This study aims to explore the mechanism of lung and gut protection by Tanreqing Capsules on the mice infected with influenza virus based on "the lung-gut axis". A total of 110 C57BL/6J mice were randomized into control group, model group, oseltamivir group, and low-and high-dose Tanreqing Capsules groups. Ten mice in each group underwent body weight protection experiments, and the remaining 12 mice underwent experiments for mechanism exploration. Mice were infected with influenza virus A/Puerto Rico/08/1934(PR8) via nasal inhalation for the modeling. The lung tissue was collected on day 3 after gavage, and the lung tissue, colon tissue, and feces were collected on day 7 after gavage for subsequent testing. The results showed that Tanreqing Capsules alleviated the body weight reduction and increased the survival rate caused by PR8 infection. Compared with model group, Tanreqing Capsules can alleviate the lung injury by reducing the lung index, alleviating inflammation and edema in the lung tissue, down-regulating viral gene expression at the late stage of infection, reducing the percentage of neutrophils, and increasing the percentage of T cells. Tanreqing Capsules relieved the gut injury by restoring the colon length, increasing intestinal lumen mucin secretion, alleviating intestinal inflammation, and reducing goblet cell destruction. The gut microbiota analysis showed that Tanreqing Capsules increased species diversity compared with model group. At the phylum level, Tanreqing Capsules significantly increased the abundance of Firmicutes and Actinobacteria, while reducing the abundance of Bacteroidota and Proteobacteria to maintain gut microbiota balance. At the genus level, Tanreqing Capsules significantly increased the abundance of unclassified＿f＿Lachnospiraceae while reducing the abundance of Bacteroides, Eubacterium, and Phocaeicola to maintain gut microbiota balance. In conclusion, Tanreqing Capsules can alleviate mouse lung and gut injury caused by influenza virus infection and restore the balance of gut microbiota. Treating influenza from the lung and gut can provide new ideas for clinical practice.
Animals ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/administration & dosage* ; Mice ; Lung/metabolism* ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Capsules ; Orthomyxoviridae Infections/virology* ; Gastrointestinal Microbiome/drug effects* ; Male ; Humans ; Female ; Influenza A virus/physiology* ; Influenza, Human/virology*

OBJECTIVE: Varied acupoint selections represent a potential cause of the uncertainty surrounding the efficacy of acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis (OA). Skin temperature, a guiding factor for acupoint selection, may help to address this issue. This study explored thermal sensitization of acupoints used for the treatment of knee OA. METHODS: This cross-sectional case-control study enrolled cases aged 45-75 years with symptomatic knee OA and age- and gender-matched non-knee OA controls in a 1:1 ratio. All participants underwent infrared thermographic imaging. The primary outcome was the relative skin temperature of acupoint (STA), and the secondary outcome was the absolute STA of 11 acupoints. The Z test was used to compare the relative and absolute STAs between the groups. Principal component analysis was used to extract the common factors (CFs, acupoint cluster) in the STAs. A general linear model was used to identify factors affecting the STA in the knee OA cases. For the group comparisons of relative STA, P < 0.0045 (adjusted for 11 acupoints through Bonferroni correction) was considered to indicate statistical significance. For other analyses, P < 0.05 was used as the threshold for statistical significance. RESULTS: The analysis included 308 participants, consisting of 151 cases (mean age: [64.58 ± 6.67] years; male: 25.83%; mean body mass index: [25.70 ± 3.16] kg/m²) and 157 controls (mean age: [63.37 ± 5.96] years; male: 26.11%; mean body mass index: [24.47 ± 2.84] kg/m²). The relative STAs of ST34 (P = 0.0001), EX-LE2 (P < 0.0001), EX-LE5 (P = 0.0006), SP10 (P < 0.0001), BL40 (P = 0.0012) and GB39 (P = 0.0037) were higher in the knee OA group. No difference was found in the STAs of ST35, ST36, SP9, GB33 and GB34. Four CFs were identified for relative STA in both groups. The acupoints within each CF were consistent between the groups. The mean values of the relative STAs across each CF were higher in the knee OA group. In the knee OA cases, no factors were observed to affect the relative STA, while age and gender were found to affect the absolute STA. CONCLUSION Among patients with knee OA, thermal sensitization occurs in the acupoints of the lower extremity, exhibiting localized and regional thermal consistencies. The thermally sensitized acupoints that we identified in this study, ST34, SP10, EX-LE2, EX-LE5, GB39 and BL40, may be good choices for the acupuncture treatment of knee OA. Please cite this article as: Tu JF, Wang XZ, Yan SY, Wang YR, Yang JW, Shi GX, Zhang WZ, Jing LN, Yang LS, Liu DH, Wang LQ, Mi BH. Thermal sensitization of acupoints in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A cross-sectional case-control study. J Integr Med. 2025; 23(3): 289-296.
Humans ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/physiopathology* ; Male ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Middle Aged ; Female ; Acupuncture Points ; Case-Control Studies ; Aged ; Skin Temperature ; Acupuncture Therapy

