune system function regulation,emphasizing its internal con-sistency from macroscopic syndrome differentiation to microscopic mechanism.Through systematic integration,it can not only highlight the unique advantages of moxibustion in"multi-dimensional adjustment",but also provide a new perspective for breaking through the single-target limitation of current antihypertensive drugs.

Objective:To analyze the efficacy and feasibility of performing a new surgical procedure, tunnel esophagogastrostomy, to perform proximal gastrectomy.Methods:The study cohort comprised 10 consecutive patients who had undergone esophagogastrostomy by the tunnel technique in Jiangsu Cancer Hospital between October 2019 and July 2022. All patients were male. Their average age was (64.2±8.1) years and body mass index (25.5±3.2) kg/m2. Nine had upper gastric body adenocarcinoma, the remaining one having signet ring cell carcinoma. TNM staging of the tumors showed that seven were Stage IA, one Stage IB, one Stage IIA, and one Stage IIIA. Briefly, tunnel esophagogastrostomy is performed as follows: After performing a proximal gastrectomy, a rectangular seromuscular flap (3.0 cm × 3.5 cm) is created. The posterior esophageal wall is sutured to the gastric wall at the orad end of the seromuscular flap 5 cm from the stump with three to four stitches. Next, the stump of the esophagus is opened, the posterior esophageal wall is sutured to the gastric mucosa and submucosa, and the anterior esophageal wall is sutured to the full layer of the stomach. Finally, the caudad end of the seromuscular flap is closed. Data on surgical safety, postoperative morbidity, and postoperative reflux esophagitis were analyzed. All enrolled patients completed endoscopic follow-up 1 year and 2 years after surgery.Results:All procedures were completed. They comprised four cases of laparoscopic assisted surgery, four of DaVinci robotic surgery, and two of open surgery. The mean operation time was 212.7±33.2 mins, mean anastomosis time (51.6±5.3) minutes, mean tunnel preparation time (20.0±3.5) minutes, and mean operative blood loss (90.0±51.6) mL. The time to first postoperative passage of flatus was (64.8±11.5) hours. The mean hospital stay after surgery was (9.2±1.7) days. There were no postoperative complications above Clavien-Dindo Grade II. The mean preoperative Reflux Disease Questionnaire score was (3.3± 0.4) before the surgery, (3.8±1.0) 1 month postoperatively, and (3.3±0.4) 12 months postoperatively. All patients underwent endoscopic follow-up; no anastomotic stenoses were found. However, one patient had Grade A reflux esophagitis 1 year after surgery and another Grade B reflux esophagitis 2 years after surgery.Conclusion:Esophagogastrostomy by the tunnel technique is a safe and feasible means of performing proximal gastrectomy.

Objective:To analyze the efficacy and feasibility of performing a new surgical procedure, tunnel esophagogastrostomy, to perform proximal gastrectomy.Methods:The study cohort comprised 10 consecutive patients who had undergone esophagogastrostomy by the tunnel technique in Jiangsu Cancer Hospital between October 2019 and July 2022. All patients were male. Their average age was (64.2±8.1) years and body mass index (25.5±3.2) kg/m2. Nine had upper gastric body adenocarcinoma, the remaining one having signet ring cell carcinoma. TNM staging of the tumors showed that seven were Stage IA, one Stage IB, one Stage IIA, and one Stage IIIA. Briefly, tunnel esophagogastrostomy is performed as follows: After performing a proximal gastrectomy, a rectangular seromuscular flap (3.0 cm × 3.5 cm) is created. The posterior esophageal wall is sutured to the gastric wall at the orad end of the seromuscular flap 5 cm from the stump with three to four stitches. Next, the stump of the esophagus is opened, the posterior esophageal wall is sutured to the gastric mucosa and submucosa, and the anterior esophageal wall is sutured to the full layer of the stomach. Finally, the caudad end of the seromuscular flap is closed. Data on surgical safety, postoperative morbidity, and postoperative reflux esophagitis were analyzed. All enrolled patients completed endoscopic follow-up 1 year and 2 years after surgery.Results:All procedures were completed. They comprised four cases of laparoscopic assisted surgery, four of DaVinci robotic surgery, and two of open surgery. The mean operation time was 212.7±33.2 mins, mean anastomosis time (51.6±5.3) minutes, mean tunnel preparation time (20.0±3.5) minutes, and mean operative blood loss (90.0±51.6) mL. The time to first postoperative passage of flatus was (64.8±11.5) hours. The mean hospital stay after surgery was (9.2±1.7) days. There were no postoperative complications above Clavien-Dindo Grade II. The mean preoperative Reflux Disease Questionnaire score was (3.3± 0.4) before the surgery, (3.8±1.0) 1 month postoperatively, and (3.3±0.4) 12 months postoperatively. All patients underwent endoscopic follow-up; no anastomotic stenoses were found. However, one patient had Grade A reflux esophagitis 1 year after surgery and another Grade B reflux esophagitis 2 years after surgery.Conclusion:Esophagogastrostomy by the tunnel technique is a safe and feasible means of performing proximal gastrectomy.

