Optimal modes of mind-body exercise for treating chronic non-specific low back pain: Systematic review and network meta-analysis.

Background: There were limited studies that directly compare the outcomes of various mind-body exercise (MBE) therapies on chronic non-specific low back pain (CNLBP). Objectives: To compare the efficacy of the four most popular MBE modes [Pilates, Yoga, Tai Chi (TC), and Qigong] in clinically CNLBP patients, we conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis (NMA). Methods: We searched databases for eligible randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (from origin to July 2022). RCTs were eligible if they included adults with CNLBP, and implemented one or more MBE intervention arms using Pilates, yoga, TC, and qigong. In addition, pain intensity and physical function were evaluated using validated questionnaires. Results: NMA was carried out on 36 eligible RCTs involving 3,050 participants. The effect of exercise therapy on pain was in the following rankings: Pilates [Surface under cumulative ranking (SUCRA) = 86.6%], TC (SUCRA = 77.2%), yoga (SUCRA = 67.6%), and qigong (SUCRA = 64.6%). The effect of exercise therapy on function: Pilates (SUCRA = 98.4%), qigong (SUCRA = 61.6%,), TC (SUCRA = 59.5%) and yoga (SUCRA = 59.0%). Conclusion: Our NMA shows that Pilates might be the best MBE therapy for CNLBP in pain intensity and physical function. TC is second only to Pilates in improving pain in patients with CNLBP and has the value of promotion. In the future, we need more high-quality, long-term follow-up RCTs to confirm our findings. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=306905, identifier: CRD42022306905.

Are Mind-Body Exercise Beneficial for Treating Pain, Function, and Quality of Life in Middle-Aged and Old People With Chronic Pain? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Aging is a significant risk factor in chronic pain development with extensive disability and greater health care costs. Mind-body exercise (MBE) has been scientifically proven to affect the pain intensity and physical health. Objectives: To assess the effects of MBE modes (Tai Chi, yoga, and qigong) for treating chronic pain among middle-aged and old people, compared with nonactive and active treatment, as well as function, quality of life, and adverse events. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang Database, and Chinese Scientific Journals Full-Text Database (VIP) till March 2022. No restrictions were chartered within the year and language of publication. We included randomized controlled trials of MBE treatment in middle-aged and elderly people with chronic pain. The overall certainty of evidence was evaluated by using the GRADE approach. Results: A total of 17 studies (n = 1,332) were included in this review. There was low-certainty evidence indicating that MBE had a moderate effect on reducing pain compared with the nonactive and active control group (standard mean difference (SMD): -0.64, 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.86 to -0.42, P < 0.001). Very-low-certainty evidence showed that the pooled SMD for the functional improvement was -0.75 (95% CI: -1.13 to -0.37, P < 0.001). Low-certainty evidence presented that no influence was observed in physical component summary (SMD: 0.23, 95% CI: -0.16 to 0.62, P = 0.24) and mental component summary (SMD: -0.01, 95% CI -0.39 to 0.36, P = 0.95). Conclusion: Our results indicated that MBE was an effective treatment for reducing symptoms of middle-aged and elderly people with chronic pain compared with nonactive and active control groups. TC and qigong had obvious benefits for knee osteoarthritis in self-reported function, but the efficacy of chronic low back pain was uncertain. No significant benefit of MBE on quality of life in older adults with chronic pain was found. More high-quality RCTs should be conducted to explore the efficacy and mechanism of MBE on chronic pain in middle-aged and elderly people from various dimensions, such as affective and cognitive dimensions. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=316591, identifier CRD42022316591.

Preventive and therapeutic effects of green tea on lung cancer: a narrative review of evidence from clinical and basic research.

Background and Objective: Green tea is a popular beverage worldwide and has numerous health-promoting properties. Accumulating evidence indicates that green tea has preventive and therapeutic effects on lung cancer. This study aimed to investigate the association between green tea consumption and lung cancer. Methods: We performed a narrative review to summarized the association between green tea consumption and lung cancer. Key Content and Findings: Green tea consumption is known to decrease lung cancer risk in the general population, as indicated by meta-analyses of observational studies. Two active components of green tea, theabrownin and (-)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), mediate the antitumor activity of green tea. Theabrownin promotes apoptosis, induces cell cycle arrest, and inhibits the migration, clone formation, and proliferation of lung cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo. EGCG inhibits lung cancer cell proliferation and promotes apoptosis, agenesis, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In addition, EGCG sensitizes lung cancer cells to cisplatin and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs). The possible molecular mechanisms underlying the antitumor activity of EGCG and theabrownin were reviewed. Conclusions: Observational studies have indicated that green tea has preventive effects on lung cancer. In vitro and animal studies have indicated that green tea has therapeutic effects on lung cancer. Further clinical trials are needed to illustrate the therapeutic effects of green tea or its active components (i.e., theabrownin, EGCG) on lung cancer.

Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of elemene in treating malignant pleural effusion caused by tumors: A PRISMA guided meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Elemene is widely used to treat malignant pleural effusion in China. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of elemene in treating malignant pleural effusion. METHODS: Electronic databases including Pubmed, the Cochrane Library, Embase and Chinese biomedical literature database were searched until March 2017. Clinical controlled trials (CCTs) assessing the efficacy and safety of elemene in the treatment of malignant pleural effusion were included. The quality of the included studies was evaluated using the quality evaluation criteria of the Cochrane Handbook version 5.1.0. RESULTS: A total of 46 CCTs were included, with 2992 patients. Results of meta-analysis showed that elemene significantly improved the overall response rate (ORR) in controlling malignant pleural effusion (risk ratio [RR] = 1.16; 95% CI: 1.08-1.23; P < .05). Subgroup results showed that the ORR of elemene in the treatment of lung cancer patients with malignant pleural effusion (RR = 1.20, 95% CI: 1.07-1.34; P < .05) was higher than that of other cancers (RR = 1.14, 95% CI: 1.05-1.23; P < .05). Meanwhile, elemene did not significantly increase the incidences of chest pain and fever (P > .05). CONCLUSION: Elemene is suggested to have the ability of improving the treatment outcome of malignant pleural effusion with acceptable safety.

[Sink-source relationship of potato plants and its role involved in the reduction of tuber yield in continuous cropping system]. / è¿žä½œé©¬é“ƒè–¯æ¤æ ªåº“æºå ³ç³»åŠå ¶å¯¹å—èŒŽäº§é‡çš„è°ƒèŠ‚æœºç†.

The Yellow River irrigation area in middle Gansu Province is one of the main production bases for processing potato and potato tuber seeds in China. However, continuous potato cropping (CPC), resulting from intensive cultivation, has been affecting the sound development of the potato industry. A long-term field experiment was carried out in order to reveal the mechanisms of CPC obstacles. Five treatments, with different years of continuous potato cropping, were designed marking as 0-5 a, 0 a was maize-potato rotation, used as the control (CK). The present study focused on how to change in sink size and sink activity as well as source activity of potato plants under CPC conditions, especially their roles involved in the reduction of tuber yield. There were no significant differences in tuber yield under short-term CPC (1-2 a) compared with CK, however, significant decline by 28.6%-32.8% occurred under long-term CPC (3-5 a), which was mainly derived from the decline in fresh mass of each tuber. Compared with CK, long-term CPC significantly decreased sink size by 38.4%-53.0%. In addition, long-term CPC not only postponed the potato development progress, by postponing the formation and development of potato tubers, but reduced dry matter accumulation in tubers as well. Long-term CPC significantly decreased source activity, showing that plant height, branch numbers per main stem, chlorophyll content, and dry-matter content of leaf were significantly lower than those of CK, besides, morphological development of root system was also restrained. Compared with CK, root vigor, ribulose diphosphate carboxylase (RuBP Case) and sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) activities of leaves under long-term CPC significantly decreased by 28.6%-63.1%, 52.6%-64.6% and 26.3%-53.4%, respectively. Long-term CPC caused signi-ficant decline in production capability of source, consequently, reduced the production of assimilation product by a large margin, and contributed to the deficiency in translocation amount of assimilates into tuber during post-anthesis, which finally led to the reduction in tuber yield. In conclusion, the unbalance of sink-source relationship of potato plants was the main cause for CPC obstacles in the Yellow River irrigation area in middle Gansu Province.

[Analysis of ISSR Amplification Results of Six Species in Sect. Cruciata Gaudin].

