Acupoint is the initial response site of acupuncture stimulus and also the source link of the effect onset of acupuncture. Acupuncture is a mechanical physical stimulus. How is the mechanical force of acupuncture transduced into neuroelectrical and biochemical signals at acupoint? How does the physiochemical information of acupoint launch acupuncture effect? All of these remain the common and crucial questions in the study of acupuncture effect mechanism. Physical changes are induced in the local tissue of acupoint by needling techniques, such as the deformation and displacement of muscle fibers, which may act on the nerve ending receptors and produce electroneurographic signals. Besides, these changes may activate the mechanosensitive ion channels of the cytomembrane in acupoint site. Through cellular signal transduction, the physical signals may be transformed into chemical ones to trigger the physiochemical coupling response of acupoint microenvironment. Eventually, acupuncture effect is generated via nerves and body fluids. "The mechanical force of acupuncture", through "the physiochemical transduction", promotes the body's perception and transmits acupuncture signals. It suggests that acupoint is the "transducer" in the physiochemical information coupling response of acupuncture.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Acupuncture Points

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes in autophagy of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from patients with ankylosing spondylitis and explore the mechanism for decreased autophagy in ASMSCs. METHODS: MSCs collected from 14 patients with AS (ASMSCs) and from 15 healthy donors (HDMSCs) were cultured in the absence or presence of 25 ng/mL TNF-α for 6 h. Autophagy of the cells was determined by immunofluorescence staining of GFP-LC3B, and the results were confirmed by detecting the protein expressions of autophagy markers LC3 II/LC3 I and P62. The mRNA expressions of the related genes were detected using qRT-PCR, and the protein expressions of the autophagy markers and signaling pathway-related molecules were determined with Western blotting. TG100713 was used to block the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signal pathway, and its effect on autophagy of ASMSCs was evaluated. RESULTS: ASMSCs showed significantly weaker GFP-LC3B puncta staining and lower protein expression levels of LC3 II/LC3 I but higher levels of P62 protein (P < 0.05), indicating a decreased autophagy capacity as compared with HDMSCs. TNF-α-induced ASMSCs showed significantly higher protein expressions of p-PI3K/ PI3K, p-AKT/AKT and p-mTOR/mTOR than HDMSCs (P < 0.05), suggesting hyperactivation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway in ASMSCs. Blocking PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling with TG100713 eliminated the difference in TNF-α-induced autophagy between HDMSCs and ASMSCs. CONCLUSION In patients with AS, hyperactivation of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway results in decreased autophagy of the MSCs and potentially contributes to chronic inflammation.
Autophagy ; Humans ; Mesenchymal Stem Cells/metabolism* ; Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases/metabolism* ; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt/metabolism* ; Signal Transduction ; Spondylitis, Ankylosing ; TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism* ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha/metabolism*

Objective:To compare the clinical efficacy between femoral neck system (FNS) and inverted cannulated compression screws (ICCS) in the fixation of adult femoral neck fracture.Methods:The clinical data were retrospectively analyzed of the 119 patients with femoral neck fracture who had received FNS or ICCS internal fixation at Department of Traumatic Orthopedics, West China Hospital from September 2019 to June 2020. They were divided into 2 groups according to their internal fixation methods. In the FNS group of 62 patients, there were 38 males and 24 females, with an age of (54.0±13.0) years, and 13 cases of type Ⅱ, 34 cases of type Ⅲ and 15 cases of type Ⅳ according to the Garden classification; in the ICCS group of 57 patients, there were 42 males and 15 females, with an age of (53.2±11.3) years, and 9 cases of type Ⅱ, 33 cases of type Ⅲ and 15 cases of type Ⅳ according to the Garden classification. The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, fluoroscopy frequency, hospitalization time, fracture healing time, Harris hip score and incidence of complications were compared between the 2 groups.Results:The 2 groups were comparable due to insignificant differences in their preoperative general data or follow-up duration ( P>0.05). There were significant differences between the FNS and ICCS groups in fluoroscopy frequency [(8.8±2.9) times versus (15.6±3.4) times], operation time [(45.2±10.1) min versus (51.8±11.7) min], fracture healing time [(3.2±0.4) months versus (4.0±0.6) months], Harris hip score at the last follow-up [(91.8±4.4) points versus (84.6±3.3) points], and femoral neck shortening at the last follow-up, favoring the FNS group (all P<0.05). There were no significant differences in follow-up time, hospitalization time, intraoperative blood loss or incidence of complications between the 2 groups ( P>0.05). Conclusions:In the fixation of adult femoral neck fractures, compared with ICCS, FNS can significantly reduce fluoroscopy frequency, shorten fracture healing and operation time, reduce risk of femoral neck shortening and hospitalization time, and promote functional recovery of the hip.

