Effects of acupuncture on neurologic function and serum inflammatory factors after thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To observe the effects of acupuncture on neurologic function and serum inflammatory factors in patients after thrombolysis in acute ischemic stroke (AIS).@*METHODS@#A total of 102 AIS patients with onset to treatment time (OTT) ≤3 h were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 51 cases each group. In the control group, thrombolysis and conventional medical treatment were applied. On the basis of the treatment as the control group, acupuncture at Shuigou (GV 26), Zhongwan (CV 12), Qihai (CV 6), Neiguan (PC 6), etc. was applied in the observation group, 30 min each time, once a day. Both groups were treated for 2 weeks. Before and after treatment, the scores of National Institutes of Health stroke scale (NIHSS), modified Rankin scale (mRS), modified Barthel index (MBI) and serum level of homocysteine (Hcy), hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were compared, and the clinical efficacy was evaluated in the two groups.@*RESULTS@#After treatment, the scores of NIHSS, mRS and serum level of Hcy, hs-CRP were decreased compared with those before treatment (P<0.05), while the MBI scores were increased (P<0.05) in the two groups. The scores of NIHSS, mRS and serum level of Hcy, hs-CRP in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05, P<0.01), the MBI score in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (P<0.01). The total effective rate was 88.2% (45/51) in the observation group, which was superior to 70.6% (36/51) in the control group (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Acupuncture could promote the recovery of neurologic function in patients after thrombolysis in AIS, improve the ability of daily living, which may be related to reducing the level of inflammatory factors, thus inhibiting inflammatory response and improving cerebral ischemia reperfusion injury.

Effects and efficacy observation of acupuncture on serum 5-HT in patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture for treatment of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome and discuss its action mechanism.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Fifty-seven cases were randomly divided into two groups. The acupuncture group (29 cases) was treated with acupuncture at Taichong (LR 3), Zusanli (ST 36) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) etc., once a day and 5 times per week. The medication group (28 cases) was treated with oral administration of pinaverium (50 mg each time, 3 times a day) and live combined bifidobacterium and lactobacillus tablet (4 tablets each time, 3 times a day). Four weeks were taken as a treatment course in both groups. Before and after treatment ELISA method was applied to measure the level of serum 5-HT of the patients in two groups. The scores of clinical symptoms were observed before treatment, after one and four weeks of treatment and 3 months after treatment, respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The level of serum 5-HT was significantly reduced in the acupuncture group and medication group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05), which had no statistical difference between two groups (P > 0.05). Compared with the medication group, the scores of clinical symptoms were obviously improved in the acupuncture group after one and four weeks of treatment and 3 months after treatment (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). The total effective rate was 89.66% (26/29) in the acupuncture group, which was superior to 67.85% (19/28) in the medication group (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The efficacy of acupuncture is superior to that of medicine in the treatment of diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome. The acupuncture treatment could reduce the visceral sensitivity, improve the intestinal motility and regulate the imbalance of brain-intestine interactive function.</p>

Clinical observation on acupuncture for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome patients in syndrome of liver-stagnation and spleen-deficiency and its impact on Th1/Th2 / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe clinical therapeutic effects of acupuncture for pattern of liver-stagnation and spleen-deficiency in diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (D-IBS) and its impact on cell factors.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Forty cases were selected and divided into an acupuncture group (21 cases) in which acupuncture was applied and a medicine group (19 cases) in which oral administration of dicetel and bifidobacterium lactobacillus triple viable capsules were applied. The symptom scores, level of Th1-type cytokine (IFN-gamma, IL-2) and Th2-type cytokine (IL-4, IL-10) and ratio of IFN-gamma to IL-4 were compared in two groups before and after treatment to analyze acupuncture effect.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The clinical symptoms were improved after one-week treatment in the acupuncture group (P<0.05), which had faster onset than the medicine group (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 90.48% (19/21) in the acupuncture group, which was superior to 78.95% (15/19) in the medicine group (P<0.05). Compared with medicine treatment, imbalanced condition of Th1/Th2 was turning towards the direction of Th2 after acupuncture, indicating a tendency to recover the balance.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The clinical efficacy of acupuncture for D-IBS has close relationship with effectively improving balance of Th1/Th2 in patients with liver-stagnation and spleen-deficiency.</p>