OBJECTIVE: To elucidate how spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) exerts its analgesic effects through regulating brain function in lumbar disc herniation (LDH) patients by utilizing resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). METHODS: From September 2021 to September 2023, we enrolled LDH patients (LDH group, n=31) and age- and sex-matched healthy controls (HCs, n=28). LDH group underwent rs-fMRI at 2 distinct time points (TPs): prior to the initiation of SMT (TP1) and subsequent to the completion of the SMT sessions (TP2). SMT was administered once every other day for 30 min per session, totally 14 treatment sessions over a span of 4 weeks. HCs did not receive SMT treatment and underwent only one fMRI scan. Additionally, participants in LDH group completed clinical questionnaires on pain using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, whereas HCs did not undergo clinical scale assessments. The effects on the brain were jointly characterized using the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (ReHo). Correlation analyses were conducted between specific brain regions and clinical scales. RESULTS: Following SMT treatment, pain symptoms in LDH patients were notably alleviated and accompanied by evident activation of effects in the brain. In comparison to TP1, TP2 exhibited the most significant increase in ALFF values for Temporal_Sup_R and the most notable decrease in ALFF values for Paracentral_Lobule_L (voxelwise P<0.005; clusters >30; FDR correction). Additionally, the most substantial enhancement in ReHo values was observed for the Cuneus_R, while the most prominent reduction was noted for the Olfactory_R (voxelwise P<0.005; clusters >30; FDR correction). Moreover, a comparative analysis revealed that, in contrast to HCs, LDH patients at TP1 exhibited the most significant increase in ALFF values for Temporal_Pole_Sup_L and the most notable decrease in ALFF values for Frontal_Mid_L (voxelwise P<0.005; clusters >30; FDR correction). Furthermore, the most significant enhancement in ReHo values was observed for Postcentral_L, while the most prominent reduction was identified for ParaHippocampal_L (voxelwise P<0.005; clusters >30; FDR correction). Notably, correlation analysis with clinical scales revealed a robust positive correlation between the Cuneus_R score and the rate of change in the VAS score (r=0.9333, P<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Long-term chronic lower back pain in patients with LDH manifests significant activation of the "AUN-DMN-S1-SAN" neural circuitry. The visual network, represented by the Cuneus_R, is highly likely to be a key brain network in which the analgesic efficacy of SMT becomes effective in treating LDH patients. (Trial registration No. NCT06277739).
Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement/diagnostic imaging* ; Male ; Female ; Brain/diagnostic imaging* ; Adult ; Manipulation, Spinal/methods* ; Middle Aged ; Lumbar Vertebrae/physiopathology* ; Pain Management ; Rest ; Case-Control Studies

Objective:To formulate a community teacher standard for the training of general practitioner program (direction in hospice care).Methods:This was a qualitative study. Twenty-nine experts in general practice and hospice care from various teaching hospitals and community health service centers were invited to participate in two rounds of Delphi consultation from April to August 2022. Based on the results of the consultation, a standard for community faculty training in comprehensive care and end-of-life care for general practitioners was formulated, and the weight coefficients of the indicators were calculated.Results:Of the 29 experts, 11 (37.9%) were male, their age was (52.9±8.9) years, and their working life was (17.0±7.2) years. In the two rounds of expert consultation, the expert positive coefficient was 100.0% (29/29) and 96.6% (28/29), the expert authority coefficient was 0.789 and 0.851, and the expert opinion coordination coefficient W of the importance of all indicators was 0.124 and 0.131, respectively ( χ2=123.01, 131.71, P<0.05). Finally, a set of community-based teacher standard for general practitioner specialty training (direction in hospice care) was established, which consisted of 4 first-level indicators and 30 second-level indicators. The four first-level indicators were basic literacy, clinical qualification and ability, teaching qualification and ability, and scientific research ability, all with the weight coefficients of 0.254, 0.254, 0.252 and 0.240, respectively. Conclusion:The standard of teachers in the community base of general practitioner specialty training (direction in hospice care) established in this study is more scientific, which is conducive to the comprehensive evaluation of teachers in the community training base.

