Effect of penetrating needling at head acupoints on perennial allergic rhinitis / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effects and safety of penetrating needling on head acupoints for perennial allergic rhinitis (PAR).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Eighty-one cases of PAR were randomly divided into an acupuncture group (41 cases) and a medication group (40 cases). Penetrating needling at head acupoints was adopted from Baihui (GV 20) to Qianding (GV 21) and from Shangxing (GV 23) to Shenting (GV 24) in the acupuncture group. A to tal 4-week treatment was given to the patients with 3 treatments a week. Loratadine tablet and azelastine hydrochloride nasal spray were given to the medication group continuously for 12 days. A follow-up was carried out 3 months after the treatment. The efficacy, symptom score and physical sign score, and side accidents were observed in both groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total effective rate was 95.1% (39/41) in the acupuncture group, which was better than 82.5% (33/40) in the medication group (P < 0.05). The total scores of clinical symptoms and each partial scores after the treatment, and total scores of clinical symptoms in follow-up were obviously decreased in both groups (all P < 0.01), the nasal obstruction score and the total scores of clinical symptoms in the acupuncture group were better than those in the medication group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). Obvious side-effect had not been found during the treatment.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Penetrating needling at head acupoints is a safe therapy for patients with PAR, and favorable effects can be found in both short term and long term.</p>

Observation on therapeutic effect of acupuncture combined with medicine on mild cognition disorders in patients with post-stroke / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the curative effect and safety of acupuncture for mild cognitive disorders after stroke.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Randomized controlled trial was adopted and one hundred cases conforming to criteria were divided into a combined acupuncture and medication group (group A) and a medication group (group B), 50 cases in each group. The basic treatment of cerebrovascular disease was applied in two groups. The group A treated was with acupuncture at Baihui (GV 20), Shenting (GV 24) and Qucha (BL 4) etc. and oral administration of Nimodipine. In group B, Nimodipine was taken orally. The treatment lasted for 3 months, the scores of Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), modified Hasegawa Dementia Scale (HDS-R) and Barthel Index (BI) were observed before and after treatment in two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total effective rate in group A was 66.7% (32/48), which was superior to 30.4% (14/46) in group B (P < 0.05). The scores of MMSE, HDS-R and BI after treatment were apparently improved as compared with those before treatment in two groups (all P < 0.01). The improvements in group A were superior to those in group B (all P < 0.05). There was no adverse event reported during the treatment in two groups.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Acupuncture can improve activity of daily living and has significant effect in treating mild cognition disorders after stroke without adverse reactions.</p>

Exposure level and risk factors of heavy metal in prenatal period among Shanghai infants / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the exposure level and risk factors of heavy metal among Shanghai infants in their prenatal period.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 1652 pregnant or puerperal women were recruited from 10 midwifery-qualified hospitals in Shanghai since October 2008 to October 2009, by the stratified cluster sampling method. They answered the questionnaire and their umbilical cord blood and serum were collected to detect the content of Pb, Hg, Mn, Cd, As and Tl. The risk factors were analyzed by single and multiple regression methods respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The median value of the content of Pb, Hg, Mn, Cd, As and Tl were 41.00, 1.88, 4.10, 0.03, 0.86 and 0.02 µg/L respectively. The Hg concentration of pregnant women who ate fish for 4 - 7 times per week (9.7% (160/1652)) was 2.76 µg/L, which was higher than that of pregnant women who only ate fish for 1-3 times per week (49.3% (814/1652)) and those who seldom ate fish (40.0% (661/1652)); the Hg concentration in the two groups above were 2.41 and 2.03 µg/L separately. The difference had statistical significance (χ(2) = 36.40, P < 0.001). Meanwhile, the concentrations of Pb and Tl in the group of pregnant women whose houses were remodeled by PVC pipe (85.0% (1404/1652)) was higher than the concentrations in group of pregnant women whose houses were remodeled by galvanized pipe (15.0% (248/1652)); the Pb concentration in the two groups above were 45.54 and 40.00 µg/L (Z = 2.54, P < 0.05) and the Tl concentration in the two groups above were 0.021 and 0.018 µg/L (Z = 2.97, P < 0.05). However, the As concentration in the group of PVC pipe remodeled was 4.33 µg/L, which was lower than that in the group of galvanized pipe (9.37 µg/L). The difference had statistical significance (Z = 3.99, P < 0.01). The concentrations of Mn, Cd and Tl in the groups of pregnant women whose house had been remodeled in the last 3 years (38.0% (628/1652)) were 14.78, 0.51 and 0.022 µg/L separately, which were all significantly higher than those in the groups of women whose houses' were not remodeled (62.0% (1024/1652)), whose concentrations were 11.01, 0.29 and 0.02 µg/L respectively. The differences had statistical significance (Mn: Z = 2.46, P < 0.05; Cd: Z = 2.38, P < 0.05; Tl: Z = 2.81, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The infants in Shanghai were exposed to heavy metals in their prenatal period. The main sources of the exposure were daily diet and remodeled pollution.</p>

