Moxibustion for the Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis:An Overview of Systematic Reviews / 中国中医药信息杂志

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness and safety of moxibustion for knee osteoarthritis and the methodological quality of systematic reviews(SRs).Methods SRs of moxibustion for knee osteoarthritis were retrieved from CNKI,VIP,Wanfang Data,SinoMed,PubMed,Cochrane Library,Embase and Web of Science was conducted from the establishment of the databases to February 10,2022.AMSTAR 2 was used to assess the methodological quality of SRs.The randomized controlled trials(RCTs)included in these SRs were screened and summarized according to inclusion standard.RevMan 5.4 software was used for Meta-analysis,and GRADE approach was used to assess the certainty of evidence.Results A total of 15 SRs were included.The evaluation results of the AMSTAR 2 showed that the methodological quality was very low for 14 SRs,and low for other 1 SR.A total of 36 RCTs were included.Meta-analysis results showed that compared with the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs(NSAIDs),the moxibustion group had better effects on improvement of WOMAC scores[mean difference(MD)=-5.95;95%confidence interval(CI):-9.25 to-2.65;low quality],relieving pain[MD=-1.26;95%CI:-2.19 to-0.32;very low quality],and improving effective rate[risk ratio(RR)=1.16;95%CI:1.11 to 1.22;low quality].In the moxibustion group,some patients experienced blisters,and most healed in 3 days.Conclusion Moxibustion has advantages in pain reduction and improving effective rate compared with routine Western therapy for knee osteoarthritis.However,well-designed high-quality RCTs are needed for further verification.

Resistance exercise improves body composition in overweight and obese people:an umbrella review / 中国组织工程研究

BACKGROUND:Resistance exercise increases muscle mass and improves muscle strength,but there is a lack of conclusive evidence on its effects on body composition.Controversial results from randomized controlled trials and multiple Meta-analyses pose a problem for clinical decisions on exercise interventions. OBJECTIVE:Based on the methodological paradigm of umbrella review,to explore the efficacy and safety of resistance exercise in improving the body composition of overweight and obese people. METHODS:We searched PubMed,Cochrane Library,Web of Science,and CNKI for systematic reviews on the effect of resistance exercise in overweight and obese people published from database inception to August 31,2022.Chinese search terms included"anti-resistance,resistance,self-weight,Meta,Meta-analysis,body composition,body fat percentage,fat mass,lean body mass,body mass."English search terms included"resistance training,strength training,weight-lifting strengthening program,body composition,body fat distribution,Meta-analysis,data pooling,overviews,clinical trial,clinical trial overviews."PRISMA was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the included studies,and a GRADE evaluation system was used to grade the quality of evidence. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:A total of 14 Meta-analyses were included,and GRADE evidence quality evaluation showed that 2 outcome indicators were intermediate,12 were low,and 14 were extremely low.Compared with the control group,23 of the 32 outcome measures showed significant improvement.The intervention effect of resistance exercise on body fat percentage has reached a consensus,but the intervention effects on lean body mass,body mass index and visceral fat still need further confirmation.Resistance exercise is an effective and safe method to improve the body composition of overweight and obese people.The overall quality of the research and the evidence quality of the outcome indicators included in the systematic evaluation are generally low.In the future,the initial state,exercise goal and willingness of the subjects should be fully combined on the basis of clarifying the sample characteristics and refining the scheme design.Through multiple,scientific and personalized exercise prescription designs of water,air and elastic resistance,the safety and compliance of resistance exercise can be improved,providing clear evidence-based support and decision-making basis for resistance exercise intervention.

