OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether electroacupuncture (EA) at sensitized acupoints could reduce sympathetic-sensory coupling (SSC) and neurogenic inflammatory response by interfering with 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)ergic neural pathways to relieve colitis and somatic referred pain, and explore the underlying mechanisms. METHODS: Rats were treated with 5% dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) solution for 7 days to establish a colitis model. Twelve rats were randomly divided into the control and model groups according to a random number table (n=6). According to the "Research on Rat Acupoint Atlas", sensitized acupoints and non-sensitized acupoints were determined. Rats were randomly divided into the control, model, Zusanli-EA (ST 36), Dachangshu-EA (BL 25), and Xinshu (BL 15) groups (n=6), as well as the control, model, EA, and EA + GR113808 (a 5-HT inhibitor) groups (n=6). The rats in the control group received no treatment. Acupuncture was administered on 2 days after modeling using the stimulation pavameters: 1 mA, 2 Hz, for 30 min, with sparse and dense waves, for 14 consecutive days. GR113808 was injected into the tail vein at 5 mg/kg before EA for 10 min for 7 consecutive days. Mechanical sensitivity was assessed with von Frey filaments. Body weight and disease activity index (DAI) scores of rats were determined. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was performed to observe colon histopathology. SSC was analyzed by immunofluorescence staining. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect 5-HT and substance P (SP) expressions. The calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in skin tissue and tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) protein levels in DRG were detected by Western blot. The levels of hyaluronic acid (HA), bradykinin (BK), prostaglandin I2 (PGI2) in skin tissue, 5-HT, tryptophan hydroxylase 1 (TPH1), serotonin transporters (SERT), 5-HT 3 receptor (5-HT3R), and 5-HT 4 receptor (5-HT4R) in colon tissue were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). RESULTS: BL 25 and ST 36 acupoints were determined as sensitized acupoints, and BL 15 acupoint was used as a non-sensitized acupoint. EA at sensitized acupoints improved the DAI score, increased mechanical withdrawal thresholds, and alleviated colonic pathological damage of rats. EA at sensitized acupoints reduced SSC structures and decreased TH and CGRP expression levels (P<0.05). Furthermore, EA at sensitized acupoints reduced BK, PGI2, 5-HT, 5-HT3R and TPH1 levels, and increased HA, 5-HT4R and SERT levels in colitis rats (P<0.05). GR113808 treatment diminished the protective effect of EA at sensitized acupoints in colitis rats (P<0.05). CONCLUSION EA at sensitized acupoints alleviated DSS-induced somatic referred pain in colitis rats by interfering with 5-HTergic neural pathway, and reducing SSC inflammatory response.
Rats ; Animals ; Electroacupuncture ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Serotonin ; Acupuncture Points ; Pain, Referred ; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide ; Signal Transduction ; Colitis/therapy* ; Indoles ; Sulfonamides

The identification of suitable seed cells represents a critical scientific problem to be solved in the field of oral and maxillofacial bone tissue regeneration. The application of adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) in tissue and organ repair and regeneration has been studied extensively. In recent years, dedifferentiated fat (DFAT) cells have also shown broad application prospects in the field of bone tissue engineering. DFAT cells express stem cell-related markers and have the potential to differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts, chondrocytes, nerve cells, cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells. In addition, DFAT cells also have the advantages of minimally invasive acquisition, strong proliferation and high homogeneity. Currently, all studies involving the application of DFAT cells in scaffold-based and scaffold-free bone tissue engineering can confirm their effectiveness in promoting bone regeneration. However, cytological research still faces some challenges, including relatively low cell culture purity, unclear phenotypic characteristics and undefined dedifferentiation mechanisms. It is believed that with the continuous development and improvement of isolation, culture, identification and directional induction of osteogenic differentiation methods, DFAT cells are expected to become excellent seed cells in the field of oral and maxillofacial bone tissue engineering in the future.

Tricuspid regurgitation(TR)is a common heart valve disease.According to the pathogenesis,TR can be divided into primary(organic)and secondary(functional)regurgitation,of which functional TR accounts for more than 90%.Patients with severe TR have poor prognosis and poor drug treatment,and surgery(valvuloplasty)is the main treatment.At present,transcatheter edge-to-edge tricuspid valve repair(T-TEER)has become an essential program of transcatheter treatment for TR,providing minimally invasive treatment for TR patients who cannot undergo surgery or are at high risk of surgery.T-TEER reduces the degree of regurgitation by clamping leaflets,and is currently in the early stage of research and development exploration and clinical validation,mainly for functional TR.T-TEER devices have also made significant progress(TriClip,PASCAL),and Chinese-made novel-designed T-TEER devices are also undergoing clinical trials(DragonFly-TTM,SQ-Kyrin-TTM,NeoBlazarTM).This paper reviews the current applications and research progress of T-TEER.

