Application of Acupuncture for Shoulder Pain Over the Past 22 Years: A Bibliometric Analysis.

Purpose: Acupuncture is widely used to relieve shoulder pain. A survey was conducted in order to recognize hotspots and frontiers of acupuncture for shoulder pain from the year 2000-2022. Methods: The Web of Science Core Collection was used to collect literature related to acupuncture therapy for shoulder pain, which spanned January 2000 to August 2022. The number of publications yearly, countries/institutions, journals, and keywords was analyzed and visualized in shoulder pain with acupuncture therapy by CiteSpace v.5.7.R5. Results: We totally analyzed 214 articles that met the inclusion criteria. The overall trend of publication volume continues to increase. The most productive authors in the field were César Fernández las Peñas and José L Arias-Buría, and the most influential author was Green S. Kyung Hee University and the People's Republic of China had the highest volume of publications, respectively. The most influential journal is Pain with high citation and impact factor. The hot keywords were "acupuncture", "shoulder pain", "dry needling", "randomized trial", and "injection". The research frontier in acupuncture for treating chronic shoulder pain was mainly "mechanism". Conclusion: Over the last 22 years, the findings of this bibliometric analysis have provided research trends and frontiers in clinical research on acupuncture therapy for patients with shoulder pain, which identifying hot topics and exploring new directions for the future may be helpful to researchers. Studying mechanisms underlying acupuncture therapy for shoulder pain remains a focus of future research.

[The BES1/BZR1 transcription factors regulate growth, development and stress resistance in plants].

Brassinosteroid (BR) is a class of plant-specific steroidal hormone and plays vital roles in plant growth, developmental and stress response. As the core component of BR signaling, the BES1/BZR1 transcription factors are activated by the BR signal, bind to the E-box (CANNTG) or BRRE element (CGTGT/CG) enriched in the promoter of downstream target genes and regulate their expression. Besides BR signal transduction, BES1/BZR1s are also involved in other signaling pathways such as abscisic acid, gibberellin and light to co-regulate plant growth and development. Recently, BES1/BZR1s were found to be related to stress resistance. In this review, we summarize recent advances of molecular mechanism of the BES1/BZR1 transcription factors regulating plant growth, development and stress resistance through signal transduction to provide a reference for related researches.

Clinical value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in transthoracic biopsy of malignant anterior mediastinal masses.

BACKGROUND: Given low incidence and high heterogeneity, the treatment strategies of anterior mediastinal masses (AMMs) are diverse based on pathology. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the usefulness of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in transthoracic biopsy of malignant AMMs when compared with that of ultrasound (US) alone and to screen lesions that are more suitable for CEUS evaluation and guidance. METHODS: We reviewed all the US- and CEUS-guided transthoracic core needle biopsy (CNB) of AMMs performed in National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College between July 2013 and April 2019. A total of 68 patients (mean age 36 years; male-female ration 1.6:1) who were suspected with malignant AMMs were enrolled in the study. Among them, 20 patients received pre-biopsy CEUS examination (CEUS group); 48 patients underwent conventional US examination and guidance (US group). Demographic, radiologic, pathologic, medical records, and biopsy procedure details were retrospectively reviewed and compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The display of internal necrosis areas was significantly improved when compared with that of the conventional US (70%, 30%; P=0.008). Specifically, CEUS improved the diagnostic accuracy of US-guided transthoracic biopsy (95.0%, 79.2%; P=0.210) and especially for AMMs exceeding 10 cm (100%, 68.2%; P=0.040) and carcinoma (100%, 0%; P=0.048). The number of punctures in US group and CEUS group was 2.6 and 4.4 times, respectively (P<0.001). In case of similar number of punctures (1 to 3 times), CEUS improved diagnostic accuracy when compared to that of the conventional US (100%, 75%; P=0.486). The technical success rate was 100% (68/68). In both groups, patients did not exhibit symptomatic complications such as bleeding, pneumothorax, or hemoptysis after the biopsy. CONCLUSIONS: The application of CEUS in transthoracic biopsy of malignant AMMs improved diagnostic accuracy when compared with conventional US and especially played more important role in lesions exceeding 10 cm and presumptive clinical carcinoma.

[Influence of electroacupuncture on hippocampal somatostatin (SS) and SS mRNA expression in chronic stress-induced depression rats].

OBJECTIVE: To study the underlying mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) in relieving depression. METHODS: A total of 30 Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal control group (n=10), model group (n=10) and EA group (n=10). Depression model was established by lonely raising and chronic unpredictable mild stress for 21 days. EA (2 Hz, 1 mA) was applied to "Baihui" (GV 20) and "Sanyinjiao" (SP 6) for 20 min, once daily for 14 days. The expression (option density) of hippocampal somatostatin (SS) and SS mRNA was detected by using immunohistochemistry and reversed transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) techniques respectively. RESULTS: Compared to normal control group, the crossing movement and rearing movement times of open-field test, and sucrose consumption in model group decreased significantly (P < 0.01), and hippocampal SS and SS mRNA expressions were downregulated remarkably (P < 0.05). Compared to model group, the crossing movement and rearing movement times in EA group increased considerably (P < 0.01), and hippocampal SS and SS mRNA expressions were upregulated remarkably (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found between EA and normal control groups in SS and SS mRNA expression. CONCLUSION: EA can effectively improve depression rats' behavior activity and upregulate hippocampal SS and SS mRNA expression.