Chemical Constituents， Pharmacological Effect， and Product Development of Eucommia ulmoides with Both Medicinal and Edible Values： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Eucommia ulmoides， a plant belonging to Eucommiaceae， has a history of medical use for over two thousand years in China. The dried bark and leaves of this plant are usually used as medicinal materials. Due to the high safety in clinical application， E. ulmoides leaves were officially recognized for both medicinal and edible use by the food safety evaluation in 2019， providing a valuable resource for the development of food and health products. According to the traditional Chinese medicine theory， E. ulmoides has the effects of nourishing the liver and kidneys， strengthening sinews and bones， and calming fetus. Modern research has shown that different parts such as the bark， leaves， flowers， and seeds of E. ulmoides contain similar chemical components， including phenylpropanoids， terpenoids， flavonoids， phenolic acids， steroids， and polysaccharides. E. ulmoides exhibits diverse pharmacological activities such as lowering blood pressure and blood lipid and glucose levels， preventing osteoporosis and possesses anti-tumor， anti-bacterial， antiviral， anti-inflammatory， antioxidant， and hepatoprotective effects. Therefore， it holds great potential for the development of products with both medicinal and edible values. This review systematically summarizes the chemical constituents， pharmacological activities， and representative medicinal and edible products of different parts of E. ulmoides. It is expected to provide theoretical references for the clinical application of E. ulmoides and its active components and the development and utilization of the products with both medicinal and edible values. This review contributes to a deeper understanding of the medicinal properties of E. ulmoides and provides guidance for further exploration of its applications in the healthcare field. As a plant with both medicinal and edible values， E. ulmoides is expected to attract more attention in future research and contribute to human health.

O que as revisões sistemáticas Cochrane mostram sobre a vitamina D? / What do Cochrane systematic reviews show about vitamin D?

Contextualização: A vitamina D tem sido utilizada na prática clínica e amplamente divulgada na mídia como opção preventiva ou terapêutica em muitas doenças esqueléticas e não esqueléticas, mas sua efetividade, em muitos casos, é ainda incerta. Objetivos: Sumarizar as evidências de revisões sistemáticas da Cochrane, referentes à efetividade da vitamina D para tratamento e prevenção de doenças. Métodos: Trata-se de overview de revisões sistemáticas Cochrane. Procedeu-se à busca na Cochrane Library (2023), sendo utilizado o descritor MeSH "VITAMIN D". Todas as revisões sistemáticas de ensaios clínicos foram incluídas. O desfecho primário de análise foi a melhora clínica, a redução dos sintomas ou a prevenção da doença. Resultados: 22 estudos foram incluídos, totalizando 284.404 participantes. Há evidência de baixa qualidade relativa a benefícios da suplementação da vitamina D na gestação para mãe e recém-nascido, não sendo encontrados, até o momento, benefícios para outras condições avaliadas. Discussão: Nenhuma intervenção mostrou efetividade com evidência de boa qualidade. Embora haja descrição de benefícios na redução do risco de pré-eclâmpsia, diabetes gestacional, baixo peso do bebê ao nascimento, redução no risco de hemorragia grave pós-parto e redução de fraturas em idosos (quando associada à suplementação de cálcio), esses achados têm evidência limitada e carecem de melhor análise no futuro próximo, a partir de novos ensaios clínicos. Conclusão: Atualmente, não há suporte com bom nível de evidência para a maioria das intervenções com suplementação de vitamina D, sendo recomendada a realização de novos ensaios clínicos para melhor robustez dos achados desses estudos.

¿Cuántos Tipos de Revisiones de la Literatura Existen? Enumeración, Descripción y Clasificación. Revisión Cualitativa / How Many Types of Literature Reviews are There? Listings, Description and Classification

La expansión y consolidación de la práctica clínica basada en la evidencia ha llevado entre otras, a la necesidad de realizar una variedad cada vez mayor de tipos de revisión de la literatura científica; lo que permite avanzar en el conocimiento y comprender la amplitud de la investigación sobre un tema de interés, teniendo en cuenta que una de las propiedades del conocimiento es su carácter acumulativo. Sin embargo, la diversidad de la terminología utilizada genera confusión de términos y conceptos. El objetivo de este manuscrito fue proporcionar un listado de los tipos de revisiones de la literatura más frecuentemente utilizados con sus características y algunos ejemplos de ellas. Revisión cualitativa. Se examinaron de forma dirigida las bases de datos PubMed, WoS y Scopus, en búsqueda de términos asociados a tipos de revisiones y síntesis de la literatura científica. Se encontraron 21 tipos de revisión; y 29 variantes y sinonimias asociadas; las que ilustran los procesos de cada una de ellas. Se da una descripción general de las características de cada cual, junto con las fortalezas y debilidades percibidas. No obstante, se verificó que sólo algunos tipos de revisión poseen metodologías propias y explícitas. Este enfoque, proporciona un punto de referencia para quienes realizan o interpretan revisiones en el ámbito sanitario, y sugiere dos tipos de propuestas de clasificación.

