Improving acupuncture research: progress, guidance, and future directions / 中国针灸

This paper makes an interpretation of the collection Acupuncture: how to improve the evidence base published by BMJ & BMJ Open. Studies show that the quality of randomized controlled trial (RCT) of acupuncture is low, and multivariable Meta-regression analysis fails to confirm most factors commonly believed to influence the effect of acupuncture. The methodological challenges in design and conduct of RCT in acupuncture were analyzed, and a consensus on how to design high-quality acupuncture RCT was developed. The number of acupuncture systematic reviews was huge but the evidence was underused in clinical practice and health policy, and a large number of western clinical practice guidelines recommended acupuncture therapy, but the usefulness of recommendations needed to be improved. In view of the problems in clinical research on acupuncture mentioned in this collection, combined with the analysis of the purpose of clinical research on acupuncture, perspectives, study types, as well as the relationship between evidence and clinical decision-making, a five-stage study paradigm of clinical research on acupuncture is proposed.

Establishment of UPLC Fingerprint and Quantitative Analysis of Multi-components of Shengyutang / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To establish ultra performance liquid chromatography （UPLC） fingerprint of Shengyutang and quantitative analysis method of 11 index components in this famous classical formula. Method:UPLC-diode array detector/evaporative light scattering detector （UPLC-PDA/ELSD） was used， two chromatographic conditions were established by different detectors according to the polarity of chemical components. Conditions of fingerprint 1 were as follows：ACQUITY UPLC HSS T₃ column （2.1 mm×100 mm， 1.8 µm） with the mobile phase of acetonitrile （A）-0.6% formic acid solution （C） for gradient elution （0-4 min， 0-4%A； 4-8 min， 4%A； 8-9 min， 4%-8%A； 9-14 min， 8%-9%A； 14-21 min， 9%-15%A； 21-26 min， 15%-17%A； 26-30 min， 17%-20%A； 30-35 min， 20%-32%A； 35-40 min， 32%-40%A； 40-50 min， 40%-80%A； 50-55 min， 80%A）， the flow rate of 0.3 mL·min^-1， PDA with detection wavelengths of 280 nm and 321 nm， the column temperature at 30 ℃. Conditions of fingerprint 2 were as follows：the CORTECS C₁₈ column （3.0 mm×100 mm， 2.7 µm） with the mobile phase of acetonitrile （A）-water （D） for gradient elution （0-11 min， 19%A； 11-16 min， 19%-25%A； 16-34 min， 25%-28%A； 34-47 min， 28%-47%A； 47-60 min， 47%-80%A）， the flow rate of 0.4 mL·min^-1， ELSD with drift tube temperature of 95 ℃， the carrier gas （air） flow rate of 2.0 L·min^-1， and the column temperature at 30 ℃. UPLC-PDA/ELSD fingerprints of 15 batches of Shengyutang were established， and the similarity was evaluated by similarity evaluation system of chromatographic fingerprint of traditional Chinese medicine （2012 edition） issued by the Chinese Pharmacopoeia Commission， and the contents of eleven index components in this famous classical formula were determined. Result:The similarities of UPLC-PDA/ELSD fingerprints of 15 batches of Shengyutang were >0.98 by comparing with the control fingerprint， 27 and 16 common peaks were identified in fingerprint 1， 2， respectively. It was tested and verified that the precision， repeatability， stability， linear relationship and other results of this method all met the requirements of the 2020 edition of <italic>Chinese Pharmacopoeia</italic>. The contents of chlorogenic acid， ferulic acid， calycosin glucoside， verbascoside， senkyunolide I， senkyunolide H， senkyunolide A， ginsenoside Rg₁， ginsenoside Re， ginsenoside Rb₁ and astragaloside A in 15 batches of Shengyutang were 0.063-0.193， 0.509-0.638， 0.160-0.318， 0.012-0.056， 0.394-0.519， 0.110-0.143， 0.031-0.097， 0.382-0.595， 0.292-0.505， 0.590-0.803， 0.142-0.367 mg·g^-1， respectively. Conclusion:The established detection method meets the requirements of the 2020 edition of <italic>Chinese Pharmacopoeia</italic>， which can characterize the overall characteristics of chemical components in Shengyutang， and provide experimental basis for the quality standard research of this famous classical formula.

