Effect of Low-Frequency Electrical Stimulation Combined with Tonifying Kidney and Blood Pills on Uterine Rejuvenation after Abortion.

Objective: This study aimed to observe the clinical efficacy of low-frequency electrical stimulation therapy combined with tonifying the kidney and activating blood pills to promote uterine recovery after abortion and its effect on heat-shock protein (HSP)70 and HSP90. Methods: All cases were women with early pregnancy who underwent an abortion at the Third Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from September 2019 to September 2020. They were divided into two groups in accordance with the principle of patient voluntariness: 237 cases in the experimental group and 143 cases in the control group. Patients in both groups were given low-frequency electrical stimulation after surgery. In addition, patients in the experimental group began to take the Dingkun pill orally (one pill per time, two times per day) from the first day of surgery and continued to take it until their menstruation returned to normal. Abdominal pain, the duration of vaginal bleeding, and the amount of bleeding were observed in both groups. Uterine size, endometrial thickness, and urinary human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) status were also observed at 2 weeks postoperatively to determine preoperative and postoperative HSP70 and HSP90 serum levels. The time of menstrual resumption, menstrual period, and menstrual volume were observed and compared with preoperative menstruation. The occurrence of complications, such as a residual uterine cavity, uterine effusion, menstrual irregularities, and reproductive tract infections, during the follow-up period was also recorded in both groups. Results: Comparison of the endometrial thickness (mm) and uterine size (sum of the three diameters) on uterine adnexal ultrasound at 2-week postoperative review was better in the experimental group than in the control group (p < 0.05). No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of residual uterine cavity and blood accumulation in the uterine cavity and the results of the urine pregnancy test (p > 0.05). Serum HSP70 and HSP90 levels were significantly higher in the control group than in the experimental group 2 weeks after surgery (p < 0.05). Postoperative HSP70 and HSP90 levels were significantly higher than preoperative levels in both groups (p < 0.05). The degree of postoperative abdominal pain in the experimental group was less severe than that in the control group, and the duration was shorter (p < 0.05). No statistically significant differences were observed when comparing the duration of postoperative vaginal bleeding and the amount of bleeding (p > 0.05). The time of the first menstrual resumption and menstrual volume were more satisfactory in the experimental group than in the control group (p < 0.05). No adverse reactions occurred in either group of patients receiving treatment. Conclusion: Low-frequency electrical stimulation combined with tonifying the kidney and invigorating blood pills could effectively promote uterine rejuvenation after abortion, conducive to improving patients' postoperative abdominal pain, promoting menstrual recovery and maintaining menstrual flow.

A systematic review of the efficacy of donepezil hydrochloride combined with nimodipine on treating vascular dementia.

BACKGROUND: Vascular dementia (VaD) is a comprehensive syndrome related to the damage of cognitive function and various cerebral vascular illnesses. VaD is also generally recognized as the second most common type of dementia after Alzheimer disease, contributing to 30% of the dementia population in Asia and developing countries. The ability of donepezil hydrochloride and nimodipine had been respectively proven in improving cognitive function in vascular dementia. However, whether the combined application of both drugs contribute to better efficacy remains as a research hotspot. Studies had shown definite satisfactory result with such combination, however evidence-based evaluation of the efficacy is still lacking. Therefore, meta-analysis is employed in this study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of using donepezil hydrochloride combined with nimodipine in treating VaD to provide references for clinical treatments. The efficacy of donepezil hydrochloride combined with nimodipine on treating vascular dementia is systematically reviewed to provide evidence-based references for clinical applications. METHODS: Both Chinese and English databases were searched from the start till August, 2020 for any RCT regarding the combined use of the 2 drugs in treating vascular dementia. Two investigators would later evaluate and screened out research and data based on an improved Jaded scale. Software Rev Man 5.3.0 was employed to carry out meta-analysis on clinical effificacy, mini-mental state examination (MMSE) ratings, activity of daily living (ADL) ratings, and clinical dementia scale (CDR) ratings. RESULTS: Donepezil hydrochloride combined with nimodipine had demonstrated satisfactory efficacy on the treatment of vascular dementia. Improvements were namely spotted on MMSE scale, ADL scale, and CDR scale, with the utmost efficacy by 12 weeks after intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Donepezil hydrochloride combined with nimodipine had good efficacy in the treatment of patients with vascular dementia, mainly in terms of improving the Simple MMSE scores, the ability to use daily living scale (ADL) scores and the CDR, and the best results were obtained after 12 weeks of intervention. Such conclusion should be cautiously evaluated.

