Assessment of anti-inflammatory efficacy of acupuncture in patients with inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Inflammation has a significant role in the onset and progression of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Increasing attention has been paid to the use of acupuncture in IBD patients; however, its regulatory effects on inflammatory factors in IBD still require validation. Here, we systematically evaluated the effects of acupuncture on inflammatory factors in IBD patients. METHODS: Eight electronic databases were searched for studies that met the inclusion criteria. After evaluating the quality of the studies selected by two reviewers, the meta-analysis was performed to assess the efficacy of acupuncture in IBD patients and the impact on inflammatory factors (TNF-α, IL-1, IL-8 and IL-10). RESULTS: Four randomized controlled trials with a total of 228 patients satisfied the inclusion criteria. Acupuncture has a positive therapeutic impact on IBD (MD = 1.22, 95% CI [1.07, 1.39], P = 0.003). Moreover, it regulates the levels of TNF-α (MD =-60.58, 95% CI [-100.30, -20.89], P = 0.003), IL-8 (MD =-56.40, 95% CI [-60.02, -52.14], P < 0.00001) and IL-10 (MD =35.96, 95% CI [11.02, 60.91], P = 0.005) in IBD patients. However, the P value of meta-analysis in IL-1 great than 0.05.(MD =-27.90, 95% CI [-97.82, 42.02], P = 0.11). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture has a positive therapeutic impact on IBD and can effectively regulate inflammatory factors in IBD patients. TNF-α, IL-8 and IL-10 are more appropriate inflammatory indicators for clinically evaluating the anti-inflammatory response in the blood of IBD patients by acupuncture.

Efficacy and safety of manual acupuncture for the treatment of upper limb motor dysfunction after stroke: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The incidence of stroke sequelae among patients is as high as 70%-80%. Flexor spasm is the most common stroke sequela, presenting a heavy burden to the patients and their families. This study will evaluate the results of randomized controlled trials to determine the efficacy and safety of hand manipulation acupuncture for the treatment of upper limb motor dysfunction after stroke. METHODS: Eight databases, including China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific Journal Database, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase, MEDLINE, PubMed, Wanfang Database, and Web of Science, will be searched using English and Chinese search strategies. In addition, manual retrieval of research papers, conference papers, ongoing experiments, and internal reports, among others, will supplement electronic retrieval. All eligible studies published on or before January 15, 2021 will be selected. To enhance the effectiveness of the study, only clinical randomized controlled trials related to the use of manual acupuncture for the treatment of upper limb motor dysfunction after stroke will be included. ANALYSIS: The Fugl-Meyer upper extremity assessment will be the primary outcome measure, whereas the Wolf Motor Function Test, Modified Ashworth Scale, arm movement survey test table, and upper extremity freehand muscle strength assessment scores will be the secondary outcomes. Side effects and adverse events will be included as safety evaluations. To ensure the quality of the systematic evaluation, study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment will be independently performed by two authors, and a third author will resolve any disagreement. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This systematic review will evaluate the efficacy and safety of manual acupuncture for the treatment of upper limb motor dysfunction after stroke. Since all included data will be obtained from published articles, it does not require ethical approval and will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. INPLASY registration number: INPLASY202110071.

Acupuncture for the treatment of leptin resistance in obesity: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recently, there has been a global increase in obesity and obesity-related diseases. The prevention and treatment of obesity have become one of the most significant public health challenges worldwide in the 21st century, and how to effectively curb the occurrence of obesity has become a major global concern. Numerous studies have shown that the majority of obese individuals do not respond to leptin, and instead demonstrate leptin resistance. Clinical studies have found that acupuncture is widely used in the clinical treatment of obesity in recent years, but whether it can improve leptin resistance has not been systematically reviewed. This study is aimed to investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture in obesity with leptin resistance (LR). METHODS: We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan Fang, Technology Journal Database (VIP), and China Biology Medicine disc (CBM). Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. The time was from the establishment of the database to March 19, 2021. RevMan 5.3 software was used to assess the quality and risk of the included studies. RESULTS: This study will be conducted in terms of clinical efficacy, serum leptin content, and body weight change. The current evidence shows that the incidence of the disease is high and the comprehensive quality is high. CONCLUSION: The conclusion of this review will provide a basis for judging whether acupuncture therapy is effective in the treatment of leptin resistance in obesity.

