BACKGROUND: The use of inserted sham acupuncture as a placebo in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) is controversial, because it may produce specific effects that cause an underestimation of the effect of acupuncture treatment. OBJECTIVE: This systematic survey investigates the magnitude of insert-specific effects of sham acupuncture and whether they affect the estimation of acupuncture treatment effects. SEARCH STRATEGY: PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials were searched to identify acupuncture RCTs from their inception until December 2022. INCLUSION CRITERIA: RCTs that evaluated the effects of acupuncture compared to sham acupuncture and no treatment. DATA EXTRACTION AND ANALYSIS: The total effect measured for an acupuncture treatment group in RCTs were divided into three components, including the natural history and/or regression to the mean effect (controlled for no-treatment group), the placebo effect, and the specific effect of acupuncture. The first two constituted the contextual effect of acupuncture, which is mimicked by a sham acupuncture treatment group. The proportion of acupuncture total effect size was considered to be 1. The proportion of natural history and/or regression to the mean effect (PNE) and proportional contextual effect (PCE) of included RCTs were pooled using meta-analyses with a random-effect model. The proportion of acupuncture placebo effect was the difference between PCE and PNE in RCTs with non-inserted sham acupuncture. The proportion of insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture (PIES) was obtained by subtracting the proportion of acupuncture placebo effect and PNE from PCE in RCTs with inserted sham acupuncture. The impact of PIES on the estimation of acupuncture's treatment effect was evaluated by quantifying the percentage of RCTs that the effect of outcome changed from no statistical difference to statistical difference after removing PIES in the included studies, and the impact of PIES was externally validated in other acupuncture RCTs with an inserted sham acupuncture group that were not used to calculate PIES. RESULTS: This analysis included 32 studies with 5492 patients. The overall PNE was 0.335 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.255-0.415) and the PCE of acupuncture was 0.639 (95% CI, 0.567-0.710) of acupuncture's total effect. The proportional contribution of the placebo effect to acupuncture's total effect was 0.191, and the PIES was 0.189. When we modeled the exclusion of the insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture, the acupuncture treatment effect changed from no difference to a significant difference in 45.45% of the included RCTs, and in 40.91% of the external validated RCTs. CONCLUSION The insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture in RCTs represents 18.90% of acupuncture's total effect and significantly affects the evaluation of the acupuncture treatment effect. More than 40% of RCTs that used inserted sham acupuncture would draw different conclusions if the PIES had been controlled for. Considering the impact of the insert-specific effect of sham acupuncture, caution should be taken when using inserted sham acupuncture placebos in RCTs. Please cite this article as: Luo XC, Liu JL, Yao MH, Chen YM, Fan AY, Liang FR, Zhao JP, Zhao L, Zhou X, Zhong XY, Yang JH, Li B, Zhang Y, Sun X, Li L. Specific effect of inserted sham acupuncture and its impact on the estimation of acupuncture treatment effect in randomized controlled trials: A systematic survey. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(6):630-640.
Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Humans ; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic ; Placebo Effect ; Placebos ; Treatment Outcome

Diabetes is a very complex endocrine disease whose common feature is the increase in blood glucose concentration. Persistent hyperglycemia can lead to blindness, kidney and heart disease, neurodegeneration, and many other serious complications that have a significant impact on human health and quality of life. The number of people with diabetes is increasing yearly. The global diabetes prevalence in 20-79 year olds in 2021 was estimated to be 10.5% (536.6 million), and it will rise to 12.2% (783.2 million) in 2045. The main modes of intervention for diabetes include medication, dietary management, and exercise conditioning. Medication is the mainstay of treatment. Marketed diabetes drugs such as metformin and insulin, as well as GLP-1 receptor agonists, are effective in controlling blood sugar levels to some extent, but the preventive and therapeutic effects are still unsatisfactory. Peptide drugs have many advantages such as low toxicity, high target specificity, and good biocompatibility, which opens up new avenues for the treatment of diabetes and other diseases. Currently, insulin and its analogs are by far the main life-saving drugs in clinical diabetes treatment, enabling effective control of blood glucose levels, but the risk of hypoglycemia is relatively high and treatment is limited by the route of delivery. New and oral anti-diabetic drugs have always been a market demand and research hotspot. Inhibitor cystine knot (ICK) peptides are a class of multifunctional cyclic peptides. In structure, they contain three conserved disulfide bonds (C3-C20, C7-C22, and C15-C32) form a compact “knot” structure, which can resist degradation of digestive protease. Recent studies have shown that ICK peptides derived from legume, such as PA1b, Aglycin, Vglycin, Iglycin, Dglycin, and aM₁, exhibit excellent regulatory activities on glucose and lipid metabolism at the cellular and animal levels. Mechanistically, ICK peptides promote glucose utilization by muscle and liver through activation of IR/AKT signaling pathway, which also improves insulin resistance. They can repair the damaged pancrease through activation of PI3K/AKT/Erk signaling pathway, thus lowering blood glucose. The biostability and hypoglycemic efficacy of the ICK peptides meet the requirements for commercialization of oral drugs, and in theory, they can be developed into natural oral anti-diabetes peptide drugs. In this review, the structural properties, activity and mechanism of ICK pattern peptides in regulating glucose and lipid metabolism were summaried, which provided a reference for the development of new oral peptides for diabetes.

