Treatment based on meridian differentiation is a characteristic method in clinical acupuncture diagnosis and treatment. Accurately defining and explaining its main content and core concepts is essential for effective clinical guidance. This paper reviews the historical and contemporary understanding, concepts, and primary content of treatment based on meridian differentiation. It proposes a four-step process for clinical application: meridian examination, treatment based on meridian differentiation, acupoint selection, and appropriate treatment methods, with TCM syndrome differentiation applied throughout. Constructing a diagnostic and treatment system which is based on meridian differentiation and suited to clinical acupuncture is significant for enhancing therapeutic efficacy and maximizing the benefits of acupuncture in disease treatment.
Humans ; Meridians ; Acupuncture Therapy/methods* ; Acupuncture Points ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

Acute kidney injury (AKI) has high morbidity and mortality, but effective clinical drugs and management are lacking. Previous studies have suggested that macrophages play a crucial role in the inflammatory response to AKI and may serve as potential therapeutic targets. Emerging evidence has highlighted the importance of forkhead box protein O1 (FoxO1) in mediating macrophage activation and polarization in various diseases, but the specific mechanisms by which FoxO1 regulates macrophages during AKI remain unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the role of FoxO1 in macrophages in the pathogenesis of AKI. We observed a significant upregulation of FoxO1 in kidney macrophages following ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Additionally, our findings demonstrated that the administration of FoxO1 inhibitor AS1842856-encapsulated liposome (AS-Lipo), mainly acting on macrophages, effectively mitigated renal injury induced by I/R injury in mice. By generating myeloid-specific FoxO1-knockout mice, we further observed that the deficiency of FoxO1 in myeloid cells protected against I/R injury-induced AKI. Furthermore, our study provided evidence of FoxO1's pivotal role in macrophage chemotaxis, inflammation, and migration. Moreover, the impact of FoxO1 on the regulation of macrophage migration was mediated through RhoA guanine nucleotide exchange factor 1 (ARHGEF1), indicating that ARHGEF1 may serve as a potential intermediary between FoxO1 and the activity of the RhoA pathway. Consequently, our findings propose that FoxO1 plays a crucial role as a mediator and biomarker in the context of AKI. Targeting macrophage FoxO1 pharmacologically could potentially offer a promising therapeutic approach for AKI.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Yinlai Decoction (YD) on the microstructure of colon, and activity of D-lactic acid (DLA) and diamine oxidase (DAO) in serum of pneumonia mice model fed with high-calorie and high-protein diet (HCD). METHODS: Sixty male Kunming mice were randomly divided into 6 groups by the random number table method: normal control, pneumonia, HCD, HCD with pneumonia (HCD-P), YD (229.2 mg/mL), and dexamethasone (15.63 mg/mL) groups, with 10 in each group. HCD mice were fed with 52% milk solution by gavage. Pneumonia mice was modeled with lipopolysaccharide inhalation and was fed by gavage with either the corresponding therapeutic drugs or saline water, twice daily, for 3 days. After hematoxylin-eosin staining, the changes in the colon structure were observed under light microscopy and transmission electron microscope, respectively. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the protein levels of DLA and DAO in the serum of mice. RESULTS: The colonic mucosal structure and ultrastructure of mice in the normal control group were clear and intact. The colonic mucosal goblet cells in the pneumonia group tended to increase, and the size of the microvilli varied. In the HCD-P group, the mucosal goblet cells showed a marked increase in size with increased secretory activity. Loose mucosal epithelial connections were also observed, as shown by widened intercellular gaps with short sparse microvilli. These pathological changes of intestinal mucosa were significantly reduced in mouse models with YD treatment, while there was no significant improvement after dexamethasone treatment. The serum DLA level was significantly higher in the pneumonia, HCD, and HCD-P groups as compared with the normal control group (P<0.05). Serum DLA was significantly lower in the YD group than HCD-P group (P<0.05). Moreover, serum DLA level significantly increased in the dexamethasone group as compared with the YD group (P<0.01). There was no statistical significance in the serum level of DAO among groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSIONS YD can protect function of intestinal mucosa by improving the tissue morphology of intestinal mucosa and maintaining integrity of cell connections and microvilli structure, thereby reducing permeability of intestinal mucosa to regulate the serum levels of DLA in mice.
Mice ; Male ; Animals ; Lactic Acid/pharmacology* ; Intestinal Mucosa ; Colon/pathology* ; Dexamethasone/pharmacology* ; Diet, High-Protein ; Pneumonia/pathology*

