Molecular mechanisms of AMPK/YAP/NLRP3 signaling pathway affecting the occurrence and development of ankylosing spondylitis.

BACKGROUND: Investigate the AMPK (protein kinase AMP-activated catalytic subunit alpha 1)/YAP (Yes1 associated transcriptional regulator)/NLRP3 (NLR family pyrin domain containing 3) signaling pathway's role in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) development using public database analysis, in vitro and in vivo experiments. METHODS: Retrieve AS dataset, analyze differential gene expression in R, conduct functional enrichment analysis, collect 30 AS patient and 30 normal control samples, and construct a mouse model. ELISA, IP, and knockdown experiments were performed to detect expression changes. RESULTS: NLRP3 was identified as a significant AS-related gene. Caspase-1, IL-1ß, IL-17A, IL-18, IL-23, YAP, and NLRP3 were upregulated in AS patients. Overexpressing AMPK inhibited YAP's blockade on NLRP3 ubiquitination, reducing ossification in fibroblasts. Inhibiting AMPK exacerbated AS symptoms in AS mice. CONCLUSION: AMPK may suppress YAP expression, leading to NLRP3 inflammasome inhibition and AS alleviation.

Acupuncture improves immunity and fatigue after chemotherapy in breast cancer patients by inhibiting the Leptin/AMPK signaling pathway.

OBJECTIVE: Acupuncture has become a popular complementary treatment in oncology. This study is based on RNA-Seq transcriptome sequencing technology to investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the effect of acupuncture-mediated regulation of the Leptin/AMPK signaling pathway on mitochondrial dysfunction-induced fatigue in breast cancer patients after chemotherapy. METHODS: Peripheral blood samples from 10 patients with post-operative chemotherapy for breast cancer were selected for transcriptome sequencing to screen the key molecular pathways involved in fatigue after chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. Besides, peripheral blood samples were collected from 138 post-operative chemotherapy patients with breast cancer to study the composite fatigue and quality of life scores. Flow cytometry was used to detect T lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood-specific immune cells. In addition, a blood cell analyzer was used to measure peripheral blood leukocyte counts, and MSP-PCR was used to detect mitochondrial DNA mutations in peripheral blood leukocytes. RESULTS: Transcriptome bioinformatics analysis screened 147 up-regulated mRNAs and 160 down-regulated mRNAs. Leptin protein was confirmed as the key factor. Leptin was significantly higher in the peripheral blood of breast cancer patients who developed fatigue after chemotherapy. Acupuncture treatment effectively improved post-chemotherapy fatigue and immune status in breast cancer patients, suppressed the expression of Leptin/AMPK signaling pathway-related factor and leukocyte counts, and significantly reduced the rate of mitochondrial DNA mutations in peripheral blood leukocytes. CONCLUSION: The Leptin/AMPK signaling pathway may be the key molecular pathway affecting the occurrence of fatigue after chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. Leptin may improve post-chemotherapy fatigue in breast cancer patients by activating AMPK phosphorylation and alleviating mitochondrial functional impairment.