OBJECTIVE: To quantitatively evaluate the non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of low-level dichloromethane(DCM) exposure. METHODS: A typical sampling method was used to select workers from an engine factory and an automobile parts factory as the research subjects. After hazard identification and hazard characteristic assessment, the occupational health risks of DCM in the workplace were quantitatively assessed by non-carcinogenic risk assessment and carcinogenic risk assessment. RESULTS: The highest exposure concentration of short-term of DCM was 43.6 mg/m~3 in the air of eight DCM job posts in these two enterprises, which was lower than the operational level of 300.0 mg/m~3(half of the occupational exposure limit in China). Under this premise, the non-carcinogenic risk assessment results showed that the non-carcinogenic risk caused by inhalation of DCM was unacceptable in workers of these eight job posts. The results of carcinogenic risk assessment showed that the carcinogenic risk caused by inhalation of DCM was acceptable for all the workers in these eight job posts. CONCLUSION: Low-level DCM exposure can cause unacceptable occupational health risks to workers. Quantitative risk assessment can be applied to assess exposure to low-level chemicals.

Rectal neuroendocrine neoplasms (NENs) are low-grade malignancies, which are slow-growing and usually become symptomatic late in the course of the disease (Basuroy et al., 2016). In recent years, rectal NENs are increasingly frequently detected, with the widespread availability and accessibility of endoscopy and cross-sectional imaging modalities (Kos-Kudla et al., 2017). Multiple studies have shown that endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) is an advanced endoscopic technique and is currently used in the diagnosis and preoperative assessment of NENs (Kim, 2012; Liu et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2017). However, EUS imaging of rectal NEN and differential diagnosis with other submucosal tumors (SMTs) has not been adequately reported. In this study, we reviewed and summarized the EUS imaging and pathological features of rectal NENs of 38 cases to improve preoperative diagnosis rate and reduce unreasonable treatment.
Adult ; Aged ; Endosonography/methods* ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neuroendocrine Tumors/therapy* ; Rectal Neoplasms/therapy*

Adolescent ; Adult ; Female ; Humans ; Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute ; genetics ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Young Adult

·AIM:To discuss the clinical efficacy of 27-gauge (27G) vitrectomy with proliferative membrane cutting in situ for late proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). ·METHODS: Collecting 10 cases (15 eyes) with late PDR from January 2017 to August 2017 which underwent 27G microincision vitrectomy with cutting proliferative membrane in situ, we observed the rate of intraoperative iatrogenic retinal hole ( IRH ), the rate of silicone oil tamponade, the best corrected visual acuity ( BCVA) and intraocular pressure (IOP) before and after operation. ·RESULTS: IRH occurred in 4 eyes (27%, 4/15); Silicone oil was tamponaded in 6 eyes (40%, 6/15); BCVA was improved in 13 eyes and only 2 eyes unchanged 3mo after operation. The best visual acuity (VA) was 0. 6. There was significant difference on BCVA between preoperative and postoperative 7d(P<0. 05). The same was found between preoperative and postoperative 1mo, even 3mo(P<0. 05). The average preoperative IOP was 16. 95 ± 6. 87mmHg and postoperative 3mo was 15. 27 ± 4. 57mmHg. There was no significant difference between them (P>0. 05). · CONCLUSION: The 27G vitrectomy with cutting proliferative membrane in situ method is markedly superior in the treatment of late PDR, and the curative effect is specific. It can be given preference to late PDR.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the optimal starvation conditions of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) and establish a highly efficient and stable method for separating HUVECs.

