OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy and safety of automatic pressure-controlled pressure cupping in patients with lumbar disc herniation, and compare it with traditional cupping. METHODS: A total of 100 patients diagnosed with lumbar disc herniation from January 2022 to August 2024 were selected and divided into two groups:the automatic pressure-controlled pressure cupping group (controlled pressure cupping group) and the traditional cupping group (control group), 50 cases in each group. In the controlled pressure cupping group, there were 18 males and 32 females, with an age of (51.98±12.69) years;in the control group, there were 16 males and 34 females, with an age of (51.32±12.05) years. The visual analogue scale(VAS), comfort score, and lumbar range of motion were observed before treatment and after the 1st, 3rd, and 7th treatments to evaluate the efficacy and safety. RESULTS: All patients completed the treatment intervention, with complete follow-up data collected. No adverse reactions or complications occurred during treatment and follow-up. After the 3rd treatment, the VAS score of the controlled pressure cupping group was (2.38±0.49), which was lower than that of the control group (2.94±0.68), with a statistically significant difference (P<0.001). In the controlled pressure cupping group, the VAS scores after the 1st, 3rd, and 7th treatments were significantly better than those before treatment (P=0.026);in the control group, the VAS scores after the 3rd and 7th treatments were better than those before treatment, but the difference was not statistically significant(P=0.182). Repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) on VAS scores at different time points in both groups showed that there were statistically significant differences in inter-group, time, and interaction effects (P<0.05). After the 1st treatment, in the controlled pressure cupping group, 0 patients felt comfortable, 42 patients (84%) felt mild discomfort, and 8 patients (16%) felt moderate discomfort;in the control group, 0 patients felt comfortable, 28 patients (56%) felt mild discomfort, and 22 patients(44%) felt moderate discomfort;the difference between the two groups was statistically significant(P=0.005). After the 3rd treatment, in the controlled pressure cupping group, 30 patients(60%) felt comfortable, 20 patients (40%) felt mild discomfort, and 0 patients felt moderate discomfort; in the control group, 9 patients (18%) felt comfortable, 41 patients (82%) felt mild discomfort, and 0 patients felt moderate discomfort;the difference between the two groups was statistically significant(P<0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in comfort between the two groups after the 7th treatment(P>0.001). There was no statistically significant difference in lumbar range of motion between the two groups before and after treatment(P>0.05);compared with before treatment, the lumbar range of motion of both groups after treatment was significantly improved, with statistically significant differences (P<0.001). CONCLUSION Automatic pressure-controlled pressure cupping can effectively relieve symptoms in patients with lumbar disc herniation, with excellent safety.
Humans ; Female ; Male ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement/physiopathology* ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Lumbar Vertebrae/physiopathology* ; Cupping Therapy/methods* ; Pressure ; Aged ; Treatment Outcome

ObjectiveTo explore the mechanism of Didangtang （DDT） against the inflammatory cascade triggered by foam cell pyroptosis in high-glucose environment. MethodOxidized low density lipoprotein （ox-LDL， 100 mg·L^-1） was used to induce pyroptosis of foam cells. The control group （5.5 mmol·L^-1 glucose）， foam cell group （100 mg·L^-1 ox-LDL）， high-glucose group （33.3 mmol·L^-1 glucose）， DDT group （10% DDT-containing serum）， and NOD-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 （NLRP3） inhibitor group （MCC950， 10 nmmol·L^-1） were designed. The cell membrane damage was observed by lactate dehydrogenase （LDH） release assay. The expression of cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinase-1 （Caspase-1） was detected by immunofluorescence method， and expression of key proteins NLRP3， Caspase-1， gastermin D （GSDMD）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， and interleukin-18 （IL-18） in the pyroptosis pathway was determined by Western blot. The release of IL-18 and IL-1β， monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 （MCP-1）， and tumor necrosis factor α （TNF-α） in cell supernatant was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. ResultThe expression of NLRP3， Caspase-1， and GSDMD was up-regulated （P<0.01） and the release of IL-1β， IL-18， MCP-1， IL-1α， and TNF-α was increased （P<0.01） in foam cell group compared with those in the control group. The expression of NLRP3， Caspase-1， and GSDMD was higher （P<0.01） and the release of inflammatory factors was more （P<0.01） in the high-glucose group than in the foam cell group. DDT and MCC950 can inhibit expression of NLRP3， Caspase-1， GSDMD and reduce the release of IL-1β， IL-18， MCP-1， IL-1α， and TNF-α. ConclusionDDT can suppress the pyroptosis of foam cells induced by NLRP3/Caspase-1 pathway in high-glucose environment and thereby alleviate the inflammatory cascade.

