Effects of acupuncture on hemorrhagic transformation and motor function in stroke patients after intravenous thrombolysis with rt-PA: a prospective cohort study / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effects of the Xingnao Kaiqiao (regaining consciousness and opening orifices) acupuncture on hemorrhagic transformation and limb motor function after intravenous thrombolysis with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rt-PA) in stroke patients.@*METHODS@#A total of 130 stroke patients after rt-PA thrombolytic were divided into an acupuncture group (58 cases, 1 case dropped off) and a non-acupuncture group (72 cases, 7 cases dropped off) according to whether they received acupuncture treatment. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to match each group, with 38 patients in each group. The patients in the non-acupuncture group received rt-PA thrombolytic therapy and western medical basic treatment. In addition to the basic treatment, the patients in the acupuncture group received Xingnao Kaiqiao acupuncture at Shuigou (GV 26), bilateral Neiguan (PC 6), and ipsilateral Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Chize (LU 5), once a day for 14 days. The incidence of hemorrhagic transformation within 30 days after onset was compared between the two groups. The Fugl-Meyer assessment (FMA) score and activities of daily living (ADL) score were observed at baseline and 30 days, 6 months, 1 year after onset in the two groups. The disability rate at 6 months and 1 year after onset was recorded, and safety was evaluated in both groups.@*RESULTS@#The incidence of hemorrhagic transformation in the acupuncture group was 5.3% (2/38), which was lower than 21.1% (8/38) in the non-acupuncture group (P<0.05). At 30 days, 6 month, and 1 year after onset, the FMA and ADL scores of both groups were higher than those at baseline (P<0.01), and the scores in the acupuncture group were higher than those in the non-acupuncture group (P<0.01). The disability rate in the acupuncture group at 1 year after onset was 10.5% (4/38), which was lower than 28.9% (11/38) in the non-acupuncture group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events between the two groups (P>0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#The Xingnao Kaiqiao acupuncture method could reduce the incidence of hemorrhagic transformation in stroke patients after intravenous thrombolysis with rt-PA, improve their motor function and daily living ability, and reduce the long-term disability rate.

Application of tissue culture technology of medicinal plants in sustainable development of Chinese medicinal resources / 中国中药杂志

Chinese medicinal resources are the cornerstone of the sustainable development of traditional Chinese medicine industry. However, due to the fecundity of species, over-exploitation, and limitations of artificial cultivation, some medicinal plants are depleted and even endangered. Tissue culture, a breakthrough technology in the breeding of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, is not limited by time and space, and can allow the production on an annual basis, which plays an important role in the protection of Chinese medicinal resources. The present study reviewed the applications of tissue culture of medicinal plants in the field of Chinese medicinal resources, including rapid propagation of medicinal plant seedlings, breeding of novel high-yield and high-quality cultivars, construction of a genetic transformation system, and production of secondary metabolites. Meanwhile, the current challenges and suggestions for the future development of this field were also proposed.

Effect of timing of acupuncture on limb dysfunction in patients with cerebral infarction: a multicenter prospective cohort pilot study / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture at different timings in acute stage for limb dysfunction in patients with cerebral infarction.@*METHODS@#A total of 101 patients with cerebral infarction limb dysfunction were divided into an early exposure group (@*RESULTS@#Compared before treatment, the mRS grade at 30 and 60 days after onset in the early exposure group was improved (@*CONCLUSION@#The timing of acupuncture is an independent factor affecting the disability status and limb motor dysfunction in patients with cerebral infarction, and the effect of early intervention may be better than late intervention.

Association between total cholesterol and type 2 diabetes: a prospective cohort study / 中华疾病控制杂志

@#Objective To explore the association between total cholesterol and type 2 diabetes ( T2DM) ． Methods Non－diabetic people who aged 20 to 90 years at the baseline and who had physical examination more than 2 times were screened． Comparisons of the baseline characteristics were conducted with Student－t test or Pearson chi－square test． Generalized estimating equation ( GEE) was used to analyze the effect of total cholesterol of quantiles groups ( 2．10－ mmol /L，4．16－ mmol /L，4．76－ mmol /L and 5．42 －13．29 mmol /L) to type 2 diabetes． Results The cohort with an average age of 3．53 years per person in- cluded 12 928 subjects and 45 626 person－years． During the follow－up，447 cases of new－onset diabetes occurred and the incidence density was 9. 80‰． The high incidence of type 2 diabetes increased with the increase of total cholesterol． After adjusting the factors including age，high density lipoprotein，hypertension and obesity，based on the 2. 10－ mmol /L group，the relative risk ( RR) of the 4. 16－ mmol /L，4. 76－ mmol/L and 5. 42－13. 29 mmol /L group were 1. 24( 95% CI: 0. 83－1. 86) ，1. 75 ( 95% CI: 1. 19－2. 56) and 3. 60( 95% CI: 2. 51－5. 17) ，respectively． Conclusions Total cholesterol is associated with type 2 diabetes，and as the total cholesterol increases，the risk of developing type 2 diabetes increases．

Progress on treatment for stenosing tenosynovitis / 中国骨伤

Radial styloid stenosing tenosynovitis is a kind of common chronic motor system injuries, and could lead to joint pain and aggravates with activity, in further makes a great impact on people's daily life. At present, therapeutic methods for this disease could divid into conservative treatment and surgical treatment. What we pay attention to is cure. Conservative treatment could effectively relieve pain and improve wrist motion in acute phase, however, it make little difference on long--term effect and usually cause to reappear. Surgical treatment, as a kind of invasive therapies, is chosen only when facing recalcitrant radial styloid stenosing tenosynovitis with many complications for its high cure rate. The author thought that patient education should play an important role in the therapy of radial styloid stenosing tenosynovitis, comprehensive treatment could be applied according to the different conditions of disease development, and could increase cure disease.

Expansion and function of MHC restricted killer T cells derived from umbilical cord blood / 中国实验血液学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>This study was to expand the cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) through inducing the differentiation of umbilical blood monomuclear cells (UBMNC) by using various combination of cytokines, and to investigate the functions of expanded CTL.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The MNC were isolated by ficoll density gradient centrifugation. Then, the PHA-P, IFN-γ combined with IL-2, IL-15 and other cytokines were used for induction and expansion of the cord blood-derived CTL. The biological function of CTL was examined by phenotype analysis, cytotoxic tests and real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After expansion for 15 days, the cell number increased by 1522% ± 137%. The content of CD3(-)CD8(-) cells in uncultured cord blood MNC was 95%, and the CD3(+)CD8(+) CTL cells reached 82.77% in cultured cord blood MNC after expansion for 15 days. The expanded CTL cell showed the cytotoxic activity against K562 and HeLa cell line. The killing rate of MNC was 61.88 ± 1.08%. After expansion, the killing rate could reach to 90% with the average value of 90.33 ± 2.02%. The expanded CTL cells highly expressed some key cytokines, such as granzyme A, granzyme B, GM-CSF, granulysin, IFN-γ, TGF-β, TNF-α and perforin. Compared with the control group, the expression of IFN-γ and TGF-β significantly increased (P < 0.05), and the other factors dramatically increased (P < 0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The cord blood-derived CTL can be expanded by different combinations of cytokines. These protocols may provide alternative choices for CTL cell expansion in tumor adoptive immunotherapy.</p>