Comparing verum and sham acupoint catgut embedding for adults with obesity: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.

BACKGROUND: Previous clinical trials have reported that acupoint catgut embedding (ACE) is a useful modality for weight loss. However, no study has specifically investigated the effectiveness and safety of comparing verum and sham ACE in adults with obesity. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of comparing verum and sham ACE in obese adults. METHODS: A comprehensive literature search was conducted in the electronic databases of PUBMED, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, China Science and Technology Journal Database, and China Biomedical Literature Service System from inception to April 1, 2022. Randomized clinical trials that focused on evaluating the effectiveness of comparing verum and sham ACE in adults with obesity were included. The primary outcomes included reduction in body weight, body mass index, hip circumference, and waist circumference. The secondary outcomes consisted of a decrease in body fat percentage and the occurrence rate of adverse events. The methodological quality of the included randomized clinical trials was evaluated using the Cochrane Risk-of-bias tool. Statistical analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4 software. RESULTS: Six trials involving 679 adults with obesity were included in this study and entered in the data analysis of systematic review and meta-analysis. Results of the meta-analysis revealed significant reduction in body weight (mean difference [MD] = -1.68, 95% confidence intervals (CI) [-2.34, -1.01], I2 = 51%, P < .001), body mass index (MD = -0.51, 95% CI [-0.81, -0.21], I2 = 74%, P < .001), hip circumference (MD = -1.11, 95% CI [-1.67, -0.55], I2 = 0%, P < .001), waist circumference (MD = -2.42, 95% CI [-3.38, -1.45], I2 = 68%, P < .001), and decrease in body fat percentage (MD = -0.83, 95% CI [-1.30, -0.36], I2 = 16%, P < .001) in comparing verum and sham ACE. However, no significant difference was identified in AEs (odds ratio = 1.53, 95% CI [0.80, 2.95], I2 = 0%, P = .20) between the 2 groups. CONCLUSION: ACE is effective in the treatment of obesity in adults with safety profile. Further studies with higher quality and larger sample size are warranted to confirm the current findings.

θ-Nanopipette for Single-Cell Resistive-Pulse Profiling of DNA Repair Proteins Accompanied by Drug Evaluation.

Single-cell analysis of the DNA repair protein is important but remains unachieved. Exploration of nanopipettte technologies in single-cell electroanalysis has recently seen rapid growth, while the θ-nanopipette represents an emerging technological frontier with its potential largely veiled. Here a θ-nanopipette is first applied for single-cell resistive-pulse sensing (RPS) of the important DNA repair protein O6-alkylguanine DNA alkyltransferase (hAGT). The removal of alkyl mutations by hAGT could restore the damaged aptamer linking with a structural DNA carrier, allowing the selective binding of the aptamer to thrombin with precisely matched size to produce distinct RPS signals when passing through the orifice. Kinetic analysis of hAGT repair was studied. Meanwhile, the device shows the simultaneous on-demand infusion of inhibitors to inactivate the hAGT activity, indicative of its potential in drug screening for enhanced chemotherapy. This work provides a new paradigm for θ-nanopipette-based single-cell RPS of a DNA repair protein accompanied by drug evaluation.

Bibliometric analysis of acupuncture for headache from 1974 to 2022: A scoping literature review based on international database.

This study aimed to investigate the research hotspots and global trends of acupuncture in the treatment of headaches from 1974 to 2022. The Web of Science core collection database and literature related to acupuncture for headache treatment were retrieved. The CiteSpace (version 5.1.R8) and VOSviewer (version 1.6.19) software perform collaborative network analysis on the information of countries, academic institutions, authors, and co-occurrence network analysis on keywords, co-cited journals, and references. A total of 841 studies were included. Overall, the number of publications has increased over the past 5 decades. We identified and analyzed the countries, institutions, authors, and journals that were most active in the domain of acupuncture treatment for headaches. The most productive countries were the United States and China. Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine was the most productive institution and Linde Klaus was the most productive author. Cephalalgia was the most productive and co-cited journal, whereas Lancet had the highest impact factor. The research hotspots mainly focus on headache, migraine, tension headache, electroacupuncture, and acupuncture. Research trends have mainly focused on acupuncture therapy and its curative effects, migraine without aura, paroxysmal migraine, and the mechanism of acupuncture treatment. The main research hotspots and frontier trends were the therapeutic effect and mechanism of acupuncture for headaches. The mechanism of acupuncture in the treatment of headache mainly focused on the neural mechanism by multimodal MRI.

