Is fire needle superior to Western medication for herpes zoster? A systematic review and meta-analysis / 针灸推拿医学（英文版）

Objective:To compare the effectiveness of fire needle versus Western medicine in the treatment of herpes zoster. Methods:Randomized controlled trials comparing fire needle with Western medicine in the treatment of herpes zoster were identified using 8 databases. A meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software. Results:Eight trials involving 569 patients were included in this meta-analysis, and the results showed that fire needle was superior to Western medicine comparing the effective rate [risk ratio (RR)=1.13, 95％ confidence interval (CI): 1.06 to 1.20;P=0.0002], the visual analog scale (VAS) score [mean difference(MD)=–7.95, 95％ CI: –10.71 to –5.20;P<0.00001], time of pain disappearance (MD=–7.61, 95％CI: –9.38 to –5.84;P<0.00001), time of blister-stop (MD=–1.34, 95％CI: –1.51 to –1.18;P<0.00001), time of crusted scab (MD=–2.92, 95％CI: –3.62 to –2.23;P<0.00001), and time of scab off (MD=–4.64, 95％CI: –5.83 to –3.46;P<0.00001). In addition, a significantly lower incidence of postherpetic neuralgia was found in the fire needle group in 30 d (RR=0.23, 95％CI: 0.11 to 0.51;P=0.0002) and 60 d (RR=0.33, 95％CI: 0.12 to 0.91; P=0.03) after treatment. Conclusion:Fire needle has a favorable effect in increasing the effective rate, relieving pain, recovering skin lesions and decreasing incidence of postherpetic neuralgia in the treatment of herpes zoster. However, considering the limitations in this study, the findings should be interpreted cautiously.

Dynamic Characteristics of Serum Hepatitis B Surface Antigen in Chinese Chronic Hepatitis B Patients Receiving 7 Years of Entecavir Therapy / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The ultimate goal of hepatitis B treatment is hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance. Several factors have been suggested to be associated with the rate of HBsAg reduction in antiviral-naive or lamivudine therapy cohorts. However, there are few studies evaluating the factors during long-term entecavir (ETV) therapy. In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the factors to predict the outcome of ETV therapy for 7 years.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 47 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients treated with ETV monotherapy were included in this study. Liver biochemistry, hepatitis B virus (HBV) serological markers, serum HBV DNA, and HBsAg titers were tested at baseline, 3 months, 6 months, and yearly from 1 to 7. The associations between factors and HBsAg reduction were assessed using multivariate tests with repeated measure analysis of variance.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>At baseline, serum HBsAg levels showed a positive correlation with baseline HBV DNA levels (r = 0.625, P < 0.001). The mean HBsAg titers after ETV treatment were significantly lower than the baseline titers (P ranges from 0.025 to 0.000,000,6). The HBsAg reduction rate during the 1st year was greater compared to after 1 year of treatment (P < 0.05). Multivariate test showed that hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroclearance and/or HBsAg reduction ≥0.5 log10 IU/ml at 6 months had a high negative predictive value (96.77%) for HBsAg seroclearance (P = 0.002, P = 0.012, respectively).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The HBsAg reduction rate during the 1st year was greater than that after 1 year of treatment. Further, HBeAg status and HBsAg levels at month 6 are the optimal factors for the early prediction of HBsAg seroclearance after long-term ETV therapy in CHB patients.</p>

Role of C6ORF120, an N-glycosylated protein, is implicated in apoptosis of CD4⁺ T lymphocytes / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Although CD4(+) T cell apoptosis and CD8(+) T cell responses have been extensively studied during HIV infection, how apoptosis signals being initiated in CD4(+) T cells still need to be elucidated. The present study was designed to characterize the function-unknown gene, C6orf120, and elucidates its primary role in tunicamycin-induced CD4(+) T apoptosis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The C6orf120 coding sequence was amplified from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) total RNA of AIDS patients. The DNA fragment was inserted into the pET-32a expression system, transformed into Escherichia coli, and preparation of C6ORF120 recombinant protein. The magnetic cell separation technology was used to prepare primary CD4(+) T cells and CD8(+) T cells. The primary T cells were cultured at 1 × 10(6) cells/ml, treated with 0, 0.1, 1, 10, 100, and 200 ng/ml of C6orf120 recombinant protein for 48 hours, then harvested for cell cycle and apoptosis analysis. Tunicamycin (0.5 µmol/L) was used to induce endoplasmic reticulum stress in Jurkat cells. The biomarker 78 KDa glucose-regulated protein (GRp78) and growth arrest and DNA damage (GADD) were used to evaluate endoplasmic reticulum stress of Jurkat cells.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>We prepared C6ORF120 recombinant protein and its polyclonal antibody. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that C6orf120 mainly expressed in hepatocytes and cells in germinal center of lymph node. At concentration of 0.1, 1, 10, 100, and 200 ng/ml, C6orf120 recombinant protein could induce apoptosis of Jurkat cells and primary CD4(+) T cells, and promoting G2 phase of its cell cycle. Western blotting analysis showed that C6ORF120 recombinant protein increased the expression of GRp78 and GADD in Jurkat cells in vitro.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Our results suggested that C6ORF120 could induce apoptosis of CD4(+) T cells, at least in part, mediated with endoplasmic reticulum stress.</p>