Objective To explore the debridement effects of 3 types of plasma scalpels for the animal model of explosion injury,and to compare them with the steel scalpel and high-frequency electrosurgical scalpel.Methods Firstly,blast wounds were constructed in the right inguinal regions of 9 Landrace pigs by high-pressure gas impact combined with preset metal shrapnel.Secondly,debridement was carried out in experimental groups with wide-,arrow-or needle-type plasma scalpel and in control groups with steel and high-frequency electrisurgical scalpel,with the operating temperature and debridement time recorded during the procedure and trauma specimens analyzed pathologically after the debridement;comparisons were performed among the five types of scalpels in terms of debridement effect,and among the four ones in terms of maximum operating temperature and depth of tissue thermal damage under electrocutaneous cutting and electrocoagulation modes with the steel scalpel excluded because it did not generate any heat.GraphPad Prism 9.5.1 software was used for statistical analysis.Results There were no significant differences in debridement effect found between the three plasma scalpels and the steel and high-frequency electrosurgical scalpels(P＞0.05).The three types of plasma scalpels had the maximum operating temperature lower significantly than that of the high-frequency electrosurgical scalpel during debridement(P＜0.05).Under electrosection and electrocoagulation modes the three plasma scalpels had the depths of tissue thermal damage statistically less than that by the high-frequency electrosurgical scalpel under electrosection and electrocoagulation modes(P＜0.05).The depths of tissue thermal damage by the four scalpels under electrocoagulation mode were obviously greater than those under electrosection mode(P＜0.05).Conclusion Multi shapes of plasma scalpels behave well in debridement with low operating temperature,little tissue thermal damage and high efficiency for wound protection and the same efficacy with the steel scalpel and high-frequency electrosur-gical scalpel.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2025,46(2):31-38]

Objective To investigate the coagulation effect of a cold atmospheric plasma(CAP)jet device with helium as the working gas and to study its coagulation mechanism preliminarily.Methods A CAP jet device treatment group,a helium airflow treatment group,a hot air treatment group(60℃)and a natural coagulation group were formed according to the treatment modes of the blood samples,with 10 μL of blood samples involved in each group,in order to validate the coagulation effect of the CAP jet device in vitro;the coagulation mechanism of the CAP jet device was explored by its application to the treatment of anticoagulated whole blood,platelet-rich plasma and platelet-depleted plasma;the coagulation effect of the CAP jet device in vivo was verified with a mouse liver punctate hemorrhage model and a rabbit mesenteric hemorrhage model.Results The CAP jet device can significantly accelerate the coagulation of anticoagulated blood droplets,and the coagulation time of anticoagulated blood droplets in the CAP jet device-treated group was shortened from 28 min in the natural coagulation group to(23±1.56)s,with the difference statistically significant(P<0.05),and the CAP jet device treatment group gained advantages significantly over the helium airflow treatment group(P<0.05)and the hot air(60℃)treatment group(P<0.05)in coagulation-promoting effect;the procoagulant effect of the CAP jet device rose with the increase of platelet content in blood droplets,and the coagulation effect of platelet-rich blood droplets was significantly better than that of whole blood(P<0.05),while no coagulation was observed in platelet-poor droplets.The CAP jet device could rapidly stop hemostasis of punctate hemorrhage in mouse liver and mesenteric hemorrhage in rabbits without delayed hemorrhage occurring within 10 min,and no obvious structural abnormality of the liver and thermal damage of the tissue were found microscopically.Conclusion The CAP jet device plays procoagulant and hemostatic effects in vivo and in vitro,and its effect is not dependent on temperature and airflow evaporation effects and is considered to be related to platelet activation,with low thermal damage to living tissue.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2025,46(6):20-27]

