OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupoint thread-embedding therapy of regulating governor vessel, dispersing lung, and suppressing reflux for gastroesophageal reflux cough (GERC). METHODS: A total of 120 GERC patients were randomly assigned to an observation group (60 cases, 1 case dropped out) and a control group (60 cases, 1 case was eliminated). The observation group received acupoint thread-embedding treatment at positive response points of governor vessel. If no such points were detected, the following acupoints were used: Dazhui (GV14), Fenghu (Extra), Shendao (GV11), Lingtai (GV10), and Zhiyang (GV9). Treatment was administered once every two weeks. The control group received oral rabeprazole enteric capsules at 20 mg twice daily. All the treatment was given for 6 weeks. Clinical outcomes were assessed using cough symptom score, reflux disease questionnaire (RDQ) score, and Leicester cough questionnaire (LCQ) score before and after treatment in the two groups. Clinical efficacy was also compared between the two groups. RESULTS: After treatment, both groups showed decreased cough symptom scores and the each item scores and total scores of RDQ (P<0.001), and increased LCQ scores (P<0.001) compare with those before treatment. The observation group exhibited lower cough symptom score and chest pain, reflux and total score of RDQ, and higher LCQ score compared to those in the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate in the observation group was 94.9% (56/59), which was higher than 84.7% (50/59) in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Acupoint thread-embedding therapy of regulating governor vessel, dispersing lung, and suppressing reflux could effectively alleviate cough and reflux symptoms in patients with GERC and improve their quality of life.
Humans ; Acupuncture Points ; Gastroesophageal Reflux/physiopathology* ; Male ; Female ; Cough/physiopathology* ; Middle Aged ; Aged ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Adult ; Treatment Outcome ; Lung/physiopathology* ; Meridians

Objective:To investigate the characteristics of bacterial community in upper gastrointestinal tumors.Methods:The study population was patients with upper gastrointestinal tumors (esophageal cancer and gastric cancer). Gastroscopy was performed on the enrolled patients ( n=17), and the specimens were taken from the tumor sites. At the same time, non-tumor tissues more than 4 cm away from the tumor tissues were taken as the control. After total DNA was extracted and purified, high-throughput 16S DNA gene sequencing was used to detect the microbiota in tumor tissues and control tissues. Bioinformatics analysis was carried out and the differences between groups were compared. Results:16S DNA PCR showed that there was no significant difference in bacterial load between tumor tissues and control tissues. The α-diversity and β-diversity indexes showed that the community composition of the two groups was similar; the samples were discrete and the colony composition was different, but there was no significant difference between the two groups. The results of Venn diagram showed that there were more operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in non-tumor tissues than in tumor tissues (2 068 vs 1 358), indicating that the bacterial species in normal tissues were more abundant than those in tumor tissues. Compared with the control tissues, the percentages of Prevotellaceae ( Prevotella), Lactobacaceae ( Lactobacillus) and Fusobacteriaceae ( Fusobacterium) in tumor tissues were relatively higher (the average percentage was more than twice that of the control). Further paired comparison of the top ten bacteria in the family and genus abundance of the two groups of samples showed that Pseudomonas decreased significantly in tumor tissues at the family ( P=0.041) and genus ( P=0.041) levels, while Prevotella was significantly enriched in tumor tissues at the family ( P=0.031) and genus ( P=0.007) levels. Conclusions:The bacterial community in the tumor microenvironment of the upper gastrointestinal tumor changed, and the species enriched in the tumor site were mainly oral common anaerobic bacteria, such as Prevotellaceae ( Prevotella), Lactobacaceae ( Lactobacillus) and Fusobacteriaceae ( Fusobacterium), especially Prevotellaceae ( Prevotella).

