Therapeutic effects on primary dysmenorrhea treated with moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8) and warm needling at Guanyuan (CV 4) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To explore the clinical effects on primary dysmenorrhea treated with moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8) and warm needling at Guanyuan (CV 4) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6).@*METHODS@#A total of 120 patients with primary dysmenorrhea were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 60 cases in each one. In the control group, the warm needling technique was used at Guanyuan (CV 4) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6). In the observation group, besides the same treatment as the control group, moxibustion was added at Shenque (CV 8). The treatment was given for 4 menstrual cycles consecutively. Before and after treatment, the score of the severity and the score of the total frequency in the retrospective scale of dysmenorrhea symptoms as well as the score of the visual analog scale (VAS) were recorded and compared in the patients between the two groups. Additionally, the safety of the two therapeutic methods was evaluated.@*RESULTS@#After treatment, the score of severity and the score of total frequency as well as VAS score of menstrual pain were all reduced as compared with those before treatment in the patients of the two groups (all 0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#The combined treatment of moxibustion at Shenque (CV 8) with the warm needling technique at Guanyuan (CV 4) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) achieves the better clinical effects on primary dysmenorrhea as compared with the simple application of the warm needling technique at Guanyuan (CV 4) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6). This therapy is safety in clinical practice.

Rapid screening and quality evaluation for the harmful substance 5-hydroxymethyl furfural in commercially available traditional Chinese medicine injection using LC-MS/MS method / 药学学报

To screen the harmful substance 5-hydroxymethyl furfural content in commercially available traditional Chinese medicine injection which are commonly used, and to preliminarily evaluate the quality of these injections, 5-hydroxymethyl furfural was taken as an index. The contents of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural in 56 samples which consist of 23 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine injections and glucose injection were determined using LC-MS/MS, and 5-hydroxymethyl furfural was detected in 52 of these samples. The minimal content was 0.0038 microg x L(-1) and the maximum content was 1420 microg x mL(-1). The contents of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural were significantly different in traditional Chinese medicine injection which came from different kinds, manufacturers or batches. The results showed the quality difference of commercially available traditional Chinese medicine injection is significant taking 5-hydroxymethyl furfural content as assessment index. More attention should be paid to the safety of 5-hydroxymethyl furfural in traditional Chinese medicine injection, and unified limitation standard should be set to improve medication safety of traditional Chinese medicine injection.