Silicon solar cell-enabled organic photoelectrochemical transistor optoelectronics.

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have been increasingly explored for innovative electronic devices. However, they inherently demand two power suppliers, which is unfavorable for the utilization of portable and wearable systems with strict energy requirements. Herein, by assembling a monocrystalline silicon solar cell into the OECT circuit with light as fuel, we demonstrated the possibility of a self-powered and light-modulated operation of organic photoelectrochemical transistor (OPECT) optoelectronics. Exemplified by poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)-based depletion-mode and accumulation-mode OECTs, different light-addressable configurations were constructed, and the corresponding characteristics were systematically studied and compared. Different device behaviors with distinct characteristics could be achieved with the appropriate usage of light stimulation. Toward applications, optologics were designed with various parameters depending on the incident irradiance. Light-controlled OPECT unipolar inverters were further demonstrated and optimized with respect to the power source and resistance. This work features new OPECT optoelectronics combined with proper flexible substrates and solar cells for potential applications in portable and wearable devices. Electronic Supplementary Material: Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at 10.1007/s40843-022-2295-8.

Research status, hotspots and trends of acupuncture and moxibustion in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease: A bibliometric analysis.

BACKGROUND: Acupuncture and moxibustion (AM) are utilized to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, no bibliometric analysis has explored this issue. Thus, this study investigated the status, hotspots and trends of AM in the treatment of AD. METHODS: CiteSpace and VOSviewer softwares were used to analyze the literature on the AM for AD in the Web of Science Core Collection database. We analyzed the data of countries/regions, institutions, journals, authors, keywords, and cited references. RESULTS: After removing duplicates, 193 articles were retrieved. The number of publications on this topic has increased gradually. The most productive and collaborative country was China (143 documents), followed by South Korea (19). The top 3 active academic institutions were Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Capital Medicine University, and Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine. The most productive journal was Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (13 documents), followed by the Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience (10), Medicine (10), and Neural Regeneration Research (10). The top 3 co-cited journals were Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (156 citations), Acupuncture Electro-therapeutics Research (152), and Acupuncture in Medicine (146). The research hotspots in this domain are dementia, memory, hippocampus, mouse models, and Parkinson's disease. Major frontiers are comparing the therapeutic effects of acupuncture and donepezil and electroacupuncture at different frequencies in this field. CONCLUSION: This bibliometric study identified relevant hotspots and trends in research on AM in the treatment of AD, which can provide researchers with key information in this domain and help further explore new research directions.

Value of Traditional Chinese Medicine syndrome differentiation in predicting the survival time of patients with advanced cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To prospectively study the accuracy of the palliative prognostic index (PPI) survival prediction model combined with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndrome differentiation. METHODS: The PPI survival prediction model was used to predict survival time. Patients' real survival time was recorded. The survival time was calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the logrank method was used to test the difference. RESULTS: The average PPI survival prediction score of 227 patients was 5.83 (95% CI: 5.29-6.37). There was a significant difference in the real-life period between the different PPI groups (P < 0.05). PPI group I (predicted survival of > 6 weeks) showed the highest predictive sensitivity and PPI group II (predicted survival of 3-6 weeks) showed the highest predictive specificity. According to TCM syndrome differentiation, 82 cases (36% ) were diagnosed with liver and kidney Yin deficiency (type IV). The actual survival time of type IV patients was significantly shorter than that of other types of patients (mean: 21.85 vs 28.70, P = 0.007). In group I, the median survival time of type IV patients and other types was 25 and 34 d, respectively (P < 0.001). The sensitivity and specificity of PPI prediction were improved in group II by TCM syndrome differentiation. For patients in group III whose predicted survival time was < 3 weeks, the specificity of PPI survival prediction was higher in type IV patients. CONCLUSION: This study shows that the PPI predictive tool for survival rate has important value. TCM syndrome differentiation and typing has certain significance for further classification and survival prediction.