SUMMARY: The expansion and consolidation of evidence-based clinical practice has led, among other things, to the need to carry out an increasing variety of types of literature reviews, which allows advancing in knowledge and understanding the breadth of research on a topic of interest. However, the diversity of the terminology used generates confusion of terms and concepts. The aim of this manuscript was to provide a list of the most frequently used review types with their characteristics and some examples. Qualitative review. PubMed, WoS and Scopus databases were examined in a directed way, searching for terms associated with types of reviews and syntheses of the scientific literature. Twenty-one types of review, and 29 variants and associated synonymies were found; those that illustrate the processes of each of them. An overview of the characteristics of each is given, along with perceived strengths and weaknesses. However, it was verified that only some types of review have their own explicit methodologies. This approach, provides a point of reference for those who perform or interpret reviews in the health field and suggests two classification proposals.

Abordando el cuerpo de evidencia: conceptos fundamentales de los overviews / Approaching the body of evidence: key concepts of overviews

El aumento de la producción de investigación primaria y de las revisiones de la literatura durante las últimas décadas ha hecho necesario el desarrollo de un nuevo diseño metodológico para sintetizar la evidencia: los overviews. Un overview es un diseño de síntesis de evidencia que toma como unidad de análisis a las revisiones sistemáticas, con el objetivo de extraer y analizar los resultados para una pregunta de interés nueva o más amplia, ayudando así a mejorar los procesos de toma de decisiones informadas. El objetivo de este artículo es introducir al lector a este tipo de resúmenes de evidencia, destacando las diferencias con los otros tipos de síntesis de evidencia, los aspectos metodológicos particulares de los overviews, y los desafíos pendientes. Este artículo es el duodécimo de una serie metodológica colaborativa de revisiones narrativas sobre temáticas de bioestadística y epidemiología clínica.

The increasing production of primary research and literature reviews in the last decades has made it necessary to develop a new methodological design to synthesize the evidence: the overviews. An overview is a type of evidence synthesis that uses systematic reviews as the unit of analysis, with the aim of extracting and analyzing the results for a new or broader research question, helping the shared decision-making processes. The aim of this article is to introduce the reader to this type of evidence summaries, highlighting the differences between overviews and other types of synthesis, the unique methodological aspects of overviews, and future challenges. This is the twelfth article from a collaborative methodological series of narrative reviews about biostatistics and clinical epidemiology.

Mechanism of Kidney-tonifying and Anti-aging Chinese Medicines Combined with Stem Cell Therapy in Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Alzheimer's disease （AD） is a neurodegenerative disease associated with aging and age-related cognitive decline. It is characterized by insidious onset and progressive development， and has become a major global health and socioeconomic issue. The exact mechanisms underlying AD have not been fully elucidated， and various hypotheses have been proposed by researchers based on different etiologies， including the amyloid β （Aβ） cascade hypothesis， Tau protein hyperphosphorylation hypothesis， mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress hypothesis， and neurotransmitter hypothesis. Therefore， there is an urgent need for comprehensive interventions targeting multiple pathways， links， and targets. Based on traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） theory and modern research findings， kidney-tonifying and anti-aging Chinese medicines have unique advantages of toxicity reduction， long-lasting effects， and treating both the root cause and the symptoms. They have been shown to counteract immune-inflammatory responses， clear reactive oxygen species， exhibit antioxidant properties， inhibit abnormal aggregation of Aβ and Tau proteins， reduce neuronal apoptosis， regulate central neurotransmitters， and modulate gut microbiota in AD. In recent years， stem cell therapy has been explored for the treatment of AD through two strategies： endogenous activation and exogenous transplantation， thereby replenishing and replacing damaged neurons. However， factors such as blood-brain barrier permeability， targeted delivery to the affected area， immune rejection， and cell survival rate can affect the efficacy of stem cell transplantation. Therefore， combining stem cell therapy with medication and other methods can further enhance the effectiveness of stem cell transplantation. Kidney-tonifying and anti-aging Chinese medicines can activate dormant neural stem cells（NSCs） in the body， promote neuroregeneration， and facilitate tissue and organ repair and reconstruction in AD. The combined treatment of these Chinese medicines and stem cell transplantation has shown more significant efficacy compared to either treatment alone. This combination therapy provides a new integration point for the modernization of TCM and offers new ideas and approaches for the prevention and treatment of AD， as well as improving the effectiveness of stem cell transplantation.

