Application of in vivo brain imaging technology in the basic research of acupuncture-moxibustion for encephalopathy. / æ´»ä½“è„‘æˆåƒæŠ€æœ¯åœ¨é’ˆç¸è„‘ç— åŸºç¡€ç ”ç©¶ä¸­çš„åº”ç”¨.

Acupuncture-moxibustion is remarkably effective on encephalopathy, but its mechanism is unclear. With the continuous development of imaging technology, the in vivo brain imaging technology has been used increasingly in life science research and it also becomes a more effective tool for the basic research of acupuncture-moxibustion in treatment of encephalopathy. The paper summarizes the application of its technology in the basic research of acupuncture-moxibustion for encephalopathy and the characteristics of imaging, as well as the advantages and shortcomings. It is anticipated that the references may be provided for the basic research of acupuncture-moxibustion in treatment of encephalopathy and be conductive to the modernization of acupuncture-moxibustion.

[Acupoints compatibility rules of acupuncture for depression disease based on data mining technology].

Based on data mining technology, the acupoints compatibility rules of acupuncture for depression diseases were explored. The randomized controlled trial (RCT) articles regarding acupuncture for depression diseases published from establishment of database to September 2nd, 2022 were searched in CNKI database, Wangfang database, VIP database, SinoMed database, PubMed, EMbase, Web of Science and Cochrane Library. The use frequency of acupoints, meridian tropism, selection of special acupoints and acupoint association rules for five common depression diseases, including primary depression, post-stroke depression, menopausal syndrome, psychoneurosis and anxiety disorder, were analyzed by Python programming language. Cytoscape software was used to analyze the acupoint association and the disease-acupoint co-occurrence network. As a result, totally 387 articles were included, and 319 acupoints prescriptions for the above five common depression diseases were extracted, involving 159 acupoints. The use frequency of acupoints was 2 574 times in total. The frequently-used acupoints were Baihui (GV 20), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Taichong (LR 3), Neiguan (PC 6), Shenmen (HT 7), Yintang (GV 24+), Zusanli (ST 36), Hegu (LI 4), Sishencong (EX-HN 1) and Taixi (KI 3), etc. The frequently involved meridians were the governor vessel, foot-taiyang bladder meridian, foot-taiyin spleen meridian, and foot-jueyin liver meridian. The frequency of the special acupoints from high to low was crossing points, five-shu points, yuan-primary points, back-shu points, luo-connecting points, and eight confluent points, etc, which were often used in combination with "Baihui (GV 20)-Yintang (GV 24+)" (the highest degree of association). At the same time, the analysis of the co-occurrence network of depression diseases and acupoints showed that the core acupoints group of acupuncture for depression diseases were Baihui (GV 20), Taichong (LR 3), Shenmen (HT 7), Zusanli (ST 36), Neiguan (PC 6) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6). In conclusion, acupuncture treatment for depression diseases has gradually formed a rule of acupoint compatibility, with special acupoint as the main body and "unblocking the governor vessel, and regulating the spirit and qi " as the main therapeutic principle.

[Current situation and outlook of acupuncture-moxibustion translational medicine under the background of multi-disciplinary intersection innovation].

The common development of multi-disciplinary intersection is a hot spot in the research of acupuncture- moxibustion translational medicine. This article analyzes the current situation and reasons for slow development of acupuncture-moxibustion translational medicine, takes acupuncture-moxibustion for depressive disorder as an example, takes acupuncture and moxibustion literature, clinical evidence-based, biological mechanism and medical equipment research and development as the main line, expounds potential strategies to promote the development of acupuncture-moxibustion translational medicine under the background of multi-disciplinary intersection innovation, and discusses the future research direction of acupuncture-moxibustion translational medicine.

Intestinal morphology, immunity and microbiota response to dietary fibers in largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoide.