Sulforaphane (SFN), a natural anti-tumor compound from cruciferous vegetables, has been reported to induce protective autophagy to cancer cells, which might impair the anti-tumor efficiency of SFN. However, the accurate function and mechanism of SFN inducing autophagy in cancers are still obscure, especially in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), one of malignancies with high incidence in North China. Here, we mainly explored the potential function of autophagy upon SFN treatment in ESCC and molecular mechanism. We demonstrated that SFN could inhibit cell proliferation and induce apoptosis by activating caspase pathway. Moreover, we found activation of NRF2 pathway by SFN was responsible for the induction of autophagy and also a disadvantage element to the anti-tumor effects of SFN on ESCC, indicating that SFN might induce protective autophagy in ESCC. We, therefore, investigated effects of autophagy inhibition on sensitivity of ESCC cells to SFN and found that chloroquine (CQ) could neutralize the activation of SFN on NRF2 and enhance the activation of SFN on caspase pathway, thus improved the anti-tumor efficiency of SFN on ESCC

Objective: To investigate the survival status and influencing factors of HIV/AIDS patients after receiving highly active antiretroviral therapy（HAART）in Shangluo,Shaanxi Province,so as to provide evidence for improving the effect of HAART. Methods: HIV/AIDS patients who received HAART for the first time in Shangluo from 2010 to 2018 were investigated. Life table method was used to analyze the survival rate,mortality rate and median survival time of the subjects. A proportional hazards model was used to analyze the influencing factors for the survival time of HIV/AIDS patients. Results: A total of 286 HIV/AIDS patients were collected,and 27 of them died of AIDS. After HAART,the 1-year,cumulative survival rates of less than 1 year,4 years and 8 years were 93.95%,89.71% and 88.39%,respectively. The results of multivariate proportional hazards regression analysis showed that the patients aged 30 years when first received HAART had higher risk of death than those aged 18-29 years（RR：4.208-24.095,95%CI：1.219-79.491）;patients with AIDS had higher risk of death than those with HIV（RR=38.590, 95%CI：15.451-96.382）;patients by homosexual transmission（RR=3.425,95%CI：1.385-8.470）and non-sexual transmission（RR=10.299,95%CI：3.602-29.446）had higher risk of death than those by heterosexual transmission;patients with baseline CD4+T lymphocytes number of 200/μL and more（RR：0.133-0.170,95%CI：0.048-0.604）had lower risk of death than those with less than 200/μL. Conclusions The survival rate of HIV/AIDS patients in Shangluo after receiving HAART is relatively high. Age at the start of treatment,course of disease,route of infection and the number of CD4+T lymphocytes at baseline are the influencing factors of survival time.