Massage treatment of hyperplasia of mammary glands: A protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: With the accelerated pace of life, the problems of residence, diet, and environment have occurred frequently in recent years. External factors are easily to cause endocrine disorders and hormone sensitivity of breast tissue, which can lead to mammary hyperplasia. The incidence rate of hyperplasia of mammary glands is increasing year by year, and the age of onset is also getting lower and lower. If not treated in time, there is a crisis of breast cancer.Clinical studies have found that massage is widely used in clinical treatment of mammary hyperplasia recently, but the efficacy of massage in the treatment of mammary hyperplasia has not been systematically reviewed. The purpose of this study is to explore the efficacy, safety and effectiveness of massage in the treatment of hyperplasia of mammary glands. METHODS: We will search PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of controlled trials (central), ScienceNet, EMBASE, CBM, CNKI, VIP and Wanfang databases. The retrieval date was October 20, 2020. RevMan 5.3 software was used to evaluate the quality and risk of included studies. The efficacy, recurrence rate, and symptom score of breast hyperplasia were analyzed, and the results were observed and measured. RESULTS: This study will be from the clinical efficiency, improvement rate, pain symptoms disappear rate, tumor size improvement rate and other aspects of the existing evidence for a high quality synthesis, as well as massage adverse events. CONCLUSION: the conclusion of this review will provide the basis for judging whether massage is safe and effective in the treatment of hyperplasia of mammary glands. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This systematic will evaluate the effectiveness and safety of massage in the treatment of hyperplasia of mammary glands. As all data used in this systematic review and meta-analysis have been published, ethical approval is not required for this review. PROTOCOL REGISTRATION NUMBER: INPLASY2020100066.

PTEN influences insulin and lipid metabolism in bovine hepatocytes in vitro.

Dairy cows with fatty liver or ketosis display decreased insulin sensitivity and defects in the insulin receptor substrate (IRS)/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is a well-known tumor suppressor and also a negative regulator of insulin signaling and peripheral insulin sensitivity. We investigated the hypothesis that PTEN may affect the insulin pathway-mediated hepatic glucose and lipid metabolism in dairy cows. Adenovirus vectors that over-express and silence PTEN were constructed, and then transfected into hepatocytes isolated from calves to investigate the effect of PTEN on PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. PTEN silencing increased the phosphorylation of AKT and the expression of PI3K but decreased the phosphorylation of IRS1, which increased the phosphorylation levels of glycogen synthase kinase-3ß (GSK-3ß) and expression of sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c). Increased GSK-3ß phosphorylation further up-regulated expression of the key enzymes phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6-Pase) involved in gluconeogenesis. Furthermore, the expression of SREBP-1c target gene fatty acid synthase (FAS) also increased significantly. We further showed that PTEN over-expression could reverse the above results. PTEN negatively regulates the enzymes involved in hepatic gluconeogenesis and lipid synthesis, which suggests that PTEN may be a therapeutic target for ketosis and fatty liver in dairy cows.

[Progress in Newcastle disease virus against tumor].

Newcastle disease virus is paramyxoviridae, Avian mumps virus genus type I, and infects more than 250 species of birds, causing huge losses on poultry farming worldwide. Numerous experiments have demonstrated that Newcastle disease virus has oncolytic activity on tumor cells and can selectively replicate in cancer cells. Thus, Newcastle disease virus is a potential therapeutic agent for cancer treatment. Some human clinical trials achieved good results. In this review, we summarized research progress of the relationship between the structural protein of Newcastle disease virus and virulence, anti-tumor and autophagy of Newcastle disease.

Ilomastat, a synthetic inhibitor of MMPs, prevents lung injury induced by γ-ray irradiation in mice.

Lung injury is one of the pathological features in human or animal after radiation and the main side effect for patient after lung cancer radiotherapy. The efficient protective strategy still needs to exploit and the underlying mechanisms remain to be investigated. We found that the expression and activity of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) significantly increased at the early stage of radiation-induced lung injury (RILI). Pretreatment with Ilomastat, a synthetic inhibitor of MMPs, decreased the expression and activity of MMPs and significantly alleviated the lung inflammation and fibrosis in the irradiated mice, as well as enhanced the survival of irradiated mice. In addition, the levels of TGF-ß, IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1ß in the tissues dramatically reduced in the irradiated mice pretreated with Ilomastat. Furthermore, our experiments in vitro also showed that radiation significantly increased the MMPs activity, and Ilomastat pretreatment inhibited the activity of MMPs activated by irradiation and increased the cell survival. It is the first report, to our knowledge, to demonstrate that Ilomastat is a potential effective reliever for RILI and MMPs may play important roles in the process of RILI.