Meta-analysis of the efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of the vascular cognitive impairment associated with cerebral small vessel disease.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of the vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) associated with cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD-VCI) and to provide a theoretical basis for clinical acupuncture treatment for CSVD-VCI. METHOD: Various databases, including China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Data, Chinese Science and Technology Journal Database, Chinese BioMedical Literature Service System, PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and EBSCOhost, were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to acupuncture treatment for CSVD-VCI. The quality of the included trials was evaluated, and a meta-analysis was conducted using the Review Manager 5.4 software. RESULTS: Ten articles on RCTs were included, involving 761 patients, i.e., 381 in the acupuncture group and 380 in the control group. The meta-analysis results indicated that the use of acupuncture alone and acupuncture alongside other therapies for CSVD-VCI could improve the overall clinical response rate [odds ratio = 3.51, 95% confidence interval (CI) = (2.05, 6.00), P < 0.00001], increase the patients' Montreal Cognitive Assessment scores [mean difference (MD) = 3.33, 95%CI (2.98, 3.68), P < 0.00001], Mini-Mental State Examination scores [MD = 2.78, 95%CI (2.51, 3.06), P < 0.00001], and activities of daily living scores [MD = 6.30, 95%CI (4.22, 8.37), P < 0.00001], and shorten the latency of auditory evoked potential P300 [MD = -14.67, 95%CI (-19.54, -9.80), P < 0.00001]. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture alone and acupuncture alongside other therapies are superior to non-acupuncture-based therapies in the treatment of CSVD-VCI. However, due to the small number of relevant available articles and their general low quality, this conclusion may be biased. More clinical RCTs with a larger sample size and higher quality are needed to support this theory.

Comparative Cytogenetics Analysis of Chlamys farreri, Patinopecten yessoensis, and Argopecten irradians with Ct-1 DNA by Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization.

The chromosomes of Chlamys farreri, Patinopecten yessoensis, and Argopecten irradians were studied by FISH using C. farreri C(0)t-1 DNA probes. The results showed that C(0)t-1 DNA signals spread on all chromosomes in the three scallops, whereas signal density and intensity were different strikingly. Clustering brighter signals presented in the centromeric and telomeric regions of most C. farreri chromosomes, and in the centromeric or pericentromeric regions of several P. yessoensis chromosomes. Comparative analysis of the mapping indicated a relatively higher homology in the repetitive DNA sequences of the genome between C. farreri and P. yessoensis than that between C. farreri and A. irradians. In addition, FISH showed that the distribution of C(0)t-1 DNA clustering signals in C. farreri displayed completely similar signal bands between homologous chromosomes. Based on the C(0)t-1 DNA fluorescent bands, a more exact karyotype of C. farreri has been obtained. In this study, the comparative analysis based on C(0)t-1 DNA provides a new insight into the chromosomal reconstructions during the evolution process, and it is helpful for understanding an important source of genomic diversity, species relationships, and genome evolution.