Tonic Traditional Chinese Medicine Injections Against Cerebral Ischemic Stroke： An Overview of Systematic Reviews/Meta-analyses / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ObjectiveTo re-evaluate the systematic reviews/Meta-analyses （SRs/MAs） of tonic traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） injections against cerebral ischemic stroke （CIS） and provide evidence support for clinical practice and decision-making. MethodTCM injections of different varieties were obtained after searching the three major drug catalogues. Seven Chinese and English databases were searched from database inception to March 13，2022，for the relevant SRs/MAs. The methodological quality，risk of bias，reporting quality，and quality of evidence were assessed by Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews-2 （AMSTAR-2），the Risk of Bias in Systematic Review （ROBIS），the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses 2020 （PRISMA 2020），and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment，Development，and Evaluation （GRADE）. In addition，the literature overlap matrix was established to calculate the corrected covered area （CCA） and evaluate the rate of overlaps of the original literature. ResultFive types of TCM injections and 18 SRs/MAs were included. AMSTAR 2 evaluation showed that the methodological quality of 18 SRs/MAs was extremely low，and 14 SRs/MAs had a high risk of bias assessed by ROBIS. The quality evaluation results reported by the PRISMA 2020 showed that the scores of the studies included ranged from 19.5 to 28.5，with 10 being of medium quality and eight of low quality. The evaluation with the GRADE system demonstrated that one outcome was moderate-quality evidence，15 outcomes were low-quality evidence，and 41 outcomes were very low-quality evidence. The CCA of the included SRs/MAs was 0.263，indicating a low rate of overlaps of the original literature. ConclusionTonic TCM injections are effective and safe in the treatment of CIS，but this conclusion should be treated with caution because of the low quality of methodology，reports，and evidence in published SRs/MAs. It is recommended to improve the study design，obtain clinical evidence of higher quality，and conduct systematic evaluations in strict accordance with procedures to standardize the reporting of research results.

Overview of Chinese medicinal materials industry in 2021 and development suggestions / 中国中药杂志

This paper introduced the overview of the "eight trends" of Chinese medicinal materials(CMM) industry in 2021, analyzed the problems of CMM production, and put forward development suggestions. Specifically, "eight trends" could be summarized as follows.(1) The growing area of CMM tended to be stable, and some provinces began to release the local catalog of Dao-di herbs.(2) The protection process of new varieties accelerated, and a number of excellent varieties were bred.(3) The theory of ecological cultivation was further enriched, and the demonstration effect of ecological cultivation technology was prominent.(4) Some CMM realized complete mechanization and formed typical model cases.(5) The number of cultivation bases using the traceability platform increased, and provincial internet trading platforms were set up.(6) The construction of CMM industrial clusters accelerated, and the number of provincial-level regional brands increased rapidly.(7) Many new agricultural business entities were founded nationwide, and a variety of methods were used to drive the intensified development of CMM.(8) A number of local TCM laws were promulgated, and the management regulation of food and medicine homology substances catalogs was issued. On this basis, four suggestions for CMM production were proposed.(1) It is suggested to speed up the formulation of the national catalog of Dao-di herbs and carry out the certification of Dao-di herbs production bases.(2) Ecological planting of forest and grassland medicine should be further strengthened in terms of technical research and promotion based on the principle of ecological priority.(3) The basic work of disaster prevention should be paid more attention and technical measures for disaster mitigation should be developed.(4) The planted area of commonly used CMM should be incorporated into the national regular statistical system.