Objective To investigate the role of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicle (hUC-MSC-EV) in the regeneration of fibrotic liver. Methods C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into the 70% normal liver resection group (Oil+PHx group), 70% liver fibrosis resection group (CCl₄+PHx group) and 70% liver fibrosis resection+mesenchymal stem cell-derived extracellular vesicle (MSC-EV) treatment group (CCl₄+PHx+MSC-EV group), with 8 mice in each group. LX-2 cell lines were assigned into the phosphate buffer solution (PBS) group, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β group and TGF-β+MSC-EV group. The serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in mice after partial liver resection were detected in each group. The expression levels of liver fibrosis and proliferation-related parameters were analyzed in each group. The messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in LX-2 cells were detected in each group, and their effects on HGF expression in mouse liver were observed. Results Compared with the Oil+PHx group, the serum levels of AST, ALT and LDH were up-regulated, and the degree of fibrosis was more severe, the positive area of Sirius red and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) staining was larger, and the expression level of α-SMA protein was up-regulated in the CCl₄+PHx group. Compared with the CCl₄+PHx group, the serum levels of AST, ALT and LDH were decreased, the degree of fibrosis was slighter, the positive area of Sirius red and α-SMA staining was decreased, and the expression level of α-SMA protein was down-regulated in the CCl₄+PHx+MSC-EV group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). Compared with the Oil+PHx group, the protein expression levels of Ki67 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were lower in the CCl₄+PHx group. Compared with the CCl₄+PHx group, the protein expression levels of Ki67 and PCNA were increased in the CCl₄+PHx+MSC-EV group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). Compared with the PBS group, the expression level of CollagenⅠ mRNA in LX-2 cells was increased, the expression level of α-SMA protein was up-regulated and the expression level of HGF protein was decreased in the TGF-β group. Compared with the TGF-β group, the expression level of CollagenⅠ mRNA in LX-2 cells was decreased, the expression levels of HGF mRNA and protein were increased, and the expression level of α-SMA protein was decreased in the TGF-β+MSC-EV group, the differences were statistically significant (all P < 0.05). The expression level of HGF protein in the CCl₄+PHx group was lower than that in the Oil+PHx group, whereas the difference was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The expression level of HGF protein in the CCl₄+PHx+MSC-EV group was higher than that in the CCl₄+PHx group, and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusions The regenerative capacity of fibrotic liver is weaker than that of normal liver. hUC-MSC-EV may alleviate liver fibrosis and improve liver regeneration by promoting HGF secretion from actived hepatic stellate cells and effectively enhancing the regenerative capacity of fibrotic liver.

