Traditional, complementary and integrative medicine for fatigue post COVID-19 infection: A systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Chronic fatigue is a predominant symptom of post COVID-19 condition, or long COVID. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM) for fatigue post COVID-19 infection. Methods: Ten English and Chinese language databases and grey literature were searched up to 12 April 2023 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Cochrane "Risk of bias" (RoB) tool was applied. Evidence certainty was assessed using Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE). Effect estimates were presented as risk ratio (RR) or mean difference (MD) with 95% confidence interval (CI). Results: Thirteen RCTs with 1632 participants were included. One RCT showed that Bufei Huoxue herbal capsules reduced fatigue (n=129, MD -14.90, 95%CI -24.53 to -5.27), one RCT reported that Ludangshen herbal liquid lowered fatigue (n=184, MD -1.90, 95%CI -2.38 to -1.42), and the other one RCT shown that fatigue disappearance rate was higher with Ludangshen herbal liquid (n=184, RR 4.19, 95%CI 2.06 to 8.53). Compared to traditional Chinese medicine rehabilitation (TCM-rahab) alone, one RCT showed that fatigue symptoms were lower following Qingjin Yiqi granules plus TCM-rehab (n=388, MD -0.48, 95%CI -0.50 to -0.46). Due to concerns with RoB and/or imprecision, the certainty in this evidence was low to very low. No serious adverse events was reported. Conclusions: Limited evidence suggests that various TCIM interventions might reduce post COVID-19 fatigue. Larger, high quality RCTs of longer duration are required to confirm these preliminary findings. Study Registration: The protocol of this review has been registered at PROSPERO: CRD42022384136.

Traditional Chinese medicine for smoking cessation: An umbrella review of systematic reviews and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

INTRODUCTION: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may have special advantages in facilitating smoking cessation, but consensus on effectiveness is lacking. We aim to comprehensively review, update, and refine current evidence on TCM effectiveness and safety. METHODS: Nine databases were searched from their inception up to 28 February 2023. Systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analysis of TCM for smoking cessation were identified and retrieved. Additional databases and hand searches of RCTs from included SRs were performed for data pooling. Cochrane ROB tools and AMSTAR-2 were used to evaluate the methodological quality of RCTs and SRs, respectively. RCT data are presented as relative risks (RR) or mean differences (MD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using RevMan 5.4. RESULTS: Thirteen SRs involving 265 studies with 33081 participants were included. Among these 265 studies, 157 were duplicates (58.36%) and 52 were non-RCTs (19.62%). Combined with the remaining 56 RCTs identified through hand searches, 88 RCTs involving 12434 participants were finally included for data synthesis. All the SRs focused on acupoint stimulation, and the majority were of low or very low quality. The methodological quality of RCTs was either unclear or high risk. For continuous abstinence rate, TCM external interventions were better than placebo in 6 months to 1 year (RR=1.60; 95% CI: 1.14-2.25; I2=27%; n=5533 participants). Compared with placebo, TCM external application was effective in reducing nicotine withdrawal symptoms, and the effect was gradually stable and obvious in the fourth week (MD= -4.46; 95% CI: -5.43 - -3.49; n=165 participants). Twelve RCTs reported adverse events as outcome indicators for safety evaluation, and no serious adverse events occurred. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the methodological limitations of the original studies, our review suggests that TCM intervention shows potential effectiveness on the continuous abstinence rate. Extending the intervention time can enhance the effect of TCM on nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Referred to adverse events, more data for safety evaluation are required.

Curative effect of stereotactic body radiotherapy for unresectable massive primary liver cancer.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the curative effect of gamma knife stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for unresectable massive primary liver cancer. A total of 69 patients with unresectable massive (>10 cm) primary liver cancer who were treated by SBRT at the Department of Radiation Oncology of the 323 Hospital of People's Liberation Army (Xi'an, China) between October, 2006 and October, 2010, were analyzed. According to the Union for International Cancer Control TNM staging guidelines, the patients were graded as stage T1 (n=8), T2 (n=12), T3 (n=21) and T4 (n=28). None of the patients had lymph node metastasis, whereas 45 patients had portal vein tumor thrombosis. The Child-Pugh class was A (n=49), B (n=15) and C (n=5). The visible tumor volume ± standard deviation was 810±213 cm3. The patients received a total radiation dose of 50-60 Gy, with a dose fractionation of 4-6 Gy/fx, administered for a total of 9-12 times, 2-5 times/week. A total of 8 patients succumbed to the disease within 3 months after gamma knife treatment and were not included in the evaluation of the curative effect. The total effectiveness rate was 59.0% (36/61) and the median survival was 17.4 months for all the patients included in the study. The 1-, 2-, and 3-year overall survival rates were 71, 30 and 22%, respectively. In conclusion, SBRT appears to be effective for unresectable massive primary liver cancer.

