Effects of Tongnao Huoluo acupuncture therapy on Caspase-3 and Bcl-2 of rats with acute cerebral infarction / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate effects of Tongnao Huoluo acupuncture therapy (THAT) on Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 rats with acute cerebral infarction (ACI).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Totally 264 SD rats were randomly divided into 5 groups, i.e. the THAT group (n =72), the thrombolysis group (n =72), the body acupuncture group (n =72), the ischemia control group (n =24), and the sham-operation group (n =24). Successfully modeled rats were recruited in all groups except the sham-operation group. Rats in the THAT group, the thrombolysis group, and the body acupuncture group were divided into 3 subgroups according to the disease occurrence time, i.e., < or = 1.5 h THAT group, 1.5+ -2 h THAT group, and 2+ -3 h THAT group. The neuroethological scores were assessed at 6, 24, and 72 h after treatment. The expressions of Bcl-2 and Caspase-3 were detected using immunohistochemical staining at 24 and 72 h respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>In aspect of improving scores of neurological functions: At 6 h after treatment within 2 h after the disease occurrence, the neuroethological scores were lowered more obviously in the thrombolysis group than in the THAT group (P <0.05). There was statistical difference at 24 and 72 h within 2 - 3 h after the,disease occurrence between the THAT group and the thrombolysis group (P <0.05). Compared with before treatment, there was statistical difference at 24 and 72 h within 3 h after the disease occurrence (P <0. 05, P <0.01). In aspect of lowering the expression of Caspase-3 and elevating the expression of Bcl-2: There was statistical difference in lowering the expression of Caspase-3 and elevating the expression of Bcl-2 between the THAT group and the thrombolysis group at 72 h within 2 -3 after the disease occurrence (P <0.05, P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>THAT showed favorable effects in lowering neuroethological scores, lowering expression of Caspase-3, and elevating the expression of Bcl-2 of ACI rats.</p>

Impacts of tongnao huoluo acupuncture therapy on BI and NIHSS of patients with acute cerebral infarction / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effect of Tongnao Huoluo Acupuncture (THA) therapy on acute cerebral infarction (ACI).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Adopting multi-centered, randomized and controlled method, 397 ACI patients from 10 hospitals subjected to the study were treated according to the initiating time (IT) of disease during hospitalization: the 138 patients of stage-1 with IT < or =6 h, were randomly assigned to three groups, treated respectively with THA (Group A), thrombolysis with urokinase (Group B) and Batroxobin (Group C); the 140 patients of stage-2 with IT within 6-48 h, and 119 patients of stage-3 with IT within 48 h-14 d were randomly assigned to three groups, treated respectively with THA (Group D) body acupuncture (Group E), and conventional treatment (Group F). Therapeutic effect was evaluated by NIHSS scores estimated at the day 1, 3, 7, 14, 28 and 90 of treatment, and the Barthel Index (BI) measured at day 14, 28 and 90.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Effect in Group A was insignificantly different from that in Group B (P > 0.05), but was different from that in Group C significantly (P < 0.01). At day 90, the percentage of patients with high BI (HBI%, patients with BI >95%) was insignificantly different in Group A vs. B (P > 0.05), but was significantly different in Group A vs. C (P < 0.01). Comparisons between Group D, E and F showed that the therapeutic effect in Group D was equivalent to that in Group E (P < 0.05), but better than that in Group F (P < 0.01), and HBI% in Group D was superior than that in the other two groups (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>THA therapy shows favorable effects in reducing the crippling rate and improving the living capacity of ACI patients.</p>