Objective:To study the clinical characteristics and management strategies of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in high-altitude areas.Methods:An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in 79 stable COPD patients who visited the outpatient of Respiratory Medicine at Tibet Autonomous Region People′s Hospital and Peking University Third Hospital from August 3 rd 2020 to November 30 th 2020. Patients were divided into Lhasa group ( n=44) and Beijing group ( n=35). The differences of clinical characteristics including demographic characteristics, risk factors, respiratory symptoms, comorbidities, medications and spirometry were analyzed. Further comparative analysis was conducted on the clinical characteristics of smokers ( n=15) and non-smokers ( n=29) in Lhasa group. Results:The proportion of female patients and biofuel exposure in Lhasa group was significantly higher than Beijing group (56.8% vs 0, 86.4% vs 0, both P<0.001). The proportion of smokers in Lhasa group was significantly lower than Beijing group (34.1% vs 100%, P<0.001). The mean score of COPD assessment test (CAT) in Lhasa group was significantly higher than Beijing group (21.27 vs 9.17, P<0.001). The proportion of acute exacerbations ≥2 in the past year in Lhasa group was significantly higher than Beijing group (31.8% vs 11.4%, P=0.032). The median percentage of forced vital capacity in the first second of predicted value (FEV 1%pred) of patients in Lhasa group was significantly higher than Beijing group (63% vs 38%, P<0.001). The proportion of patients treated by inhaled corticosteroid/long-acting β 2-agonist (ICS/LABA) and inhaled long-acting muscarinic antagonists (LAMA) in Lhasa group was significantly lower than Beijing group (4.5% vs 60.0%, 0 vs 65.7%, both P<0.001). There were no significant differences in CAT score, number of acute exacerbations in the past year and lung function between smokers and non-smokers in Lhasa group. Conclusions:Compared with those patients in Beijing, the majority of patients with COPD living in Lhasa are female, with a low proportion of smokers and a high proportion of biofuel exposure. Although their lung function is better, their respiratory symptoms are more severe with more acute exacerbations in the past year, and most patients do not receive standardized medication.

The identification of suitable seed cells represents a critical scientific problem to be solved in the field of oral and maxillofacial bone tissue regeneration.The application of adipose-derived stem cells(ASCs)in tissue and organ repair and regeneration has been studied extensively.In recent years,dedifferentiated fat(DFAT)cells have also shown broad application prospects in the field of bone tissue engineering.DFAT cells express stem cell-related markers and have the potential to differentiate into adipocytes,osteoblasts,chondrocytes,nerve cells,cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells.In addition,DFAT cells also have the advantages of minimally invasive acquisition,strong proliferation and high homogeneity.Currently,all studies involving the application of DFAT cells in scaffold-based and scaffold-free bone tis-sue engineering can confirm their effectiveness in promoting bone regeneration.However,cytological research still faces some challenges,including relatively low cell culture purity,unclear phenotypic characteristics and undefined dediffer-entiation mechanisms.It is believed that with the continuous development and improvement of isolation,culture,identi-fication and directional induction of osteogenic differentiation methods,DFAT cells are expected to become excellent seed cells in the field of oral and maxillofacial bone tissue engineering in the future.

The identification of suitable seed cells represents a critical scientific problem to be solved in the field of oral and maxillofacial bone tissue regeneration.The application of adipose-derived stem cells(ASCs)in tissue and organ repair and regeneration has been studied extensively.In recent years,dedifferentiated fat(DFAT)cells have also shown broad application prospects in the field of bone tissue engineering.DFAT cells express stem cell-related markers and have the potential to differentiate into adipocytes,osteoblasts,chondrocytes,nerve cells,cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells.In addition,DFAT cells also have the advantages of minimally invasive acquisition,strong proliferation and high homogeneity.Currently,all studies involving the application of DFAT cells in scaffold-based and scaffold-free bone tis-sue engineering can confirm their effectiveness in promoting bone regeneration.However,cytological research still faces some challenges,including relatively low cell culture purity,unclear phenotypic characteristics and undefined dediffer-entiation mechanisms.It is believed that with the continuous development and improvement of isolation,culture,identi-fication and directional induction of osteogenic differentiation methods,DFAT cells are expected to become excellent seed cells in the field of oral and maxillofacial bone tissue engineering in the future.