Clinical observation on therapeutic effect of three-step acupuncture for the secondary prevention of ischemic cerebral apoplexy / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the therapeutic effect and safety of three-step acupuncture for the secondary prevention of ischemic cerebral apoplexy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and twenty cases of first-episode ischemic cerebral apoplexy were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group according to the visiting sequence, 60 cases in each group. Both groups were treated on the basis of the routine treatment, the observation group was treated with three-step acupuncture combined with oral administration of Aspirin for six months. The threestep acupuncture includs scalp acupuncture, body point acupuncture and rehabilitation training. The control group was treated with oral administration of Aspirin alone. Six-month follow-up was done in two groups. Then the recurrence rate of ischemic cerebral apoplexy, the improvement of neurologic impairment, activity of daily living and TCM symptom scores and the safety of three-step acupuncture between two groups were compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The recurrence rate was 10.2% (5/49) in observation group, and 16.7% (9/54) in control group. There was no significant difference between two groups (P > 0.05). The observation group was superior to the control group in improving the scores of the neurologic impairment, activity of daily living and TCM symptom (P < 0.01, P < 0.001). There was no severe adverse reaction in two groups except 2 cases of gastrointestinal reaction caused by oral administration of Aspirin in control group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Three-step acupuncture has a certain therapeutic effect for both treatment and the secondary prevention of ischemic cerebral apoplexy, and it is one of the safe and effective methods for treating and preventing ischemic cerebral apoplexy in clinic.</p>

Effects of chronic partial sleep deprivation on growth and learning/memory in young rats / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The effects of sleep deprivation on the immature brain remain unknown. Based on a computer controlled chronic sleep deprivation animal model, the effects of chronic partial sleep deprivation on growth, learning and memory in young rats were explored.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twelve weaned male Spraque-Dawley rats (3-week-old) were randomly divided into sleep deprivation, test control and blank control groups. Sleep deprivation was performed using computer-controlled "disc-over-water" technique at 8-11 am daily, for 14 days. The temperature and weights were measured every 7 days. Morris water maze was used to test spatial learning and memory abilities before and 7 and 14 days after sleep deprivation. After 14 days of sleep deprivation, the rats were sacrificed for weighting their major organs.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After 14 days of sleep deprivation, the rats' temperature increased significantly. During the sleep deprivation, the rate of weight gain in the sleep deprivation group was much slower than that in the test control and blank control groups. The thymus of the rats subjected to sleep deprivation was much lighter than that of the blank control group. After 7 days of sleep deprivation, the rats showed slower acquisition of reference memory, but were capable of successfully performing the task by repeated exposure to the test. Such impairment of reference memory was not seen 14 days after sleep deprivation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Chronic sleep deprivation can affect growth of immature rats, as well as their abilities to acquire spatial reference memory.</p>

Effects of chelation therapy with succimer in young rabbits of moderate lead poisoning / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the effect of chelation therapy with succimer (DMSA) in male rabbits of moderate lead poisoning during juvenile stage.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Twenty-four 45-day-old male New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into three groups (therapy group, TG; positive control group, PG and negative control group, NG, n=8). The TG and PG were orally exposed to lead acetate (5 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1)) for 6 weeks. Rabbits in TG were orally supplied DMSA 1050 mg/m2 in the first week and 700 mg/m2 in the next two weeks, while the other two groups wren't blood and urinary samples of all rabbits were collected per week. The tissues and organs of all rabbits were collected after 12 weeks. The blood lead levels (BLLs) were determined by atomic absorption spectrometer. The urine lead levels and the lead contents of tissue and organ were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. Histopathology of tissue and organ was observed by light microscope.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with PG, the lead level in the morning urine of TG with DMSA chelating was increased significantly. The level was peaked at (1246.96 +/- 157.91) microg/L on the first day after chelating. While the base line was (40.97 +/- 1.77) microg/L before chelating. Meanwhile, the BLLs were sharply declined from (429.63 +/- 10.82) microg/L to (238.50 +/- 11.82) microg/L. The urine lead levels of TG decreased through the 3-week chelating and 3-week discontinuation. The urine lead levels of these two groups were significantly different (F=2934.35, P<0.01). Compared to each two groups in these three groups, there were significant difference (P<0.01). The authors found the reversion of BLLs in first week after stop chelating. The BLLs of PG presented the slow course of declining in the same time, were (135.50 +/- 7.09) microg/L, very close to the level of TG for (149.88 +/- 11.39) microg/L. Compared with treatment discontinuation for 3 weeks, the urine lead levels and the body weight gain of the therapy group increased more than that of PG, and the BLLs and the lead concentrations in tissues and organs decreased more than that of PG, and histopathology in the liver tissues and testicle tissues were improved.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>DMSA chelating for the rodent models of moderate lead poisoning might reduce the BLLs and soft tissue lead contents quickly and effectively, decrease toxic effects of lead in a short period of time, thus alleviate the impairment of lead poisoning on tissues and organs by decreasing lead burden, and bring out improvement on the growth retardation caused by lead poisoning.</p>

