Body constitutions of traditional Chinese medicine caused a significant effect on irritable bowel syndrome.

BACKGROUND: According to the theory of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), all types of body constitutions, except for the Gentleness (ie, the control group in our study), have disease susceptibility and affect the disease development process. This study attempted to investigate the relationship between TCM body constitutions and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). METHODS: This cross-sectional study was based on Taiwan Biobank (TWB) and collected clinical data from 13 941 subjects aged 30 to 70. The results of the study showed that subjects with Yang-deficiency (N = 3161 subjects, odds ratio [OR] = 2.654, 95% CI = 1.740-3.910), Ying-deficiency (N = 3331 subjects, OR = 1.096, 95% CI = 0.627-1.782) or Stasis (N = 2335 subjects, OR = 1.680, 95% CI = 0.654-3.520) were more likely to have IBS. RESULTS: If the subjects with two or more TCM body constitutions: Yang-deficiency + Ying-deficiency (OR = 3.948, 95% CI = 2.742-5.560), Yang-deficiency + Stasis (OR = 2.312, 95% CI = 1.170-4.112), Ying-deficiency + Stasis (OR = 1.851, 95% CI = 0.828-3.567), or Yang-deficiency + Ying-deficiency + Stasis (OR = 3.826, 95% CI = 2.954-4.932) were also prone to IBS. CONCLUSION: These results confirmed the high correlation between TCM body constitutions and IBS. Because the current treatment for IBS is not entirely satisfactory, integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine might provide patients with an alternative treatment option to alleviate IBS.

Manipulation therapy prior to diagnosis induced primary osteosarcoma metastasis--from clinical to basic research.

Osteosarcoma (OS) patients who suffer manipulation therapy (MT) prior to diagnosis resulted in poor prognosis with increasing metastasis or recurrence rate. The aim of the study is to establish an in vivo model to identify the effects of MT on OS. The enrolled 235 OS patients were followed up in this study. In vivo nude mice model with tibia injection of GFP-labeled human OS cells were randomly allocated into MT(+) that with repeated massage on tumor site twice a week and no treatment as MT(-) group. The five-year survival, metastasis and recurrence rates were recorded in clinical subjects. X-ray plainfilm, micro-PET/CT scan, histopathology, serum metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2), metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) level and human kinase domain insert receptor (KDR) pattern were assayed in mice model. The results showed that patient with MT decreased 5-year survival and higher recurrence or metastasis rate. Compatible with clinical findings, the decreased body weight (30.5 ± 0.65 g) and an increased tumor volume (8.3 ± 1.18 mm3) in MT(+) mice were observed. The increasing signal intensity over lymph node region of hind limb by micro-PET/CT and the tumor cells were detected in lung and bilateral lymph nodes only in MT(+) group. MMP2 (214 ± 9.8 ng/ml) and MMP9 (25.5 ± 1.81 ng/ml) were higher in MT(+) group than in MT(-) group (165 ± 7.8 ng/ml and 16.9 ± 1.40 ng/ml, individually) as well as KDR expression. Taking clinical observations and in vivo evidence together, MT treatment leads to poor prognosis of primary osteosarcoma; physicians should pay more attention on patients who seek MT before diagnosis.