Discussion on rules of acupoint selection for vascular dementia / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The clinical research literature regarding acupuncture treatment for vascular dementia was reviewed and analyzed to provide the references for clinical selection and compatibility of acupoints.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>With computer and manual retrieval method, the clinical literature regarding acupuncture treatment for vascular dementia in recent 10 years was collected. The acupoint type, meridian and use frequency were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Totally 38 articles of acupuncture treatment for vascular dementia were screened; the most selected meridians were the governor vessel, gallbladder meridian, stomach meridian and spleen meridian; the main acupoints with frequency of more than 5 times were Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), Shenting (GV 24), Fengchi (SP 40) and Shuigou (GV 26); the matching acupoints with frequency of more than 5 times were Fenglong (ST 40), Zusanli (ST 36), Taichong (LR 3), Taixi (KI 3), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Xuehai (SP 10), Zhongwan (CV 12), Neiguan (PC 6), Fengchi (GB 20).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The rules and characteristics of acupoint selection for vascular dementia were featured with taking the local acupoints at head as main points, combining disease differentiation and syndrome differentiation as clinical principle, valuing local acupoints and distal acupoints, applying various techniques of acupuncture and moxibustion and combing traditional acupuncture manipulation and modern electroacupuncture stimulation.</p>

Reviews on acupuncture for cellular signal transduction in spinal cord injury / 中国针灸

Investigating the influence of acupuncture on cellular signal transduction is an efficient pathway to reveal the action mechanism of acupuncture on spinal cord injury (SCI). In this study, the experiment research literature regarding acupuncture for SCI during past 10 years was reviewed and analyzed. As a result, it was found that acupuncture could regulate the expression of the first intercellular messenger as well as the second signal molecules including cyclic adenosine monophosphate, cyclic guanosine monophosphate, Ca2+, nitric oxide to intervene the apoptotic signaling pathway, Rho/Rock signaling pathway, Wnt signaling pathway, MAPK signaling pathway, Notch signaling pathway, etc., which could improve regeneration and repair of SCI. In conclusion, in future researches more attention should be paid to the cellular signal transduction networks and different effects among various acupoint combinations and acupuncture modalities on cellular signal transduction, which have an essential role for revelation of clinical application rules and optimization of clinical treatment protocol.

Acupuncture for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome:a meta-analysis / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture on diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in the past five years.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Online databases, including CNKI, VIP, WANFANG, PubMed, CBM, ScienceDirect OnSite, Cochrane Library, etc. were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture for diarrhea-predominant IBS. Retrieval time was from January of 2011 to January of 2016. According to modified Jadad standard, the bias risk and quality assessment of each RCT included were evaluated by two researchers. RevMan 5.3 software was adopted for the meta-analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Totally 17 RCTs were included with 1 333 patients. The result of meta-analysis indicated the total effective rate of clinical symptoms improvement in the acupuncture group or acupuncture combined with western medicine group was superior to that in the western medicine group (=3.92, 95%:2.83~5.43,<0.01), and the funnel plot was basically symmetry. The result of meta-analysis showed 3-month recurrence rate:=0.22, 95%:0.12~0.41 (<0.01), indicating the recurrence rate in the acupuncture group was lower than that in the western medicine group in three month.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Acupuncture for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome is superior to conventional treatment of western medication, which can improve the clinical symptoms and reduce the recurrence rate of patients.</p>

Effect of Electroacupuncture on Expression of Caspase-9, Cytochrome C and Apoptotic Protease Activating Factor 1 in Spinal Tissue in Rats with Neurogenic Bladder after Complete Spinal Cord Injury / 中国康复理论与实践

@#Objective To observe the effect of electroacupuncture on Caspase-9, cytochrome C (Cyt-C) and apoptotic protease activating factor 1 (Apaf-1) protein in rats with neurogenic bladder after complete spinal cord injury. Methods A total of 60 female Sprague-Dawley rats were involved, in which 36 rats were randomly selected to establish the neurogenic bladder model with T10 spinal cord transected. 24 successful models selected were randomly divided into model group (n=12) and electroacupuncture group (n=12). The other 24 rats were also randomly divided into sham group (n=12) and blank group (n=12). The electroacupuncture group was electroacupunctured on Ciliao (BL32), Zhongji (RN3), Sanyinjiao (SP6) and Dazhui (GV14) for seven days. All of them were assessed with urodynamic test, TUNEL method was used to determine the apoptosis rate of the spinal cord, and Western blotting was used to detect the expression of Caspase-9, Cyt-C and Apaf-1 protein. Results Compared with the blank group and the sham group, the maximum bladder capacity and compliance decreased (P<0.01), the urinary bladder pressure and leakage point pressure increased (P<0.05); the apoptosis rate of the spinal cord increased (P<0.001); the expression of Caspase-9, Cyt-C and Apaf-1 protein increased (P<0.05) in the model group and the electroacupuncture group. Compared with the model group, the maximum bladder capacity and compliance increased (P<0.01), the urinary bladder pressure and leakage point pressure decreased (P<0.05); the apoptosis rate of the spinal cord decreased (P<0.05); the expression of Caspase-9, Cyt-C and Apaf-1 protein decreased (P<0.05) in the electroacupuncture group. Conclusion Electroacupuncture on Ciliao, Zhongji, Sanyinjiao and Dazhui could improve the bladder function after spinal cord injury in rats. The mechanisms may be related with the down-regulation of Caspase-9, Cyt-C and Apaf-1 protein to reduce apoptosis.