[Cognitive impairment in earthquake brain injury treated with comprehensive program of acupuncture and rehabilitation: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the comprehensive program of integrated Chinese and western medicine in the treatment of cognitive impairment in earthquake brain injury. METHODS: The multi-central randomized controlled trial was adopted. The qualified subjects were randomized into an acupuncture + rehabilitation group (38 cases) and a rehabilitation group (35 cases). In the acupuncture + rehabilitation group, acupuncture, hyperbaric oxygen (HBO) and cognitive rehabilitation training were combined as the comprehensive program of integrated Chinese and western medicine in the treatment. In the rehabilitation group, HBO and cognitive rehabilitation training were adopted. The efficacy and safety were assessed. RESULTS: (1) After treatment of 2 months, the intelligent state, cognitive function and activity of daily life of patients were improved in the both groups (all P < 0.01). (2) After treatment of 2 months, the score of MMSE and the score of activity of daily life were (24.11 +/- 4.08) and (75.45 +/- 13.95) in the acupuncture + rehabilitation group, which were more significant as compared with (17.05 +/- 43.84), (66.06 +/- 12.75) in the rehabilitation group, respectively (both P < 0.01). In 6-month follow-up visit after treatment, the cognitive function and activity of daily life were improved continuously in the acupuncture + rehabilitation group, which was more significant as compared with the rehabilitation group (P < 0.01, P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The integrated Chinese and western medicine of acupuncture, HBO and cognitive rehabilitation training is safe and effective in the treatment of cognitive impairment in earthquake brain injury. The therapeutic effect is more advantageous as compared with the simple rehabilitation program of western medicine.

Biosafety evaluation of bacteriophages for treatment of diarrhea due to intestinal pathogen Escherichia coli 3-2 infection of chickens.

Intestinal Escherichia coli caused diarrhea in chicken makes serious damage directly to the chicken culture industry. Bacteriophage therapy is able to control the diarrhea in chickens effectively. In this study, the biosafety of bacteriophages was evaluated for treating intestinal pathogenic E. coli, which induced diarrhea in chickens. Ten bacteriophages were isolated from feces of chickens with diarrhea using the ill-chicken intestinal pathogenic E. coli 3-2 as target organism. Three bacteriophages propagated on E. coli 3-2 with relative big and clear plaques were selected and used together for toxicity experiment and evaluating the effect of therapy on chicken weight gain. In 3 weeks of trial, no mice given with or without mixed bacteriophages died, and the weight of mice of the experimental group did not show significant difference to the control group after 3 weeks infection. Besides remarkable decreasing the death rate of chickens with diarrhea, treatment of mixed bacteriophages also promoted the weight gain and saved the diet consumption as the utilize rate of diet increased 11% compared with the control group. These observations indicated that a mixture of three bacteriophages would be biosafe for rapid and effective preventing pathogenic E. coli infections.

[Observation on activating effectiveness of acupuncture at acupoints and non-acupoints on different brain regions].

OBJECTIVE: To probe the theoretical basis of acupuncture by investigating the relationship of 'true' acupuncture and 'sham' acupuncture, with the cerebral functions observed by means of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). METHODS: Eighteen healthy volunteers with normal vision were randomly divided into group A and B. Firstly, all the volunteers received 'sham' acupuncture, and then acupuncture was given at Guangming (GB 37) and Taichong (LR 3) in the group A, and Fenglong (ST 40) and Xiangu (ST 43) were given in the group Activation in the thalamus, B.A 1.5 Tesla Vision Scanner (Siemens, Erlangen) was used for imaging. RESULTS: Activation in the thalamus, the red nucleus, the sulcus lateralis and the parieto-temporal cortex proved that there was a significant difference between true acupuncture and sham acupuncture in the GLM test. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture does not have effects on the visual cortex, but it has active action on the insula sulcus lateralis and the parieto-temporal cortex, which are involved in painful and somatosensory stimulation.