This study is aimed at identifying the effects of dietary fiber on gut health, as well as the association between that understanding and fiber consumption in fish. A total of 300 juvenile largemouth bass (micropterus salmoides, initial average weight: 15.38 ± 0.16g) were randomly divided into three treatment groups (4 replicates per group). Fish were fed with isoproteic and isolipidic diets containing 0% (low fiber, LF), 4% (moderate fiber, MF) and 8% (high fiber, HF) soybean fiber, respectively. The intestine and intestinal content of test fish per treatment group after 56 days of treatment were sampled. The results showed that the anterior intestinal sections had normal histological architecture, and no considerable damage or inflammation was observed in any histological section from all subjects examined. Curiously, fish fed the MF diet had better histological alterations than the other treatments. Meanwhile, the intestinal antioxidant capacity in the MF group was significantly promoted when compared to the other groups, as well as up-regulated expression of antioxidant-related genes including sod, cat and gpx with increasing dietary fiber concentrations. Importantly, the administrations of MF diet remarkably elevated largemouth bass innate immune parameters include intestinal inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity, nitric oxide (NO) and total protein content. Similarly, dietary administrations of fiber down-regulated notablely the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-8, IL-1ß and TNFα, whereas up-regulated tolerogenic cytokine IL-10 and TGF-ß1 mRNA levels. In addition, dietary fibers also modulated the community structure of the intestinal microbiota by significantly altering bacterial diversity. Dietary supplemental fibers regulated intestinal microbiota in largemouth bass, characterized by a reduced abundance of Fusobacteria along with increased abundances of Proteobacteria and Firmicutes. Taken together, the present results suggested that moderate fiber supplementation was beneficial to promoting intestinal health status of fish through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, which could be at least partially responsible by the modulation of gut microbial composition.

Effects of supplemental dietary bile acids on growth, liver function and immunity of juvenile largemouth bass（Micropterus salmoides）fed high-starch diet.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of bile acids (BAs) on the growth, liver function and immunity of the largemouth bass fed high-starch diet. The experiment set three isonitrogenous and isoenergetic semi-purified diets, LS: low-starch diet (5%), HS: high-starch diet (19%) and SB: high-starch diet with BAs (350 mg/kg diet). An 8-week feeding trial was conducted in largemouth bass of initial weight 23.69 ± 0.13 g. The results indicated that the weight gain (WG) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) of fish fed LS and SB were significantly higher than HS treatment. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities of SB group were significantly increased, while malondialdehyde (MDA) content significantly reduced in liver compared with HS group. The activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and glucose contents in plasma of SB group were significantly lower than HS treatment, whereas the content of triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) in plasma were significantly higher than HS treatment. Additionally, the plasma immunoglobulin count, lysozyme activity and the blood leukocyte count (WBC) in SB group were significantly higher than HS group. The results of paraffin section of liver showed the histopathological alterations were significantly reduced in the SB group compared to HS group. All in all, this study revealed that bile acids supplement could significantly improve growth performance, enhance liver function and immune ability, and alleviate stress responses of M. salmoides fed high-starch diet.

High dietary lipid level alters the growth, hepatic metabolism enzyme, and anti-oxidative capacity in juvenile largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides.

The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of high dietary lipid levels on growth, metabolism, antioxidant capacity, and immune responses of largemouth bass. Fish (initial body weight 13.38 ± 0.11 g) were fed three isonitrogenous semi-purified diets containing 5%, 10%, and 20% lipid, respectively. The results indicated that fish fed 10% lipid diet showed significantly better final body weight, specific growth rate (SGR), protein efficiency ratio (PER), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) compared with that fed 5% lipid diet. Meanwhile, fish fed 20% lipid diet had a significantly higher viscera ratio (VR), hepatosomatic index (HSI), intraperitoneal fat ratio (IPF), and liver lipid content than those fed the other diets. Higher alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) activities, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), free fatty acids (FFA), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) contents, and LDL-C/HDL-C value in plasma were recorded in fish fed 20% lipid diet, while higher insulin contents were obtained in fish fed 5% lipid diet. In addition, the highest carnitine palmitoyltransferase I (CPT1), AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase), and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) activities in the liver were also observed in fish fed 20% lipid diet. However, fish fed 20% lipid diet had a significantly lower superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities and higher MDA contents in liver than those fed the other diets. The higher nitric oxide (NO) contents and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity in liver were recorded in fish fed 10% lipid diet. Moreover, the alkaline phosphatase (ALP), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and lysozyme activities, and nitric oxide (NO) contents in plasma were higher in fish fed the 10% diets than the other groups. In conclusion, high dietary lipid levels could suppress growth performance and liver anti-oxidative capacity, and reduce immune responses of largemouth bass.

