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: This study aimed to explore the association between body mass index (BMI) and mortality based on the 10-year population-based multicenter prospective study. METHODS: A general population-based multicenter prospective study was conducted at four sites in rural China between 2013 and 2023. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models and restricted cubic spline analyses were used to assess the association between BMI and mortality. Stratified analyses were performed based on the individual characteristics of the participants. RESULTS: Overall, 19,107 participants with a sum of 163,095 person-years were included and 1,910 participants died. The underweight (< 18.5 kg/m ²) presented an increase in all-cause mortality (adjusted hazards ratio [ aHR] = 2.00, 95% confidence interval [ CI]: 1.66-2.41), while overweight (≥ 24.0 to < 28.0 kg/m ²) and obesity (≥ 28.0 kg/m ²) presented a decrease with an aHR of 0.61 (95% CI: 0.52-0.73) and 0.51 (95% CI: 0.37-0.70), respectively. Overweight ( aHR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.67-0.86) and mild obesity ( aHR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.59-0.87) had a positive impact on mortality in people older than 60 years. All-cause mortality decreased rapidly until reaching a BMI of 25.7 kg/m ² ( aHR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.92-0.98) and increased slightly above that value, indicating a U-shaped association. The beneficial impact of being overweight on mortality was robust in most subgroups and sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION This study provides additional evidence that overweight and mild obesity may be inversely related to the risk of death in individuals older than 60 years. Therefore, it is essential to consider age differences when formulating health and weight management strategies.
Humans ; Body Mass Index ; China/epidemiology* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Prospective Studies ; Rural Population/statistics & numerical data* ; Aged ; Follow-Up Studies ; Adult ; Mortality ; Cause of Death ; Obesity/mortality* ; Overweight/mortality*

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the main factors affecting the positive results of acupuncture for chronic pain in English literature of randomized controlled trial (RCT), in order to provide reference for the design of acupuncture clinical research. METHODS: The RCTs of acupuncture for chronic pain published before March 26, 2020 were searched in PubMed, EMbase and Cochrane Library by computer. A total of 21 factors were analyzed by single-factor analysis, and the factors with statistically significant difference were selected for multivariate Logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 69 RCTs were included, including 47 RCTs (68.12%) with positive results and 22 RCTs (31.88%) with non-positive results. The multivariate Logistic regression analysis was performed with the three screened factors (publication year, treatment frequency and intervention form) selected by single-factor analysis, and the results showed that the positive results were related to the frequency of acupuncture treatment. The positive rate of RCT with frequency≥2 times a week was 3.24 times of that with frequency<2 times a week (OR=3.24, 95%CI =[1.07,9.83], P<0.05). CONCLUSION Acupuncture frequency may be the main factor affecting the positive results of RCT in English literature of acupuncture for chronic pain. More researches are needed in the future to explore the influence of acupuncture frequency on the curative effect.
Acupuncture ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Chronic Pain/therapy* ; Humans ; PubMed

Objective: To analyze the course of disease and epidemiological parameters of COVID-19 and provide evidence for making prevention and control strategies. Methods: To display the distribution of course of disease of the infectors who had close contacts with COVID-19 cases from January 1 to March 15, 2020 in Guangdong Provincial, the models of Lognormal, Weibull and gamma distribution were applied. A descriptive analysis was conducted on the basic characteristics and epidemiological parameters of course of disease. Results: In total, 515 of 11 580 close contacts were infected, with an attack rate about 4.4%, including 449 confirmed cases and 66 asymptomatic cases. Lognormal distribution was fitting best for latent period, incubation period, pre-symptomatic infection period of confirmed cases and infection period of asymptomatic cases; Gamma distribution was fitting best for infectious period and clinical symptom period of confirmed cases; Weibull distribution was fitting best for latent period of asymptomatic cases. The latent period, incubation period, pre-symptomatic infection period, infectious period and clinical symptoms period of confirmed cases were 4.50 (95%CI:3.86-5.13) days, 5.12 (95%CI:4.63-5.62) days, 0.87 (95%CI:0.67-1.07) days, 11.89 (95%CI:9.81-13.98) days and 22.00 (95%CI:21.24-22.77) days, respectively. The latent period and infectious period of asymptomatic cases were 8.88 (95%CI:6.89-10.86) days and 6.18 (95%CI:1.89-10.47) days, respectively. Conclusion: The estimated course of COVID-19 and related epidemiological parameters are similar to the existing data.
COVID-19 ; Cohort Studies ; Contact Tracing ; Humans ; Incidence ; Prospective Studies