Effects of Mind-Regulation Acupuncture Therapy on Serum Ghrelin, Gastric Inhibitory Polypeptide, Leptin, and Insulin Levels in Breast Cancer Survivors with Cancer-Related Fatigue: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Aim: The aim of this research is to analyze the effects of mind-regulation acupuncture on serum ghrelin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide, leptin, and insulin levels, fatigue, quality of sleep, depression, and quality of life in survivors of breast cancer with cancer-related fatigue. Methods: Total 136 breast cancer survivors with cancer-related fatigue were randomly allocated to the mind-regulation acupuncture group and the control group in a 1:1 ratio, with 68 cases in each group. Finally, 57 cases each in both groups completed the study. The serum ghrelin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide, leptin, and insulin levels were measured in pre-treatment and post-treatment. The 20-item Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Hamilton Depression Scale, and Karnofsky Performance Status were used to evaluate patients' fatigue, quality of sleep, symptoms of depression, and quality of life, respectively. Results: In post-treatment, the serum ghrelin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide, leptin, and insulin levels significantly reduced, 20-item Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Hamilton Depression scores were remarkably decreased, whereas the Karnofsky Performance Status scores were significantly increased in mind-regulation acupuncture group and control group comparing to those pre-treatment, while those in mind-regulation acupuncture group changed more significantly. The 20-item Multidimensional Fatigue Symptom Inventory, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Hamilton Depression scores were remarkably lower, and remarkably higher Karnofsky Performance Status scores in the mind-regulation acupuncture group were seen than those in the control group. Conclusion: Mind-regulation acupuncture could reduce serum ghrelin, gastric inhibitory polypeptide, leptin, and insulin levels of breast cancer survivors with cancer-related fatigue. In addition, it alleviates cancer-related fatigue, sleep disturbance, and depression in these survivors and improves their quality of life. Therefore, mind-regulation acupuncture may have potential as an alternative and complementary therapy for breast cancer survivors with cancer-related fatigue.

[Ginger-partitioned moxibustion in the prevention of nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy in lung cancer：a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of ginger-partitioned moxibustion intervention on gastrointestinal reaction, the quality of life, the counts of blood platelet (PLT) and white blood cells (WBC) after chemotherapy in lung cancer patients. METHODS: The lung cancer patients treated with chemotherapy were randomized into observation group (30 cases) and control group (30 cases). In the control group, the intravenous injection with Tropisetron(5 mg) was given 1 h before chemotherapy. In the observation group, in addition to the same treatment as the control group, 2 hours after chemotherapy, ginger-partitioned moxibustion was applied to bilateral Zusanli (ST36), bilateral Neiguan (PC6) and bilateral Tianshu (ST25) for 20 min each time. The treatments were conducted once daily for 3 days. Separately, 2 days before chemotherapy, 24 h and 7 days after chemotherapy, the gastrointestinal reaction score and the score of the quality of life, the PLT and WBC counts were observed in the two groups. RESULTS: The effective rate of the gastrointestinal reaction degree in the observation group were higher than those in the control group 24 h and 7 days after chemotherapy (P<0.05). Twenty-four hours after chemotherapy, the score of the quality of life, the PLT and WBC counts were lower as compared with those before the treatment in both groups respectively(P<0.05). Seven days after chemotherapy, the score of the quality of life, the PLT and WBC counts in the observation group were higher than those in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The ginger-partitioned moxibustion achieves the definite clinical effect of the prevention of nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy in lung cancer. This therapy is simple in operation, high in safety, absent in obvious adverse reactions and high in patient's compliance.