METHODSHUVECs harvested from human umbilical cords by digestion with 0.1% collagenase II for 15 min were cultured in endothelial culture medium (ECM) containing 5% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 1% endothelial cell growth factor (ECGS) and 1% penicillin/streptomycin solution(P/S) at 37 degrees celsius; in 5% CO2. The cells were observed for cell morphology under an inverted microscope and identified with immunofluorescence assay. The purity of HUVECs was detected using flow cytometry (FCM). The cell cycles of HUVECs cultured in the presence of 0, 0.1%, 0.5%, and 1% FBS for 0, 6, 12, 18, and 24 h were analyzed with flow cytometry.

RESULTSs The purity of HUVECs harvested by digestion with 0.1% collagenase II reached 99.67%. The primary HUVECs showed a cobblestone or volute appearance in vitro. Immunocytochemistry showed that HUVECs highly expressed VIII-related antigen. Cell culture in the presence of different concentrations of FBS for 6 h resulted in 70% G0/G1 phase cells, which increased to 80%-90% at 12 h of cell culture, and further to around 95% at 18 and 24 h.

CONCLUSIONDigestion with 0.1% collagenase II can obtain high-purity primary HUVECs. Culturing HUVECs in serum-free medium for 12 h can result in a high purity (over 80%) of G0/G1 phase cells.

Cell Culture Techniques ; Cell Cycle ; Cells, Cultured ; Culture Media ; chemistry ; Flow Cytometry ; Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells ; cytology ; Humans ; Matrix Metalloproteinase 8 ; chemistry ; Serum

OBJECTIVETo analyze the relationship between the reference values of fibrinogen (FIB) in healthy Chinese adults and geographical factors to provide scientific evidences for establishing the uniform standard.

METHODSThe reference values of FIB of 10701 Chinese healthy adults from 103 cities were collected to investigate their relationship with 18 geographical factors including spatial index, terrain index, climate index, and soil index. Geographical factors that significantly correlated with the reference values were selected for constructing the BP neural network model. The spatial distribution map of the reference value of FIB of healthy Chinese adults was fitted by disjunctive kriging interpolation. We used the 5-layer neural network and selected 2000 times of training covering 11 hidden layers to build the simulation rule for simulating the relationship between FIB and geographical environmental factors using the MATLAB software.

RESULTSs The reference value of FIB in healthy Chinese adults was significantly correlated with the latitude, sunshine duration, annual average temperature, annual average relative humidity, annual precipitation, annual range of air temperature, average annual soil gravel content, and soil cation exchange capacity (silt). The artificial neural networks were created to analyze the simulation of the selected indicators of geographical factors. The spatial distribution map of the reference values of FIB in healthy Chinese adults showed a distribution pattern that FIB levels were higher in the South and lower in the North, and higher in the East and lower in the West.

CONCLUSIONWhen the geographical factors of a certain area are known, the reference values of FIB in healthy Chinese adults can be obtained by establishing the neural network mode or plotting the spatial distribution map.

Adult ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; China ; Climate ; Environment ; Fibrinogen ; Geography ; Humans ; Neural Networks (Computer) ; Reference Values ; Software ; Temperature

BACKGROUNDProteasome subunits (PSMB) and transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) loci are located in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) Class II region play important roles in immune response and protein degradation in neurodegenerative diseases. This study aimed to explore the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of PSMB and TAP and Parkinson's disease (PD).

METHODSA case-control study was conducted by genotyping SNPs in PSMB8, PSMB9, TAP1, and TAP2 genes in the Chinese population. Subjects included 542 sporadic patients with PD and 674 healthy controls. Nine identified SNPs in PSMB8, PSMB9, TAP1, and TAP2 were genotyped through SNaPshot testing.

RESULTSThe stratified analysis of rs17587 was specially performed on gender. Data revealed that female patients carry a higher frequency of rs17587-G/G versus (A/A + G/A) compared with controls. But there was no significant difference with respect to the genotypic frequencies of the SNPs in PSMB8, TAP1, and TAP2 loci in PD patients.

CONCLUSIONChinese females carrying the rs17587-G/G genotype in PSMB9 may increase a higher risk for PD, but no linkage was found between other SNPs in HLA Class II region and PD.

ATP-Binding Cassette Sub-Family B Member 2 ; genetics ; ATP-Binding Cassette, Sub-Family B, Member 3 ; genetics ; Adult ; Aged ; Antigen Presentation ; Case-Control Studies ; Cysteine Endopeptidases ; genetics ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Parkinson Disease ; genetics ; immunology ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex ; genetics