Clinical observation on wrist-ankle acupuncture for shoulder-hand syndrome phaseⅠafter stroke / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the clinical efficacy between wrist-ankle acupuncture and conventional acupuncture on shoulder-hand syndrome (SHS) phaseⅠafter stroke.@*METHODS@#A total of 64 patients with SHS phaseⅠafter stroke were randomized into a wrist-ankle acupuncture group and a conventional acupuncture group, 32 cases in each group. On the basis treatment of internal medicine and conventional rehabilitation, wrist-ankle acupuncture was applied at upper 4 area, upper 5 area and upper 6 area on the affected side in the wrist-ankle acupuncture group, while acupuncture was applied at Jianyu (LI 15), Quchi (LI 11), Shousanli (LI 10), etc. on the affected side in the conventional acupuncture group. The treatment was given 30 min each time, once a day, 5 days a week for 3 weeks in both groups. Before and after treatment, the visual analogue scale (VAS) score, degree of hand swelling, shoulder-hand syndrome scale (SHSS) score, Fugl-Meyer assessment for upper extremity (FMA-UE) score and modified Barthel index (MBI) score were observed, and the clinical therapeutic effect was evaluated in both groups.@*RESULTS@#After treatment, the VAS scores, degree of hand swelling and SHSS scores were decreased (P<0.05), and the FMA-UE scores and MBI scores were increased (P<0.05) compared before treatment in both groups; in the wrist-ankle acupuncture group, the VAS score, degree of hand swelling and SHSS score were lower (P<0.05), and the FMA-UE score and MBI score were higher (P<0.05) than those in the conventional acupuncture group. The total effective rate was 96.9% (31/32) in the wrist-ankle acupuncture group, which was superior to 90.6% (29/32) in the conventional acupuncture group (P<0.05).@*CONCLUSION@#Wrist-ankle acupuncture can effectively relieve pain and hand swelling, improve motor function of upper extremity and self-care ability of daily life in patients with shoulder-hand syndrome phaseⅠafter stroke, the therapeutic effect is superior to conventional acupuncture.

The Cyr61 Is a Potential Target for Rotundifuran, a Natural Labdane-Type Diterpene from Vitex trifolia L., to Trigger Apoptosis of Cervical Cancer Cells.

Cervical cancer is a common female malignant tumor that seriously threatens human health. This study explored the anticervical cancer effects and potential mechanisms of Rotundifuran (RTF), a natural product isolated from Vitex trifolia L. In this study, we found that RTF can suppress the proliferation of cervical cancer cell lines, including HeLa and SiHa cells (with the IC50 less than 10 µM), via induction of apoptosis in vitro, and the antitumor effect of RTF is further confirmed on the HeLa cell-inoculated xenograft model. In addition, our results proved that the antitumor effects of RTF might be related with the reactive oxygen species- (ROS-) induced mitochondrial-dependent apoptosis through MAPK and PI3K/Akt signal pathways. Using proteomics analysis and the drug affinity responsive target stability- (DARTS-) combined mass spectrometry (DARTS-MS), Cyr61 was indicated as a potential target for RTF in cervical cancer cells. Our present study would be beneficial for the development of RTF as a candidate for treatment of cervical cancer in the future.

Enhanced anti-tumor efficacy by inhibiting HIF-1α to reprogram TAMs via core-satellite upconverting nanoparticles with curcumin mediated photodynamic therapy.

Tumor hypoxic stress after photodynamic therapy (PDT) will be inevitably exacerbated by the vascular blocking effects and oxygen consumption in the tumor microenvironment (TME) which usually leads to compromised efficacy and clinical performance. Increasing evidence links the hypoxia induced up-regulation of hypoxia inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) with immunosuppressive TME, including the polarization of M2 phenotype tumor associated macrophages (TAMs), which promote the recurrence and metastasis. Here, we reported NIR-triggered core-satellite upconverting nanoparticles (CSNPs) with curcumin (Cur) embedded as a difunctional photosensitizer, which could realize PDT in deep tumors with long excitation wavelength (980 nm) and reverse the immunosuppressive TME induced by up-regulated HIF-1α at the same time. This Cur-loaded CSNPs (Cur-CSNPs)-mediated PDT could successfully induce the immunogenic cell death (ICD) of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines (4T1 and MDA-MB-231) in vitro and repolarize the 4T1 cells co-cultured TAMs from pro-tumor M2 to the anti-tumor M1 phenotype. Furthermore, Cur-CSNPs-mediated PDT could suppress the 4T1 tumor growth in primary and distant sites through the synergistic immunotherapeutic effects in vivo by priming M1 type TAMs and CD4+/CD8+ T cells' infiltration. Our data highlight the novel application of CSNPs-embedded Cur as a difunctional photosensitizer to enhance the anti-tumor efficacy of PDT.

