Effect of fire needle therapy on mild-moderate benign prostatic hyperplasia: Protocol for a randomized controlled pilot trial.

BACKGROUND: Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the most common non-cancerous disease of the prostate and leads to lower urinary tract symptoms in middle-aged and elderly males. Fire needle therapy could improve the lower urinary tract symptoms associated with mild-moderate BPH in clinical practice. The aim of the present pilot study is to assess the preliminary effects of fire needle therapy on mild-moderate BPH. METHODS: The present study is a prospective parallel randomized controlled pilot trial. A total of 60 eligible participants will be randomly assigned to a treatment or control group at a 1:1 ratio. The treatment group will receive fire needle therapy and the control group will receive watchful waiting with lifestyle advice and education regarding BPH. Participants will receive intervention for 4 weeks, with a follow-up period of 4 additional weeks. Adverse events will be recorded to assess the safety and tolerability of fire needle therapy for mild-moderate BPH. The primary outcome will be the change in the International Prostate Symptom Score. The secondary outcomes will include the change in the mean number of nightly urinations, the maximum urinary flow rate, the average flow rate, and the prostate volume as measured by a B-mode ultrasound device. All outcome measures will be observed at baseline and at 4 and 8 weeks following the beginning of treatment. DISCUSSION: The present study will provide evidence of the preliminary effects of fire needle therapy on mild-moderate BPH and indicate an optimal sample size for future studies.

Curcumol allosterically modulates GABA(A) receptors in a manner distinct from benzodiazepines.

Inhibitory A type γ-aminobutyric acid receptors (GABAARs) play a pivotal role in orchestrating various brain functions and represent an important molecular target in neurological and psychiatric diseases, necessitating the need for the discovery and development of novel modulators. Here, we show that a natural compound curcumol, acts as an allosteric enhancer of GABAARs in a manner distinct from benzodiazepines. Curcumol markedly facilitated GABA-activated currents and shifted the GABA concentration-response curve to the left in cultured hippocampal neurons. When co-applied with the classical benzodiazepine diazepam, curcumol further potentiated GABA-induced currents. In contrast, in the presence of a saturating concentration of menthol, a positive modulator for GABAAR, curcumol failed to further enhance GABA-induced currents, suggesting shared mechanisms underlying these two agents on GABAARs. Moreover, the benzodiazepine antagonist flumazenil did not alter the enhancement of GABA response by curcumol and menthol, but abolished that by DZP. Finally, mutations at the ß2 or γ2 subunit predominantly eliminated modulation of recombinant GABAARs by curcumol and menthol, or diazepam, respectively. Curcumol may therefore exert its actions on GABAARs at sites distinct from benzodiazepine sites. These findings shed light on the future development of new therapeutics drugs targeting GABAARs.

Maternal obesity caused by overnutrition exposure leads to reversal learning deficits and striatal disturbance in rats.

Maternal obesity caused by overnutrition during pregnancy increases susceptibility to metabolic risks in adulthood, such as obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes; however, whether and how it affects the cognitive system associated with the brain remains elusive. Here, we report that pregnant obesity induced by exposure to excessive high fatty or highly palatable food specifically impaired reversal learning, a kind of adaptive behavior, while leaving serum metabolic metrics intact in the offspring of rats, suggesting a much earlier functional and structural defects possibly occurred in the central nervous system than in the metabolic system in the offspring born in unfavorable intrauterine nutritional environment. Mechanically, we found that above mentioned cognitive inflexibility might be associated with significant striatal disturbance including impaired dopamine homeostasis and disrupted leptin signaling in the adult offspring. These collective data add a novel perspective of understanding the adverse postnatal sequelae in central nervous system induced by developmental programming and the related molecular mechanism through which priming of risk for developmental disorders may occur during early life.

Occurrence of PAOI in a low temperature EBPR system.

The occurrence of Accumulibacter Type I (a known phosphorus-accumulating organism, PAO) has received increased attention due to the potential operating benefits associated with their denitrifying activity in enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) wastewater treatment plants. In this study, after a shift from an enriched glycogen-accumulating organism (GAO) culture (competitors of PAO) to a PAO-enriched system, Accumulibacter Type I (PAO I) became dominant in an anaerobic-aerobic EBPR system fed with acetate and operated at 10°C with a net aerobic solids retention time (SRT) of 6 d. Since Accumulibacter Type II (PAO II) were not detected, the low temperature in combination with the net aerobic SRT applied appeared to have suppressed their growth as well. The stoichiometry of PAO I was in agreement with previous metabolic models, suggesting that it was the main PAO organisms present in previous studies operated under similar conditions. Moreover, under poly-P limiting conditions, PAO I were unable to switch to a GAO-like metabolism at low temperatures. These results contribute to increase the understanding of the physiology, microbial metabolism and microbial ecology of PAO I.