Linseed oil can decrease liver fat deposition and improve antioxidant ability of juvenile largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides.

A feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of linseed oil (LO) on growth, plasma biochemistry, hepatic metabolism enzymes, and antioxidant capacity of juvenile largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides. Four isonitrogenous (crude protein, 45%) and isoenergetic (gross energy, 18 MJ/kg) diets were formulated by replacing 0 (the control), 33.3%, 66.7%, and 100% of fish oil with linseed oil. Each diet was fed to three replicate groups of fish (initial body weight, 22.02 ± 0.61 g) for 8 weeks. The results indicated that fish fed diet with 100% LO substitution level had lower weight gain (WG), specific growth rate (SGR), and protein efficiency ratio (PER) than the other groups (P < 0.05), while feed conversion ratio (FCR) was higher compared to the other groups (P < 0.05). Feed intake (FI) and hepatosomatic index (HSI) of 66.7% LO substitution level were significantly lower than the control groups (P < 0.05). Glycogen, lipid, and non-esterified fatty acid content in the liver decreased significantly with increasing dietary LO levels (P < 0.05). Moreover, the replacement of fish oil (FO) with LO could significantly reduce the content of triglyceride (TG) and total cholesterol (TC) and the activity of alanine amiotransferase (ALT) in plasma of M. salmoides (P < 0.05). There were significant differences in hepatic metabolism enzymes in fish fed diets with different dietary LO levels. Adenosine 5'-monophosphate (AMP)-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR-α) activities in liver significantly increased with increasing dietary LO level (P < 0.05). In addition, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase (FBPase) activities in the liver significantly increased with decreasing dietary LO level (P < 0.05). Both the lowest superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities in the liver were recorded in the control group (P < 0.05). Moreover, nitric oxide content, glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activities in the liver significantly increased with increasing dietary LO level, while malondialdehyde (MDA) content significantly reduced. These findings demonstrated that LO can improve liver function and antioxidant ability of M. salmoides. In addition, replacing partial FO with LO cannot affect growth performance, but all substitutions inhibit growth performance of M. salmoides.

Ginsenoside Rg1 Prevents Chemotherapy-Induced Cognitive Impairment: Associations with Microglia-Mediated Cytokines, Neuroinflammation, and Neuroplasticity.

Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment, also known as "chemobrain," is a common side effect. The purpose of this study was to examine whether ginsenoside Rg1, a ginseng-derived compound, could prevent chemobrain and its underlying mechanisms. A mouse model of chemobrain was developed with three injections of docetaxel, adriamycin, and cyclophosphamide (DAC) in combination at a 2-day interval. Rg1 (5 and 10 mg/kg daily) was given 1 week prior to DAC regimen for 3 weeks. An amount of 10 mg/kg Rg1 significantly improved chemobrain-like behavior in water maze test. In vivo neuroimaging revealed that Rg1 co-treatment reversed DAC-induced decreases in prefrontal and hippocampal neuronal activity and ameliorated cortical neuronal dendritic spine elimination. It normalized DAC-caused abnormalities in the expression of multiple neuroplasticity biomarkers in the two brain regions. Rg1 suppressed DAC-induced elevation of the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), but increased levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-4 and IL-10 in multiple sera and brain tissues. Rg1 also modulated cytokine mediators and inhibited DAC-induced microglial polarization from M2 to M1 phenotypes. In in vitro experiments, while impaired viability of PC12 neuroblastic cells and hyperactivation of BV-2 microglial cells, a model of neuroinflammation, were observed in the presence of DAC, Rg1 co-treatment strikingly reduced DAC's neurotoxic effects and neuroinflammatory response. These results indicate that Rg1 exerts its anti-chemobrain effect in an association with the inhibition of neuroinflammation by modulating microglia-mediated cytokines and the related upstream mediators, protecting neuronal activity and promoting neuroplasticity in particular brain regions associated with cognition processing.