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the clinical features and genetic variants in two unrelated patients with psychomotor retardation and facial abnormalities, and to explore their genotype-phenotype correlation. METHODS: Clinical data and family history of the two pedigrees were collected. Whole exome sequencing (WES) and Sanger sequencing were carried out to detect the potential variants. RESULTS: Both patients had presented with mental and language retardation, along with growth delay and facial anomalies. They were both found to harbor de novo loss-of-function variants in exon 12 of the ASXL3 gene, namely c.3096dup (p.Pro1033Thrfs*2) and c.3253G>T (p.Gly1085*). Neither variant was reported previously. Combined with their clinical features and genetic finding, both patients were diagnosed with Bainbridge-Ropes syndrome due to pathogenic variants of the ASXL3 gene. CONCLUSION Diagnosis of Bainbridge Ropes syndrome in the two pedigrees has enriched the genotypic and phenotypic spectrum of this disorder and enabled genetic counseling for them.
Child ; China ; Developmental Disabilities/genetics* ; Humans ; Language ; Mutation ; Pedigree ; Phenotype ; Transcription Factors/genetics*

Cardiovascular Diseases ; Cardiovascular System ; Cellular Senescence ; Humans

BACKGROUND: Because of scaphoid irregular shape and the wrist joint and adjacent bones overlap, so the diagnosis and treatment of scaphoid fracture and treatment became so difficult. Which imaging methods hold highest diagnosis rate, and which kind of surgical approaches with less impact on fracture healing are still under discussion.OBJECTIVE: To review the imaging examinations of scaphoid fracture and the research advance in surgical approaches.METHODS: The first author retrieved CJFD and PubMed databases for the literature addressing the imaging examinations and surgical approaches of scaphoid fracture published from 2005 to 2015 with the keywords of "scaphodl bone, fracture, iconography, surgical approach" in Chinese and English, respectively. The old and repetitive articles were excluded, totally 3021 articles were retrieved. In accordance with inclusion and exclusion criteria, finally 24 eligible articles were included for result analysis.RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) The wrist joint at positions of pronation 60°, supination 45°, oblique and lateral can reveal the scaphoid from different angles on X-ray, which improves the diagnosis rate. At present, CT is the most reliable method, but there is a lack of quantization parameter for evaluating scaphoid fracture, especially for occult fracture. MRI can completely show the structure of scaphoid, even blood supply. Bone scintigraphy possesses a higher diagnosis rate than X-ray and CT examinations. (2) The surgical approaches of scaphoid fracture include volar, dorsal, radiocarpa approaches, but none is ideal. (3) The ideal surgical approach still needs a in-depth study, which can well reveal the scaphoid, achieve good reduction, reduce the damage to the remaining blood supply, confirm the position of scaphoid benifical for internal fixator implantation, and can be minimally invasive and easy to operate.

OBJECTIVETo examine the association of genetic variants with characteristic symptoms of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).

METHODSA matched case-control study was performed to investigate the association between common variants in four genes (CDKAL1, GLIS3, GRK5, and TCF7L2) and symptoms of T2DM. Symptoms were examined with questionnaire for 710 subjects. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cell by salting-out procedure. Genotyping was carried out by direct sequencing of the unpurified polymerase chain reaction products.

RESULTMost of the T2DM patients pressented characteristic symptoms, such as feeling weak in limbs (P =0.0057), hand tremor (P =0.0208), bradymasesis (P =0.0234), and polyuria (P =0.0051). Some of the T2DM patients shared characteristic symptoms, such as desire for cold drinks (P =0.0304), polyphagia (P =0.0051), and furred tongue (P =0.028). The impaired glucose regulation (IGR) cases took only one characteristic symptom of frequent micturition (P =0.0422). GLIS3 rs7034200 and GRK5 rs10886471 were significantly associated with increased T2DM risk (GLIS3 rs7034200 under dominant model: P=0.0307; GRK5 rs10886471 under recessive model: P=0.0092). However, only the rs10886471 polymorphism in GRK5 showed a significant effect on both differentiated symptoms and T2DM risk. The C-allele was involved in both dampness-heat encumbering Pi (Spleen) syndrome (P =0.047) and qi-yin deficiency syndrome (P =0.002) via increased GRK5 expression.

CONCLUSIONSBoth T2DM and IGR exhibited its corresponding characteristic symptoms. The variants of GRK5 were involved with both qi-yin deficiency syndrome and dampness-heat encumbering Pi syndrome.

BACKGROUNDScreening on multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has been limited to the serious TB subpopulations excluding the new TB patients. This study aimed to examine MDR-TB burden among the new TB patients.

METHODSWe conducted a study in Zhejiang Province during 2009-2013 to screen for MDR-TB patients among the low MDR-TB risk patients and five subpopulations of high MDR-TB risk patients. The number, prevalence, and trend of MDR-TB were compared while the logistic regression model was used to examine risk factors related to MDR-TB.