Objective:To investigate the medicinal retention of different concentrations of melatonin in the bone tissue of type 2 diabetic osteoporosis (T2DOP) rats and explore to efficacy of improvement of the bone microstructure of T2DOP rats.Methods:A total of 95 SD rats were selected, 60 of which had intraperitoneal in jection of high-fat diet combined with low-dose streptozotocin establishing a T2DOP rat model. Two months later, 45 rats' model was determined to be successful by detecting blood glucose and insulin sensitivity index. 30 successful modelling and 30 normal SD rats were randomly selected for melatonin distribution experiment, and were divided into four groups according to the injected melatonin concentration, including modeling rat high concentration group (50 mg/kg), modeling rat low concentration group (10 mg/kg), normal rat high concentration group (50 mg/kg) and normal rat low concentration (10 mg/kg), and there were15 rats in each group. Each group was divided into 5 sub-groups according to the time point of sampling (5, 15, 30, 60, 120 min), 3 animals per group. The bone tissue of each group was pretreated, and then the melatonin drug distribution in the bone tissue was detected by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Another 15 rats were successfully modeled, and were divided into T2DOP group, high melatonin group (50 mg/kg) and low melatonin group (10 mg/kg), 5 rats in each group. 5 normal SD rats were taken as controls (control group), and Micro-CT was used to detect changes in bone microstructure after 8 weeks of treatment with melatonin.Results:The results of the drug distribution experiment showed that after melatonin was injected intraperitoneally, there were drugs remaining in the bone tissues of the rats in each group. The drug concentration reached the highest after 30 min of administration, and significantly decreased after 120 min. Compared with the normal rat low concentration group, there was no significant difference in the drug concentration between the two groups at 5 time points. However, the drug concentration at the four time points of 5, 15, 30, and 60 min in the modeling rat high concentration group were 7.613±2.568 ng/ml, 13.983±2.262 ng/ml, 18.816±1.291 ng/ml, 6.172±1.962 ng/ml, 1.112±0.566 ng/ml, which were significantly different compared with normal rat high group. Micro-CT results showed that after 8 weeks of melatonin treatment, the bone density of the high concentration group was (205.72±28.41 g/cm 3) significantly lower than that in the low concentration group (223.63±35.41 g/cm 3), but both groups were significantly higher than the normal rat group (158.31±31.86 g/cm 3). Conclusion:Exogenous melatonin is distributed in bone tissue, and the drug absorption rate of T2DOP rats is higher. Meanwhile, there is no difference in the distribution of melatonin in bone tissue with different concentrations, and these two concentrations of melatonincan canimprove the bone microstructure of T2DOP rats.

Objective To study the safety and efficacy of damage control using percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD) in acute cholangitis of severe type (ACST) secondary to intrahepatic choledocholithiasis.Methods The clinical data of 8 patients who received PTBD after hospital admission followed by conventional surgery for ACST when their general condition improved were retrospectively studied.Results All patients received PTBD successfully and the amount of bile drained was 100-400 ml in the first day.The general condition of these 8 patients became better after 24 h and the total bilirubin decreased for about 25-100 mmol/L after 48 h.Three patients with a platelet count of less than 20 × 109/L showed an improved count to more than 50 × 109/L 72 h after PTBD.All patients were operated at different times after the PTBD:2 received T-tube drainage,3 T-tube drainage combined with left hepatectomy,and 3 choledochojejunostomy.Seven patients recovered uneventfully,but 1 developed hepatic failure with the total billurubin rose to more than 200 μmol/L.He was discharged home with the PTBD tube.During the waiting time of 7 days to 3 months before surgery,the tubes were kept patent and no mortality or morbidity such as bleeding,bile leakage,and peritonitis occurred.Conclusions PTBD was a safe and efficacious procedure for patients who were in a serious condition with ACST secondary to intrahepatic choledocholithiasis.It was more likely to be successful as it is minimally invasive and therefore well-tolerented.It reduced the biliary pressure,relieved the ongoing sepsis,and was a good preparatory procedure before any conventional surgery.

Objective To investigate the short- and long-term complications after endoscopic Oddi's sphincterotomy (EST) upon endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedure and determine whether the size of EST correlates to the occurrence of EST complications.Methods 95 cases receiving EST in the process of ERCP in our hospital were studied and followed up. The patients were divided into large, moderate and small incision groups according to the size of EST and the states of short-term and long-term EST complications were statistically analyzed.Results The incidence of short-term complications of EST was 18. 94% (18/95). They included bleeding in the process of ERCP in 11 cases, delayed bleeding in 3, acute pancreatitis in 1, acute cholangitis in 2 and duodenal perforation in 1. All these patients but 1 with duodenal perforation were discharged after undergoing symptomatic treatments. Eleven out of the 95 patients had long-term complications (11.57 % ). These included biliary system infection in 5 cases, recurrent calculus of bile duct in 3, papilla stricture in 1 and chronic relapsing pancreatitis in 2. All 11 patients recovered after therapeutic ERCP again or symptomatic drug treatments. There was no significant difference in incidence of short-term (χ2 =2.433, P=0.296) or long-term complications (χ2 = 1.151, P=0.562) among the 3 groups. Furthermore, there was no statistical correlation between the incision size of Oddi and complications including operative bleeding (P=0.109), short-term complications (P=0.124) and longterm complications(P=0.402). Conclusion There are many short-term and long-term complications after EST, but there is no correlation between the complications and the incision size of Oddi. The occurring rate of complications might be reduced through accurate direction of papilla incision, avoidance from injury of blood vessel, keeping bile drainage unobstructed and protection of the function of Oddi sphincter as far as possible in the process of ERCP.