Analysis on UPLC Fingerprint and Determination of Multi-index Components in Pipa Qingfeiyin / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Objective:To establish the ultraperformance liquid chromatography （UPLC） fingerprint of Pipa Qingfeiyin substance benchmark， and to establish a quantitative analysis method for simultaneous determination of the contents of five index components， so as to provide reference for the quality control and evaluation of this famous classical formula. Method:ACQUITY UPLC^® CSH^TM C₁₈ column （2.1 mm×100 mm， 1.7 μm） was used with mobile phase of acetonitrile （A）-0.1% formic acid aqueous solution （B） for gradient elution （0-7 min， 5%-7%A； 7-11 min， 7%-8%A； 11-22 min， 8%-14%A； 22-30 min， 14%-15%A； 30-35 min， 15%-25%A； 35-42 min， 25%-40%A； 42-45 min， 40%-50%A； 45-50 min， 50%-60%A）， the flow rate was 0.35 mL·min^-1， the column temperature was 25 ℃， the detection wavelengths were 278 nm and 248 nm. UPLC fingerprints of 15 batches of Pipa Qingfeiyin substance benchmark were established， and the "Similarity Evaluation System of Chromatographic Fingerprint of Traditional Chinese Medicine" software （2012 edition） was used for similarity analysis， and the common peaks were assigned. Cluster analysis （CA）， principal component analysis （PCA） and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis （OPLS-DA） were used to evaluate the fingerprint data. UPLC fingerprint method was used to simultaneously determine the contents of five components in the substance benchmark. Result:The method validation of fingerprint and determination method was good， the similarities between 15 batches of Pipa Qingfeiyin substance benchmark and their control fingerprint were ≥0.997， 23 common peaks were identified and 11 chromatographic peaks were identified. CA， PCA and OPLS-DA divided 15 batches of the substance benchmark into two groups. The linear relationship of phellodendrine hydrochloride， chlorogenic acid， berberine hydrochloride， palmatine hydrochloride and ammonium glycyrrhizinate was good in a certain range of concentration （<italic>R</italic>²>0.999）， their average recovery was 96.47%-101.16%， and the contents of these five components in the substance benchmark were 0.87-2.00， 1.53-5.95， 18.45-33.97， 3.87-6.29， 1.02-4.12 mg·g^-1， respectively. Conclusion:The established UPLC fingerprint and multi-index component content determination methods have strong specificity， good resolution and high sensitivity， it can be characterized except for the Ginseng Radix et Rhizoma flavor， which can provide reference for the quality control and evaluation of Pipa Qingfeiyin compound preparation.

Effect of Acupuncture on the Notch Signaling Pathway in Rats with Brain Injury / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of acupuncture on the Notch signaling pathway in rats with traumatic brain injury and to explore the pathogenesis of acupuncture intervention on traumatic brain injury.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Feeney's freefall epidural impact method was used to establish a traumatic brain injury model in rats; the rats were randomly divided into a normal group, sham operation group, model group and acupuncture group. Acupuncture was performed in the Baihui (DU 20), Shuigou (DU 26), Fengfu (DU 16), Yamen (DU 15) and Hegu (LI 4) acupoints in the rat, and Yamen was punctured via Fengfu. Then, the rats in each group were randomly divided into three subgroups, namely the day 3 subgroup, day 7 subgroup and day 14 subgroup according to treatment duration. The modified neurological severity scores (mNss) method was used to perform neurobehavioral scoring for evaluating the degree of injury in the rats. The hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining method was used to observe the pathological change in the brain tissue of rats in each group. Real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Q-PCR) technology was used to detect changes in the Notch1, Hes1 and Hes5 gene expression levels in the cortex on the injured side. Western blot was used to detect the protein expression changes.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>One day after modeling, the mNss scores in the model group and in the acupuncture group were significantly higher than those in the normal and sham operation groups (P<0.01) ; there was no statistically significant difference between the normal group and the sham operation group. The scores decreased with increased treatment time, and the scores in the acupuncture group decreased more significantly than those in the model group (P<0.01). The pathological examination by the HE staining method demonstrated that the brain tissue of the rats in the acupuncture and model groups relatively significantly changed. The Notch1 gene expression level in the acupuncture group was significantly higher than the level in all of the other groups (P<0.01) ; the Hes1 and Hes5 gene expression levels were also higher in the acupuncture group. The expression changes of the Notch1 and Hes1 protein were consistent with that of mRNA. In each experimental group, the mNss score and the pathological results by the HE staining method were consistent with the mRNA results.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Acupuncture could significantly promote high expression levels of Notch1, Hes1 and Hes5 in the brain tissue of traumatic brain injury rats. Therefore, acupuncture might be an important intervention for inducing endogenous stem cell proliferation and for promoting nerve repair.</p>

Effect of acupuncture on proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells in brain tissues of rats with traumatic brain injury / 中国结合医学杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the effect of acupuncture on proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells in brain tissues of rats with traumatic brain injuny.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Thirty SD rats were randomly and equally allocated to the sham-operated, the model and the acupuncture groups. The traumatic brain injury model was established by the free drop method. For the rats in the acupuncture group, acupuncture was applied once a day for 7 days. Brain histotomy was carried out when treatments were completed. Immunohistochemical techniques were adopted to detect the cells that express nestin, neurofilament proteins (NF)-200 and glial fibrillary acidic proteins (GFAP), the markers of neural stem cells, neurons, astrocytes respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared to the sham-operated group, the number of nestin-positive cells and NF-200-positive cells in brain tissues was decreased significantly in the model group (P < 0.01), whereas the number of GFAP-positive cells was significantly increased P<0.01). Compared to the model group, the positive cells of nestin, NF-200, GFAP in brain tissues in the acupuncture group were increased obviously (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Acupuncture can significantly increase the number of nestin-positive cells, NF-200-positive cells and GFAP-positive cells, indicating the significant increase of neural stem cells, neurons and astrocytes in number. Acupuncture can improve neuranagenesis by promoting the proliferation and differentiation of neural stem cells in brain tissues. This might be one of the mechanisms for acupuncture to treat traumatic brain injury and to promote the repair of nervous function.</p>