Humans ; Lymphoma, Large-Cell, Anaplastic/pathology* ; PAX5 Transcription Factor/genetics*

Objective: To analyze the clinical epidemiological characteristics including composition of pathogens , clinical characteristics, and disease prognosis acute bacterial meningitis (ABM) in Chinese children. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on the clinical and laboratory data of 1 610 children <15 years of age with ABM in 33 tertiary hospitals in China from January 2019 to December 2020. Patients were divided into different groups according to age,<28 days group, 28 days to <3 months group, 3 months to <1 year group, 1-<5 years of age group, 5-<15 years of age group; etiology confirmed group and clinically diagnosed group according to etiology diagnosis. Non-numeric variables were analyzed with the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, while non-normal distrituction numeric variables were compared with nonparametric test. Results: Among 1 610 children with ABM, 955 were male and 650 were female (5 cases were not provided with gender information), and the age of onset was 1.5 (0.5, 5.5) months. There were 588 cases age from <28 days, 462 cases age from 28 days to <3 months, 302 cases age from 3 months to <1 year of age group, 156 cases in the 1-<5 years of age and 101 cases in the 5-<15 years of age. The detection rates were 38.8% (95/245) and 31.5% (70/222) of Escherichia coli and 27.8% (68/245) and 35.1% (78/222) of Streptococcus agalactiae in infants younger than 28 days of age and 28 days to 3 months of age; the detection rates of Streptococcus pneumonia, Escherichia coli, and Streptococcus agalactiae were 34.3% (61/178), 14.0% (25/178) and 13.5% (24/178) in the 3 months of age to <1 year of age group; the dominant pathogens were Streptococcus pneumoniae and the detection rate were 67.9% (74/109) and 44.4% (16/36) in the 1-<5 years of age and 5-<15 years of age . There were 9.7% (19/195) strains of Escherichia coli producing ultra-broad-spectrum β-lactamases. The positive rates of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) culture and blood culture were 32.2% (515/1 598) and 25.0% (400/1 598), while 38.2% (126/330)and 25.3% (21/83) in CSF metagenomics next generation sequencing and Streptococcus pneumoniae antigen detection. There were 4.3% (32/790) cases of which CSF white blood cell counts were normal in etiology confirmed group. Among 1 610 children with ABM, main intracranial imaging complications were subdural effusion and (or) empyema in 349 cases (21.7%), hydrocephalus in 233 cases (14.5%), brain abscess in 178 cases (11.1%), and other cerebrovascular diseases, including encephalomalacia, cerebral infarction, and encephalatrophy, in 174 cases (10.8%). Among the 166 cases (10.3%) with unfavorable outcome, 32 cases (2.0%) died among whom 24 cases died before 1 year of age, and 37 cases (2.3%) had recurrence among whom 25 cases had recurrence within 3 weeks. The incidences of subdural effusion and (or) empyema, brain abscess and ependymitis in the etiology confirmed group were significantly higher than those in the clinically diagnosed group (26.2% (207/790) vs. 17.3% (142/820), 13.0% (103/790) vs. 9.1% (75/820), 4.6% (36/790) vs. 2.7% (22/820), χ²=18.71, 6.20, 4.07, all P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the unfavorable outcomes, mortility, and recurrence between these 2 groups (all P>0.05). Conclusions: The onset age of ABM in children is usually within 1 year of age, especially <3 months. The common pathogens in infants <3 months of age are Escherichia coli and Streptococcus agalactiae, and the dominant pathogen in infant ≥3 months is Streptococcus pneumoniae. Subdural effusion and (or) empyema and hydrocephalus are common complications. ABM should not be excluded even if CSF white blood cell counts is within normal range. Standardized bacteriological examination should be paid more attention to increase the pathogenic detection rate. Non-culture CSF detection methods may facilitate the pathogenic diagnosis.
Adolescent ; Brain Abscess ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Escherichia coli ; Female ; Humans ; Hydrocephalus ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Male ; Meningitis, Bacterial/epidemiology* ; Retrospective Studies ; Streptococcus agalactiae ; Streptococcus pneumoniae ; Subdural Effusion ; beta-Lactamases

