Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated 2 contributes to electroacupuncture analgesia on lumbar disc herniation-induced radicular pain through activation of microglia in spinal dorsal horn.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanisms of dorsal root ganglia and spinal microglia cascade cross in electroacupuncture (EA) analgesia in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation. METHODS: A rat model of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) was established, EA was administered at Huantiao (GB30) acupoint 30 min once a day, for 3 d. Before and after modeling, and after EA, mechanical allodynia thresholds were detected. Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated 2 (HCN2) in dorsal root ganglia was detected by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and Western blot. C-X3-C motif chemokine ligand 1 (CX3CL1) and activity of microglia in spinal cord was observed separately qPCR and immunofluorescence staining. RESULTS: The mechanical allodynia threshold of the right planta of model rats was significantly reduced ( < 0.01), EA increased the mechanical pain threshold of rats ( < 0.01), and decreased HCN2 mRNA, and protein expression, reduced the expression of CX3CL1 and the activation of microglia. ZD7288 (a blocker of HCN channel) reduced the analgesic effect of EA from 1.83 ± 0.84 to 0.74 ± 0.20 ( < 0.05), and the expression of CX3CL1 in the spinal cord decreased from 0.52 ± 0.11 to 0.15 ± 0.05 ( < 0.01). CONCLUSION: EA analgesia on the radicular pain of LDH is definite. EA reduced the expression of HCN2 channel in the dorsal root ganglion, thereby decreasing the noxious stimulation entered to microglia in spinal dorsal horn. Our work supports EA is an effective treatment for radicular pain of LDH.

The efficacy and safety of sodium hyaluronate injection (Adant®) in treating degenerative osteoarthritis: a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, positive-drug parallel-controlled and non-inferiority clinical study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy and safety of two different sodium hyaluronate drugs in treating degenerative osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. METHOD: This randomized, multi-center, double-blind, positive-drug, parallel-controlled study included 229 patients aged ≥ 45 years who were clinically diagnosed with degenerative OA of the knee. The patients were randomly assigned to receive for 5 consecutive weeks a once-weekly intra-articular injection of the investigational drug Adant®, which is manufactured by fermentation, or the control drug Artz®, which is manufactured by extraction of cockscomb. The follow-up examinations were conducted 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 weeks after the first injection. The primary efficacy parameter was the decrease in the visual analog scale (VAS) scores of pain on movement caused by load-bearing, and the secondary efficacy parameter was the decrease in the Lequesne index. RESULTS: The intra-articular injections of Adant® and Artz® produced a significant reduction in the VAS scores for pain on movement (50.4 and 50.3 mm, respectively) and in the Lequesne index. There were no significant differences in efficacy and safety between the two drugs and non-inferiority in VAS score decreases was confirmed. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that both Adant® and Artz® are effective for the treatment of OA and that there were no statistical differences between them in the VAS scores of pain on movement, Lequesne index or safety during the observation period with short-time follow up.

The impact of storage time on the wear rates of ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene acetabular liners in hip simulators.

The aim of the study is to explore the impact of storage time on wear rates. Two groups of acetabular liners with a storage time of 1 and 4 years were tested on 2 hip simulators of the same type. There were 6 liners in each group. Gravimetric analysis was performed every 500 000 cycles for a total of 3 million cycles. The mean wear rate for the group of 4-year-old liners (36.3 mg/million cycles) was significantly higher than that for the 1-year-old group (23.1 mg/million cycles) (P < .05). After the last gravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the wear patterns of the bearing surfaces. This study found that wear resistance decreased as storage time increased.