Objective To understand the iodine nutritional status and thyroid function of different populations after 20 years of universal salt iodization in iodine deficiency area of Shanxi Province, and to provide data support for scientific iodine supplementation according to local conditions. Methods In 2014, six townships (Chengguan, Dadeng, Dengzhuang, Gucheng, Xiangling and Fencheng townships) in Xiangfen County, Linfen City, Shanxi Province, were selected as the place of investigation. Four hundred school-age children aged 6 - 12 years (school-age children), 400 child-bearing women aged 18 - 44 (child-bearing women), 400 pregnant women, 400 lactating women and their 0 - 6 months breast-feeding infants (breast-feeding infants), and 400 children aged 7 -24 months were selected by two-stage sampling method. Water samples of school-age children's domestic drinking water and salt samples for domestic consumption were collected, and the water iodine and salt iodine were detected by arsenic and cerium catalytic spectrophotometry ( recommended by the National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Reference Laboratory) and "General Test Method in Salt Industry-Determination of Iodine" (GB/T 13025.7-2012). Random urine samples of all subjects were collected, urine iodine was detected by "Method for Determination of Iodine in Urine by As3+-Ce4+ Catalytic Spectrophotometry" ( WS/T 107-2006 ) . Samples of filter paper dried blood spots (DBS) of school-age children, child-bearing women, pregnant women, lactating women and breast-feeding infants were collected, and serum total thyroxine (TT4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) levels were detected by time-resolved fluorescence immunoassay. Results A total of 290 water samples were collected, and the median of water iodine was 9.37μg/L. A total of 406 salt samples were collected, the median of salt iodine was 25.0 mg/kg, the coverage rate of iodized salt was 98.52％ (400/406), and the consumption rate of qualified iodized salt was 92.61％ (376/406). Urine samples of 389 school-age children, 379 child-bearing women, 363 pregnant women, 365 lactating women, 366 breast-feeding infants, and 366 children aged 7 - 24 months were collected, and the medians of urine iodine were 200.7, 175.0, 186.0, 113.2, 285.8 and 204.8 μg/L, respectively. Among them, school-age children, breast-feeding infants, and children aged 7-24 months were over the appropriate level, while the rest populations were at the iodine appropriate levels. Blood samples of 402 school-age children, 397 child-bearing women, 398 pregnant women, 390 lactating women, and 386 breast-feeding infants were collected, and the medians of TT4 were 127.2, 110.2, 141.7, 95.8 and 139.0 nmol/L, respectively; the medians of TSH were 1.2, 0.9, 0.8, 0.9 and 0.9 mU/L, respectively, and they were all within the reference ranges. The abnormal rates of TT4 (8.46％, 33/390) and TSH (7.95％, 31/390) in lactating women were higher than those in school-age children, child-bearing women, pregnant women and breast-feeding infants [TT4 abnormal rates were 0.25％(1/402), 1.26％ (5/397), 0.50％ (2/398), 1.04％ (4/386), respectively; TSH abnormal rates were 1.24％ (5/402), 1.51％ (6/397), 1.51％ (6/398) and 0.78％ (3/386), respectively, P < 0.05]. The rate of thyroid dysfunction in lactating women (7.95％, 31/390) was higher than those in the rest populations [1.24％ (5/402), 1.51％ (6/397), 1.51％ (6/398), 0.78％ (3/386), P < 0.05]. Conclusions The iodine intake of different populations in the survey area is generally sufficient, and the current salt iodine content standard can meet the iodine nutrition needs of different populations. Lactating women have a high rate of thyroid dysfunction. It is suggested to stick to the strategy of universal salt iodization to prevent iodine deficiency hazards in iodine deficiency areas, and further strengthen the monitoring of iodine nutrition and thyroid function of pregnant women and lactating women.

Objective To evaluate the effects of prevention and control measures on coal-burning-borne endemic fluorosis in Shanxi Province, and to provide a scientific basis for further prevention and treatment of the disease. Methods In 2016, 7 diseased counties (cities) were selected in the whole province, three diseased townships were selected in each county(city), and five diseased villages were selected in each diseased township as the investigation sites. The investigation was carried out on the changes of improved stove and correct usage of the improved stove, and the correct drying behavior related to the corn and pepper for human consumption. Children aged 8 to 12 were examined dental fluorosis. In each village, 20 urine samples of 8 to 12 years old children were collected for fluorine determination. Urine fluoride was determined via the fluoride ion selective electrode method, and children dental fluorosis was diagnosed by "Diagnosis of Dental Fluorosis" method (WS/T 208-2011). Results Altogether 105 villages were investigated, including 31 696 households. The rates of the improved stove and the correct usage of the improved stove were 98.46%(31 209/31 696)and 98.80%(30 834/31 209);the correct drying rate related to the corn and pepper for human consumption was 99.97%(31 685/31 696);the dental fluorosis rate of 8 to 12 years old children,and the dental fluorosis index were 5.56%(264/4 751) and 0.13. The urine fluoride content was between 0.15 - 4.33 mg/L and the geometric mean value of fluoride content was 0.72 mg/L. Conclusions The prevention and control effect is obvious on coal-burning-borne endemic fluorosis in Shanxi Province. Disease surveillance,health education,the management and maintenance work of defluoridation stoves are keys in prevention of coal-burning-borne endemic fluorosis.

