Acupuncture Therapy on Dysphagia in Patients with Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Study.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of acupuncture therapy on dysphagia in patients with Parkinson's disease. METHODS: This randomized controlled study lasted 42 days and included 112 patients with Parkinson's disease and dysphagia. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and control groups (56 cases each group) using the completely randomized design, all under routine treatment. The experimental group was given acupuncture therapy. The primary outcome was Penetration-Aspiration Scale (PAS). The secondary outcomes were (1) Standardized Swallowing Assessment (SSA), and (2) nutritional status including body mass index (BMI), serum albumin, prealbumin, and hemoglobin. Adverse events were recorded as safety indicators. RESULTS: One participant quitted the study midway. There were no significant differences in baseline assessment (P>0.05). After treatment, both groups showed significant improvement in PAS, SSA and nutritional status except for BMI of the control group. There were significant differences between the two groups in the PAS for both paste and liquid, SSA (25.18±8.25 vs. 20.84±6.92), BMI (19.97±3.34 kg/m2vs. 21.26 ±2.38 kg/m2), serum albumin (35.16 ±5.29 g/L vs. 37.24 ±3.98 g/L), prealbumin (248.33 ±27.72 mg/L vs. 261.39 ±22.10 mg/L), hemoglobin (119.09±12.53 g/L vs. 126.67±13.97 g/L) (P<0.05). There were no severe adverse events during the study. CONCLUSION: The combination of routine treatment and acupuncture therapy can better improve dysphagia and nutritional status in patients with Parkinson's disease, than routine treatment solely. (registration No. CLINICALTRIAL: gov NCT06199323).

Reliability and Validity of the Chinese Mandarin Version of the Dysphagia Handicap Index.

This study aimed to develop the Dysphagia Handicap Index-Chinese Mandarin (DHI-CM) and to assess its reliability and validity. This prospective study was conducted in China with individuals who speak Mandarin. The DHI-CM was developed according to a five-stage process. 264 patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) and 187 healthy individuals completed the study. Reliability was assessed using Cronbach's α and test-retest reliability. Differences between healthy participants and patients with OD were analyzed for instrument validity. Convergent and concurrent validity were assessed using the Swallowing Quality of Life Questionnaire (SWAL-QoL) and Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS), respectively. The Content Validity Index (CVI) was used to assess content validity. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (EFA and CFA, respectively) were used to assess structural validity. The Cronbach's alpha was > 0.9 for the total score and every individual subscale. The Pearson and intraclass correlation coefficients were both > 0.8. The patients with OD showed significantly higher scores in the DHI-CM and its subscales than the healthy individuals. Significant correlations were found between most subscales of the DHI-CM and both the SWAL-QoL and FOIS. The CVI of the DHI-CM was 0.892 and ranged between 0.878 and 1.000 for the subscales. The EFA identified three components that explained 24.33%, 23.99%, and 22.73% of the variance, respectively. The scale showed good structural validity through CFA. Conclusions. The DHI-CM demonstrated good reliability and validity among Mandarin-speaking Chinese adults.

SIAH1/CTR9 axis promotes the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of hepatocellular carcinoma.

SIAH1 has been reported to participate in several human cancers, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the effect of SIAH1 on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has not been reported in HCC cells. Here, we discovered the inhibitory effect of SIAH1 on HCC cell migration and invasion, which was related with regulating EMT. Molecularly, a yeast two-hybrid experiment indicated that Cln Three Requiring 9 (CTR9) was a potential interacting protein of SIAH1, which was further verified by co-immunoprecipitation assays. Furthermore, SIAH1 inhibited the EMT of HCC cells through negatively regulating CTR9. Importantly, CTR9 was ubiquitinated and degraded by SIAH1 via the proteasome pathway in HCC cells. Additionally, it was showed that SIAH1 mainly mediated the K48-linked polyubiquitination on CTR9. Finally, the protein level of CTR9 was found to be inversely correlated with SIAH1 in human HCC tissues. Summed up all together, these findings reveal that SIAH1/CTR9 axis promotes the EMT of HCC cells and is a promising therapeutic target for HCC therapy.