[Effects of Ginseng panaxadiol saponin on proliferation and differentiation of human bone marrow CD34+ cells].

The study was purposed to investigate the effects of the panaxadiol saponin (PDS) from Ginseng on proliferation and differentiation of human CD34(+) cells from human bone marrow. Highly purified CD34(+) cells were isolated from human bone marrow by using the Dynal CD34 Cell Selection System (Dynal, Norway). The cells were exposed to PDS at various concentrations in both agar semi-solid culture of CFU-Mix and suspension culture of myeloid and erythroid cells in order to observe the effects of PDS on proliferation of CD34(+) cells. The cells were marked with 4 kinds of monoclonal antibody in related with their differentiation toward to myeloid and erythroid lineages, then examined by flow cytometry (FACS) after being incubated with PDS for 14 days. The results showed that the number of CD34(+) cells was 1.0 +/- 0.15% out of marrow nuclear cells after being purified by Dynal beads system. The enrichment of CD34(+) cells reached to 86.8 +/- 2.8%. The best efficiency in promoting proliferation of CD34(+) cells in vitro was obtained when the concentration of PDS was 25 mg/L, the formation of CFU-Mix colonies significantly increased by 56.3 +/- 3.5% over those of no-PDS control (p < 0.01). The results from suspension culture revealed that myeloid cells elevated in a dose-dependent manner with a peak increasing rate of 35.6 +/- 3.2%, and erythroid cells significantly increased by 22.3 +/- 2.1% over those of no-PDS control (all p < 0.01). After incubation with PDS for 14 days, number of CD33(+) cells increased in a dose-dependent manner with a peak increasing rate at 50 mg/L. CD71(+) cells reaching the peak were at 25 mg/L, while G-A(+) cells were increased by 7.2 +/- 1.3% (p < 0.01) at 10 mg/L, but the number of CD15(+) cells was not found to be changed before and after treating with PDS. It is concluded that PDS not only enhance the proliferation of CD34(+) cells, but also induce differentiation of CD34(+) cells toward to myeloid and erythroid lineages. PDS may play the roles as like hematopoietic growth factor, or provide synergistic effects on growth factor in the regulation of hematopoiesis.

[Effects of Ginsenosides Rg1 and Rb1 on Proliferation of Human Marrow Granulocyte-Macrophage Progenitor Cells]

Ginseng is a traditional Chinese medicine which has been used in treating anemia for thousands of years. It is composed of a lot of components. The main component is total saponin of panax ginseng (TSPG), which contains more than 20 ginsenosides including Rg1, Rb1 and so on. Previous studies have reported that total saponin of panax ginseng could promote hematopoiesis by stimulating proliferation of human erythroid grogenitor cells CFU-E and BFU-E, however, it had different effects on CFU-GM reported by various laboratories. In this study, CFU-GM assay was adopted to observe the ginsenosides Rg1 and Rb1's effects on the proliferation of human marrow grannulocyte-macrophage progenitor cells. The results showed that Rg1 and Rb1 had obvious promotive effect on the proliferation of CFU-GM, and the increasing rates of colony formation were up to (70.6 +/- 6.8)% and (65.1 +/- 6.3)%, respectively. There was no inhibiting effect on CFU-GM in high concentrations of Rg1 and Rb1. It is suggested that Rg1 and Rb1 can stimulate the proliferation of human granulocyte-macrophage progentors. The results of TSPG's various effects on CFU-GM might be caused by different contents of ginsenosides in TSPG used in different laboratories.