[Screening of key genes and pathways of ischemic stroke and prediction of traditional Chinese medicines based on bioinformatics].

The aim of this paper was to explore the key genes and pathogenesis of ischemic stroke(IS) by bioinformatics, and predict the potential traditional Chinese medicines for IS. Based on the gene-chip raw data set of GSE22255 from National Center of Biotechnology Information(NCBI), the article enrolled in 20 patients with ischemic stroke and 20 sex-and age-matched controls, and differentially expressed genes(DEGs) were screened based on R language software. The DAVID tool and R language software were used to perform gene ontology(GO) biological process enrichment analysis and Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and gnomes(KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis. The DEGs were imported into STRING to construct a protein-protein interaction network, and the Molecular Complexity Module(MCODE) plug-in of Cytoscape software was used to visualize and analyze the key functional modules. Moreover, the core genes and the medical ontology information retrieval platform(Coremine Medical) were mapped to each other to screen the traditional Chinese medicines and construct drug-active ingredient-target network. Compared with healthy controls, 14 DEGs were obtained, of which 12 genes were up-regulated and 2 genes were down-regulated. DEGs were mainly involved in immune response, inflammatory process, signal transduction, and cell proliferation regulation. The interleukin-17(IL-17), nuclear factor kappaB(NF-κB), tumor necrosis factor(TNF), nucleotide binding oligomerization domain(NOD)-like receptor and other signaling pathways were involved in KEGG pathway enrichment analysis. The key modules of the DEGs-encoding protein interaction network mainly focused on 7 genes of TNF, JUN, recombinant immediate early response 3(IER3), recombinant early growth response protein 1(EGR1), prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2(PTGS2), C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 8(CXCL8) and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 2(CXCL2), which were involved in biological processes widely such as neuroinflammation and immunity. TNF and JUN were the key nodes in this module, which might become potential biological markers for diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of IS. The potential traditional Chinese medicines for the treatment of IS includes Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, Croci Stigma, Scutellariae Radix, and Cannabis Fructus. The occurrence of stroke was the result of multiple factors. Dysregulation of genes and pathways related to immune regulation and inflammation may be the key link for the development of IS. This study provided research direction and theoretical basis for further exploring the mechanism of action of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of IS and searching for potential drug targets.

Effects of electro-acupuncture at Tongli (HT 5) and Xuanzhong (GB 39) acupoints from functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the specifificity of Tongli (HT 5) and Xuanzhong (GB 39) paired acupionts in aspects of Deqi sensation and brain activation patterns during electroacupuncture. METHODS: In this study, 15 healthy subjects were enrolled. All participants suffered two kinds of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) examinations randomly: Examination A received electro-acupuncture (EA) at the bilateral Tongli (HT5) and Xuanzhong (GB 39) acupoints (ACU), and examination B received EA at bilateral non-acupoints (NAP). The subjects reported the feeling of Deqi at each examination later respectively. A multi-voxel pattern analysis method and Statistical Program for Social Sciences were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The ACU group (Exam A) reported fullness, heaviness, numbness, soreness and throbbing of signifificantly greater intensity than the NAP group (Exam B). In addition, there was no statistical signifificance between two groups in aching, tingling, deep pressure, sharp pain, dull pain, warmness and cold. Meanwhile, fMRI data revealed differences between two groups in discriminating accuracy of brain somatosensory cortex and language-related cortices. CONCLUSIONS: Needling HT 5 and GB 39 may modulate language function through a complex brain network, suggesting that it may be benefificial to the recovery of language function in patients with aphasia.

[An overview of researches on underlying mechanisms of acupuncture therapy by functional magnetic resonance imaging in recent 5 years].

In the present paper, the authors review the development of researches on acupuncture therapy with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in recent 5 years in both China and foreign countries. The current researches mainly involve 1) specificity of efficacies of acupoints, 2) mechanisms of acupuncture intervention underlying improvement of various clinical conditions or illnesses, 3) individual difference of the subjects, and 4) sustained efficacies of acupuncture. In the early stage, researches on acupuncture therapy mostly focus on the immediate efficacy and the specificity of efficacies of acupoints. Along with the actuality of sustained effect of acupuncture, new test design paradigms agreeable with clinical practice are necessary in the future. In addition, more attentions about the stability of the tested results should be paid.

[Present situation and thinking of studies on apoplectic aphasia].

There were different emphasis between Chinese medicine and Western medicine in the study of apoplectic aphasia, the study of Chinese medicine lay particular emphasis on treatment with more interfering methods but lacking unifying evaluation criteria; while studies of Western medicine lay particular emphasis on studies of mechanisms, classification and language rehabilitation of aphasia, etc.. Selection and application of scientific study methods are key to attain expectation results of studies, and deeply make studies of apoplectic aphasia, so as to explore and establish the model of integrated Chinese and western medicine study of aphasia, promote rehabilitation of language function and increase life quality of the patient of apoplexy.