α-asarone from Acorus gramineus alleviates epilepsy by modulating A-type GABA receptors.

Alpha (α)-asarone is a major effective compound isolated from the Chinese medicinal herb Acorus gramineus, which is widely used in clinical practice as an antiepileptic drug; however, its mechanism of action remains unclear. In this study, we have characterized the action of α-asarone on the excitability of rat hippocampal neurons in culture and on the epileptic activity induced by pentylenetetrazole or kainate injection in vivo. Under cell-attached configuration, the firing rate of spontaneous spiking was inhibited by application of α-asarone, which was maintained in the Mg(2+)-free solution. Under whole-cell configuration, α-asarone induced inward currents in a concentration-dependent manner with an EC(50) of 248 ± 33 µM, which was inhibited by a GABA(A) receptor blocker picotoxin and a competitive GABA(A) receptor antagonist bicuculline but not a specific glycine receptor inhibitor strychnine. Measurement of tonic GABA currents and miniature spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents indicated that α-asarone enhanced tonic GABAergic inhibition while left phasic GABAergic inhibition unaffected. In both pentylenetetrazole and kainate seizure models, α-asarone suppressed epileptic activity of mice by prolonging the latency to clonic and tonic seizures and reducing the mortality as well as the susceptibility to seizure in vivo presumably dependent on the activation of GABA(A) receptors. In summary, our results suggest that α-asarone inhibits the activity of hippocampal neurons and produces antiepileptic effect in central nervous system through enhancing tonic GABAergic inhibition.

Subunit-specific inhibition of glycine receptors by curcumol.

Emerging evidence has suggested that inhibitory glycine receptors (GlyRs) are an important molecular target in the treatment of numerous neurological disorders. Rhizoma curcumae is a medicinal plant with positive neurological effects. In this study, we showed that curcumol, a major bioactive component of R. curcumae, reversibly and concentration-dependently inhibited the glycine-activated current (IGly) in cultured rat hippocampal neurons. The inhibitory effect was neither voltage- nor agonist concentration-dependent. Moreover, curcumol selectively inhibited homomeric α2-containing, but not α1- or α3-containing, GlyRs. The addition of ß subunit conferred the curcumol sensitivity of α3-containing, but not α1-containing, GlyRs. Site-directed mutagenesis analysis revealed that a threonine at position 59 of the α2 subunit is critical for the susceptibility of GlyRs to curcumol-mediated inhibition. Furthermore, paralleling a decline of α2 subunit expression during spinal cord development, the degree of IGly inhibition by curcumol decreased with prolonged culture of rat spinal dorsal horn neurons. Taken together, our results suggest that the GlyRs are novel molecular targets of curcumol, which may underlie its pharmaceutical effects in the central nervous system.

Limited filamentous bulking in order to enhance integrated nutrient removal and effluent quality.

Limited filamentous bulking has been proposed as a means to enhance floc size and make conditions more favorable for simultaneous nitrification/Denitrification (SND). Moreover a slightly heightened SVI is supposed to increase the removal of small particulates in the clarifier. Integrated nitrogen, phosphorus and COD removal performance under limited filamentous bulking was investigated using a bench-scale plug-flow enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) reactor fed with raw domestic wastewater. Limited filamentous bulking in this study was mainly induced by low DO levels, while other influencing factors associated with filamentous bulking (F/M, nutrients, and wastewater characteristics) were not selective for filamentous bacteria. The optimum scenario for integrated nitrogen, phosphorus and COD removal was achieved under limited filamentous bulking with an SVI level of 170-200 (associated with a DO of 1.0-1.5 mg/L). The removal efficiencies of COD, TP and NH4+-N were 90%, 97% and 92%, respectively. Under these conditions, the solid-liquid separation was practically not affected and sludge loss was never observed. A well-clarified effluent with marginal suspended solids was obtained. The results of this study indicated the feasibility of limited filamentous bulking under low DO as a stimulation of simultaneous nitrification/denitrification for enhancing nutrient removal and effluent quality in an EBPR process.

[Evaluation and choice of PCR-DGGE primers in analyzing the microbial community structure of activated sludge in traditional Chinese medicine wastewater].

In the study of traditional Chinese medicine wastewater, it was discussed for the effect of different sets of 16S rDNA universal primers on DGGE fingerprinting and microbial community diversity of aerobic and anaerobic activated sludge from one traditional Chinese medicine wastewater treatment. The genome DNA of activated sludge was isolated, and eleven sets of primers were used to amplify the four variable regions of 16S rDNA, the resolution of DGGE fingerprinting and community diversity was analyzed. The results indicated that community diversity with different sets of universal primers by DGGE was obviously different. Separated patterns of the V3 and V6-V8 regions were better than of V1-V3 and V3-V5. In the DGGE profiles, bands and diversity from V3 were most, bands and diversity from V3-V5 and V6-V8 were a little worse than those of V3. According to the length of targeted sequence and the resolution of DGGE fingerprinting, V6-V8 (B968F/B1401R) are recommended to be used to do the DGGE analysis. Mix I341F/I534R and B341F/B534R PCR product equally to make DGGE analysis can get more community diversity information.