Objective:To develop accreditation standards for clinical faculty in general practitioner specialized training of hospice care.Methods:This was a qualitative study. Twenty nine experts in fields of general practice and hospice care were invited for two rounds of Delphi consultation from April 2022 to August 2022. Based on the consultation results, the accreditation standards for clinical faculty in general practitioner training bases of hospice care specialty was preliminarily developed.Results:The mean age of the consulting experts was (52.9±8.9) years with a mean working year of (17.0±7.2), and 69.0% (20/29) of them held senior professional titles. In the two rounds of consultation, the expert positive coefficient was 100.0% (29/29) and 96.6% (28/29), the expert authority coefficient was 0.765 and 0.813, and the expert opinion coordination coefficient W for the importance of all indicators was 0.112 and 0.196, respectively. The expert opinions tended to be consistent. Finally, a set of clinical base faculty standards for general specialty training was developed, which consisted of 4 first-level indicators and 24 second-level indicators. The 4 first-level indicators were basic literacy, clinical qualification and ability, teaching qualification and ability, scientific research ability, with the weight coefficients of 0.253, 0.255, 0.254 and 0.241, respectively. Conclusion:The standards for clinical teaching faculty in general practitioner specialty training base of hospice care has been established in this study, which is conducive to the comprehensive quality evaluation for training faculty.

Objective:To formulate a community teacher standard for the training of general practitioner program (direction in hospice care).Methods:This was a qualitative study. Twenty-nine experts in general practice and hospice care from various teaching hospitals and community health service centers were invited to participate in two rounds of Delphi consultation from April to August 2022. Based on the results of the consultation, a standard for community faculty training in comprehensive care and end-of-life care for general practitioners was formulated, and the weight coefficients of the indicators were calculated.Results:Of the 29 experts, 11 (37.9%) were male, their age was (52.9±8.9) years, and their working life was (17.0±7.2) years. In the two rounds of expert consultation, the expert positive coefficient was 100.0% (29/29) and 96.6% (28/29), the expert authority coefficient was 0.789 and 0.851, and the expert opinion coordination coefficient W of the importance of all indicators was 0.124 and 0.131, respectively ( χ2=123.01, 131.71, P<0.05). Finally, a set of community-based teacher standard for general practitioner specialty training (direction in hospice care) was established, which consisted of 4 first-level indicators and 30 second-level indicators. The four first-level indicators were basic literacy, clinical qualification and ability, teaching qualification and ability, and scientific research ability, all with the weight coefficients of 0.254, 0.254, 0.252 and 0.240, respectively. Conclusion:The standard of teachers in the community base of general practitioner specialty training (direction in hospice care) established in this study is more scientific, which is conducive to the comprehensive evaluation of teachers in the community training base.

Objective:To develop accreditation standards for clinical faculty in general practitioner specialized training of hospice care.Methods:This was a qualitative study. Twenty nine experts in fields of general practice and hospice care were invited for two rounds of Delphi consultation from April 2022 to August 2022. Based on the consultation results, the accreditation standards for clinical faculty in general practitioner training bases of hospice care specialty was preliminarily developed.Results:The mean age of the consulting experts was (52.9±8.9) years with a mean working year of (17.0±7.2), and 69.0% (20/29) of them held senior professional titles. In the two rounds of consultation, the expert positive coefficient was 100.0% (29/29) and 96.6% (28/29), the expert authority coefficient was 0.765 and 0.813, and the expert opinion coordination coefficient W for the importance of all indicators was 0.112 and 0.196, respectively. The expert opinions tended to be consistent. Finally, a set of clinical base faculty standards for general specialty training was developed, which consisted of 4 first-level indicators and 24 second-level indicators. The 4 first-level indicators were basic literacy, clinical qualification and ability, teaching qualification and ability, scientific research ability, with the weight coefficients of 0.253, 0.255, 0.254 and 0.241, respectively. Conclusion:The standards for clinical teaching faculty in general practitioner specialty training base of hospice care has been established in this study, which is conducive to the comprehensive quality evaluation for training faculty.