An overview of research based on intestinal microecology to explore musculoskeletal attenuation diseases / 肠外与肠内营养

Sarcopenia,osteoporosis and osteosarcoporosis,which belong to the same category of musculoskeletal unit disease,seriously impair the homeostasis of the musculoskeletal system in the aging process of the human body.In recent years,researchers have applied various emerging technologies to conduct multi-disciplinary,multi-level and multi-dimensional research on musculoskeletal decay disease,and have come to realized that the disease involves complex biochemical and mechanical crosstalk,and the intestinal microecology has also aroused great interest in this crosstalk because of its profound impact on musculoskeletal health.In view of this,this paper takes the close relationship between intestinal microecology and musculoskeletal decay disease as the starting point,and under the guidance of the overall concept,we deeply analyzes the mechanism and regulatory information behind this relationship,and on this basis,we excavates the potential therapeutic targets for musculoskeletal decay disease,so that we can provide new ideas and strategies for the management of the disease in the context of the musculoskeletal subunit.

Acupuncture and Moxibustion Treatment of Cancer-Related Fatigue:An Overview of Systematic Reviews / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

Objective Due to the increasing number but unknown quality of the existing systematic reviews meta-analyses(SRs/MAs)of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of cancer-related fatigue(CRF),this overview aimed to systematically evaluate and synthesize these SRs/MAs.Methods SRs/MAs were searched via 8 databases from inception to February 22,2022.AMSTAR 2,PRISMA and GRADE evaluation tools were used to evaluate the quality of reports,methodologies and evidence included in MAs/SRs.All analyses were performed with radar plots.Results 16 SRs/MAs were included.The main outcome index was the degree of fatigue.The results of 12 articles showed that acupuncture could effectively alleviate CRF.According to AMSTAR-2,4 SRs/MAs were considered being of high quality,10 medium quality and 2 low quality.There are 12 articles with PRISMA score of 16-24 and 4 articles with PRISMA score of 15-20.5,which mainly have defects in protocol registration and inter study bias.Amstar 2 evaluation includes 4 high-quality studies,studies.Grade rating shows that the evidence quality of acupuncture treatment of CRF is mostly medium,and the main factor of degradation is inaccuracy.Conclusions At present,the SRS/MAS report of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of CRF is complete,and the quality of methodology and evidence is medium.It is suggested that SRS/MAS improve the program registration and funding source description in the future to enhance the assessment of the risk of inter study bias.

Acupuncture for Post-Stroke Cognitive Impairment:An Overview of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses / 世界科学技术-中医药现代化

Objective To overview the methodological quality,report quality and evidence quality of the Meta-Analyses/Systematic Reviews(MAs/SRs)of acupuncture for post-stroke cognitive impairment(PSCI).Methods A search was conducted for MAs/SRs on PSCI using English or Chinese from inception to 20 February 2022 published in four Chinese databases:CNKI,Wanfang,VIP,CBM;and three English databases:PubMed,Embase and Cochrane Library.The MAs/SRs were evaluated for methodological quality using AMSTAR 2 and for reporting quality using PRISMA,and the quality of evidence was assessed using the GRADE system.Results A total of 18 MAs/SRs were included in this study,of which 89%showed the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for PSCI.According to AMSTAR 2,1 study was of low methodological quality and 17 studies were of critically low quality;according to PRISMA,1 study was of high quality,16 studies were of moderate quality and 1 study was of poor quality;GRADE showed that of the 71 outcomes included,however,there was no evidence of high quality outcomes,with 10 of moderate quality,17 of low quality,and 44 of very low quality.Conclusion Acupuncture may be effective and safe in the treatment of PSCI,but in current acupuncture for PSCI is generally of low quality and should be interpreted with caution.

A study on the bibliometric analysis of bariatric surgery in China based on the China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database / 中华消化外科杂志

Bariatric surgery has been proven to be the most effective intervention for the treatment of obesity and obesity-related complications. In recent decades, medical experts as well as scholars in China have been actively promoting and pushing the development of bariatric surgery, and conducting a series of clinical and basic research. As a result of their unremitting efforts, research in the field of bariatric surgery in China has developed extremely rapidly. The authors examined the overview of literature research in the field of bariatric surgery in China through bibliometric analysis, and analyzed the current status, hot spots, trends, and frontiers of research in this field, with the aim of providing references for future research and development.