Atomic level characterization of the nonproton ligand-sensing domain of ASIC3 channels.

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) are known to be primarily activated by extracellular protons. Recently, we characterized a novel nonproton ligand (2-guanidine-4-methylquinazoline, GMQ), which activates the ASIC3 channel subtype at neutral pH. Using an interactive computational-experimental approach, here we extend our investigation to delineate the architecture of the GMQ-sensing domain in the ASIC3 channels. We first established a GMQ binding mode and revealed that residues Glu-423, Glu-79, Leu-77, Arg-376, Gln-271, and Gln-269 play key roles in forming the GMQ-sensing domain. We then verified the GMQ binding mode using ab initio calculation and mutagenesis and demonstrated the critical role of the above GMQ-binding residues in the interplay among GMQ, proton, and Ca(2+) in regulating the function of ASIC3. Additionally, we showed that the same residues involved in coordinating GMQ responses are also critical for activation of the ASIC3(E79C) mutant by thiol-reactive compound DTNB. Thus, a range of complementary techniques provide independent evidence for the structural details of the GMQ-sensing domain at atomic level, laying the foundation for further investigations of endogenous nonproton ligands and gating mechanisms of the ASIC3 channels.

[Formation mechanism of bioavailable phosphorus in sediments under the conditions of sediment re-suspension].

The concentrations of different sedimentary phosphorus forms and bioavailable phosphorus were studied and the formation mechanism of BAP in sediments was discussed, under the conditions of sediments re-suspension. The results show that sediment re-suspension had obvious effect on the distribution of different sedimentary phosphorus forms. The BD-P, Al-P, Ca-P were increased evidently and the NH4Cl-P was decreased with the time of sediment re-suspension extending. The BAP in sediments after re-suspended was reduced by 6.59%, indicating that sediment re-suspension could promote the transformation from BAP to nonbioavailable phosphorus. The formation of AAP might mainly have close relationships with BD-P. After extracting AAP, the BD-P was decreased by 33.4% averagely in the sediments after re-suspended, while the release of BD-P in sediments from the control experiment was increased by 19.8%, showing that the formation of AAP was affected marked by the properties of BD-P. The Olsen-P could be mainly formed from BD-P, Al-P, NaOH-nrP. The formation of Olsen-P was closely correlated to BD-P, based on the release of BD-P, Al-P, NaOH-nrP.

[Transformation of phosphorus forms in the sediments under the conditions of sediments re-suspension].

The change of phosphorus forms in sediments was studied and the possible path of transformation from mobile phosphorus into refractory forms was discussed under the conditions of sediments re-suspension, using sediments and overlying water from the trophic canal in the campus as material. The results showed that phosphorus release and adsorption had close relationships with the frequency of sediments resuspension. Various changes of different forms of sedimentary phosphorus were found under the conditions of sediments re-suspension. BD-P and NaOH-nrP were decreased obviously, while Ca-P was increased evidently. The change of other phosphorus forms was little. As a result, BD-P and NaOH-nrP could be transformed into Ca-P. Moreover, based on the formation of potentially mobile phosphorus (PMP) and bioavailable phosphorus (BAP), sediments re-suspension could improve the transformation from mobile phosphorus and bioavailable phosphorus into refractory forms and nonbioavailable forms, and the enhancement was improved with the increase of the frequency of sediments re-suspension.

[Inhibition on formation and release of potentially mobile phosphorus in sediments by various pretreatments].

Inhibition on formation and release of potentially mobile phosphorus in sediments by various pretreatments (aerating to sediments, aerating to water) were studied, using sediments from the campus canal as materials. The results show that the improvement on phosphorus migration from overlying water to sediments by aerating to sediments was better than that by aerating to water. With different pretreatments, release of phosphorus was decreased obviously. After aerating to sediments and aerating to water, release of soluble reactive phosphate was reduced by 193.6 mg x kg(-1), 44.7 mg x kg(-1) and release of total phosphorus was reduced by 334.0 mg x kg(-1), 163.8 mg x kg(-1) respectively compared with that of the sediments without pretreatments. As for potentially mobile phosphorus in sediments, the former was reduced by 58.6 mg x kg(-1), while the later was increased by 167.4 mg x kg(-1). The possible reason of it could be that phosphorus was transformed into potentially mobile phosphorus at the first step in migration from overlying water to sediments, while the pretreatments would enhance the transformation from potentially mobile phosphorus to refractory forms in sediments. The enhancement to this transformation by aerating to sediments was more evident than that by aerating to water.