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Objective:To investigate the therapeutic effects of Tiaojing Xiaozhi Decoction combined with auricular acupoint embedding acupuncture on polycystic ovary syndrome in obese patients. Methods:A total of 120 obese cases of polycystic ovary syndrome (spleen and kidney deficiency syndrome) treated in Ningbo Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from July 2020 to June 2021 were included in this study. They were randomly assigned to undergo treatment with either Tiaojing Xiaozhi Decoction (Chinese medicine group, n = 40), auricular acupoint embedding acupuncture (ear acupuncture group, n = 40), or Tiaojing Xiaozhi Decoction and auricular acupoint embedding acupuncture (combined therapy group, n = 40). Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome integral, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist- to-hip ratio, testosterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone, estradiol, prolactin, recombinant human leptin, adiponectin, tumor necrosis factor α, interleukin-6, and clinical efficacy were compared among groups before and after treatment. Results:Total response rate in the combined therapy group was 87.5%, which was slightly but not significantly, higher than 77.5% in the Chinese medicine group and 80.0% in the ear acupuncture group, and there was no significant difference in total response rate among the three groups (all P > 0.05). After treatment, TCM syndrome integral in the combined therapy was (10.40 ± 2.38) points, which was significantly lower than (12.35 ± 3.32) points in the Chinese medicine group and (14.18 ± 3.51) points in the ear acupuncture group ( F = 14.78, P < 0.05). The body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio in the combined therapy group were superior to those in the Chinese medicine and ear acupuncture groups ( F = 4.11, 18.59, 3.62, 13.33, all P < 0.05). Luteinizing hormone and luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone in the combined therapy group were superior to those in the Chinese medicine and ear acupuncture groups (all P < 0.05). After treatment, recombinant human leptin and adiponectin in the combined therapy and Chinese medicine groups were superior to those measured before treatment (both P < 0.05). After treatment, only adiponectin was significantly increased in the early acupuncture group compared with before treatment ( P < 0.05). After treatment, tumor necrosis factor α and interleukin-6 in the combined therapy group were (4.12 ± 1.54) μg/L and (3.09 ± 1.41) ng/L respectively, which were significantly decreased compared with before treatment ( t = 21.66, 10.42, both P < 0.05). Conclusion:Tiaojing Xiaozhi Decoction combined with auricular acupoint embedding acupuncture can decrease body mass index, fat factor, and inflammatory factor levels, which can help decrease sex hormone levels and TCM syndrome integral, and has an obvious therapeutic effect on polycystic ovary syndrome.
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AIM:To investigate the expression of FIZZ1 ( found in inflammatory zone 1) in the lung tissues from smoking-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) rats and to explore the potential role of FIZZ1 in air-way remodeling in COPD. METHODS:The male Wistar rats (n=70) were used in the study. The rats were randomly di-vided into COPD group and control group. The rat model of COPD was established by inhaling cigarette smoke alone. HE staining was used to observe the pathological changes of the lung tissues for firming the successful modeling. The protein ex-pression of FIZZ1 in the lung tissues at different time points was determined by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. The inflammatory cells in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were counted. The concentrations of interleukin 4 (IL-4) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) in both BALF and serum were measured by ELISA. RESULTS:HE staining showed that the inflammatory response was chronic in the lung tissues of model group at 20th week and gradually showed pathologi-cal features of COPD. The results of immunohistochemistry and Western blot showed that in the model group, FIZZ1 protein expression was significantly increased (P<0. 05). Total number of inflammatory cells in BALF in the cigarette smoked rats was significantly higher from 4th week (P<0. 05). Within a certain range, compared with the control group, the concen-trations of inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and TNF-α in both BALF and serum were increased in the model group ( P <0.05). CONCLUSIONS:FIZZ1 may be involved in the occurrence and development of COPD with the mechanism of causing infiltration of inflammatory cells and secretion of cytokines.