Efficacy of the Integrative Acupuncture and Moxibustion Treatment in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder: The Study Protocol for a Multicenter, Single-Blinded, Randomized Trial in China.

Introduction: Antidepressants are the front-line treatments for major depressive disorder (MDD), but remain unsatisfactory in outcome. An increasing number of patients are interested in acupuncture and moxibustion treatment as complementary therapies. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of integrative acupuncture and moxibustion (iAM) treatment in patients with MDD. Methods and Analysis: This multicenter, single-blind, 2 × 2 factorial randomized trial will enroll 592 patients with MDD of moderate severity from nine hospitals. All patients will be randomized, in a ratio of 2:2:2:1, through a computerized central randomization system, into four groups (the combined, iAM-only, sertraline-only, and placebo groups). Participants will undergo a 12-week intervention with either 50 mg of sertraline or a placebo once a day and active/sham iAM treatment three times per week. The primary outcome is depression severity, assessed using the Hamilton Depression Scale-17. The secondary outcomes include self-rated depression severity, anxiety, and sleep quality. The primary and secondary outcomes will be measured at weeks 0, 4, 8, 12, and the 8th week posttreatment. Safety will be evaluated through liver and kidney function tests conducted before and after treatment and through monitoring of daily adverse events. An intent-to-treat principle will be followed for the outcome analyses. Conclusion: This trial will provide sufficient evidence to ascertain whether iAM is effective and safe for treating MDD and provides a suitable combination strategy for treating MDD. Clinical Trial Registration: [www.chictr.org.cn], identifier [ChiCTR2100042841].

[Allocation and Stabilization Responses of Rice Photosynthetic Carbon in the Plant-Soil System to Phosphorus Application].

This research studied the response of the input and allocation of photosynthetic carbon (C) to phosphorus (P) in paddy soils. Two treatments were conducted in this experiment:no P application (P0) and the application of 80 mg·kg-1 of P (P80). The rice cultivar was the indica Zhongzao 39. The 13C-CO2 continuous labeling technique was used to identify the photosynthetic C distribution of the rice. The results showed that the application of P80 significantly increased the photosynthates allocation in the rice aboveground, but reduced their allocation in the rhizosphere soil (P<0.05). At the jointing stage, P80 application increased the photosynthetic C content of the rice by 70%, but the root dry weight decreased 31%. Compared with P0, the total C content of the aboveground rice was increased 0.31 g·pot-1 by P80. The ratio of rice roots to shoots decreased with the P80 treatment. Moreover, P80 application led to an increase in the photosynthetic microbial biomass in the non-rhizosphere soil C (13C-MBC) of 0.03 mg·kg-1, but still decreased its allocation in the rhizosphere soil. The allocation of photosynthetic C to the particulate organic matter fraction (POC) and mineral fraction (MOC) in the non-rhizosphere soil showed no significant differences between P0 and P80. Additionally, the P80 fertilization treatment significantly lowered the content of POC in the rhizosphere soil. In summary, P application increased the allocation of photosynthetic C in the soil-rice system, but reduced the accumulation of photosynthetic C in the soil. This research provided a theoretical basis and data supporting the rational application of P fertilizer, and was also of great significance as a study of the transportation and allocation of photosynthetic C and its sequestration potential response to the application of P to the rice soil.

Meta analysis of the curative effect of acupuncture on post-stroke depression.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the curative effect of acupuncture on post-stroke depression (PSD). METHODS: The internet was used to retrieve the Wanfang Medical Data System, Chinese Periodical Net, the Weipu Information Resources System, PubMed and the Cochrane Library Database. Relevant articles, up to September 2010, were manually retrieved. These papers included studies that had performed random and semi-random control trials for the use of acupuncture to treat PSD. Fifteen random control tests involving 1096 patients were included in this study and individual cases, interventional measures and curative effects were extracted from this research. Grade methodological quality evaluation and meta-analysis were performed on these studies. RESULTS: Comparison between the acupuncture group and the Western medicine group for the curative rate on PSD revealed an OR of 1.48, 95% CI = [1.11 1.97] and P = 0.008. Comparison of obviously effective rate shows that OR = 1.39, 95% CI = [1.08 1.80] and P = 0.01. Comparison of effective rate shows that OR = 0.83, 95% CI = [0.631.09] and P = 0.18. CONCLUSION: Comparison between the acupuncture group and Western medicine group in treating PSD revealed that there is a statistical difference in curative rate and remarkably effective rate, but no difference in effective rate.