Application of "disharmony of stomach leads to insomnia" theory in acupuncture treatment for insomnia / 中国针灸

When looking back to the literature regarding insomnia, it is believed that "disharmony of stomach leads to insomnia" is an important mechanism for the attack of insomnia. This theory is widely accepted in clinical practices by ancient and modern acupuncturists, thus the method treating insomnia from the stomach is developed. But deeper research on its mechanism is still lacking. Through correlation between stomach meridian and heart meridian, spleen and stomach being the pivot of rise and decline of qi movement and yin-yang and being the pivot of five zang-viscera housing spirit, modern abdomen-brain theory and experimental research, the mechanism of treating insomnia from the stomach is discussed in this paper, so as to be better to guide clinical acupoint-selection and treatment.

Observation on clinical efficacy of acute pain treated with the intervention of different time of needle retention / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To compare the efficacy on acute pain treated under the different time of needle retention so as to provide the scientific evidence for the optimization of needle retention time for acupuncture analgesia.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eighty cases of acute pain (acute lumbar sprain, stiffness of neck) were randomized into 4 groups. Acupuncture was applied to all the patients. After the arrival of needling sensation, the needles were retained for 20 min, 30 min, 45 min and 60 min in different groups separately. For acute lumbar sprain, Ashi (Extra), Houxi (SI 3) and Weizhong (BL 40) were the main points. For stiffness of neck, Ashi (Extra), Fengchi (GB 20) and Lieque (LU 7) were the main points. McGill pain scale, the internationally recognized pain description and measurement was adopted to observe the indexes and record the score changes of each item of pain symptoms before and 3 months after treatment. The immediate analgesic efficacy under different time of needle retention and the longterm efficacy in follow-up visit 3 months after treatment were compared and assessed among the groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The scores of visual analogue scale (VAS) and present pain intensity (PPI) after treatment were all improved significantly as compared with those before treatment in the 4 groups (all P<0. 01), and the result in the 45 min group was superior to the other 3 groups (VAS: 2.90+/-0.87 vs 5. 52 +/-1.01, 4.45+/-0.81, 5.95+/-1.07; PPI: 1.40+/-0.21 vs 2.26+/-0.54, 2. 21+/-0. 43, 2. 28+/-0. 74, all P<0. 01). The total effective rate of the immediate analgesia was 95. 0% (19/20) in the 45 min group, which was better than that in each of the other 3 groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The 45 min of needle retention achieves the best efficacy of acupuncture analgesia in treatment of acute pain.</p>

Efficacy observation on acupuncture prescription of regulating yin-yang and five viscera for intractable insomnia / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore a more optimal therapy for intractable insomnia.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seven hundred cases of intractable insomnia that were in accordance with the criteria were randomly divided into an observation group (368 cases) and a control group (332 cases). The acupuncture prescription of regulating yin-yang and five viscera was applied in the observation group, where Dazhui (GV 14), Shenmai (BL 62), Guanyuan (CV 4), Zhaohai (KI 6), Geshu (BL 17), etc. were selected. The acupuncture prescription of tranquilizing mind was applied in the control group, where Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), Anmian (Extra), Shenmen (HT 7), Sanyin jiao (SP 6) were selected. The treatment was given once a day, ten times of which made a session. After the treatment for 4 sessions, the clinical efficacy and Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) were compared between two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total effective rate was 92.6% (338/365) in the observation group, which was superior to 73.1% (242/331) in the control group (P < 0.05). The PSQI score was obviously decreased in two groups after the treatment (both P < 0.05), in which the decreasing in the observation group was superior to that in the control group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The acupuncture prescription of regulating yin-yang and five viscera has better effect for intractable insomnia, which could be considered as a more optimal therapy.</p>

Expression and clinical significance of nuclear matrix protein 22 and cytokeratin 18 in transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder / 中华肿瘤杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the expression and clinical significance of urinary nuclear matrix protein (NMP22) and cytokeratin 18 (CK18) for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Urinary NMP22 and CK18 levels of 293 patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, 400 patients with non-transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder, and 105 bladder benign disease were analysed by enzyme-linked-immunosorbent assay (ELISA).</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The levels of urinary NMP22 and CK18 in the patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder (M = 17.3 U/ml, M(CK18) = 484.2 U/L) were significantly higher than those in the non-transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder (M = 6.8 U/ml, M(CK18) = 156.0 U/L) and the benign disease group (M(NMP22) = 2.3 U/ml, M(CK18) = 66.6 U/L) (P < 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of urinary NMP22 and CK18 were 79.2%, 88.6% and 78.2%, 82.9%, respectively, for transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder before any treatment. The joint sensitivity of the two markers was 91.7%. The NMP22 and CK18 levels were significantly lower in the recovered patients after surgical operation (P < 0.01), while in patients with recurrence or metastasis the levels of the markers were significantly higher (P < 0.01). There was a significant relationship between NMP22 and CK18, (r = 0.689, P < 0.01). The levels of urinary nmp22 and CK18 were significantly different among pathological grade G1, G2, G3, and stage Ta, T1, T2, T3 (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>NMP22 and CK18 are useful tumor marker for diagnosis of transitional cell carcinoma of the bladder and for monitoring the state of illness. The joint use of the two markers can improve the sensitivity of cancer detection. NMP22 and CK18 may become a new class of tumor markers, and to be the basis for development of a new assay with an increased efficacy for the detection and treatment of bladder cancer.</p>