Objective To explore the clinical effect of Fu's subcutaneous needling combined with western medicine in the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome(IBS).Methods A total of 112 patients with IBS were randomly divided into the observation group and the control group,with 56 patients in each group.The control group was given conventional western medicine treatment,and the observation group was treated with Chinese medicine Fu's subcutaneous needling on the basis of the treatment in the control group.Both groups were treated for 4 consecutive weeks.After 1 month of treatment,the clinical efficacy of the two groups was evaluated,and the changes in the IBS system severity system(IBS-SSS)scores were observed before and after the treatment,as well as the time of the symptoms of abdominal pain,bloating and diarrhoea subsiding in the two groups,and the changes in the defecation thresholds,pain thresholds,sensory thresholds and the changes in the numbers of intestinal flora such as Bifidobacterium,Lactobacillus,Enterobacteriaceae,and Bacteriodendrobacteriaceae in the two groups were compared.The changes in the levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide,gastric motility and substance P were observed in the two groups.The safety and occurrence of adverse reactions were also evaluated in the two groups.Results(1)The total effective rate of the observation group was 96.43%(54/56),and the control group was 83.93%(47/56).The efficacy of the observation group was superior to that of the control group,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).(2)The time for abdominal pain,abdominal distension and diarrhoea to subside was significantly shorter in the observation group than in the control group,and the difference was statistically significant when compared with the control group(P＜0.05).(3)After treatment,the defecation threshold,pain threshold,and sensation threshold of patients in the two groups were significantly improved(P＜0.05),and the observation group was significantly superior to the control group in terms of improving defecation threshold,pain threshold,and sensation threshold,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).(4)After treatment,the numbers of Bifidobacterium,Lactobacillus,Enterobacter,Bacteroides were significantly improved in the two groups(P＜0.05),and the observation group was significantly superior to the control group in terms of improving the numbers of Bifidobacterium,Lactobacillus,Enterobacter and Bacteroides,and the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).(5)After treatment,the levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide,gastric actin,and substance P of the patients in the two groups were significantly improved(P＜0.05),and the observation group was significantly superior to the control group in improving the levels of vasoactive intestinal peptide,gastric actin,and substance P,and the differences were all statistically significant(P＜0.05).(6)There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups(P＞0.05).Conclusion Fu's subcutaneous needling combined with western medicine in the treatment of IBS can significantly shorten the relief time of patients'clinical symptoms,strengthen patients'gastrointestinal function,regulate the number of intestinal flora and improve the function of gastrointestinal mucous membrane barrier,and the therapeutic efficacy is remarkable.

This study using maltodextrin as raw material, 1%-5% polyvinylpyrrolidone K30 as template agent, 1%-5% ammonium bicarbonate as pore-forming agent, curcumin and ibuprofen as model drugs. Porous maltodextrin was prepared by template and pore-forming agent methods, respectively. The structure and drug delivery behavior of porous maltodextrin prepared by different technologies were comprehensively characterized. The results showed that the porous maltodextrin prepared by pore-forming agent method had larger specific surface area (6.449 4 m²·g^-1) and pore size (32.804 2 nm), which was significantly better than that by template agent method (3.670 2 m²·g^-1, 15.278 5 nm). The adsorption kinetics between porous maltodextrin prepared by pore-forming agent method and curcumin were suitable for quasi-first order adsorption kinetic model, and that between porous maltodextrin and ibuprofen were suitable for quasi-second order adsorption kinetic model. While the adsorption kinetics between porous maltodextrin prepared by template agent method and two model drugs were both suitable for the quasi-first order adsorption kinetic model. In addition, the dissolution behavior analysis showed that the porous maltodextrin prepared by the two technologies can significantly improve the dissolution behavior of insoluble drugs, and the drug release was both carried out by diffusion mechanism, which suitable for the Peppas kinetic release model, but the porous maltodextrin prepared by template agent method had a faster release rate. The change of nozzle diameter had no significant effect on the adsorption process and drug release behavior of porous maltodextrin. In conclusion, the porous maltodextrins prepared by two different technologies were both beneficial to the delivery of insoluble drugs, and the template agent method was the best for delivery of insoluble drugs. This study can provide theoretical basis for the preparation of porous particles, promote the application of porous particles in insoluble drugs, and improve the bioavailability of insoluble drugs.

Objective:To develop standards of hospice care specialized clinical training base for general practitioners.Methods:Twenty nine experts in fields of general practice and hospice care were invited to participate in two rounds of Delphi expert consultation from April 2022 to August 2022. Based the results of Delphi consultations the standards of clinical training base for general practitioner hospice care specialized training were developed through data analysis, synthesis and process.Results:The age of 29 consulting experts was (52.9±8.9) years old, and their working years were (17.0±7.2) years, 69.0% (20/29) of them had senior professional titles. In the two rounds of expert consultation, the expert positive coefficient was 100.0% (29/29) and 96.6% (28/29), the expert authority coefficient was 0.791 and 0.830, and the expert opinion coordination coefficient W of the importance of all indicators was 0.177 and 0.296, respectively ( χ2=133.54 , 223.46; P<0.01). Finally, a set of clinical base standards for general practitioner hospice care specialized training was established, which consisted of 4 first-level indicators and 23 second-level indicators. The 4 first-level indicators were basic conditions, teaching conditions, teacher conditions and teaching management, with the weight coefficients of 0.250, 0.250, 0.251 and 0.253, respectively. Conclusions:The clinical training base standards of hospice care specialized training for general practitioners have been established in this study, which will be helpful in selecting appropriate hospitals as the specialized clinical training base for general practitioners.