Escitalopram in the treatment of depression：an overview of systematic review / 中国药房

OBJECTIVE To re-evaluate systematic review/meta-analysis of escitalopram in the treatment of depression， and to provide reference for clinical use of escitalopram. METHODS Retrieved from CNKI， Wanfang database， VIP， SinoMed， PubMed and the Cochrane Library， etc.， systematic review/meta-analysis of escitalopram in the treatment of depression were collected from the construction of the database to May 17， 2022. The literatures were screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria， the basic information of the included literatures was extracted， and the methodological quality， reporting quality and evidence quality of the included literatures were evaluated by using AMSTAR 2 scale， PRISMA statement， and GRADE system， respectively. RESULTS A total of 16 systematic reviews/meta-analyses were included. The results of efficacy comparison showed that escitalopram in the treatment of depression was superior to sertraline in improving the total effective rate， and was comparable to paroxetine， duloxetine and fluoxetine in improving cure rate. The results of safety comparison showed that the safety of escitalopram was higher than that of paroxetine and venlafaxine. The overall methodological quality evaluation of AMSTAR 2 scale was low， and all of them were rated as extremely low； main reason was the lack of many key items. PRISMA score was between 12 and 23 points. Among them， there were 5 literatures with scores ＞21 points， and the reports were relatively complete， 10 literatures with scores between 15 and 21 points， and the reports had certain defects， and 1 literature with scores ≤15 points， with serious information missing. The results of the grading of GRADE evidence showed that， of the 160 included outcome indicators， 69 were moderate evidence， 64 were low-level evidence， and 27 were very low-level evidence. CONCLUSIONS The total effective rate of escitalopram in improving depressive patients is not inferior to that of sertraline； compared with paroxetine， escitalopram is safer. However， the evidence level of the above conclusions is low.

Overview on the modern development of fire needling device: from tradition to innovation / 中国针灸

The appropriate needle device is crucial for obtaining the curative effect of fire needling therapy. The article introduces the material specification, clinical operation, indications, characteristics and advantages of the contemporary traditional fire needling devices (e.g. He's fire needle and Shi 's fire needle) and the contemporary new-type ones (e.g. fire needling with filiform needle and micro-needle); and determines the innovations of modern fire needling. It is anticipated that the needle specifications, production process and operation standard of fire needling devices should be further unified so as to provide the references for the selection of fire needling devices in treatment based on clinical syndrome differentiation and expand the clinical application of fire needling therapy.

Interpretation of the International Myopia Institute White Papers Ⅱ / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

Worldwide, the incidence rate of myopia is maintained in a high level. Especially, the morbidity is rising continuously among children and adolescents. The progression of myopia affects visual acuity, vision related quality of life and productivity. Moreover, high myopia and its related ocular complications also aggravate the family and social burden. Therefore, the mechanism of myopia, related complications and methods of myopia prevention and control need further exploration. International Myopia Institute(IMI)published the second-edition white papers in April 2021. These white papers included reflections on the implications for clinical practice, the impact of myopia, the risk factors of myopia, the relationship among accommodation and binocular vision with myopia, pathologic myopia, prevention of myopia and digest. Comparing to the first edition, more than thousands of articles and conference abstracts were considered in white papers II, highlighting the latest research and progress related to myopia prevention and control. This article briefly summarizes and interprets the contents of the above white papers, including overview of myopia, impact of myopia, risk factors in myopia, ocular changes in the progress of myopia, and myopia prevention and control, hoping to provide advice for the clinical and scientific research work relating to myopia prevention and control.

