BACKGROUND:"Tendon off-position"is a disease name included in the International Classification of Diseases 11th Revision,and also a clinical indication of manipulation,acupuncture and other treatments.However,its specific mechanism is still unclear.It is urgent to establish an animal model that can reflect the clinical and pathological characteristics of"tendon off-position,"so as to further study the mechanism of effective clinical treatments. OBJECTIVE:To establish an animal model of"tendon off-position"in rats based on isometric contraction of skeletal muscles,and to explore the changes of skeletal muscle function and morphological phenotype after"tendon off-position." METHODS:Sixty rats were randomly divided into control group,static-loading group and extra loading group,with twenty rats in each group.Rats in the control group were kept normally without treatment.In the latter two groups,the rats were fixed by the self-made static-loading modeling device and a static-loading(the body mass of each rats was applied as the static-loading)was applied to cause sustained isometric contraction of the upper limb muscles.Then,animal models of"tendon off-position"were successfully established.In the extra loading group,50%of the body mass was added to the ankle joint after modeling.The skeletal muscle samples were harvested at 2 and 4 weeks after modeling.The changes of limb grip strength,wet mass of skeletal muscle,and serum levels of creatine kinase-muscle and lactate dehydrogenase A were measured,and the changes of skeletal muscle histomorphology and ultrastructure were observed. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:At 2 weeks after modeling,the rats in the static-loading group and extra loading group showed significantly decreased grip strength and wet muscle mass,significantly increased serum levels of creatine kinase-muscle and lactate dehydrogenase A,and abnormal muscle fiber morphology and structure accompanied by a large number of deposited collagen fibers.Electron microscopy results showed that the structure of myofibrils was disordered,the Z-line was distorted,and the light and dark boundaries were blurred.At 4 weeks after modeling,the grip strength of the model rats was increased compared with that at 2 weeks,the serum creatine kinase-muscle and lactate dehydrogenase A levels were decreased,and the changes of muscle fiber morphology and ultrastructure were recovered to varying degrees.It is suggested that the rat skeletal muscle injury model based on continuous isometric contraction of skeletal muscle can well reflect the pathological characteristics of"tendon off-position"at 2 weeks,and can be used to study the mechanism of acupuncture and manipulation in the treatment of"tendon off-position."

Objective To explore the core acupoints and compatibility rules of acupuncture and moxibustion for epilepsy by using complex network method. Methods A prescription database was established through inclusion and exclusion criteria for searching literatures for databases from China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP, Wanfang, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Pubmed. SPSS Modeler software was used to analyze the frequency and correlation of acupoints, and Gephi0.10.1 software was used to establish a complex network model to explore the core acupoints and acupoint selection rules of prescriptions for epilepsy. Results Ultimately, 144 valid literatures were included, 199 prescriptions were extracted, involving 102 acupoints. Baihui acupoint had the highest frequency of use, specific acupoints were mainly Five-shu acupoint, the Eight Meridian Intersection acupoint, and the Back-shu acupoint. In selection of meridians, most acupoints were selected from governor meridian. Association rule analysis showed that Baihui-Taichong had the highest level of support and confidence. The analysis of complex network topology showed that 36 acupoints such as Baihui, Dazhui, Yaoqi and Fenglong were the core acupoints in the treatment of epilepsy by acupuncture and moxibustion. The analysis of acupoint communities revealed three major acupoint groups including governor meridian passing through treatment group, far and near matching acupoint group of the four limbs and head, and differentiation group of Zang-fu and body fluid for epilepsy treatment. Conclusion Acupoint compatibility of epilepsy by acupuncture and moxibustion should be mainly based on principle of the governor meridian combined with the differentiation of viscera and body fluid, and attention should be paid to distal-proximal point association.

Objective:To compare the clinical efficacy of robot-assisted percutaneous screw implantation and free-hand open screw implantation by Wiltse approach in the treatment of thoracolumbar fracture.Methods:A retrospective cohort study was performed to analyze the clinical data of 71 patients with thoracolumbar fracture admitted to Second Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University from May 2018 to May 2020. There were 52 males and 19 females, with age range of 22-54 years［(41.0±7.8)years］. Of all, 33 patients were treated with robot-assisted percutaneous screw implantation (Group A) and 38 patients were treated with free-hand open screw implantation by Wiltse approach (Group B). Following parameters were measured, including frequency of radiation exposure, operation time, intraoperative blood loss, length of hospital stay, incidence of complications, rate of fracture healing at 3 months and 6 months postoperatively, visual analogue scale (VAS) and Oswestry dysfunction index (ODI) at 3 days, 3 months, 6 months postoperatively and at the last follow-up, anterior vertebral body height ratio and sagittal Cobb angle preoperatively, at 3 days postoperatively and at the last follow-up, and rate of screw implantation of grade A and B and rate of facet joint violation at 3 days postoperatively.Results:All patients were followed up for 10-24 months［(15.2±4.4)months］. Frequency of radiation exposure and operation time showed no statistical differences between the two groups (both P>0.05). Intraoperative blood loss was 100(100, 135)ml in Group A, less than 160(120, 200)ml in Group B ( P<0.01). Length of hospital stay was 8(7, 11) days in Group A, shorter than 12(10, 16)days in Group B ( P<0.01). There were no complications such as infection, spinal nerve injury or cerebrospinal fluid leakage in both group. There were no significant differences between the two groups in the rate of fracture healing at 3 and 6 months postoperatively (all P>0.05). VAS and ODI in Group A was 3(2, 4)points and 21(18, 23)points at 3 days postoperatively, lower than 4 (3, 5)points and 27(20, 32)points in Group B ( P<0.05 or 0.01), and the two groups showed no significant differences in VAS and ODI at other time points (all P>0.05). There were no significant difference in the anterior vertebral body height ratio or sagittal Cobb angle between the two groups at 3 days postoperatively and at the last follow-up (all P>0.05). Rate of screw implantation of grade A and B was 96.5% (191/198) in Group A, higher than 90.4% (206/228) in Group B ( P<0.05). Rate of facet joint violation was 4.0%(8/198) in Group A, lower than 11.8% (27/228) in Group B ( P<0.01). Conclusion:For thoracolumbar fracture, robot-assisted percutaneous screw implantation is superior to free-hand open screw implantation by Wiltse approach in terms of less bleeding, shorter hospitalization, earlier pain alleviation, higher accuracy of screw implantation and lower risk of facet joint violation.

Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease that is characterized by progressive destruction of the periodontium and causes tooth loss in adults.Periodontitis is known to be associated with dysbiosis of the oral microflora,which is often linked to various diseases.However,the complexity of plaque microbial communities of periodontitis,antibiotic resistance,and enhanced virulence make this disease difficult to treat.In this study,using metagenomic shotgun sequencing,we inves-tigated the etiology,antibiotic resistance genes(ARGs),and virulence genes(VirGs)of periodontitis.We revealed a significant shift in the composition of oral microbiota as well as several functional pathways that were represented significantly more abundantly in periodontitis patients than in con-trols.In addition,we observed several positively selected ARGs and VirGs with the Ka/Ks ratio＞1 by analyzing our data and a previous periodontitis dataset,indicating that ARGs and VirGs in oral microbiota may be subjected to positive selection.Moreover,5 of 12 positively selected ARGs and VirGs in periodontitis patients were found in the genomes of respiratory tract pathogens.Of note,91.8％of the background VirGs with at least one non-synonymous single-nucleotide polymorphism for natural selection were also from respiratory tract pathogens.These observations suggest a potential association between periodontitis and respiratory infection at the gene level.Our study enriches the knowledge of pathogens and functional pathways as well as the positive selection of antibiotic resistance and pathogen virulence in periodontitis patients,and provides evidence at the gene level for an association between periodontitis and respiratory infection.

Objective To investigate the effect of metformin combined with acupoint therapy with low frequency impulse stimulation on repairing diabetic neuropathy of patients with diabetic foot.Methods Totally 150 diabetic foot patients with neuropathy were randomly divided into observation group (n =75) and control group (n =75).The therapeutic effect,nerve conduction velocity,fasting blood glucose,postprandial 2 h blood glucose,glycosylated hemoglobin and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups.Results The total effective rate of the observation group was 92％,which was significantly higher than 76％ of the control group (P ＜0.05).The SCV and MCV of the tibial nerve and peroneal nerve increased significantly after treatment in all the patients (P ＜0.05),and the SCV and MCV of the tibial nerve and peroneal nerve in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P ＜ 0.05).After treatment,the levels of HbA1 C,FBG and 2 hPBG decreased significantly when compared with those before treatment (P ＜ 0.05),and the levels of HbA1 C,FBG and 2 hPBG in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P ＜ 0.05).The total incidence rate of complications in the observation group was 8％,which was significantly lower than 20％ in the control group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Metformin combined with acupoint therapy with low frequency impulse stimulation can effectively improve the symptoms of neuropathy in patients with diabetic foot.

Objective To investigate the effect of metformin combined with acupoint therapy with low frequency impulse stimulation on repairing diabetic neuropathy of patients with diabetic foot.Methods Totally 150 diabetic foot patients with neuropathy were randomly divided into observation group (n =75) and control group (n =75).The therapeutic effect,nerve conduction velocity,fasting blood glucose,postprandial 2 h blood glucose,glycosylated hemoglobin and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups.Results The total effective rate of the observation group was 92％,which was significantly higher than 76％ of the control group (P ＜0.05).The SCV and MCV of the tibial nerve and peroneal nerve increased significantly after treatment in all the patients (P ＜0.05),and the SCV and MCV of the tibial nerve and peroneal nerve in the observation group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P ＜ 0.05).After treatment,the levels of HbA1 C,FBG and 2 hPBG decreased significantly when compared with those before treatment (P ＜ 0.05),and the levels of HbA1 C,FBG and 2 hPBG in the observation group were significantly lower than those in the control group (P ＜ 0.05).The total incidence rate of complications in the observation group was 8％,which was significantly lower than 20％ in the control group (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion Metformin combined with acupoint therapy with low frequency impulse stimulation can effectively improve the symptoms of neuropathy in patients with diabetic foot.

Objective:To discuss the effect of pharmacist intervention on the use of antimicrobial agents in the clinical pathway of community-acquired pneumonia ( CAP) in our hospital to standardize the rational medication and promote the rational use of antimicro-bial agents. Methods:Totally 100 bacterial CAP patients in 2013 ( before the intervention) and 2014 ( after the intervention) in the pneumology department were studied. The antibacterial drug cost, total hospitalization cost, use intensity of antimicrobial drugs, hospi-talization time, therapeutic effects and so on in the two groups were observed during the treatment. Results: There were significant differences between the two groups in antibacterial drug cost, total hospitalization cost, use intensity of antimicrobial drugs, hospitaliza-tion time and so on, whereas there was no significant difference in the curative effect. Conclusion:After the pharmacist intervention, the application of antibiotics is more rational, the antibiotics use density and per capita cost are reduced, the hospitalization day is shortened and the value of pharmacists is also improved.