Moxibustion with Walnut Shell Spectacles Could Improve the Objective Symptoms and Tear Film Stability of Patients with Dry Eye Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of moxibustion with walnut shell spectacles in treating dry eye disease (DED) patients and to provide treatment options. Methods: 126 DED patients were randomly allocated into the moxibustion group (treated by moxibustion with walnut shell spectacles, 64 cases) and the artificial tears group (treated with sodium hyaluronate eye drops, 62 cases). Evaluate the changes in the ocular surface disease index (OSDI), the visual analogue scale (VAS) of ocular discomfort, the tear film break-up time (TBUT), corneal fluorescein staining (CFS), and the Schirmer I test during the trial at baseline and after 1-week, 2-week, 3-week, and 4-week treatment. Evaluate the OSDI scale and the ocular symptom VAS scale one month after the end of treatment. Results: There were no significant differences in baseline characteristics between the two groups. For OSDI scores, the results showed that the efficacy of the moxibustion group was no less than that of the artificial tear group. For VAS of ocular discomfort, both groups significantly reduced their score compared with baseline, and for the moxibustion group, the decrease was more significant. For TBUT, FAS, and PPS, results showed that the efficacy of the moxibustion group was significant in both eyes after 4 weeks of treatment, but the right eye was in the artificial tear group. For CFS and Schirmer I test scores, there was no significant effect for both groups. Conclusion: Moxibustion with walnut shell spectacles could improve the clinical symptoms and tear film stability of DED patients; however, it has no significant efficacy on improving corneal injury and tear secretion, just the same as sodium hyaluronate eye drops. Nevertheless, moxibustion with walnut shell spectacles may have better effects on the self-assessment of ocular discomfort than sodium hyaluronate eye drops.

Genome-wide identification, characterization and expression profiles of the CCD gene family in Gossypium species.

Carotenoid cleavage dioxygenases (CCDs) are a group of enzymes that catalyze the selective oxidative cleavage steps from carotenoids to apocarotenoids, which are essential for the synthesis of biologically important molecules such as retinoids, and the phytohormones abscisic acid (ABA) and strigolactones. In addition, CCDs play important roles in plant biotic and abiotic stress responses. Till now, a comprehensive characterization of the CCD gene family in the economically important crop cotton (Gossypium spp.) is still missing. Here, we performed a genome-wide analysis and identified 33, 31, 16 and 15 CCD genes from two allotetraploid Gossypium species, G. hirsutum and G. barbadense, and two diploid Gossypium species, G. arboreum and G. raimondii, respectively. According to the phylogenetic tree analysis, cotton CCDs are classified as six subgroups including CCD1, CCD4, CCD7, CCD8, nine-cis-epoxycarotenoid dioxygenase (NCED) and zaxinone synthase (ZAS) sub-families. Evolutionary analysis shows that purifying selection dominated the evolution of these genes in G. hirsutum and G. barbadense. Predicted cis-acting elements in 2 kb promoters of CCDs in G. hirsutum are mainly involved in light, stress and hormone responses. The transcriptomic analysis of GhCCDs showed that different GhCCDs displayed diverse expression patterns and were ubiquitously expressed in most tissues; moreover, GhCCDs displayed specific inductions by different abiotic stresses. Quantitative reverse-transcriptional PCR (qRT-PCR) confirmed the induction of GhCCDs by heat stress, salinity, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and ABA application. In summary, the bioinformatics and expression analysis of CCD gene family provide evidence for the involvement in regulating abiotic stresses and useful information for in-depth studies of their biological functions in G. hirsutum. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-021-02805-9.

[Walnut-shell moxibustion for dry eye symptoms: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of walnut-shell moxibusiton on dry eye symptoms. METHODS: A total of 67 patients with dry eye symptoms were randomized into a walnut moxibustion group and a sodium hyaluronate eye drops group. METHODS: In the walnut moxibustion group, the walnut moxibustion was used, once every two days, 3 times a week, for 4 weeks totally. In the sodium hyaluronate eye drops group, sodium hyaluronate eye drops were selected, 4 times a day, one drop instilled in each eye each time, for 4 weeks totally. At the baseline (before treatment) and in 4 weeks of treatment, the score of the ocular surface disease index (OSDI), the score of visual analogous scale (VAS) for eye symptoms, the tear film break-up time (BUT), the cornea fluorescent pigmentation (FL) and SchirmerⅠ(SchⅠ) were evaluated. In 1-month follow-up after treatment termination, the changes of OSDI and VAS scores were evaluated in the two groups. RESULTS: In 4 weeks of treatment and the follow-up, OSDI scores were reduced as compared with those before treatment in the two groups (P<0.001, P<0.05). In 4 weeks of treatment and the follow-up, the change values of OSDI were (-16.03±17.42) and (-13.47±21.41) as compared with those before treatment in the walnut moxibustion group; and were (-9.58±23.45) and (-13.90±20.92) in the sodium hyaluronate eye drops group separately. The differences were not significant between the two groups (all P>0.05). In 4 weeks of treatment and the follow-up, VAS scores were reduced as compared with those before treatment in the two groups (all P<0.001). In 4 weeks of treatment, BUT was increased as compared with that before treatment in the two groups (both P<0.05), the results of FL and SchⅠ did not change significantly before and after treatment in the two groups (all P>0.05). The differences were not significant in the above indexes between the two groups (all P>0.05). There was no obvious adverse reaction in the two groups. CONCLUSION: The walnut-shell moxibustion is available likely for the subjective symptoms in the patients with dry eye syndrome and contributes to the tear film stabilization. The therapeutic effects need to be further evaluated with the adequate sample size in the randomized controlled trial.

Acupuncture prevents cognitive deficits and oxidative stress in cerebral multi-infarction rats.

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of acupuncture on cognitive deficits and oxidative stress in cerebral multi-infarction rats. The results showed that acupunctural treatment attenuated memory impairment induced by cerebral multi-infarction, as evaluated by shortened escape latency and increased swimming time of rats with memory impairment in the target quadrant. The data additionally suggested that acupunctural treatment ameliorated oxidative injuries induced by cerebral multi-infarction by increasing the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in the hippocampus. Further investigation by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry revealed that acupunctural treatment significantly increased the expression of CuZnSOD mRNA and protein in the hippocampus of the impaired rats. The findings demonstrate that acupuncture can exert beneficial effects on spatial memory and antioxidant status of cerebral multi-infarction rats.