Acupuncture for in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer: an overview of systematic reviews / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVES@#To evaluate the report quality, methodological quality and evidence quality of the systematic reviews and meta-analyses (SRs/MAs) of acupuncture for in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET).@*METHODS@#The SRs/MAs of acupuncture for IVF-ET were searched electronically from databases of CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, SinoMed, PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, from inception of each database to September 27th, 2022. Two reviewers independently screened the literature and extracted the data. Using PRISMA statement, the AMSTAR 2 scale and the GRADE system, the report quality, methodological quality and evidence quality of the included SRs/MAs were assessed.@*RESULTS@#A total of 28 SRs/MAs were included, with PRISMA scores ranging from 8.5 points to 27 points. The problems of report quality focused on protocol and registration, retrieval, risk of bias in studies, additional analysis, limitations and funding. The methodological quality of included studies was generally low, reflecting on items 2, 3, 7, 10, 12 and 16. A total of 85 outcome indexes were included in the GRADE system for evidence grade evaluation. Most of the evidences were low or very low in quality. The reasons for the downgrade were related to study limitations, inconsistency, imprecision and publication bias.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Acupuncture therapy improves the outcomes of IVF-ET, but the methodological quality and evidence quality of related SRs/MAs are low. It is recommended to conduct more high-quality studies in the future to provide more reliable evidences.

An Objective Overview of Covid19 Vaccine Situation in India

Entire world was eagerly waiting for the vaccine against SARS-CoV2 ever since Covid19 pandemic started. India is the second largest populous nation and is among the very few nations who has developed a vaccine against SARS-CoV2. India is also a major vaccine producing hub supplying large quantum of vaccines to the rest of the world. Efficacy, advantages and comparison between various covid vaccine has been largely discussed by the scientific community. However, there are various other factors affecting the vaccine situation in a nation, may it be the plan, strategy, it抯 implementation, local context, health infrastructure etc. While there are many news and views related to covid-19 vaccine, one need to look beyond & into so many other aspects related to the factors affecting this situation. Through discussion of some of these key factors, we tried to draw an overall picture of the Covid19 vaccine situation in India. Keeping in line with our objective, we keep the focus of our discussion on vaccine development & manufacturing issues, diplomatic decisions on vaccine & the reasons behind the same, international factors etc. We have purposefully restricted our discussion to these factors and did not go in details of the national level policy and its implementation details in this article.

Acupuncture treatment for knee osteoarthritis: an overview of systematic reviews / 国际中医中药杂志

Objective:To revaluate the systematic review/meta-analysis on efficacy and safety of acupuncture treatment for knee osteoarthritis.Methods:We searched CNKI, VIP, WangFang, CBM, PubMed, Cochrane Library databases, Embase, from inception to December 15, 2020, to retrieve systematic reviews and/or meta analyses on the treatment of knee osteoarthritis with acupuncture and moxibustion. Two researchers independently screened the literature and extracted data, used the AMSTAR2 scale to evaluate the methodological quality, and used the GRADE system to grade the quality of evidence.Results:A total of 11 systematic evaluations were included, including 44 outcomes. Methodological evaluation showed that all 11 literatures were of very low quality. The GRADE system evaluation showed that there were 13 intermediate evidences, 12 low evidences, and 19 very low evidences.Conclusion:The results of the existing systematic reviews show that acupuncture and moxibustion have a certain efficacy in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, but the methodology and evidence level of the included studies are low, so this conclusion needs to be verified by further high-quality studies.

Overviews of systematic and meta-analysis on the TCM treatment of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) / 国际中医中药杂志

Objective:To re-evaluate the methodological quality, evidence quality and reporting quality of the systematic review and meta analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the treatment of acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD).Methods:We searched the databases of CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, Cochrane Library, PubMed, EMbase, and retrieved the systematic reviews or meta-analysis literatures on the treatment of AECOPD with TCM from the establishment of the database to February 28, 2021. We applied AMSTAR2 scale and GRADE Tools, PRISMA statement to evaluate methodological quality, evidence quality and report quality.Results:A total of 15 systematic reviews were included, including 85 outcome indicators. The evaluation results of AMSTAR2 scale showed that 9 articles were low-quality methodology and 6 articles were very low-quality methodology. The GRADE results showed that the quality of evidence for 23 outcome indicators was moderate, the quality of evidence for 30 outcome indicators was low, and the quality of evidence for 32 outcome indicators was very low. The results of the PRISMA statement showed that the quality of the reporting is relatively adequate.Conclusion:TCM combined with western medicine can improve the clinical efficacy of AECOPD to a certain extent, but the methodological quality of reviews and the quality of evidence are generally low. In the future, researchers should standardize the writing of systematic reviews/meta-analysis, in order to provide clinicians with more authentic and reliable evidence-based evidence.