Objective To evaluate the effect of water improvement projects on drinking-water-borne endemic arsenism in Shanxi Province,to work out and refine sustainable prevention and control strategies.Methods The operating situation of water-improvement projects was investigated and monitored,and the arsenic content in drinking water was determined in drinking-water-borne arseniasis areas,which including 14 monitored sites in 5 countries from 2012 to 2017.The condition of arsenic poisoning in the resident population of the monitored sites was investigated and the arsenic content in the urine of patients was determined.Results Totally 14 monitored sites were already finished water improvement,the rate of water-improvement was 100％.Totally 11 water-improvement projects were monitored,including 7 small-scale water-improvement projects and 4 large-scale water-improvement projects,which all qualified and operated normally from 2012 to 2015.In 2016,one water-improvement project was found with excessive level (＞ 0.01 mg/L) of arsenic in drinking water in Shanyin County,and the other 10 water-improvement projects' arsenic contents were qualified.In 2017,two unqualified large-scale water-improvement projects had water arsenic content over (＞ 0.01 mg/L) in Shanyin County and Ying County,respectively.And the other 9 water-improvement projects were qualified.The detection rates of arsenic poisoning from 2012 to 2017 were 1.36％ (104/7 641),1.57％ (123/7 832),1.61％ (123/7 621),1.53％ (120/7 857),1.28％ (102/7 963) and 1.56％ (124/7 958),respectively,and the differences were not statistically significant (x2 =4.979 9,P ＞0.05).Most patients with arsenic poisoning were mild to moderate patients,accounted for 82.61％ (575/696) and no new case was detected.Conclusions Arsenic poisoning in drinking-water-borne arseniasis areas in Shanxi Province has been controlled.Natural operation of water-improvement projects has kept water arsenic levels normal.Water arsenic content has exceeded the standard in some of the water-improvement projects.The key point of next stage is strengthen the management of water improvement projects in prevention and treatment of drinking-water type endemic arsenism.

Objective To master the iodine nutritional status of residents and to evaluate the effect of iodine nutrition improvement on residents health after the adjustment of salt iodine concentration. Methods According to the method of population proportion sampling, 30 county-level monitoring sites were selected in 2014, a primary school was selected from each county (city, district) by the method of simple random sampling and 50 students aged 8 - 10 (half males and half females) were selected in each school, B ultrasound was used to detect thyroid volume, arsenic cerium catalytic spectrophotometry (WS/T 107-2006) was used to detect urinary iodine, direct titration was used to detect salt iodine; At the same time, 20 pregnant women were selected from each town and urinary iodine was determined. All results were compared with the results of 2011 to evaluate the effect of iodine nutrition improvement on resident's health after the adjustment of salt iodine concentration. Results A total of 1 437 edible salt samples were tested, the median of salt iodine concentration was 24.1 mg/kg. Based on the new standard (18 - 33 mg/kg), the coverage rate of iodized salt was 95.4%(1 371/1 437), the qualified rate of iodized salt was 80.3%(1 101/1 371), the consumption rate of qualified iodized salt was 76.6% (1 101/1 437). A total of 1 496 urine samples of children and 630 urine samples of pregnant women were tested, the median of urinary iodine of children and pregnant women was 224.6 and 177.1 μg/L, respectively, which were significantly lower than those of 2011 (274.6, 279.6μg/L), the differences were statistically significant (H=70.10, 153.50, all P<0.05). The proportion of counties which iodine nutrition of children and pregnant women in suitable range was 36.7% (11/30) and 56.7% (17/30), which were higher than those of 2011 [6.5%(2/31), 25.8%(8/31)], the differences were statistically significant (χ2 = 7.88, 5.00, all P < 0.05). Totally 1 552 children were examined thyroid in Shanxi Province, the rate of goiter was 4.4% (69/1 552). Conclusion The new standard of iodine concentration makes it possible to maintain a sustainable elimination of iodine deficiency disorders, and it can improve the iodine nutrition of children aged 8-10 years and pregnant women to more reasonable level.