RESULTSA total of 200 and 791 MDR-TB cases were, respectively, identified from the 9830 new TB cases and 2372 high-risk suspects who took MDR-TB screening from 2009 to 2013. The MDR-TB rates went down in both of the new TB patients and five MDR-TB high-risk groups over the study time, but the percentage of MDR-TB patients identified from the new TB patients in all diagnosed MDR-TB cases kept stable from 28.3% in 2011 to 27.0% in 2012 to 26.0% in 2013.

CONCLUSIONSThe study indicated that MDR-TB burden among new TB patients was high, thus screening for MDR-TB among the new TB patients should be recommended in China as well as in the similar situation worldwide.

Objective To evaluate the effect of personnel activities and air purifiers on airborne microorganisms and particulate matter in bronchoscopy room.Methods According to whether there was personal activity and air purifier in the bronchoscopy room,the experiment was divided into four groups:dynamic non-purification group,dynamic purification group,static non-purification group,and static purification group,indoor air samples were collected and analyzed at five different time points (0,0.5,1,2,4 h),microorganisms in the air were collected by planktonic method,then cultured and counted,concentration of particulate matter was determined by DT-9881M laser dust particle counter,variance analysis of factorial design was used for statistical analysis.Results Colony count/concentration of airborne bacteria,fungi,total microorganisms (bacteria + fungi),PM2.5,and PM2.5-10.0 in dynamic non purification group were (113.53 ± 7.78) CFU/m3,(89.67 ± 7.17) CFU/m3,(203.20 ± 10.92) CFU/m3,(86 557.20 ±4 158.29) counts/m3,and (659.69 ± 38.91) counts/m3 respectively,in static non-purification group were (84.33 ± 3.65) CFU/m3,(65.00 ± 2.65)CFU/m3,(149.33 ± 4.98) CFU/m3,(45 812.64 ±1 279.61) counts/m3,and (189.15 ± 4.64) counts/m3 respectively,in dynamic purification group were (84.80 ±8.08) CFU/m3,(90.40 ± 5.50) CFU/m3,(175.20 ± 9.22) CFU/m3,(49 336.38 ± 2 039.16) counts/m3,and (218.36 ± 7.02) counts/m3 respectively,in static purification group were (67.80 ± 5.63) CFU/m3,(38.27 ± 3.70)CFU/m3,(106.07 ± 6.76) CFU/m3,(29 772.53 ± 2 212.93) counts/m3,and (124.80 ± 7.16) counts/m3 respectively.Colony count/concentration of airborne bacteria,total microorganisms,PM2.5,and PM2.s 10.0 in dynamic group were all higher than those in static group,non-purification group were higher than purification group(both P ＜0.05),colony count of fungi in dynamic non-purification group was higher than static non-purification group,in static purification group was lower than static non-purification group(both P＜0.05),there was no significant difference between dynamic purification group and dynamic non-purification group (P =0.936).Conclusion Personal activities can increase colony count/concentration of microorganisms and particulate matter in bronchoscopy room,air purifier can reduce the bacteria,total microbial count,and particulate matter in the air of bronchoscopy room.

Lipooligosacharide (LOS) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae (gonococci, GC) is involved in the interaction of GC with host cells. Deletion of the alpha-oligosaccharide (alpha-OS) moiety of LOS (lgtF mutant) significantly impairs invasion of GC into epithelial cell lines. GC opacity (Opa) proteins, such as OpaI, mediate phagocytosis and stimulate chemiluminescence responses in neutrophils in part through interaction with members of the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family, which includes CEACAM3 (CD66d), a human neutrophil specific receptor for phagocytosis of bacteria. In the present work, we examined the effects of OpaI-expressing lgtF mutant on phagocytosis by HeLa-CEACAM3 cells and chemiluminescence responses in neutrophils. The results showed that lgtF mutant even expressing OpaI completely lost the ability to promote either phagocytosis mediated by CEACAM3 interaction in HeLa cells or chemiluminescence responses in neutrophils. These data indicated that Opa proteins in the lgtF mutant, which might result from the conformational change, cannot be functional.
Antigens, Bacterial ; chemistry ; genetics ; immunology ; metabolism ; Carbohydrate Sequence ; Carcinoembryonic Antigen ; genetics ; immunology ; Gene Expression Regulation ; HeLa Cells ; Host-Pathogen Interactions ; Humans ; Lipopolysaccharides ; chemistry ; immunology ; Luminescent Measurements ; Mutation ; Neisseria gonorrhoeae ; genetics ; metabolism ; pathogenicity ; Neutrophils ; immunology ; microbiology ; Phagocytosis