Effects of moderate lead poisoning on the hippocampus tissue of rabbits in juvenile stage / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To understand the effects of moderate lead poisoning on the hippocampus tissue of rabbits in juvenile stage.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixteen 45-day-old male New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into blank group and lead-exposed group,8 for each group. Rabbits in the lead-exposed group were treated with 5 mg x kg(-1) x d(-1) lead acetate in their forage for 6 weeks to establish a moderate lead poisoning animal model. The blood lead levels and the lead contents in the hippocampus were determined by atomic absorption spectrometer and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry respectively. Histopathology and ultra-microstructure in the hippocampus tissue were observed by light microscope and electron microscope. The NR1, NR2A and NR2B protein expressions in the CA1 hippocampal region were analyzed through immunohistochemical method.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared with those of blank group, the blood lead levels of lead-exposed group were significant increased, (428.63 +/- 9.46) vs (66.38+/-3.93) microg/L (t = 100.08, P<0.01); and lead contents of hippocampus was significantly increased, (44.57+/-2.03) vs (21.20+/-1.53) ng/g, (t = 26.05, P<0.01); the hippocampus wet weight were significant decreased, (0.735 +/-0.012) vs (0.808+/-0.010), (t =12.97, P<0.01); the coefficient of hippocampus wet weight, was (0.458 +/-0.004) vs (0.476+/-0.005), (t =7.87, P<0.01). The significant declines in both the positive rate of NR1 and NR2A in the CA1 hippocampal region for NR1: (37.44 +/- 2.05)% vs (41.81+/-2.50)% (t = 3.82, P<0.01) and for NR2A: 21.97+/-1.08 vs 25.48+/-1.30 (t =5.89, P<0.01) were also observed. With light microscope and electron microscope, the histopathology and ultra-microstructure of neuron and glial cell in the hippocampus tissue were changed.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The impairment of hippocampus of rabbits in juvenile stage with chronic moderate lead poisoning were observed, and the histopathology and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor protein expressions in the hippocampus tissue were changed.</p>

Effects of lead exposure on expression of mGluR5 in mRNA and protein levels of the cultured hippocampal neurons / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effects on the expression of mGluR5 mRNA and protein levels in primarily cultured hippocampal neurons after lead exposure.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Primary embryonic rat hippocampal neuronal culture was prepared. On the 3(rd) day of incubation, lead chloride solution was added into medium to produce four different lead exposure levels: 0, 1 x 10(-8) mol/L, 1 x 10(-6) mol/L, 1 x 10(-4) mol/L Pb(2+). After 10 days of incubation, the neurons were collected to measure the alteration of mGluR5 mRNA expression by real-time fluorescent quantity PCR and the expression of mGluR5 in protein level by Western blot.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The studies revealed that mGluR5 mRNA expression was down-regulated after lead exposure in a dose-dependent manner. The mGluR5 mRNA expression of the lower lead-exposed neurons (Pb(2+) 10(-8) mol/L), the medium lead-exposed neurons(Pb(2+) 10(-6) mol/L), the higher lead-exposed neurons(Pb(2+) 10(-4) mol/L) were 0.724, 0.421, 0.321 times less than that of the controls, respectively. The Western blot demonstrated that mGluR5 expression in protein level should be decreased after lead exposure.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The expression of mGluR5 in mRNA and protein levels should be down-regulated after lead exposure at different lead levels in a dose-dependent manner.</p>

Effect of zinc deficiency on the protein expression of vitamin D receptor and calcium binding protein in growth-stage rats duodenal mucosa / 中华儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the effect of zinc deficiency on the protein expression of vitamin D receptor (VDR) and calcium binding protein (CaBP) in growth-term rats duodenal mucosa and to clarify the mechanism of zinc deficiency affecting the calcium absorption by gene transcription.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty weaning male rats were randomly divided into three groups: zinc deficiency (ZD), paired-fed (PF) and zinc adequation (ZA). The ZA group received a diet containing 29.5 microg/g diet ad libitum; the ZD group received a diet containing less than 0.4 microg zinc/g diet ad libitum. To eliminate the effect of zinc deficiency on appetite, the PF group received a zinc-adequate diet restricted to the quantity of food consumed the previous day by the ZD rats. After 15 days feeding, duodenal mucosa was taken to measure expression of the protein of VDR and of CaBP by immunohistochemistry and Western-blotting.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Immunohistochemistry demonstrated that the intestinal mucosal expression of both VDR protein and CaBP protein in ZD rats significantly decreased. Analysis of the photographs showed that the number of cells expressed VDR protein in ZD rats was significantly less than that of the PF and ZA rats (P < 0.001). The number of cells which expressed VDR protein in ZD, PF, and ZA groups was 52, 162, and 220, and the number of cells which expressed CaBP protein was 169, 240 and 280 (F = 132 and 22, P < 0.001). Western-blotting showed similar results.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Zinc deficiency, by changing the activity of VDR, changes the protein expression of VDR, and thus affects the transcription of the target gene CaBP, resulting in the absorption of calcium that causes allo-osteogenesis.</p>

