Effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in treatment of pregnancy-related symptoms: a systematic review and Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture (AM) in the treatment of pregnancy-related symptoms such as acute vomiting during pregnancy. METHODS: We comprehensively searched the available literature up to November 2021, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database, for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on AM for the treatment of severe vomiting, insomnia, pharyngeal and pelvic pain, mood abnormalities, and dyspepsia during pregnancy. RESULTS: Sixteen RCTs with a cumulative sample size of 1178 cases were included. Of these, 964 patients were included in the Meta-analysis. The Meta-analysis results showed that AM was more efficient than Western medicine in treating discomfort during pregnancy [odds ratio (OR) = 1.19, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.11, 1.28), P < 0.01]. AM was better than the control group in improving the visual analog scale scores [standard mean difference (SMD) = 0.62, 95% CI(0.53, 0.71), P < 0.01]. AM was superior to the control group in improving Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) symptom scores [OR = 7.31, 95% CI(3.36, 15.94), P < 0.01]. There was no significant difference in adverse effects between the AM and sham-AM groups and the analgesic drug group [OR = 0.70, 95% CI(0.39, 1.28), P = 0.25], but the treatment and control groups had mild adverse effects with a low incidence. CONCLUSIONS: AM is more effective than other treatments or pharmacotherapy alone in the treatment of pregnancy-related symptoms, and is relatively safe. However, the quality of the included trials was rather poor, and high-quality studies are required to confirm our findings.

3D bioprinting of Salvianolic acid B-sodium alginate-gelatin skin scaffolds promotes diabetic wound repair via antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and proangiogenic effects.

In patients with diabetic wounds, wound healing is impaired due to the presence of persistent oxidative stress, an altered inflammatory response, and impaired angiogenesis and epithelization. Salvianolic acid B (SAB), which is derived from the Chinese medicinal plant Salvia miltiorrhiza, has been found to exhibit antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and proangiogenic effects. Previous studies have used 3D bioprinting technology incorporating sodium alginate (SA) and gelatin (Gel) as basic biomaterials to successfully produce artificial skin. In the current study, 3D bioprinting technology was used to incorporate SAB into SA-Gel to form a novel SAB-SA-Gel composite porous scaffold. The morphological characteristics, physicochemical characteristics, biocompatibility, and SAB release profile of the SAB-SA-Gel scaffolds were evaluated in vitro. In addition, the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and proangiogenic abilities of the SAB-SA-Gel scaffolds were evaluated in cells and in a rat model. Analysis demonstrated that 1.0 wt% (the percentage of SAB in the total weight of the solution containing SA and Gel) SAB-SA-Gel scaffolds had strong antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and proangiogenic properties both in cells and in the rat model. The 1.0% SAB-SA-Gel scaffold reduced the expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, and interluekin-1ß and increased the expression of transforming growth factor-ß. In addition, this scaffold removed excessive reactive oxygen species by increasing the expression of superoxide dismutase, thereby protecting fibroblasts from injury. The scaffold increased the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and platelet/endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1, accelerated granulation tissue regeneration and collagen deposition, and promoted wound healing. These findings suggest that this innovative scaffold may have promise as a simple and efficient approach to managing diabetic wound repair.

Characteristics and Mechanisms of Biosolubilization of Rock Phosphate by Aspergillus japonicus

ABSTRACT Rock phosphate (RP) is traditionally solubilized by chemical process causing high cost and environmental pollution. To reduce process cost and protect environment, RP solubilization by Aspergillus japonicus was studied and its mechanisms were discussed. Results show that A. japonicus could effectively solubilize RP in NBRIP medium. RP solubilization by A. japonicus included direct and indirect actions of the strain on RP. Cells of A. japonicus attached rapidly to RP surface and the RP surface was seriously corroded by the strain. A. japonicus excreted multiple organic acids, and followed by a significant increase of titratable acidity and decrease of pH in the culture. A positive correlation between content of soluble phosphate and quantity of titratable acidity but a negative correlation between content of soluble phosphate and pH were observed. Results of abiotic solubilization of RP using organic and inorganic acids indicated that the release of soluble phosphate was significantly lower than that of inoculated with A. japonicus. Higher release of soluble phosphate and pH reduction achieved when using ammonium nitrogen rather than nitrate nitrogen.

Species sensitivity analysis of heavy metals to freshwater organisms.

Acute toxicity data of six heavy metals [Cu, Hg, Cd, Cr(VI), Pb, Zn] to aquatic organisms were collected and screened. Species sensitivity distributions (SSD) curves of vertebrate and invertebrate were constructed by log-logistic model separately. The comprehensive comparisons of the sensitivities of different trophic species to six typical heavy metals were performed. The results indicated invertebrate taxa to each heavy metal exhibited higher sensitivity than vertebrates. However, with respect to the same taxa species, Cu had the most adverse effect on vertebrate, followed by Hg, Cd, Zn and Cr. When datasets from all species were included, Cu and Hg were still more toxic than the others. In particular, the toxicities of Pb to vertebrate and fish were complicated as the SSD curves of Pb intersected with those of other heavy metals, while the SSD curves of Pb constructed by total species no longer crossed with others. The hazardous concentrations for 5 % of the species (HC5) affected were derived to determine the concentration protecting 95 % of species. The HC5 values of the six heavy metals were in the descending order: Zn > Pb > Cr > Cd > Hg > Cu, indicating toxicities in opposite order. Moreover, potential affected fractions were calculated to assess the ecological risks of different heavy metals at certain concentrations of the selected heavy metals. Evaluations of sensitivities of the species at various trophic levels and toxicity analysis of heavy metals are necessary prior to derivation of water quality criteria and the further environmental protection.

Male breast cancer: A retrospective study comparing survival with female breast cancer.

Male breast cancer is a rare disease. The aim of this study was to compare overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in a group of matched males and females with breast cancer. The clinical data and survival status of 42 operable male breast cancer (MBC) cases treated at the Central Hospital of Tai'an from 1982 to 2006 were collected. Each MBC patient recorded in the database was matched with two female breast cancer (FBC) patients. Matching was conducted based on age, year of diagnosis, stage and pathology. SPSS 16.0 software was used for statistical analysis. The Chi-square test was used for the categorical data, the Kaplan-Meier method was applied to analyze survival and the log-rank test was used to compare curves between the groups. P<0.05 was considered to indicate a statistically significant difference. The 42 MBC patients were matched with 84 FBC patients. The mean age at diagnosis was 58.0±11.3 years for males and 57.1±10.6 years for females, and the median follow-up time was 64 months (range, 5-262 months) for males and 71 months (range, 29-283 months) for females. Significant differences were identified for tumor location, hormone receptor status, adjuvant chemotherapy and hormone therapy between the two groups. Monofactorial analysis demonstrated that tumor size, lymph node status and AJCC stage were prognostic factors in MBC patients. The 5- and 10-year DFS rates were 61.2 and 40.7% for males, and 68.7 and 43.0% for females, respectively. The 5-and 10-year OS rates were 75.3 and 52.3% for males, and 82.9 and 63.2% for females, respectively. In our study, male breast carcinoma patients had a worse prognosis compared to female breast carcinoma patients which may be due to the deficiency of adjuvant chemotherapy and endocrine therapy.