A New Generation of Arachidonic Acid Analogues as Potential Neurological Agent Targeting Cytosolic Phospholipase A2.

Cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) is an enzyme that releases arachidonic acid (AA) for the synthesis of eicosanoids and lysophospholipids which play critical roles in the initiation and modulation of oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. In the central nervous system, cPLA2 activation is implicated in the pathogenesis of various neurodegenerative diseases that involves neuroinflammation, thus making it an important pharmacological target. In this paper, a new class of arachidonic acid (AA) analogues was synthesized and evaluated for their ability to inhibit cPLA2. Several compounds were found to inhibit cPLA2 more strongly than arachidonyl trifluoromethyl ketone (AACOCF3), an inhibitor that is commonly used in the study of cPLA2-related neurodegenerative diseases. Subsequent experiments concluded that one of the inhibitors was found to be cPLA2-selective, non-cytotoxic, cell and brain penetrant and capable of reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and nitric oxide (NO) production in stimulated microglial cells. Computational studies were employed to understand how the compound interacts with cPLA2.

Effects of Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) and chitooligosaccharides (COS) on growth, immune response and disease resistance of juvenile largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides.

The effects of oral administration of Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) and chitooligosaccharides (COS), single or combined, on the growth performance, immunity and disease resistance of M. salmoides were investigated. Largemouth bass juvenile were divided into 4 groups and each group was fed with diets supplemented with or without immunostimulant for 8 weeks. After 8 weeks of feeding trial, five fish per tank were sampled for immunity determination, ten fish per tank were challenged by A. hydrophila. The results showed that the largemouth bass fed with two immunostimulants alone or in combination significantly enhanced the final weight and specific growth rate (SGR), decreased feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences (P < 0.05) in specific growth rate (SGR) between dietary COS and dietary APS. In addition, both COS and APS upregulated respiratory burst activity (RBA), phagocytic activity (PA), lysozyme activity and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity. Meanwhile, COS also exhibited a increase in total leukocyte count, nitric oxide (NO) content and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) activity compared to the control. When challenged with A. hydrophila, the mortality of groups fed with COS and/or APS was lower than the control (P < 0.05). Under the experimental conditions, dietary APS and COS had a synergistic effect on lysozme activity, iNOS activity, NO content and disease resistance of fish (P < 0.05).

Effect of dietary vitamin E and selenium supplementation on growth, body composition, and antioxidant defense mechanism in juvenile largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) fed oxidized fish oil.

Six oxidized fish oil contained diets were formulated to investigate the effect of graded levels of vitamin E (V(E)) (α-tocopherol acetate: 160, 280, and 400 mg kg(-1)) associated with either 1.2 or 1.8 mg kg(-1) selenium (Se) on growth, body composition, and antioxidant defense mechanism of juvenile largemouth bass. Another control diet containing fresh fish oil with 160 mg kg(-1) V(E) and 1.2 mg kg(-1) Se was also prepared. Over a 12-week feeding trial, about 5 % of Micropterus salmoide fed diet OxSe1.2/V(E)160 showed inflammation and hemorrhage symptoms at the base of dorsal, pectoral, and tail fin. Fish in all treatments survived well (above 90 %). Feed intakes (88.42-89.58 g fish(-1)) of all treatments were comparable. Growth performances (weight gain and specific growth rate) and feed utilization (feed and protein efficiency ratio) were significantly impaired by dietary oil oxidation, and they did not benefit from neither V(E) nor Se supplementation. Regardless of dietary V(E) and Se supplementation, oxidized oil ingestion resulted in markedly decreased hepatosomatic index and intraperitoneal fat ratio. Oxidized oil ingestion also induced markedly lower liver and muscle lipid contents, and these effects could be alleviated by dietary Se supplementation. Dietary oil oxidation stimulated hepatic catalase activities relative to the control, and supplementation of V(E) abrogated this effect. Hepatic reduced glutathione content in the control was markedly higher than that of treatment OxSe1.2/V(E)160, without any significant differences comparing with the other oxidized oil receiving groups. Hepatic glutathione peroxidase activity and liver Se concentration reflected dietary Se profile, whereas liver V(E) level reflected dietary V(E) profile. Compared with the control, fish fed diet OxSe1.2/V(E)160 obtained markedly higher serum, liver and muscle malondialdehyde contents, which droppe significantly with increasing either V(E) or Se supplementation. In conclusion, the overall results in this study suggested that both V(E) and Se inclusion could protect largemouth bass from the oxidative damage challenged by dietary oil oxidation.