Advanced glycation end products induce neural tube defects through elevating oxidative stress in mice.

Our previous study showed an association between advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and neural tube defects (NTDs). To understand the molecular mechanisms underlying the effect of AGEs on neural tube development, C57BL/6 female mice were fed for 4 weeks with commercial food containing 3% advanced glycation end product bovine serum albumin (AGE-BSA) or 3% bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a control. After mating mice, oxidative stress markers including malondialdehyde and H2O2 were measured at embryonic day 7.5 (E7.5) of gestation, and the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) in embryonic cells was determined at E8.5. In addition to evaluating NTDs, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the effect of embryonic protein administration on the N-(carboxymethyl) lysine reactivity of acid and carboxyethyl lysine antibodies at E10.5. The results showed a remarkable increase in the incidence of NTDs at E10.5 in embryos of mice fed with AGE-BSA (no hyperglycemia) compared with control mice. Moreover, embryonic protein administration resulted in a noticeable increase in the reactivity of N-(carboxymethyl) lysine and N(ε)-(carboxyethyl) lysine antibodies. Malondialdehyde and H2O2 levels in embryonic cells were increased at E7.5, followed by increased intracellular ROS levels at E8.5. Vitamin E supplementation could partially recover these phenomena. Collectively, these results suggest that AGE-BSA could induce NTDs in the absence of hyperglycemia by an underlying mechanism that is at least partially associated with its capacity to increase embryonic oxidative stress levels.

Cu Nanoclusters-Encapsulated Liposomes: Toward Sensitive Liposomal Photoelectrochemical Immunoassay.

Herein we report the strategy of liposome-mediated Cu2+-induced exciton trapping upon CdS quantum dots (QDs) for amplified photoelectrochemical (PEC) bioanalysis application. Specifically, the Cu nanoclusters (NCs)-encapsulated liposomes were first fabricated and then processed with antibodies bound to their external surfaces. After the sandwich immunocomplexing, the confined liposomal labels were subjected to sequential lysis treatments for the release of Cu NCs and numerous Cu2+ ions, which were then directed to interact with the CdS QDs electrode. The interaction of Cu2+ ions with CdS QDs could generate CuxS and form the trapping sites to block the photocurrent generation. Since the photocurrent inhibition is closely related with the Cu NCs-loaded liposomal labels, a novel and general "signal-off" PEC immunoassay could thus be tailored with high sensitivity. Meanwhile, a complementary "signal-on" fluorescent detection could be accomplished by measuring the fluorescence intensity originated from the Cu NCs. This work features the first use of Cu NCs in PEC bioanalysis and also the first NCs-loaded liposomal PEC bioanalysis. More importantly, by using other specific ions/reagents-semiconductors interactions, this protocol could serve as a common basis for the general development of a new class of liposome-mediated PEC bioanalysis.

Nanochannels Photoelectrochemical Biosensor.

Nanochannels have brought new opportunities for biosensor development. Herein, we present the novel concept of a nanochannels photoelectrochemical (PEC) biosensor based on the integration of a unique CuxO-nanopyramid-islands (NPIs) photocathode, an anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane, and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) catalytic chemistry. The CuxO-NPIs photocathode possesses good performance, and further assembly with AAO yields a designed architecture composed of vertically aligned, highly ordered nanoarrays on top of the CuxO-NPIs film. After biocatalytic precipitation (BCP) was stimulated within the channels, the biosensor was used for the successful detection of ALP activity. This study has not only provided a novel paradigm for an unconventional nanochannels PEC biosensor, which can be used for general bioanalytical purposes, but also indicated that the new concept of nanochannel-semiconductor heterostructures is a step toward innovative biomedical applications.