Association between vitamin D receptor gene polymorphism and vitamin D deficiency rickets / 中国当代儿科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the genetic susceptibility of children to vitamin D deficiency rickets through studying the association between Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphism and vitamin D deficiency rickets.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and fifty-nine children (100 boys and 59 girls, aged 0 to 2 years), with new-onset vitamin D deficiency rickets were enrolled. The patients sampled from a community of Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province. Seventy-eight healthy age-matched children (46 boys and 32 girls) were used as the controls. VDR gene polymorphism (cleaved by restriction endonuclease Fok I) was analyzed by polymerase chase reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). The frequencies of the VDR genotype and allele were compared between the two groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The frequencies of FF, Ff and ff genotypes were 37%, 51% and 12% in the Rickets group, and 18%, 55% and 27% in the Control group. A significant difference was found in the frequency distribution of the VDR genotype between the two groups (chi(2)(0.01(2))=9.210, chi(2)=13.3880, P < 0.01). In the Rickets group, f allele frequency was lower (37% vs 54%), while the F allele was more common than the Control group (63% vs 46%).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>There is an association between the VDR gene Fok I polymorphism and vitamin D deficiency rickets. The individuals with the F allele are more susceptible to vitamin D deficiency rickets.</p>

Establishment of Animal Model for Study of Children with Moderate Blood Lead Levels with Young Rabbits / 实用儿科临床杂志

Objective To establish the animal model for the study of children with moderate blood lead levels in young rabbits,for the study of the ideal therapy for moderate lead poisoning in children.Methods Sixteen 45-day-old male New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into control and lead-exposed group,8 in each group.Rabbits in the lead-exposed group were treated with 5 mg/(kg?d)lead acetate in their forage for 6 weeks to establish moderate lead poisoning animal model.The blood lead levels(BLLs)were determined by atomic absorption spectrometer(AAS),and the urine lead levels and the lead concentrations of tissue and organ were determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry(ICP-MS).Histopathology in tissue and organ was observed under the light microscope.Results The BLLs and the urine lead levels in lead-exposed group step up rapidly in primal weeks,then retained at a steady levels.The BLLs exhibited moderate level BLLs during the lead exposure period.Compared with control group,the body weight gain,testis and hippocampus wet coefficient of the lead-exposed group significantly decreased(P_a

Status and influencing factors of mercury exposure in neonates and their mothers in Zhoushan / 中华预防医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the status of mercury exposure of neonates and their mothers in Zhoushan City, and analyze the related influencing factors.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From Aug to Sep, 2004, 408 neonate-mother pairs were cluster sampled at the Third People's Hospital in Dinghai region, Zhoushan City, and a further investigation for the neurobehavioral development of these children was followed up in a year. The contains of mercury of 14 kinds of fish, 5 pieces of each kind bought in markets of Dinghai region were detected.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The geometric mean of cord-blood Hg was 27.81 nmol/L (5.58 microg/L), while that of hair Hg of mothers was 1246.56 microg/kg. 69.9% of pregnant women had surpassed the RfD (reference dose, 0.1 microg/kg/day) for Hg intake. There was a strong correlation between hair and cord blood Hg levels (r = 0.821). The factors influencing cord-blood Hg levels were fish dinners, dwelling time, and fathers smoking or not, while those of hair Hg were fish dinners and dwelling time. The correlation between fish dinners and the cord blood Hg as well as hair Hg were of significance (r = 0.539, 0.481 respectively), the Hg levels were higher in more fish dinners (H = 119.805, 94.384 respectively). The mean fish Hg level at Dinghai region was low (< 0.1 mg/kg), and no samples were higher than 0.5 mg/L. Two samples of cutlassfish and dried eel contained higher Hg than the others, belonging to a middle level (0.1-0.5 mg/kg).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Hg levels in neonates and pregnant women were generally below those considered hazardous, but the safety margin was narrow for some women and supporting efforts should be made to reduce mercury exposure. The main resource of Hg was from eating fish, and it is necessary to investigate the Hg levels in large samples, as to developing the fish advisories for susceptible people.</p>