Highly enantioselective Michael addition of 2-oxindoles to vinyl selenone in RTILs catalyzed by a Cinchona alkaloid-based thiourea.

A highly enantioselective Michael addition of 2-oxindoles (1) to vinyl selenone (2) in RTILs catalyzed by a Cinchona alkaloid-based thiourea has been developed in high yields (80-91%) with excellent enantioselectivities (up to 95% ee).

[Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation combined with auricular acupoint sticking for treatment of primary nocturnal enuresis].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the therapeutic effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) combined with auricular acupoint sticking (AAS) for treatment of primary nocturnal enuresis (PNE). METHODS: Two hundred and fifty cases of PNE patients were randomly divided into an observation group and a control group, 125 cases in each group. Two groups were treated on basis of the routine treatment, the observation group was treated with TEAS at Zhongji (CV 3), Qihai (CV 6) and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) etc. combined with AAS at Xin (heart), Shen (kidney), and Jiaogan (sympathytic) etc., once each day, 15 days constituting one course, an interval of 5 days between two courses, the therapeutic effect was evaluated after 3 courses of continuous treatment. The control group was treated with oral administration of Desmopressin Acetate (DA) and Meclofenoxate, the therapeutic effect was evaluated after 2 months of continuous treatment. RESULTS: The total effective rate of 96.8% (121/125) in observation group was superior to that of 90.4% (113/125) in control group (P < 0.05), the observation group was superior to control group in reducing the times of nocturia and enuresis, onset time and duration of effect (all P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: TEAS combined with AAS can reduce the times of nocturia and enuresis of PNE children, with significant therapeutic effect, taking quick effect and keeping long effect duration.

Clinical observation on the effect of Zengse Pill in treating patients with vitiligo of qi-stagnancy and blood-stasis syndrome type.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of Zengse Pill ( ZSP) on patients with vitiligo of qi-stagnancy and blood-stasis syndrome type (V-QB), and to preliminarily explore its mechanism of action. METHODS: Sixty-five V-QB patients, with their diagnosis confirmed by clinical examination, were randomized by digital table method into two groups, with 31 patients in the control group and 34 in the treatment group. Cobamamide (2 tablets) was administered orally to all patients, and Psoralea tincture (a self-formulated preparation) was applied externally thrice a day. In addition, for patients in the treatment group, ZSP was given orally, at 5 pills per dose, 3 times every day. The therapeutic course for both groups was 3 months. Patients were re-examined every half-month, and changes in the skin lesions were observed and recorded. The levels of lymphocyte subsets, serum immune globulin, and complement C3 and C4 in patients were determined before and after the therapeutic course and compared with the corresponding indexes determined in 21 healthy subjects. RESULTS: The total effective rate in the treatment group was 82.4%, which was markedly higher than that in the control group (54.8%), showing a significant difference (P<0.05). After treatment, CD(4) (+) percentage, CD(4) (+)/CD(8) (+) ratio, and blood levels of C3 and C4 increased, while CD(8) (+) percentage decreased in the treatment group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). All these indexes remained unchanged in the control group, and the respective comparisons between groups showed significant differences (P<0.01). CONCLUSION: ZSP has a definite clinical effect on the treatment of V-QB but with no evident adverse reactions, and it can increase the CD(4) (+) percentage, CD(4) (+)/CD(8) (+) ratio, and the levels of serum C3 and C4, thus regulating the immunity of the organism, which might be one of its mechanisms of action.