Objective:To explore the progression of diabetic macrovascular disease and the effects of Didangtang at different doses on it. Method:Four-week-old male apolipoprotein-E knockout （ApoE^-/-） mice with diabetic macrovascular disease induced by exposure to high-fat diet combined with streptozotocin （STZ） were randomly divided into the model， simvastatin， as well as high-， medium-， and low-dose Didangtang groups. The age-matched ApoE^-/- mice of the same batch only fed with a high-fat diet were classified into the ApoE^-/- （model control） group， and C57BL/6 mice with the same genetic background receiving a regular diet into the normal group. The sampling was conducted at the 8th and 20th weeks of the experiment for observing the pathological characteristics of the aorta and the proportion of plaque area in mice of each group at different time points， followed by the comparison of blood glucose， blood lipid， and oxidized low-density lipoprotein （ox-LDL） levels. The aortic NOD-like receptor protein 3 （NLRP3） and cysteinyl aspartate-specific proteinase-1 （Caspase-1） protein expression was detected by Western blot assay， and the serum interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， interleukin-18 （IL-18）， interleukin-1α （IL-1α）， and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α） levels by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay （ELISA）. Result:The comparison with the normal group revealed that the proportions of plaque area in the ApoE^-/- group and the model group were increased （P<0.01）， while the proportion of plaque area in each administration group was significantly reduced in contrast to that of the model group （P<0.05）. The aortic NLRP3 and Caspase-1 protein expression levels as well as the serum IL-1β， IL-18， IL-1α， and TNF-α levels in the ApoE^-/- group and the model group were significantly higher than those in the normal group （P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， each administration group exhibited a significant reduction in aortic NLRP3 and Caspase-1 protein expression and serum IL-1β， IL-18， IL-1α， and TNF-α levels （P<0.05）， with the strongest inhibitory effect detected in the medium-dose Didangtang group （P<0.05）. Conclusion:Didangtang directly alleviates diabetic macrovascular disease possibly by down-regulating NLRP3 and Caspase-1 protein expression and easing the inflammatory cascade.

Objective To study high-quality and high efficient meshing methods for skeleton. Methods Based on characteristics of bone structure, the mesh generation technology of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was applied in mesh generation for bone biomechanics. Hexahedron elements and tetrahedron elements were used to simulate cortical bone and cancellous bone, respectively. Results By using CFD mesh generation technology, high-quality hexahedral elements could be obtained, the structure characteristics of skeleton could be preferably simulated, and computer automatic meshing could be implemented. The amount of time for meshing bones by the new method was only about 1/5 of that by the traditional method, and the calculation results obtained from the finite element model were basically consistent with the results from the cadaver experiment. Conclusions The CFD mesh generation technology can be applied in the field of bone biomechanics, which provides an effective approach to reconstruct complex human skeleton.

Objective To investigate the relationships between baseline R2? of blood oxygenation level-dependent magnetic resonance imaging(BOLD-MRI) and Semi-quantitative parameters of dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging(DCE-MRI) in cervical cancer,to lay a foundation for the further development of assessing tumor hypoxia techniques. Methods Twenty-four patients with cervical cancer were subjected to DCE-MRI and BOLD-MRI before treatment,Semi-quantitative parameters(SI-I、MER、Tmax、IAUC) of DCE-MRI and the baseline R2?of BOLD-MRI produced by special post-processing softwares,the relationships between baseline R2?of BOLD-MRI and Semi-quantitative parameters of DCE-MRI were analyzed. Results Significant positive correlations were observed between baseline R2?and Tmax(r=0.423,P=0.014),there were no correlation between baseline R2? and SI-I、MER or IAUC(P>0.05). Conclusion Semi-quantitative parameters of DCE-MRI and baseline R2? of BOLD-MRI respectively reflected the oxygenation of tumor in different principle. The combined use of the above parameters is expected to improve the performance for defining tumor hypoxia.

Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Aging ; Female ; Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary ; methods ; Hip Fractures ; pathology ; physiopathology ; surgery ; therapy ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Reconstructive Surgical Procedures ; methods ; Recovery of Function ; Treatment Outcome