Efficacy of Mind-Regulating and Depression-Reliving Acupuncture in combination with Radiofrequency Thermocoagulation of Dorsal Root Ganglion for Post-herpetic Neuralgia.

PURPOSE: This study is aimed at evaluating the efficacy of Mind-Regulating and Depression-Relieving Acupuncture in combination with radiofrequency thermocoagulation of DRG for PHN. METHODS: PHN patients who presented to the Pain Department of Affiliated Hospital of Jiaxing University from November 2021 to June 2023 were included. The participants were assigned into two groups using a random number table: Acupuncture + RFTC (Group H, n = 44) group and RFTC (Group C, n = 44) group. The pain numerical rating score (NRS), visual analogue scale scores (VAS), IL-6 , Gal-3, oral dose of tramadol and gabapentin capsules levels were recorded before and after 1, 2, 4, 8 and 12 w of the treatment. RESULTS: After treatment, NRS scores in both groups were significantly lower than pretreatment scores at each time point. Compared with before treatment, the VAS scores at all time points after treatment was increased in both groups. Compared with before treatment, the doses of oral gabapentin capsules and tramadol were reduced in both groups after treatment. Compared with group C, the doses of oral gabapentin capsules and tramadol after the end of the treatment course were significantly reduced in group H. Compared with before treatment, the blood levels of Gal-3 and IL-6 were reduced at all points after treatment in both groups. Compared with group C, the blood Gal-3 and IL-6 levels were significantly reduced in group H. CONCLUSION: Compared with RFTC alone, acupuncture combined with RFTC of DRG has a better therapeutic effect for PHN.

A Wearable and Real-Time Pulse Wave Monitoring System Based on a Flexible Compound Sensor.

Continuous monitoring of pulse waves plays a significant role in reflecting physical conditions and disease diagnosis. However, the current collection equipment cannot simultaneously achieve wearable and continuous monitoring under varying pressure and provide personalized pulse wave monitoring targeted different human bodies. To solve the above problems, this paper proposed a novel wearable and real-time pulse wave monitoring system based on a novel flexible compound sensor. Firstly, a custom-packaged pressure sensor, a signal stabilization structure, and a micro pressurization system make up the flexible compound sensor to complete the stable acquisition of pulse wave signals under continuously varying pressure. Secondly, a real-time algorithm completes the analysis of the trend of the pulse wave peak, which can quickly and accurately locate the best pulse wave for different individuals. Finally, the experimental results show that the wearable system can both realize continuous monitoring and reflecting trend differences and quickly locate the best pulse wave for different individuals with the 95% accuracy. The weight of the whole system is only 52.775 g, the working current is 46 mA, and the power consumption is 160 mW. Its small size and low power consumption meet wearable and portable scenarios, which has significant research value and commercialization prospects.

Involvement of GPR30 in protection effect of Dexmedetomidine against myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in rat via AKT pathway.

Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a heart disease that seriously threatens human health. Dexmedetomidine (DEX) has a certain protective effect on cardiac injury. This study investigated the cardioprotective effect of DEX and its potential molecular mechanism in vivo and in vitro. The results showed that DEX could significantly increase the viability of hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) treated cardiomyocytes and reduce oxidative damage and apoptosis. Further molecular mechanism analysis showed that the above cardiac protective effects may be related to Akt signaling pathway. In addition, the expression of G-Protein Receptor 30 (GPR30) was promoted after H/R treatment. However, knockdown of GPR30 by shRNA significantly counteracted the cardioprotective effect of DEX. Meanwhile, we constructed a rat model of AMI to investigate the role of GPR30 in vivo. The results showed that DEX significantly reduced the infarct size, and GPR30 agonist G1 enhanced the protective effect of DEX on heart. On the contrary, protein kinase B (AKT) inhibitor LY294002 counteracted the protective effect of DEX on heart, suggesting that GPR30 enhanced the protective effect of DEX on ischemia-reperfusion induced heart injury by regulating AKT related pathways. In conclusion, our study provides a potential target for the clinical treatment of AMI.