Objective:To explore the relationship between the expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 in gastric cancer tissues and gastric cancer complicated with Helicobacter pylori(HP)infection,as well as their predictive value for prognosis.Methods:A total of 225 patients who underwent radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer in the First Af-filiated Hospital of Xingtai Medical College from January 2021 to February 2023 were selected and divided into the HP+group and the HP-group according to whether they were complicated with HP infection.The expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 in gastric cancer tissues were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR,the rela-tionship between the expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 and HP infection in patients with gastric cancer was evaluated by Spearman correlation analysis.Regular outpatient reexaminations were conducted for a 2-year follow-up.Gastric cancer patients with recurrence or all-cause death during the follow-up period were included in the poor prognosis group,and the rest were included in the good prognosis group.Univariate and multivariate Logistic regres-sion analysis methods were used to screen the influencing factors of gastric cancer prognosis,the ROC curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of miR-217 and miR-4286 expressions for the prognosis of gastric cancer.Re-sults:Compared with the HP-group,the expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 in the HP+group were up-regulated(P<0.05),and the expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 were positively correlated with gastric cancer pa-tients with HP infection(r=0.652,0.485,P<0.05).Compared with the good prognosis group,the proportion of TNM stage Ⅲ,lymph node metastasis and HP infection in the poor prognosis group was higher,and the expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 were up-regulated,with statistical significance(P<0.05).The results of multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that TNM stage Ⅲ(OR=1.425),lymph node metastasis(OR=1.548),HP infection(OR=1.465),high expression of miR-217(OR=1.608),and high expression of miR-4286(OR=1.544)are the influencing fac-tors for poor prognosis of gastric cancer(P<0.05).The ROC curve showed that the AUC of the combined prediction of miR-217 and miR-4286 in gastric cancer tissues for poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer was 0.922,which was higher than that of miR-217(0.817)and miR-4286(0.806)alone(Z=6.527,7.025;both P<0.05).Conclu-sion:The expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 in gastric cancer tissues are closely related to HP infection in gas-tric cancer patients,and the combination of Mir-217 and Mir-4286 is effective in predicting the poor prognosis after radical gastritis.

Objective:To explore the relationship between the expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 in gastric cancer tissues and gastric cancer complicated with Helicobacter pylori(HP)infection,as well as their predictive value for prognosis.Methods:A total of 225 patients who underwent radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer in the First Af-filiated Hospital of Xingtai Medical College from January 2021 to February 2023 were selected and divided into the HP+group and the HP-group according to whether they were complicated with HP infection.The expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 in gastric cancer tissues were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR,the rela-tionship between the expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 and HP infection in patients with gastric cancer was evaluated by Spearman correlation analysis.Regular outpatient reexaminations were conducted for a 2-year follow-up.Gastric cancer patients with recurrence or all-cause death during the follow-up period were included in the poor prognosis group,and the rest were included in the good prognosis group.Univariate and multivariate Logistic regres-sion analysis methods were used to screen the influencing factors of gastric cancer prognosis,the ROC curve was used to evaluate the predictive value of miR-217 and miR-4286 expressions for the prognosis of gastric cancer.Re-sults:Compared with the HP-group,the expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 in the HP+group were up-regulated(P<0.05),and the expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 were positively correlated with gastric cancer pa-tients with HP infection(r=0.652,0.485,P<0.05).Compared with the good prognosis group,the proportion of TNM stage Ⅲ,lymph node metastasis and HP infection in the poor prognosis group was higher,and the expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 were up-regulated,with statistical significance(P<0.05).The results of multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that TNM stage Ⅲ(OR=1.425),lymph node metastasis(OR=1.548),HP infection(OR=1.465),high expression of miR-217(OR=1.608),and high expression of miR-4286(OR=1.544)are the influencing fac-tors for poor prognosis of gastric cancer(P<0.05).The ROC curve showed that the AUC of the combined prediction of miR-217 and miR-4286 in gastric cancer tissues for poor prognosis in patients with gastric cancer was 0.922,which was higher than that of miR-217(0.817)and miR-4286(0.806)alone(Z=6.527,7.025;both P<0.05).Conclu-sion:The expressions of miR-217 and miR-4286 in gastric cancer tissues are closely related to HP infection in gas-tric cancer patients,and the combination of Mir-217 and Mir-4286 is effective in predicting the poor prognosis after radical gastritis.

Objective To investigate the coagulation effect of a cold atmospheric plasma(CAP)jet device with helium as the working gas and to study its coagulation mechanism preliminarily.Methods A CAP jet device treatment group,a helium airflow treatment group,a hot air treatment group(60℃)and a natural coagulation group were formed according to the treatment modes of the blood samples,with 10 μL of blood samples involved in each group,in order to validate the coagulation effect of the CAP jet device in vitro;the coagulation mechanism of the CAP jet device was explored by its application to the treatment of anticoagulated whole blood,platelet-rich plasma and platelet-depleted plasma;the coagulation effect of the CAP jet device in vivo was verified with a mouse liver punctate hemorrhage model and a rabbit mesenteric hemorrhage model.Results The CAP jet device can significantly accelerate the coagulation of anticoagulated blood droplets,and the coagulation time of anticoagulated blood droplets in the CAP jet device-treated group was shortened from 28 min in the natural coagulation group to(23±1.56)s,with the difference statistically significant(P<0.05),and the CAP jet device treatment group gained advantages significantly over the helium airflow treatment group(P<0.05)and the hot air(60℃)treatment group(P<0.05)in coagulation-promoting effect;the procoagulant effect of the CAP jet device rose with the increase of platelet content in blood droplets,and the coagulation effect of platelet-rich blood droplets was significantly better than that of whole blood(P<0.05),while no coagulation was observed in platelet-poor droplets.The CAP jet device could rapidly stop hemostasis of punctate hemorrhage in mouse liver and mesenteric hemorrhage in rabbits without delayed hemorrhage occurring within 10 min,and no obvious structural abnormality of the liver and thermal damage of the tissue were found microscopically.Conclusion The CAP jet device plays procoagulant and hemostatic effects in vivo and in vitro,and its effect is not dependent on temperature and airflow evaporation effects and is considered to be related to platelet activation,with low thermal damage to living tissue.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2025,46(6):20-27]