Objective:To investigate the prognostic value and related factors of heart-type fatty acid binding protein (H-FABP) in patients with heart failure.Methods:A total of 877 consecutive patients who were admitted to heart failure care unit of Fuwai hospital and diagnosed as heart failure from July 2015 to July 2017 were enrolled in this study. Baseline serum H-FABP concentration was measured by fluorescence lateral flow immunoassay. According to serum H-FABP levels, patients were divided into three groups: low H-FABP group (H-FABP≤4.04 ng/ml, n=292), middle H-FABP group (H-FABP 4.04-7.02 ng/ml, n=292) and high H-FABP group (H-FABP≥7.02 ng/ml, n=293). The general clinical characteristics were collected and compared among the three groups. According to whether heart failure was caused by coronary artery disease or not, patients with heart failure were divided into ischemic heart failure and non-ischemic heart failure. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to explore the independent risk factors of H-FABP. The primary endpoint events were the composite of all-cause death or heart transplantation. Multivariate Cox regression analyses, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, risk prediction tests with multivariate Cox regression model and Kaplan-Meier analyses were conducted to investigate the relationship between H-FABP and the prognosis of heart failure. Results:Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that age, coronary artery disease, alanine aminotransferase, uric acid and N-terminal pro-B type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) were positively associated with H-FABP (β=0.012, 0.238, 0.001, 0.345 and 0.063 respectively,all P<0.05), while female, hemoglobin, albumin, sodium, and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) were negatively associated with H-FABP (β=-0.184, -0.006, -0.016, -0.034 and -0.006 respectively, all P<0.05). One hundred and nineteen patients (13.6%) lost to follow-up, and 246 patients (32.5%) suffered from all-cause death or heart transplantation during the median follow-up duration of 931 (412-1 185) days. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that baseline H-FABP (log 2H-FABP) level was the independent predictor of all-cause death or heart transplantation in patients with heart failure ( HR=1.39, P<0.001). ROC curves showed that baseline H-FABP was a predictor of all-cause death or heart transplantation in patients with heart failure within 3 months, 1 year and 2 years (areas under the curves were 0.69, 0.69 and 0.71 respectively), and the best cut-off values were 5.85 ng/ml, 6.54 ng/ml and 6.54 ng/ml respectively. Risk prediction test with multivariate Cox regression model showed that baseline H-FABP could provide additional prognostic value in predicting all-cause death or heart transplantation for patients with heart failure on top of basic model and baseline NT-proBNP ( P<0.001). Taking 6.54 ng/ml and trisected levels of H-FABP as cut-off values respectively, Kaplan-Meier analyses showed that the survival rates were significantly different among the two or three groups ( P<0.001). Subgroup analyses showed that baseline H-FABP (log 2H-FABP) level was an independent predictor of all-cause death or heart transplantation in patients with ischemic heart failure ( HR=1.74, P<0.001), as well as in patients with non-ischemic heart failure ( HR=1.28, P=0.027). Conclusions:Age, sex, coronary artery disease, hemoglobin, albumin, alanine aminotransferase, sodium, eGFR, uric acid and NT-proBNP are associated with H-FABP level. Baseline H-FABP level is an independent predictor of all-cause death or heart transplantation in patients with heart failure. On top of basic model and baseline NT-proBNP, baseline H-FABP could provide additional prognostic value in predicting adverse events for patients with heart failure.

