[Fire needling stripping after local anesthesia for verruca vulgaris: a multi-center randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical therapeutic effect of fire needling stripping after local anesthesia, simple fire needling and liquid nitrogen cryotherapy on verruca vulgaris. METHODS: A total of 900 patients with verruca vulgaris were randomized into a fire needling stripping group (300 cases, 2 cases dropped off), a fire needling group (300 cases, 4 cases dropped off) and a liquid nitrogen cryotherapy group (300 cases, 5 cases dropped off). After local anesthesia of compound lidocaine cream, fire needling therapy was adopted, and the necrotic tissue of verruca was stripped in the fire needling stripping group. Simple fire needling therapy was adopted in the fire needling group, without local anesthesia and stripping. Liquid nitrogen cryotherapy was adopted in the liquid nitrogen cryotherapy group. The treatment was given once a week, and totally 3 weeks were required in the 3 groups. The skin lesion scores of number, area, thickness, color, pruritus, isomorphism and the level of T lymphocyte (CD+3、CD+4、CD+8、CD+4/ CD+8) in peripheral blood were observed before and after treatment, and the adverse reaction was recorded in the 3 groups. Five weeks after treatment, the therapeutic effect was evaluated. RESULTS: Compared before treatment, the skin lesion scores were decreased (P<0.05), the levels of T lymphocyte in peripheral blood were increased in the 3 groups (P<0.05). After treatment, all the items of the skin lesion score in the fire needling stripping group were lower than those in the fire needling group and the liquid nitrogen cryotherapy group (P<0.05), the levels of T lymphocyte in peripheral blood were higher than those in the fire needling group and the liquid nitrogen cryotherapy group (P<0.05); all the items of the skin lesion score in the liquid nitrogen cryotherapy group were lower than those in the fire needling group (P<0.05). At the follow-up, the total effective rate was 88.6% (264/298) in the fire needling stripping group, which was superior to 81.4% (241/296) in the fire needling group and 81.4% (240/295) in the liquid nitrogen cryotherapy group (P<0.05). The cases of infection, causalgia and cicatrix in the liquid nitrogen cryotherapy group were more than those in the fire needling stripping group and the fire needling group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Fire needling stripping after local anesthesia can effectively treat the verruca vulgaris, improve the skin lesion and immunity, its therapeutic effect is superior to simple fire needling and liquid nitrogen cryotherapy.

Cordycepin attenuates high-fat diet-induced non-alcoholic fatty liver disease via down-regulation of lipid metabolism and inflammatory responses.

Cordycepin (CRD), an adenosine analog derived from traditional Chinese medicine, is an active component in Cordyceps militaris. It has been shown to have many protective effects during liver injury and ameliorate liver disease progression, but little is known about its effect on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study aims to explore the effects of CRD on obesity-induced NAFLD. In this experiment, C57BL/6 J mice were randomly assigned into normal control group (NC), high fat diet group (HFD) and HFD + CRD group for 8 weeks. The body weights were recorded weekly, at the end of the experiments, the liver and serum samples were collected. We found that CRD administration reduced body weight and decreased the weight of adipose and liver, and CRD relieved liver injure through diminishing of histopathological changes and decreasing serum levels of AST, ALT, TG, TC, LDL-C and increased the level of HDL-C. Furthermore, treatment with CRD significantly alleviated expression of inflammatory factors (TNF-α, IL-6 and Il-1ß) and macrophage markers (MCP1, MIP2, mKC and VCAM1). On the other hand, compared with HFD group, the CRD treated group markedly down-regulated relative proteins of lipid anabolism (SREBP1-c, ACC, SCD-1, LXRα and CD36) and up-regulated relative proteins of ß-oxidation (p-AMPK, AMPK, CPT-1 and PPARα). In summary, our results suggest that CRD can be a potential therapeutic agent in the prevention and treatment of NAFLD, which may be closely related to its effect on lipid metabolism and inflammatory responses.