Objective To explore the debridement effects of 3 types of plasma scalpels for the animal model of explosion injury,and to compare them with the steel scalpel and high-frequency electrosurgical scalpel.Methods Firstly,blast wounds were constructed in the right inguinal regions of 9 Landrace pigs by high-pressure gas impact combined with preset metal shrapnel.Secondly,debridement was carried out in experimental groups with wide-,arrow-or needle-type plasma scalpel and in control groups with steel and high-frequency electrisurgical scalpel,with the operating temperature and debridement time recorded during the procedure and trauma specimens analyzed pathologically after the debridement;comparisons were performed among the five types of scalpels in terms of debridement effect,and among the four ones in terms of maximum operating temperature and depth of tissue thermal damage under electrocutaneous cutting and electrocoagulation modes with the steel scalpel excluded because it did not generate any heat.GraphPad Prism 9.5.1 software was used for statistical analysis.Results There were no significant differences in debridement effect found between the three plasma scalpels and the steel and high-frequency electrosurgical scalpels(P＞0.05).The three types of plasma scalpels had the maximum operating temperature lower significantly than that of the high-frequency electrosurgical scalpel during debridement(P＜0.05).Under electrosection and electrocoagulation modes the three plasma scalpels had the depths of tissue thermal damage statistically less than that by the high-frequency electrosurgical scalpel under electrosection and electrocoagulation modes(P＜0.05).The depths of tissue thermal damage by the four scalpels under electrocoagulation mode were obviously greater than those under electrosection mode(P＜0.05).Conclusion Multi shapes of plasma scalpels behave well in debridement with low operating temperature,little tissue thermal damage and high efficiency for wound protection and the same efficacy with the steel scalpel and high-frequency electrosur-gical scalpel.[Chinese Medical Equipment Journal,2025,46(2):31-38]

Patients with severe trauma require an extremely timely treatment and transfusion plays an irreplaceable role in the emergency treatment of such patients. An increasing number of evidence-based medicinal evidences and clinical practices suggest that patients with severe traumatic bleeding benefit from early transfusion of low-titer group O whole blood or hemostatic resuscitation with red blood cells, plasma and platelet of a balanced ratio. However, the current domestic mode of blood supply cannot fully meet the requirements of timely and effective blood transfusion for emergency treatment of patients with severe trauma in clinical practice. In order to solve the key problems in blood supply and blood transfusion strategies for emergency treatment of severe trauma, Branch of Clinical Transfusion Medicine of Chinese Medical Association, Group for Trauma Emergency Care and Multiple Injuries of Trauma Branch of Chinese Medical Association, Young Scholar Group of Disaster Medicine Branch of Chinese Medical Association organized domestic experts of blood transfusion medicine and trauma treatment to jointly formulate Chinese expert consensus on blood support mode and blood transfusion strategies for emergency treatment of severe trauma patients ( version 2024). Based on the evidence-based medical evidence and Delphi method of expert consultation and voting, 10 recommendations were put forward from two aspects of blood support mode and transfusion strategies, aiming to provide a reference for transfusion resuscitation in the emergency treatment of severe trauma and further improve the success rate of treatment of patients with severe trauma.

AIM To establish an LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous content determination of forsythin,forsythoside A,chlorogenic acid,neochlorogenic acid,amygdalin,emodin,rhein and salidroside in Lianhua Qingwen Capsules.METHODS The analysis was performed on a 35℃thermostatic ACQUITY UPlC-HSS T3 column(100 mm×2.1 mm,1.8 μm),with the mobile phase comprising of 0.1%formic acid-acetonitrile flowing at 0.3 mL/min in a gradient elution manner,and electron spray ionization source was adopted in negative ion scanning with multiple reaction monitoring mode.RESULTS Eight constituents showed good linear relationships within their own ranges(r≥0.999 5),whose average recoveries were 99.20%-100.96%with the RSDs of 0.62%-1.23%.CONCLUSION This simple,sensitive and reliable method can be used for the quality control of Lianhua Qingwen capsules.