Mediastinoscopic esophagectomy for patients with early esophageal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to detect the feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of mediastinoscopic esophagectomy for early esophageal cancer. METHODS: The clinical data of 194 patients who underwent mediastinoscopic esophagectomy for early esophageal cancer in our center from December 2005 to October 2014 were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: All the surgery was performed successfully. The average duration of thoracic surgery was 48.2±7.8 min and the average intra-operative blood loss was 128.1±34.5 mL. An average of 3.1±1.6 lymph node stations were dissected, with an average number of dissected lymph nodes being 9.38±6.2, among which 4.2±5.4 were mediastinal lymph nodes. No peri-operative mortality was noted, and the rate of peri-operative morbidity was 13.4%. The median duration of follow-up was 39 [3-108] months, and the overall survival was 72.73%. The overall survival rates significantly differed among different T stages; more specifically, the 5-year survival was 95.23% in patients with stage T1a esophageal cancer, 70.15% for T1b, and 55.56% for T2 (P<0.001). The overall survival was significantly better in patients with negative lymph nodes than those with lymph nodes metastasis (P=0.003); more specifically, the 5-year survival rate was 84.9% for N0, 62.5% for N1, and 50.0% for N2 + N3. CONCLUSIONS: The mediastinoscopic esophagectomy can achieve a similar effectiveness as the conventional thoracoscopic surgery for patients with early stage esophageal cancer.

Curative effect of stereotactic body radiotherapy on hepatic hilar carcinoma.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) on hepatic hilar tumors. Between October, 2006 and October, 2012, we analyzed 63 unresectable hepatic hilar tumors that were treated by SBRT at the Department of Radiation Oncology, 323 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army, Xi'an, China. The patients received a total radiation dose of 45 Gy (range, 44-48 Gy) with a dose fractionation of 3-6 Gy/fx, administered for a total of 9-12 times, 2-5 times/week. At 1 and 3 months we evaluated therapeutic efficacy and 1- and 2-year survival rate. At 1 month, the patients exhibiting complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD) and progressive disease (PD) were 15 (23.8%), 34 (54.0%), 11 (17.5%) and 3 (4.7%), respectively. At 3 months, the number of cases with CR, PR, SD and PD was 22 (34.9%), 32 (50.8%), 3 (4.8%) and 6 (9.5%), respectively. The total effective rate, defined as CR + PR, was 85.7% (54/63). The number of patients with a tumor diameter of ≤5 cm in the CR, PR, SD and PD groups was 13 (72.2%), 4 (22.2%), 1 (5.6%) and 0 (0.0%), respectively. The number of patients with a tumor diameter of >5 cm in the CR, PR, SD and PD groups was 9 (20.0%), 28 (62.2%), 6 (13.3%) and 2 (4.5%), respectively. The 1-year survival rate of patients with a tumor diameter >5 cm was 71.4% (45/63) and the 2-year survival rate was 42.9% (27/63). In conclusion, SBRT appears to be a safe and effective treatment for hepatic hilar tumors.

Video-assisted mediastinoscopic resection compared with video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery in patients with esophageal cancer.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to explore the indications of radical vedio-assisted mediastinoscopic resection for esophageal cancer. METHODS: The data of 109 patients with T1 esophageal cancer who underwent video-assisted mediastinoscopic resection (VAMS group) in Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University Hospital from December 2005 to December 2011 were collected in the study for comparison with the 58 patients with T1 esophageal cancer who underwent video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS group) in Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University. The perioperative safety and survival were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: All operations were successful in both groups. One perioperative death was noted in the VATS group. The incidences of post-operative complications were not significantly different between these two groups, whereas the VAMS group was favorable in terms of operative time (P<0.001) and blood loss (P<0.001), and a significantly larger number of chest lymph nodes were dissected in the VATS group compared with the VAMS group (P<0.001). Long-term follow-up showed that the overall survival was not significantly different between these two groups (P=0.876). CONCLUSIONS: T1N0M0 esophageal cancer can be as the indication of VAMS radical resection. VAMS radical resection can be considered as the preferred option for patients with poor pulmonary and cardiac function or a history of pleural disease.

[Construction, expression, and identification of the gene of human anti-prostate specific membrane antigen single-chain antibody].

OBJECTIVE: To construct, express and purify human fusion proteins composed of a single-chain antibody fragment scFv that recognizes the prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) protein, Fdt, HA2 and tp, and to analyze the binding activity of the expressed fusion proteins. METHODS: The fusion protein genes scFv, scFv-tp, and scFv-Fdt-HA2-tp were amplified by PCR, and the genes obtained were then cloned into the expression vector pET28 and expressed in E. coli BL21. The expressed products were identified by SDS-PAGE and Western blot and purified with Ni(2+)-NTA chelating agarose. The antigen-binding activity of the fusion proteins was determined by ELISA. RESULTS: The human anti-PSMA fusion gene was successfully constructed and expressed in M15 as the inclusion body after induced with IPTG. All the target proteins expressed could bind the PSMA antigen. CONCLUSION: Fusion proteins can specifically bind the PSMA antigen. This finding contributes to the study of the targeted delivery of siRNA.