Effect of intranasal acupuncture on the pathology of nasal mucosa in rabbits with allergic rhinitis and related regulatory mechanism of transient receptor potential vanillic acid receptor 1-substance P axis / 解剖学报

Objective To investigate the pathological changes of nasal mucosa by intranasal acupuncture, and to explore the possible signal transduction mechanism through the distribution and expression of transient receptor potential vanillic acid receptor 1 (TRPV1)-substance P (SP) axis in nasal mucosa of experimental allergic rhinitis. Methods An animal model of allergic rhinitis was constructed by ovalbumin and aluminium hydroxide gel treatment. Twenty five New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into normal group, model group, sham acupuncture group, acupuncture Wai Ying Xiang group and intranasal acupuncture group, with 5 rabbits in each group. To observe the effect of intranasal acupuncture on animal behavior, nasal mucosa pathology, eosinophils (EOS) count and IgE content in arterial blood. In addition, HE staining was used to determine the distribution of EOS in nasal mucosa and immunohistochemistry was used to observe the distribution and expression of TRPV1 and SP in nasal mucosa membrane. Results Compared with the model group, the behavioral score of the sham acupuncture group did not decrease significantly, while the behavioral score of the Wai Ying Xiang acupuncture group and the intranasal acupuncture group showed a downward trend, and the decrease degree of the intranasal acupuncture group was more significant. Compared with the normal group, the eosinophil count in the model group increased slightly (P0.05). HE staining found that eosinophilic distribution increased significantly in the model group and the sham acupuncture group compared with the normal group, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, the distribution of eosinophil reduced in the nasal acupuncture group and the Wai Ying Xiang group. The difference was statistically significant (P<0.05 ). Immunohistochemical found that TRPV1 and SP expressed significantly in the nasal mucosa of the model group and the sham acupuncture group compared with the normal group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, TRPV1 and SP expression decreased significantly in the intranasal acupuncture group and the external yingxiang group, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion Intranasal acupuncture can alleviate the nasal symptoms of allergic rhinitis model by reducing the Chemotaxis of eosinophils in nasal mucosa and the content of IgE in serum.

Motivations, Challenges and Coping Strategies for Smoking Cessation:Based on Multi-ethnic Pregnant Couples in Far Western China / 华中科技大学学报（医学）（英德文版）

The present study aimed to clarify the smoking cessation motivations,challenges and coping strategies among pregnant couples.A qualitative design using a grounded theory approach was applied.Data were collected by individual semi-structured interviews with 39 married individuals (21 non-smoking pregnant women and 18 smoking or ever-smoking men with a pregnant wife) and 3 imams in an ethnically diverse region of far westem China.The most common theme for smoking cessation motivation was "embryo quality" (i.e.,a healthier baby),followed by family's health.Most interviewees reported that husband's withdrawal symptoms were the greatest challenge to smoking cessation,followed by the Chinese tobacco culture.Coping strategies given by the pregnant women typically involved combining emotional,behavioral and social interventions.Social interventions showed advantages in helping to quit smoking.Pregnancy appears to be a positive stimulus for pregnant couples' smoking cessation.Our results suggest that pregnancy,a highly important life event,may help to reduce barriers to smoking cessation at the social level (e.g.,limiting access to cigarettes,avoiding temptation to smoke),but does little to help with the withdrawal symptoms.Professional guidance for smoking cessation is still necessary.

Progress in α5GABAA receptors and their allosteric modulators in learning-memory / 中国药理学与毒理学杂志

Alpha 5 subunit-containing γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors (α5GABAARs), mainly distributed in the hippocampus, are an inhibitory synaptic receptor of the central nervous system.α5GABAARs inhibit the hippocampal neurons by mediating a chloride leak current. A number of studies have demonstrated that alterations in the level of excitability of α5GABAARs impair cognitive function and learning-memory, thus resulting in a series of diseases and symptoms including postoperative cognitive dysfunction, pain, depression, schizophrenia and Down syndrome. Accordingly, allosteric modulators for α5GABAARs show therapeutic or improving effects on the above clinical diseases. This review mainly discusses the physiology of α5GABAARs, impact on cognition and key effects of these allosteric modulators.

MiR-128b is down-regulated in gastric cancer and negatively regulates tumour cell viability by targeting PDK1/Akt/NF-κ B axis.

Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth most prevalent type of cancer worldwide, which is usually caused by the interaction between environmental and genetic factors, or epigenetic aspects. Referring to the non-coding RNAs, miR-128b has been reported to be associated with many tumour cases, and exerts distinct functions in different types of cancers. However, the function of miR-128b in GC onset and progression largely remains unknown. In the present study, we found that miR-128b expression was down-regulated in tissues from 18 GC patients and 3 carcinoma cell lines. In turn, over-expression of miR-128b suppressed GC cell proliferation, invasion and promoted apoptosis. Moreover, miR-128b was predicted to bind the 3 UTR of PDK1 gene using bioinformatic target-screening tools. Accordingly, ectopic expression of miR-128b inhibited the PDK1 expression at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels, and furthermore, the expression of gene tailed by the 3 UTR of PDK1 gene was significantly decreased in a dualluciferase reporter assay, suggesting that PDK1 was a direct target of miR-128b in GC cells. In the conditon of miR- 128b over-expression, we also observed spontaneous inactivation of the Akt/NF-κB signalling, implying PDK1 was a potential regulator of this pathway. In conclusion, our study shed some novel light on miR-128b-PDK1/Akt/NF-κB axis on GC progression.

Translation of acupoint terms and inheritance of traditional Chinese medicine culture / 中国中西医结合杂志

The present condition in the acupoint term translation was analyzed and its existent problems in this area were discussed in this paper. The authors suggested that in translating the terms of acupoints, the translation on the meaning of the acupoints should be added, in this way, it can not only keep the integrity in acupoint translation, but also make the inheritance of the Chinese precious culture of Traditional Chinese Medicine further available.