[Effect of acupuncture in different time on nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy of lung cancer].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of acupuncture in different time on nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy of lung cancer. METHODS: A total of 150 patients with chemotherapy for lung cancer were randomized into a No.1 observation group, a No.2 observation group and a control group, 50 cases in each one. Excluded the dropped-off cases, finally, there were 49 cases in the No.1 observation group, 44 cases in the No.2 observation group and 47 cases in the control group. In the control group, 30 min before chemotherapy, the slow intravenous injection with tropisetron hydrochloride was used, 5 mg each time, once a day for 3 days. In the No.1 observation group, 30 min before chemotherapy, the slow intravenous injection with tropisetron hydrochloride was given combined with acupuncture. The acupoints selected were Zusanli (ST 36), Zhongwan (CV 12) and Neiguan (PC 6). The needles were retained for 30 min. The treatment was given once a day for 3 days totally. In the No.2 observation group, 30 min before chemotherapy, the slow intravenous injection with tropisetron hydrochloride was used, and 30 min after chemotherapy, acupuncture treatment was exerted. The acupoints and needling method were same as those in the No.1 observation group. Before and after treatment, the digestive reaction score, Karnofsky performance status scale (KPS) score and white blood cell count were all observed in the three groups. Additionally, the therapeutic effect and adverse reaction were observed and the therapeutic effect was compared among the treatment with acupuncture in different time. RESULTS: On the 2nd day of chemotherapy, the effective rates were 85.7% (42/49) and 75.0% (33/44) in the No.1 observation group and the No.2 observation group respectively, both higher obviously than 68.1% (32/47) in the control group (P<0.05), and the effective rate in the No.1 observation group was higher obviously than the No.2 observation group (P<0.05). On the 3rd day of chemotherapy, the effective rates were 81.6% (40/49) and 61.4% (27/44) in the No.1 observation group and the No.2 observation group respectively, both higher obviously than 57.5% (27/47) in the control group (P<0.05), and the effective rate in the No.1 observation group was higher obviously than the No.2 observation group (P<0.05). Compared before treatment, the KPS scores after treatment were obviously lower in the three groups (P<0.05), and the decreased value of KPS score in the No.1 observation group was much lower than the control group and the No.2 observation group (P<0.05). After 3-day chemotherapy, the white blood cell count was all reduced in each group, but the decreased value was not different statistically among the groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture combined with the slow intravenous injection with tropisetron hydrochloride achieve the satisfactory effect of prevention and treatment for vomiting induced by chemotherapy of lung cancer. The acupuncture intervention before chemotherapy greatly improves the effect on the nausea and vomiting induced by chemotherapy of lung cancer.

[Palm vein recognition based on end-to-end convolutional neural network].

OBJECTIVE: We propose a novel palm-vein recognition model based on the end-to-end convolutional neural network. In this model, the convolutional layer and the pooling layer were alternately connected to extract the image features, and the categorical attribute was estimated simultaneously via the neural network classifier. The classification error was minimized via the mini-batch stochastic gradient descent algorithm with momentum to optimize the feature descriptor along with the direction of the gradient descent. Four strategies including data augmentation, batch normalization, dropout, and L2 parameter regularization were applied in the model to reduce the generalization error. The experimental results showed that for classifying 500 subjects form PolyU database and a self-established database, this model achieved identification rates of 99.90% and 98.05%, respectively, with an identification time for a single sample less than 9 ms. The proposed approach, as compared with the traditional method, could improve the accuracy of palm vein recognition in clincal applications and provides a new approach to palm vein recognition.

[Effect of "Tiaoshen Acupuncture" on postpartum low back pain: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of "Tiaoshen Acupuncture" on postpartum low back pain. METHODS: A total of 98 cases of postpartum low back pain were randomly divided into a control group (45 cases, 4 cases dropping) and a treatment group (47 cases, 2 cases dropping). Conventional acupuncture was treated in the control group, and "Tiaoshen Acupuncture" was added in the treatment group on the basis treatment in the control group, acupuncture was applied at Baihui (GV 20), Neiguan (PC 6), Taichong (LR 3). The treatment was given 30 minutes each time, 5 times a week, 10 times for a total course of treatment. Before and after treatment, pain was assessed by the short-form of McGill pain questionnaire (SF-MPQ), dysfunction was assessed by Oswestry disability index (ODI), and depression was assessed by the Edinburgh postnatal depression scale (EPDS). And the changes of various indexs were observed before and after treatment. RESULTS: After treatment, the pain grade index (PRI) score, visual analog scale (VAS) score and present pain intensity (PPI) score in SF-MPQ of the control group and the treatment group were significantly lower than those before treatment (all P<0.001). The ODI score and EPDS score were also significantly lower than those before treatment (all P<0.001). The decline scores of the treatment group before and after treatment were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.001, P<0.01). CONCLUSION: "Tiaoshen Acupuncture" combined with conventional acupuncture and conventional acupuncture can effectively improve the symptoms of pain, dysfunction and depression in patients with postpartum low back pain, and the former is significantly better than the latter.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv infection regulates alternative splicing in Macrophages.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the expression of genes encoding SR proteinsand alternative splicing of IL4 and TLR4 in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) H37Rv-infected macrophages. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THP-1 cells were induced to differentiate into macrophages with 200 nM PMA, and H37Rv strains were used for macrophage infection. After RNA extraction, qRT-PCR was performed to evaluate the expression of many SR proteins as well as the alternative splicing of IL4 and TLR4. RESULTS: IL4 and TLR4 play significant roles in host immunity to tuberculosis. The level of IL-4 splice variants in THP-1 cells increased after M. tb H37Rv infection. Three splice variants of TLR4 were detected in M. tb-infected THP-1 cells, when compared with uninfected controls; the expression level of these splicing variants in M. tb-infected THP-1 cell was down-regulated. Since SR proteins are RNA-binding proteins that regulate RNA splicing, the expression of SR proteins was examined, and SRSF2 and SRSF3 were significantly down-regulated. In addition, splicing factors SRp75 and SF3a were also significantly down-regulated post M. tb infection. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that alternative splicing may be involved in host gene regulation post M. tb infection of macrophage cells.