Objective To investigate the clinical effects of a modified splenocaval shunt combined with pericardial devascularization ( PCDV ) in the treatment of gastroesophageal variceal bleeding. Methods From 1997 to 2007, 168 patients with gastroesophageal variceal bleeding caused by portal hypertension were treated at the People's Hospital of Shaanxi Province. Among all the patients, 90 received a splenocaval shunt + PCDV(combined group) and the remaining 78 received PCDV (PCDV group). Changes in intra- and postoperative hemodynamics of the portal venous system were detected by Doppler color flow imaging, and free portal pressure was measured intraoperatively. All data were analysed using analysis of variance, the paired t test and chi-square test.Results The mortality was 3% (3/90) in the combined group and 5% (4/78) in the PCDV group, with no significant difference between the two groups (x2 = 0.038, P ＞0.05 ). The postoperative rebleeding rate was 6%(5/79) in the combined group, which was significantly lower than 13% (8/60) in the PCDV group (x2 =4.824,P ＜ 0.05 ). The incidence of hepatic encephalopathy was 6% (5/79) in the combined group and 7% (4/60) in the PCDV group, with no significant difference between the two groups ( x2 = 0.072, P ＞ 0.05 ). The 1-, 3-, 5-,and 10-year survival rates were 97% (77/79), 92% (55/60), 80% (16/20) and 60% (3/5) in the combined group, and 97% (58/60), 83% (40/48), 73% (22/30) and 53% (8/15) in the PCDV group, respecitvely,with no significant difference between the two groups ( x2 = 0.731, P ＞ 0.05 ). The intra- and postoperative portal pressures in the combined group were (38.8±4.2) cm H20 ( 1 cm H2O =0. 098 kPa) and (33.1 ± 1.5) cm H2O,with a significant difference ( t = 8. 574, P ＜ 0.05 ). The intra-and postoperative portal pressures in the PCDV group were (38.9±2.5) cm H2O and (34.6±2.6) cm H2O, with a significant difference (t =6. 530, P ＜0.05 ). There was also a significant difference in postoperative portal pressure between the two groups ( t = 2. 859,P ＜ 0.05 ). The intra-and postoperative diameters of the portal vein in the combined group were (1.40 ± 0.41 )cm and ( 1.22 ± 0. 15) cm, respectively, with a significant difference ( t = 2. 608, P ＜ 0.05 ). The intra-and postoperative portal venous flows in the combined group were (1280 ±350) ml/min and (830±360) ml/min, with a significant difference ( t = 5. 668, P ＜ 0. 05 ). The intra-and postoperative diameters of the portal vein in the PCDV group were ( 1.41 ±0.32) cm and ( 1.27 ±0.32) cm, respectively, with no significant difference between the two groups (t = 1. 637, P ＞ 0.05 ). The intra-and postoperative portal venous flows in the combined group were ( 1350 ± 380) ml/min and (980 ± 290) ml/min, with a significant difference ( t = 4. 096, P ＜ 0.05 ). There was no significant difference in postoperative portal venous flow between the two groups ( t = 1.871, P ＞ 0.05 ).Conclusions The modified splenocaval shunt combined with PCDV is safe and effective with a low rate of recurrent rebleeding. The clinical outcome and rational hemodynamic changes show that the combined procedure of splenocaval shunt and PCDV is a good choice for treatment of gastroesophageal variceal bleeding.