OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effect of internal heat acupuncture therapy for knee osteoarthritis of early to middle stages, and explore its influence on cartilage thickness. METHODS: A total of 44 patients with knee osteoarthritis of early to middle stages were treated with internal heat acupuncture therapy at ashi points (most of them are located at the subpatellar fat pad, both sides of the patellar ligament, the tendon of the quadriceps and the attachment of the medial and lateral collateral ligaments), once a week, a total of 4 weeks of treatment. Before and after treatment, after 3 months of treatment completion (in the follow-up), the visual analogue scale (VAS) score, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index (WOMAC) score, frequency of 30-second chair stand test (30sCST), cartilage thickness of femoral intercondylar and knee joint ultrasound score were compared, and the clinical effect was evaluated. RESULTS: After treatment, the VAS、WOMAC and knee joint ultrasound scores were reduced (P<0.05), frequency of 30sCST was increased (P<0.05) compared with those before treatment; in the follow-up, the VAS、WOMAC scores were reduced (P<0.05), frequency of 30sCST and cartilage thickness of femoral intercondylar were increased (P<0.05) compared with those before treatment. After treatment, the total effective rate was 93.2% (41/44), in the follow-up, the total effective rate was 95.5% (42/44). CONCLUSION Internal heat acupuncture therapy is effective in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis of early to middle stages, could relieve the pain, improve the joint function, and delay cartilage degeneration and disease progression.
Humans ; Osteoarthritis, Knee/physiopathology* ; Male ; Female ; Middle Aged ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Aged ; Treatment Outcome ; Adult ; Acupuncture Points

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the impact of middle- and long-distance running on mental health of students in a college in Guangzhou during the COVID-19 outbreak. METHODS: We collected data using online questionnaires from the college students selected via snowball sampling. After exclusion of invalid questionnaires and matching the data of running exercise with physical test scores of the participants, 1022 questionnaires were deemed valid for analysis. Of the 1022 students, 869 completed at least a 60-km running distance each semester as required and 153 students did not complete the task. The mental health status of the students was evaluated using PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C), Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS). The scale scores were compared between the students who completed the running task and those who did not, and the factors affecting anxiety and depression were analyzed using univariate analysis and binary logistic regression. RESULTS: The students who completed the running task had significantly higher physical test scores than those who did not complete the task ( CONCLUSION Regular middleand long-distance running exercise may enhance the physical health to indirectly promote the mental health of the college students during COVID-19 outbreak.
Anxiety ; COVID-19 ; China ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Disease Outbreaks ; Humans ; Mental Health ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Students ; Surveys and Questionnaires

Objective To investigate the role and signalling of microRNA (miR)-182 on regulating high glucose-induced cardiomyocyte hypertrophy.Methods The candidates of miR which might potentially be involved on targeting Rac1 were predicted by applying bioinformatics analysis.The expression of all related candidates miRs was verified by real-time reverse transcription-PCR(RT-PCR)in cardiac tissues of db/db mice and db/m mice.Then the relationship between candidates miR and Rac1 was investigated with Pearson relevant analysis.Neonatal mice cardiomyocytes were cultured and divided into 2 groups:normal glucose group and high glucose group.The level of selected miR and Rac1 in two groups was detected by RT-PCR.Neonatal mice cardiomyocytes were then randomly divided into 4 groups:normal glucose group,selected microRNA mimics control group,high glucose group,high glucose plus selected miR mimics control group.The morphology of cardiomyocyte in each group was detected under light microscope.Furthermore,Rac1,β-MHC and α-SMA expressions were detected in cultured cardiomyocyte treated by high glucose for 48 h after transfecting selected miR mimics by RT-PCR and Western blot.Results A total of 6 miR candidates potentially targeting Rac1 were screened by bioinformatics,which were miR-182,miR-142-3p,miR-140,miR-101a,miR-429 and miR-200b.Among these candidates,miR-182 and miR-142-3p expression was significantly downregulated in cardiac tissues of db/db mice compared with db/m controls (P ＜0.05).MiR-182 was negatively correlated with Rac1 by person analysis (r =-0.891 02).Downregulation of miR-182 and upregulation of Rac1,β-MHC,α-SMA were found in high glucose-induced cardiomyocyte.After transfection of miR-182 mimics,hypertrophic changes were significantly reduced and Rac1 as well β-MHC expression was significantly downregulated in cardiomyocyte incubated with high glucose.Conclusion MiR-182 might be involved in the regulation of high glucose-induced myocardial hypertrophy process via targeting Rac1.