OBJECTIVE: To identify and analyze the genetic relationship of four species of Gentiana (G. macrophylla, G. straminea, G. dahurica and G. crassicaulis) recorded as Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and two other Gentiana species (G. officinalis and G. siphonantha) often used as substitutes by ISSR, in order to estimate the reasonability of G. officinalis and G. siphonantha used as substitutes from the DNA level. METHODS: Eight primers ivere screened to amplify all the samples and agarose gel electrophoresis were analyzed. NTSYSpc-2. 10E software was used to calculate similarity coefficient and draw dendrogram. Results: Nine characteristic bands were found in different species on the ISSR fingerprints and which could be used to identify five species except G. dahurica. The substitute G. officinalis firstly clustered with G. dahurica and G. siphonantha showed closer genetic relationship with G. straminea and G. dahurica. G. crassicaulis showed a far genetic relationship with the other five species. CONCLUSION: The dendrogram based on the ISSR data supports that G. officinalis and G. siphonantha can be used as substitutes of Gentianae Macrophyllae Radix.

Impact of periconceptional multi-micronutrient supplementation on gestation: a population-based study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of periconceptional multi-micronutrient supplementation on gestation and birth outcomes. METHODS: A population-based community intervention program was conducted in 18 counties in China. Participants were divided into an intervention group, who received multi-micronutrient supplementation from at least 3 months before pregnancy throughout the first trimester, and a control group. Pregnant women were followed up to record information about birth outcomes. Maternal socio-economic characteristics and main birth outcomes were evaluated. Gestational age was further analyzed using survival analysis, to determine the time distribution of delivery. RESULTS: Periconceptional multi-micronutrient supplementation was associated with higher birth weight, birth length and occipitofrontal head circumference, and with lower incidence rates for stillbirth, low birth weight, and preterm birth. Moreover, periconceptional multi-micronutrient supplementation changed the time distribution of delivery, making the deliveries more clustered in the period between day 275 and day 295 of gestation. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that periconceptional multi-micronutrient supplementation is beneficial for fetal development and optimizes all measured aspects of health in neonates in socioeconomically disadvantaged areas in China. The change in time distribution of deliveries caused by multi-micronutrient supplementation needs further clarification.

[Optimization extraction conditions of triphyllin A in Pronephrium triphyllum].

OBJECTIVE: To optimize the extraction conditions for triphyllin A in Pronephrium triphyllum. METHODS: The content of triphyllin A in the Pronephrium triphyllum was determined by HPLC. Concentration and volume of the alcohol,time and times of the extraction were assayed by orthogonal test to detect their influences on the extraction rate of triphyllin A in the Pronephrium triphyllum. RESULTS: Alcohol volume and extraction times had significant influence on the process (P < 0.05) while alcohol concentration and extraction time had no effect. The optimal extraction conditions were as follows:50 fold 60% alcohol, extraction for 3 times and 50 min for each time. CONCLUSION: The extration rate of triphyllin A is higher,and the process can be used for the development and production of Pronephrium triphyllum.

[Isolation and characterization of petroleum catabolic broad-host-range plasmids from Shen-Fu wastewater irrigation zone].

Based on triparental mating, we isolated a total of eight broad host range (BHR) petroleum hydrocarbon catabolic plasmids from the soils, sediments, and wastewater samples in the Shen-Fu irrigation zone. The antibiotic resistance of the plasmids was tested, and then, the plasmids were transferred to Escherichia coli EC100. The plasmids carrying no antibiotic resistance were tagged by miniTn5 transposon consisting of antibiotic resistant genes. The PCR-based incompatibility test revealed that the pS3-2C and pS4-6G belonged to Inc P group, the pS3-2G, pW22-3G, and pA15-7G belonged to Inc N group, the pS7-2G was identified as Inc W plasmid, and the pA23-1G and pA10-1C were placed into Inc Q group. By adopting the reported PCR amplification methods of petroleum hydrocarbon-degrading catabolic genes, the petroleum-degrading capability of these BHR plasmids were preliminarily analyzed. The plasmids pS3-2G, pS7-2G, pA23-1G, pW22-3G, and pA10-1C carried aromatic ring- hydroxylating dioxygenase gene phdA and toluene monooxygenase gene touA; the plasmid pA15-7G carried touA and toluene dioxygenase gene tod; the plasmid pS3-2C carried ben, phdA, and tod; whereas the pS4-6G only carried ben. The host range test showed that all the isolated plasmids except pS3-2C could be transferred and maintained stably in the representative strains Agrobacterium tumefaciens C58, Cupriavidus necator JMP228, and E. coli EC100 of the alpha-, beta-, and gamma-Proteobacteria, respectively.