[Professor SHAO Ming-xi's experience in differentiation and treatment of arthralgia in breast cancer with acupuncture, moxibustion and tuina].

Professor SHAO Ming-xi 's experience in treatment of arthralgia in breast cancer is summarized. Professor SHAO believes that the dysfunction of liver, spleen and kidney is the primary and the invasion of the exogenous wind, cold and damp is the secondary in arthralgia in breast cancer. Emphasized on syndrome/pattern differentiation, this disorder is identified as 4 patterns, i.e. liver qi stagnation, blockage by phlegm and stasis, qi and blood deficiency and obstruction by wind, cold and damp. Acupuncture-moxibustion is applied to Hegu (LI 4), Taichong (LR 3) and Waiguan (TE 5). The supplementary acupoints are selected on the base of syndrome/pattern differentiation. Tuina is combined with acupuncture-moxibustion and the reinforcing and reducing techniques are used appropriately. Shaoyang meridian is specially considered, due to which, Waiguan (TE 5) and Zhongzhu (TE 3) of triple energizer meridian of hand-shaoyang and Yanglingquan (GB 34) and Zulinqi (GB 41) of gallbladder meridian of foot-shaoyang are combined. Additionally, it stresses the combination of the local and distal acupoints and the coordination of various therapies of TCM to achieve the better effect.

[Xiao's "xingnaofusu" needling for regaining consciousness and the influence on width of the third ventricle in patients with persistent vegetative state].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the influence of Xiao's "xingnaofusu" needling (the technique for resuscitation) on regaining consciousness in the patients with persistent vegetative state (PVS). METHODS: A total of 50 patients of PVS were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 25 cases in each. The patients in the control group were treated by the routine western medicine, and those in the observation group treated by Xiao's "xingnaofusu" needling and routine western medicine. Baihui (GV20), Dingshen (Extra) to Shangen (Extra) (penetrating technique), Fengchi (GB20) to GB20 (penetrating technique), Neiguan (PC6) to Waiguan (TE5) (penetrating technique), Hegu (LI4) to Laogong (HT8) (penetrating technique) and Taichong (LR3) to Yongquan (KI1) (penetrating technique) were selected. The treatment was given once a day, 10 days as one treatment course, 3 courses in total. The coma recovery scale-revised (CRS-R) score, the modified Ashworth scale (MAS) score and the Glasgow coma scale (GCS) were separately compared before and after the treatment. Additionally, CT scanning was adopted to measure the width of the third ventricle before and after treatment so as to evaluate the clinical therapeutic effect. RESULTS: After the treatment, the CRS-R and GCS scores in the two groups increased remarkably, and MAS score reduced obviously as compared with that before the treatment(P<0.05); and the CRS-R and GCS scores were higher, and MAS score lower in the observation group than those in the control group(P<0.05). Compared with the control group, the width of the third ventricle reduced obviously in the observation group after the treatment(P<0.05). At the end of the treatment courses, the effective rate was 79.2%(19/24)in the observation group and was 47.8%(11/23) in the control group. The effective rate of the observation group was obviously higher than that of the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Xiao's "xingnaofusu" needling can remarkably improve the central nerve function, promote the recovery of brain function and the motor function of limbs, reduce the width of the third ventricle and improve the clinical therapeutic effect of regaining consciousness in the patients with PVS.

GIT1 contributes to autophagy in osteoclast through disruption of the binding of Beclin1 and Bcl2 under starvation condition.

Approximately 10-15% of all bone fractures do not heal properly, causing patient morbidity and additional medical care expenses. Therefore, better mechanism-based fracture repair approaches are needed. In this study, a reduced number of osteoclasts (OCs) and autophagosomes/autolysosomes in OC can be observed in GPCR kinase 2-interacting protein 1 (GIT1) knockout (KO) mice on days 21 and 28 post-fracture, compared with GIT1 wild-type (GIT1 WT) mice. Furthermore, in vitro experiments revealed that GIT1 contributes to OC autophagy under starvation conditions. Mechanistically, GIT1 interacted with Beclin1 and promoted Beclin1 phosphorylation at Thr119, which induced the disruption of Beclin1 and Bcl2 binding under starvation conditions, thereby, positively regulating autophagy. Taken together, the findings suggest a previously unappreciated role of GIT1 in autophagy of OCs during fracture repair. Targeting GIT1 may be a potential therapeutic approach for bone fractures.

[Randomized Controlled Clinical Trials of Treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis of Yang-deficiency Pattern by Acupuncture Plus Moxibustion].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the therapeutic effect of acupuncture plus moxibustion and simple acupuncture in the treatment of patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) of yang-deficiency syndrome. METHODS: Fifty-eight KOA patients with yang-deficiency syndrome were chosen and randomly divided into acupuncture plus moxibustion group (n＝30) and acupuncture group (n＝28). Neixiyan (EX-LE 4), Dubi (ST 35), Liangqiu (ST 34), Heding (EX-LE 2), Xuehai (SP 10), Yanglingquan (GB 34) on the affected side of the body were punctured with filiform needles or/and stimulated with moxibustion using seed-sized moxa cones. The treatment was conducted once daily for 10 days, followed with another 10 days after 2 days interval. The pain severity was evaluated by using visual analogue scale (VAS), and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) scores were used to measure the KOA pain, stiffness and function before and after the treatment, and 1 month after the treatment. The therapeutic effect was also evaluated according to the "Standards for Diagnosis and Therapeutic Effect Evaluation of Diseases/Syndromes of Traditional Chinese Medicine" (issued by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of China in 1994). RESULTS: Twenty days and 1 month after the treatment, the scores of VAS, and KOA pain, stiffness and motor function of WOMAC were significantly decreased in both groups in comparison with their own pre-treatment (P<0.01), and were obviously lower in the acupuncture plus moxibustion group than in the acupuncture group (P<0.05, P<0.01). Of the 28 and 30 cases in the acupuncture and acupuncture plus moxibustion groups, 7 and 12 experienced marked improvement, 12 and 16 were effective, 9 and 2 ineffective, with the therapeutic effect being 67.86% and 93.33%, respectively. The therapeutic effect of acupuncture plus moxibustion was apparently superior to that of simple acupuncture (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Acupuncture plus moxibustion is significantly superior to simple acupuncture therapy in relieving symptoms of KOA patients, and also has a better post-effect.

Bioinformatics Analysis of the Molecular Mechanism of Aging on Fracture Healing.

Increasing age negatively affects different phases of bone fracture healing. The present study aimed to explore underlying mechanisms related to bone fracture repair in the elderly. GSE17825 public transcriptome data from the Gene Expression Omnibus database were used for analysis. First, raw data were normalized and differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified. Next, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) analyses were implemented to evaluate pathways and DEGs. A protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was then constructed. A total of 726, 861, and 432 DEGs were identified between the young and elderly individuals at 1, 3, and 5 days after fracture, respectively. The results of GO, KEGG, and PPI network analyses suggested that the inflammatory response, Wnt signaling pathway, vascularization-associated processes, and synaptic-related functions of the identified DEGs are markedly enriched, which may account for delayed fracture healing in the elderly. These findings provide valuable clues for investigating the effects of aging on fracture healing but should be validated through further experiments.