RESUMO
Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion for ulcerative colitis (UC) and elucidate its mechanism by targeting the vitamin D receptor (VDR) signaling pathway. Methods: A total of 63 patients with UC were randomly divided into an observation group (30 cases, treated with herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion) and a control group (33 cases, treated with sham herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion). Moxibustion treatment was performed at Qihai (CV6) and bilateral Tianshu (ST25) and Shangjuxu (ST37), 3 times per week for 12 weeks. The total effective rate, visual analog scale (VAS) score for abdominal bloating and pain, and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) score were compared between the two groups. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the concentrations of serum C-reactive protein (CRP), 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], and interleukin-12 (IL-12)/interleukin-23 (IL-23) p40. Immunohistochemistry was used to observe the expression levels of VDR and regenerating gene Ⅳ (Reg Ⅳ) proteins in colonic mucosa. The expression levels of VDR, cytochrome p45027B1 (CYP27B1), and Reg Ⅳ mRNAs were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitive polymerase chain reaction. Results: After treatment, the total effective rate in the observation group was 86.7％, which was significantly higher than 51.5％ in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the VAS scores for abdominal bloating and pain in the observation group were significantly decreased (P<0.01), as well as the HADS-depression subscale (HADS-D) and HADS-anxiety subscale (HADS) scores (P<0.05), while only the VAS score for abdominal pain in the control group was reduced (P<0.05), and the improvements of the scores in the observation group were more significant than those in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the serum CRP concentrations in both groups and the IL-12/IL-23 p40 concentration in the observation group were significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the concentrations in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The expression levels of VDR protein and mRNA in the colon in both groups were all increased (P<0.01), and the expression levels of Reg Ⅳ protein and mRNA and CYP27B1 mRNA were all decreased in the two groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01); the improvements in the observation group were more notable than those in the control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: Herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion can effectively alleviate abdominal pain and diarrhea in patients with UC, improve depression and anxiety disorders, and regulate the expression of related proteins in the VDR signaling pathway. The mechanism may be related to inhibiting intestinal inflammation by reducing the release of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-12/IL-23 p40.
RESUMO
Objective: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of moxibustion with monkshood cake on the acupoints along related meridian for functional dyspepsia (FD) patients. Methods: Sixty patients suffering from functional dyspepsia who met with the inclusion criteria were enrolled in our randomized and controlled trial and randomly divided into two different groups, 30 and 28 patients have finished the treatment respectively. Patients of each group were given with moxibustion with monkshood cake on different acupoints, Group A chose acupoints along related meridian (ST 34, ST 36, ST 40 and ST42), while Group B chose acupoints along non-related meridian (GB 34, GB 36, GB 37 and GB 40) . Patients of each group received moxibustion treatment on alternate days, 3 times a week for a total of 12 times. The efficacy was evaluated using the Nepean Dyspepsia Index (NDI) and the Somatic Self-rating Scale (SSS) before, 2 weeks after and 4 weeks after the treatment, respectively. Results: Considering the NDI scale, the result showed that improvement scores of Group A were higher than that of Group B with statistical significance (P ＜ 0.01) . Both groups had improved patients' quality of life after the treatment (P ＜ 0.05), but the improvements in Group A were significantly better than those in Group B (P ＜ 0.01) . Conclusion: The clinical efficacy of moxibusion with monkshood cake on the acupoints along related meridian was better than that of the non-related meridian.
RESUMO
Spastic-paralysis impacts the function of upper extremity in most apoplexy patients.Assessing spasticity condition precisely,timely and effectively plays an important role in guiding rehabilitation treatment,therapeutic evaluation and prognosis of functional outcome.Owing to the limitations of subjective scales,the issue of quantifing the spasticity objectively has become a new research direction in recent years.By reviewing the literatures,we summed up the application of objective assessment tools,which were based on rehabilitation engineering,electrophysiology or biomechanics,in assessing the function of upper extremity with spastic paralysis,as well as put forward the research directions of prospects,in order to give a reference to the systematic integration of assessment tools in the near future.