ObjectiveTaking the oligosaccharides in Rehmanniae Radix（RR） as the research object， the content determination method based on high performance liquid chromatography-evaporative light scattering detection（HPLC-ELSD） and thin layer chromatography（TLC） identification method were established to explore the content and distribution of oligosaccharides in different RR herbs and decoction pieces. MethodA total of 10 batches of fresh and raw RR， 12 batches of RR decoction pieces and Rehmanniae Radix Praeparata（RRP） were collected. A TLC identification method for fructose， sucrose， manninotriose， raffinose and stachyose in RR was established by using silica gel G thin-layer plates with ethyl acetate-water-anhydrous formic acid-glacial acetic acid（12∶6∶5∶4） as the developing agent and 10% sulfuric acid-ethanol solution as chromogenic agent. A HPLC-ELSD was used to determine the contents of fructose， glucose， sucrose， melibiose， raffinose， manninotriose and stachyose in different RR herbs and decoction pieces. Then principal component analysis（PCA） and partial least squares-discriminant analysis（PLS-DA） were used to analyze the contents of 7 kinds of saccharides in RR herbs and decoction pieces， and the differential components were screened with the value of variable importance in the projection（VIP）>1. ResultThe results of TLC identification showed that fresh RR， raw RR and its decoction pieces showed spots of the same color on the corresponding positions with the control products of stachyose， raffinose and sucrose， while the TLC of RRP showed spots of the same color at corresponding positions to manninotriose and fructose controls. The results of methodological investigations of 7 analytes met the requirements of determination. Only glucose， sucrose， raffinose and stachyose were detected in 10 batches of fresh RR and 10 batches of raw RR herbs， the average contents of which were 0.84%， 4.62%， 2.42% and 57.90% in fresh samples， while those were 3.16%， 9.36%， 7.05% and 38.10% in raw samples， respectively. In 12 batches of RR decoction pieces， the contents of the above seven sugars（fructose， glucose， sucrose， melibiose， raffinose， manninotriose and stachyose） were 1.68%， 4.27%， 9.96%， 0.53%， 6.85%， 3.05% and 37.52%， respectively. In 12 batches of RRP， the contents of the above seven sugars were 10.62%， 11.01%， 1.25%， 3.35%， 1.12%， 28.16% and 6.39%， respectively. The results of multivariate statistical analysis showed that fresh RR， raw RR and RRP could be distinguished from each other by the contents of the 7 sugars， and the main differential components were stachyose， sucrose， raffinose and manninotriose. ConclusionIn terms of oligosaccharides， the contents and types of saccharides in different herbs and decoction pieces of RR are quite different， and the TLC identification method based on this can be used to distinguish raw RR from RRP， which can lay a foundation for improving the quality standard of RR and developing and applying oligosaccharides in different processed products of RR.

The identification of suitable seed cells represents a critical scientific problem to be solved in the field of oral and maxillofacial bone tissue regeneration.The application of adipose-derived stem cells(ASCs)in tissue and organ repair and regeneration has been studied extensively.In recent years,dedifferentiated fat(DFAT)cells have also shown broad application prospects in the field of bone tissue engineering.DFAT cells express stem cell-related markers and have the potential to differentiate into adipocytes,osteoblasts,chondrocytes,nerve cells,cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells.In addition,DFAT cells also have the advantages of minimally invasive acquisition,strong proliferation and high homogeneity.Currently,all studies involving the application of DFAT cells in scaffold-based and scaffold-free bone tis-sue engineering can confirm their effectiveness in promoting bone regeneration.However,cytological research still faces some challenges,including relatively low cell culture purity,unclear phenotypic characteristics and undefined dediffer-entiation mechanisms.It is believed that with the continuous development and improvement of isolation,culture,identi-fication and directional induction of osteogenic differentiation methods,DFAT cells are expected to become excellent seed cells in the field of oral and maxillofacial bone tissue engineering in the future.

The identification of suitable seed cells represents a critical scientific problem to be solved in the field of oral and maxillofacial bone tissue regeneration.The application of adipose-derived stem cells(ASCs)in tissue and organ repair and regeneration has been studied extensively.In recent years,dedifferentiated fat(DFAT)cells have also shown broad application prospects in the field of bone tissue engineering.DFAT cells express stem cell-related markers and have the potential to differentiate into adipocytes,osteoblasts,chondrocytes,nerve cells,cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells.In addition,DFAT cells also have the advantages of minimally invasive acquisition,strong proliferation and high homogeneity.Currently,all studies involving the application of DFAT cells in scaffold-based and scaffold-free bone tis-sue engineering can confirm their effectiveness in promoting bone regeneration.However,cytological research still faces some challenges,including relatively low cell culture purity,unclear phenotypic characteristics and undefined dediffer-entiation mechanisms.It is believed that with the continuous development and improvement of isolation,culture,identi-fication and directional induction of osteogenic differentiation methods,DFAT cells are expected to become excellent seed cells in the field of oral and maxillofacial bone tissue engineering in the future.

The identification of suitable seed cells represents a critical scientific problem to be solved in the field of oral and maxillofacial bone tissue regeneration.The application of adipose-derived stem cells(ASCs)in tissue and organ repair and regeneration has been studied extensively.In recent years,dedifferentiated fat(DFAT)cells have also shown broad application prospects in the field of bone tissue engineering.DFAT cells express stem cell-related markers and have the potential to differentiate into adipocytes,osteoblasts,chondrocytes,nerve cells,cardiomyocytes and endothelial cells.In addition,DFAT cells also have the advantages of minimally invasive acquisition,strong proliferation and high homogeneity.Currently,all studies involving the application of DFAT cells in scaffold-based and scaffold-free bone tis-sue engineering can confirm their effectiveness in promoting bone regeneration.However,cytological research still faces some challenges,including relatively low cell culture purity,unclear phenotypic characteristics and undefined dediffer-entiation mechanisms.It is believed that with the continuous development and improvement of isolation,culture,identi-fication and directional induction of osteogenic differentiation methods,DFAT cells are expected to become excellent seed cells in the field of oral and maxillofacial bone tissue engineering in the future.