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Objective To explore the effects of mirror therapy combined with Tongdu Xingshen acupuncture on the upper extremity function of stroke survivors.Methods Sixty stroke survivors were randomly divided into a mirror group (n =20),an acupuncture group (n =20) and a combined group (n =20).In addition to routine rehabilitation treatment,those in each group received mirror therapy,acupuncture or both for 4 weeks.Before the treatment and after 2 and 4 weeks of treatment,all of the patients were assessed using the Fugl-Meyer motor function assessment (FMA),Brunnstrom upper limb and hand staging (BSULH),the Barthel Index (BI) and in terms of the active range of motion in the wrist contralateral to their hemiplegia (AROM).The combined group was also evaluated using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) before treatment and after the 4 weeks.Results After 2 and 4 weeks of the treatment,the average BI,AROM,FMA and BSULH results had improved significantly compared with before the treatment.The improvements in the combined group were significantly greater than in the other groups after 2 and 4 weeks.The fMRI demonstrated that there were high-intensity signals in the primary motor area,the premotor area and the supplementary motor area on the affected side after 4 weeks of treatment.Conclusions Mirror therapy combined with Tungdu Xingshen acupuncture can improve the functional performance of the upper extremities of stroke survivors.
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Objective To explore the effects of hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning on ischemia-reperfusion inflammatory reaction of rats after skin flap transplantation.Methods Fifty-six Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 3 groups:a sham ischemia-reperfusion (SH) group,an ischemia-reperfusion (IR) group and a hyperbaric oxygen reconditioning (HBO) group.Both IR group and HBO group were further divided into 3 subgroups,respectively,according to the time points of serum sampling for test post establishment of the IR model of the abdominal pedicle skin flap transplantation.The IR model of the abdominal pedicle skin flap transplantation was established in all the animals except those in the SH group,with those in the HBO group were preconditioned with HBO twice daily for 3 days before the operation.The blood was sampled at 1,3 and 5 day post-operation to test the level of IL-23 using enzyme-linked immunosorbeut assay (ELISA).The survival skin flaps were sampled from all the animals at 3 and 5 days after the operation for histological observation and evaluation.Results The average IL-23 level of HBO 3 d subgroup (17.80 ± 14.78) was significantly lower than that of the IR 3 d subgroup (38.91 ± 12.26).The average histological scores of the IR 3 d and 5 d subgroups,as well as HBO 3 d and 5 d subgroups were (2.66 ±0.44)and (3.2 ±0.53),(1.85 ±0.31) and (2.29 ±0.32),significantly higher than SH group (0.38 ±0.10).Moreover,the average histological score of the HBO 3 d and 5 d subgroups was significantly lower than IR 3 d and 5 d subgroups respectively.Conclusion Hyperbaric oxygen preconditioning can relieve the ischemia-reperfusion inflammatory reaction through reducing the serum level of IL-23 in rats after skin flap transplantation.
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Objective To observe the effects of hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) exposure on the expression of aquaporin-1 (AQP1) and aquaporin-5 (AQP5) in rats with simulated high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE).Methods Fifty-six rats were randomly divided into five groups:control (normal),HAPE (high altitude pulmonary edema model),1 HBOT (HAPE model and HBO therapy for 1 time),2 HBOT (HAPE model and HBO therapy twice) and NOT (normal pressure oxygen therapy) groups,and was intervened accordingly.Western blotting and real-time PCR techniques were used to analyze the expression of AQP1 and AQP5 in their lungs.The wet-todry (W/D) weight ratio and morphology of the lungs was also examined.Results The protein and gene expression of AQP1 and AQP5 in the HAPE group decreased significantly compared with the control group.There were obvious differences in the protein and mRNA expression of AQP1 and AQP5 between the 2 HBOT group and the HAPE group and between the 2 HBOT group and the 1 HBOT group.Compared with the control group and the 1 HBOT group,marked lung injury could be seen in the HAPE group.Compared with the NOT group and the 1 HBOT group,lung injury in the 2 HBOT group was relieved significantly.Conclusions HAPE in rats is associated with down-regulation of the expression of AQP1 and AQP5 in the lungs.This down-regulation can be attenuated and lung injury can be alleviated by HBOT.Two sessions of HBOT could be more helpful than one for promoting this improvement.