[Influence of electroacupuncture on hepatic cytochrome P450 1 A 1 expression and lipid peroxidation in nonalcoholic fatty liver rats].

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on liver cytochrome P450 1 A 1 immunoactivity, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) rats. METHODS: Thirty male SD rats were randomized into normal control (n = 10), model (n = 10) and EA (n = 10) groups. NAFLD model was established by feeding the animal with high-fat forage for 8 weeks. EA (1.6-2 Hz, 1-4 mA) was applied to bilateral "Zusanli" (ST 36), "Fenglong" (ST 40), "Sanyinjiao" (SP 6) and "Taichong" (LR 3) for 15 min, once daily for 4 weeks. Then the rats anesthetized with ether were killed for collecting liver tissue. Following homogenate and centrifugalization of the partial liver tissue, the supernatant was collected for assaying superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents by xanthinoxidase chromometry and thio-malonylurea chromometry respectively. The other partial liver tissue samples were fixed in 10% formalin, followed by paraffin imbedding and sectioning (4 microm), and staining with streptavidin-perosidase methods respectively for displaying hepatic pathological changes and cytochrom P450 1 A 1 immunoreaction. RESULTS: Compared with control group, hepatic SOD content of model group was significantly lower (P < 0.05), and MDA level and cytochrome P450 1 A 1 (CYP 1 A 1) integrated optic density (IOD) value were obviously higher in model group (P < 0.05). In comparison with model group, liver SOD level of EA group increased considerably (P < 0.05), while MDA level and CYP 1 A 1 IOD of EA group decreased evidently in EA group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: EA can effectively reduce lipid peroxidation and up-regulate CYP 1 A 1 expression in nonalcoholic fatty liver tissue, which may contribute to its effect in improving fatty liver.

[Influence of electroacupuncture on insulin-resistance in nonalcoholic fatty liver rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) in treating nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in rats. METHODS: Thirty male SD rats were randomized into normal control, NAFLD model and EA groups, with 10 cases in each. NAFLD model was established by feeding the rats with high-fat food for 8 weeks. EA (2 Hz, 4 mA) was applied to "Zusanli" (ST 36), "Fenglong" (ST 40), "Sanyinjiao" (SP 6), and "Taichong" (LR 3) for 15 min, once daily for 4 weeks. Fasting blood sugar (FBG) and serum free fatty acids (FFA) were detected with chromatometry; serum insulin (INS) was determined with radioimmunoassay; homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) and liver index (LI) were calculated. Liver tissue was cut into sections for detecting pathological changes. RESULTS: Compared with normal control group, FBG, INS, FFA, HOMA-IR and LI of model group increased significantly (P<0.05), and hepatic diffuse steatosis with cellular necrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration was obvious. In comparison with model group, all the 5 indexes in EA group decreased significantly (P<0.05), and pathological changes as hepatic steatosis, etc. were significantly reduced. CONCLUSION: EA may be used to effectively improve NAFLD by lowering insulin resistance.

[Effects of electroacupuncture on synovia free radicals in rabbits with knee osteoarthritis].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of electroacupuncture( EA) on synovia superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) contents in rabbits with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). METHODS: A total of 40 New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into control, model, massage and EA groups, with 10 cases in each. KOA model was established by gypusum fixing method. EA (1.6-2 Hz, 1-2 mA) was applied to left "Yanglingquan" (GB 34), "Xuehai" (SP 10), "Zusanli" (ST 36) and "Liangqiu" (ST 34) for 25 min, once daily for 21 days. For massage group, the affected knee joint was pressed, kneaded, stretched and rotated repeatedly for 15 min every time, followed by forced running about 100 m. The intra-joint synovia was collected (0.4-0.6 ml) for detecting contents of SOD with xanthine oxidase method, MDA with thiobarbituric acid method and NO with nitrate reductase method. RESULTS: Compared with control group, synovia SOD activity in model group decreased considerably (P<0.05), while MDA and NO contents increased significantly (P<0.05). After 3 weeks' treatment, compared with pre-treatment and model group, synovia SOD activity increased markedly (P<0.05), and MDA and NO contents lowered remarkably in both EA and massage groups (P<0.05). No significant differences were found between EA and massage groups in these 3 indexes (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Both EA and massage can raise synovia SOD activity and lower MDA and NO content, which may contribute to their effect in relieving knee osteoarthritis in the rabbit.