[Chronic fatigue syndrome treated with transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical therapeutic effects and safety of chronic fatigue syndrome treated with transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on the conception vessel and the governor vessel. METHODS: Eighty-nine patients of chronic fatigue syndrome were randomized into an observation group (46 cases) and a control group (43 cases). In the observation group, TEAS was applied at Dazhui (GV 14) and Mingmen (GV 4), Shenque (CV 8) and Guanyuan (CV 4) [the current intensity: (14±2) mA]. In the control group, the simulated TEAS was applied at the same acupoints as the observation group (the current intensity: 1 mA). The treatment was given for 30 min, once a day, 5 times a week and the treatment of 4 weeks was as 1 session in the two groups. One session of treatment was required. Before treatment and at the end of 1 session of treatment, the fatigue severity scale (FSS) was adopted to evaluate the fatigue symptoms and the somatic and psychological health report (SPHERE) was adopted to evaluate the potential symptoms and observe the safety of TEAS therapy. RESULTS: At the end of treatment, FSS score and SPHERE score in the control group were not different significantly as compared with those before treatment (both P>0.05). FSS score and SPHERE score in the observation group were reduced significantly as compared with those before treatment (both P<0.01). FSS score and SPHERE score in the observation group were reduced apparently as compared with those in the control group (both P<0.001). In the entire process of treatment with TEAS, no any adverse reaction occurred. CONCLUSION: TEAS on the conception vessel and the governor vessel relieves fatigue symptoms and the potential symptoms in the patients of chronic fatigue syndrome. It is a safe therapy.

[Clinical observation on external humeral epicondylitis treated with back-rotation traction].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the clinical effect of manipulation on external humeral epicondylitis, and to explore the functional mechanism and ideal treatment. METHODS: Eighty-six patients who had been treated with acupuncture, obturation and needle-knife were divided into routine group and treatment group randomly. In routine group, there were 42 cases (male 13, female 29, means 40.8 years); and in treatment group there were 44 cases (male 16, female 28, means 41.2 years). There's no further treatment for the routine group after the therapy above, while the treatment group was added with back-rotation traction manipulation. RESULTS: Taking Verhaar therapy effect appraisal system of tennis-ball elbow to evaluate elbow function. After 7 days of therapy, the results were excellent in 13 cases, good in 16, fair in 4, poor in 9 in the routine group; and excellent in 38, good in 4 and fair in 2 in treatment group; and the effect in the treatment group were better than that of the routine group (P < 0.010). Half a year later, in the routine group 38 cases recurrenced and in the treatment group 10 cases recurrenced. CONCLUSION: Making manipulation after routine acupuncture, local obturation and needle-knife has active meaning to remove trauma inflammation, prevent re-conglutination, promote recovery and prevent recurrence.