Objective: To establish a method for the determination of butyronitrile and isobutyronitrile in the air of workplace by gas chromatography. Methods: In March 2020, butyronitrile and isobutyronitrile in the air of workplace was collected by silica gel, eluted with methanol, separated and determined by gas chromatogram with flame ionization detector, the characteristics of determination of nitrile and isobutyronitrile by gas chromatography were analyzed. Results: The limit of detection for butyronitrile and isobutyronitrile was 0.33 μg/ml. The linear range of butyronitrile determined by this method was 1.60-1600.00 μg/ml, y=2.295x-3.480, and the coefficient correlation was 0.99998, and the minimum detection concentration was 0.22 mg/m(3) (collected sample volume was 1.50 L) . The within-run precisions were 2.43%-4.12%, the between-run precisions were 1.72%-3.70%, and the desorption rates were 93.26%-98.41%. The linear range of isobutyronitrile determined by this method was 1.52-1520.00 μg/ml, y=2.208x-0.102, and the coefficient correlation was 0.99998, and the minimum detection concentration was 0.22 mg/m(3) (collected sample volume was 1.50 L) . The within-run precisions were 2.52%-3.22%, the between-run precisions were 1.20%-3.82%, and the desorption rates were 96.85%-102.50%. The sealed samples could be stored at least 10 days at room temperature without significant loss. Conclusion: The method has the advantages of good precision, high sensitivity and simple operation. It is suitable for the simultaneous determination of butyronitrile and isobutyronitrile in the air of workplace.
Air Pollutants, Occupational/analysis* ; Chromatography, Gas/methods* ; Nitriles ; Workplace

Objective To investigate the relationship between body composition and serum lipids and uric acid among adults in Maonan, and to analyze the effect of body composition changes on blood lipid and uric acid. Methods Totally 584 Maonan adult volunteers in Maonan village of Maonan Autonomous County in Guangxi, the age from 20 to 80 were recruited. The height was measured by the personal height tester; the body composition was measured by the ANITAMC-180 instrument; and the blood lipids and blood uric acid were measured by the Hitachi 7600 instrument. The obtained data were statistically analyzed by SPSS 20. 0. Results The age,height, weight, free fat mass, muscle mass, presumptive bone mass, body water, proptein,extracellular water, intracellular water, and waist-to-hip ratio were greater in Maonan men than in women (P<0. 05). However, whereas male fat content, body fat rate, and subcutaneous fat content were smaller than those of female (P < 0. 01). The total prevalence of hyperuricemia and hyperlipidemia in Maonan nationality was 13. 9% and 28. 4%, respectively. The prevalence of hyperuricemia and hyperlipidemia in males was higher than in females. In males, the body mass, body mass index, free fat mass, fat mass, muscle mass, presumptive bone mass, protein, extracellular water, body fat rate, visceral fat content, subcutaneous fat content and waist-hip ratio of the hyperlipidemia group were higher than the normal group (P<0. 05); and in females, the age, body mass index, fat mass, body fat rate, visceral fat content and waist-hip ratio of the hyperlipidemia group were higher than the normal group. In male, The body mass, free fat mass, presumptive bone mass, body water, extracellular water of the hyperuricemia group were higher than the normal group (P<0. 05); In females, the age, body mass, body mass index, fat mass, extracellular water, body fat ratio, muscle mass, visceral fat content, subcutaneous fat content, and waist-hip ratio of the hyperuricemia group were higher than the normal group. Conclusion The detection rate of hyperlipidemia and hyperuricemia in males of Guangxi Maonan nationality is all higher than that in females. The body composition is significant differences between the normal adults and the patients with hyperlipidemia and hyperuricemia of Maonan nationality in Guangxi.

OBJECTIVE: To verify the clinical effect of acupuncture on knee osteoarthritis (KOA). METHODS: Forty-two patients with KOA were randomly divided into an acupuncture group (21 cases, 1 case dropped off) and a sham acupuncture group (21 cases, 1 case dropped off). The patients in the acupuncture group were treated with routine acupuncture at 5-6 local acupoints [Dubi (ST 35), Neixiyan (EX-LE 4), Heding (EX-LE 2), Yinlingquan (SP 9), Xuehai (SP 10), Zusanli (ST 36), etc.] and 3-4 distal acupoints [Fengshi (GB 31), Waiqiu (GB 36), Xuanzhong (GB 39), Zulinqi (GB 41), etc.]. The patients in the sham acupuncture group were treated with shallow needling technique at non-acupoint. The needles were retained for 30 min in both groups. All the treatment was given three times a week for 8 weeks. Knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score (KOOS) were recorded before and after treatment and 18-week follow-up. RESULTS: Compared before treatment, the scores of 5 dimensions of KOOS [pain, symptoms (except pain), daily activities, sports and entertainment, and quality of life] were increased after treatment and during follow-up in the two groups ( CONCLUSION Acupuncture can reduce the pain symptoms and improve daily activities in patients with KOA.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Humans ; Knee Injuries ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/therapy* ; Quality of Life ; Treatment Outcome