Clinical observation on therapeutic effect of the pressing plantar reflex area with wooden needle for treatment of patients with insomnia / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the therapeutic effect of wooden needle on the patients with insomnia.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>One hundred and twenty patients with insomnia were randomly divided into a wooden needle group and a western medicine group, 60 cases in each group. In the wooden needle group, the patients were treated with wooden needle to press the plantar reflex areas, such as cerebellar, throid and cerebral areas. In the western medicine group, Alprazolam was taken orally. Before and after treatment, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was used to evaluate the therapeutic effect of both groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The total therapeutic effect was 100.0% in the wooden needle group, while it was 90.7% in the western medicine group, there was no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). Compared with PSQI before and after treatment, there was difference in the both groups (All P < 0.01), but there was no difference between the two groups (P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The therapeutic effect of wooden needle is similar to that of Alprazolam on the insomnia, indicats that wooden needle is a better therapy for treating insomnia.</p>

Diabetogenic T cells induce autoimmune diabetes in BALB/c mice / 中国医学科学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the role of T cell and its subsets in the induction of insulitis and type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in BALB/c mice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Autoimmune diabetes mellitus was developed by intraperitoneal injection of 40 mg/kg streptozotocin (STZ) daily for 5 consecutive days in BALB/c mice as sources of donor cells. Spleen cells from diabetic mice were then cultured for 7 days in the stimulation of interleukin-2 (IL-2) to harvest diabetogenic T cells, which were subsequently transferred into normal BALB/c mice recipients. MTT, ELISA, and HE staining were used to analyze the lymphocyte proliferation, cytokine (IL-2, interferon-gamma, IL-4, and IL-10) levels, and pathological changes in pancreatic islets.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>As few as 3 x 10(6) diabetogenic T cells successfully induced diabetes mellitus in recipients pretreated with STZ twice, whereas transfer of equal amount of normal splenocytes, T cell-depleted diabetogenic splenocytes, or diabetogenic CD4+ T cells alone in recipients receiving STZ twice pretreatment was proved not to induce diabetes mellitus either. A markedly increased lymphocyte proliferation, high levels of interferon-gamma and IL-2 in the supernatants of diabetogenic T cells were observed. In addition, a markedly enhanced lymphocyte proliferation, a high level of interferon-gamma secretion in serum, and numerous lymphocytes infiltration in pancreatic islets were detected in the diabetic mice induced by diabetogenic T cells transfer.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>A novel T1DM murine model is established in STZ-pretreated BALB/c mice by adoptive transfer of diabetogenic T cells. CD4+ T cells with interferon-gamma may promote the onset of diabetes mellitus.</p>

An optimized gossypol high-performance liquid chromatography assay and its application in evaluation of different gland genotypes of cotton.

A comparative study on gossypol content of various genetic types of pigment glands of cotton varieties was conducted through an optimized high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) on a C18 column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm particle) with methanol-0.5% acetic acid aqueous solution, 90 : 10 (v/v), as mobile phase, at a flow rate of 0.8 ml/min and UV detection at 254 nm. The method was shown to be highly reproducible, with precision [as relative standard deviation (RSD)] and accuracy [as relative mean error (RME)] < 10%, both intra-day and inter-day. Absolute recoveries were > 94%. The results revealed major differences among the different gland varieties or species of cotton, including the special and ordinary glandless and glanded Gossypium hirsutum, G. barbadense, and displayed the precious resources of different glands of extraordinary cotton.