Efficacy and Safety of Scalp Acupuncture for Insomnia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of scalp acupuncture in the treatment of insomnia. METHODS: CNKI, Wanfang database, CQVIP database, CBM, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and PubMed were searched for the literature on the treatment of insomnia by scalp acupuncture from the establishment of the database to July 23, 2020. Two researchers independently screened the literatures and extracted the data, then evaluated the quality of the literatures, and used RevMan 5.3 software for statistical analysis. RESULTS: A total of 21 studies including 1606 cases were included. 21 studies were included in the analysis of effective rate. The heterogeneity test showed that there was no significant heterogeneity. The fixed effect model was used, P < 0.00001. The effective rate of scalp acupuncture in the treatment of insomnia was significantly higher than that of the control group. The analysis of PSQI score was finally included in 19 studies. The heterogeneity test showed that there was obvious heterogeneity. The random effect model was used, and the subgroup analysis was conducted according to the different intervention measures of the control group. The P values of the drug group and the blank group were both less than 0.05, indicating that the improvement of PSQI score in the scalp acupuncture treatment of insomnia was significantly better than that in the drug group and the blank group; P = 0.05 in other acupuncture groups, suggesting in scalp acupuncture treatment, there was no difference between insomnia and other acupuncture in improving the PSQI score. Six studies were included in the analysis of adverse events. The heterogeneity test showed no significant heterogeneity. The fixed effect model was used, P = 0.04 < 0.05, indicating that the adverse events of scalp acupuncture in the treatment of insomnia were better than those of the control group. No publication bias analysis was conducted due to the small number of adverse events included. Publication bias was analyzed for effective rate and PSQI score. Egger's TSTs test (effective rate P = 0.001, PSQI score P = 0.001) and funnel plot showed publication bias. CONCLUSION: Scalp acupuncture is effective and safe in the treatment of insomnia, which is worthy of clinical application. However, due to the limited number of included literature, the methodology of some studies is slightly low and the quality of literature is slightly poor. In the future, we need to design rigorous, large sample, multiple center randomized controlled study to further verify the conclusion of this study.

Suan-Zao-Ren Decoction ameliorates synaptic plasticity through inhibition of the Aß deposition and JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway in AD model of APP/PS1 transgenic mice.

BACKGROUND: Suan-Zao-Ren Decoction (SZRD) has been widely used to treat neurological illnesses, including dementia, insomnia and depression. However, the mechanisms underlying SZRD's improvement in cognitive function remain unclear. In this study, we examined SZRD's effect on APP/PS1 transgenic mice and mechanisms associated with SZRD's action in alleviating neuroinflammation and improving synaptic plasticity. METHODS: The APP/PS1 mice were treated with different dosages of SZRD (12.96 and 25.92 g/kg/day, in L-SZRD and H-SZRD groups, respectively) for 4 weeks. Morris water maze was conducted to determine changes in behaviors of the mice after the treatment. Meanwhile, in the samples of the hippocampus, Nissl staining and Golgi-Cox staining were used to detect synaptic plasticity. ELISA was applied to assess the expression levels of Aß1-40 and Aß1-42 in the hippocampus of mice. Western blot (WB) was employed to test the protein expression level of Aß1-42, APP, ADAM10, BACE1, PS1, IDE, IBA1, GFAP, PSD95 and SYN, as well as the expressions of JAK2, STAT3 and their phosphorylation patterns to detect the involvement of JAK2/STAT3 pathway. Besides, we examined the serum and hippocampal contents of IL-1ß, IL-6 and TNF-α through ELISA. RESULTS: Compared to the APP/PS1 mice without any treatment, SZRD, especially the L-SZRD, significantly ameliorated cognitive impairment of the APP/PS1 mice with decreases in the loss of neurons and Aß plaque deposition as well as improvement of synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus (P < 0.05 or 0.01). Also, SZRD, in particular, the L-SZRD markedly inhibited the serum and hippocampal concentrations of IL-6, IL-1ß and TNF-α, while reducing the expression of p-JAK2-Tyr1007 and p-STAT3-Tyr705 in the hippocampus of the APP/PS1 mice (P < 0.05 or 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The SZRD, especially the L-SZRD, may improve the cognitive impairment and ameliorate the neural degeneration in APP/PS1 transgenic mice through inhibiting Aß accumulation and neuroinflammation via the JAK2/STAT3 pathway.

Network Pharmacology Deciphering Mechanisms of Volatiles of Wendan Granule for the Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanisms of the volatiles of Wendan granule (WDG) for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, network pharmacology method integrating absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) screening, target fishing, network constructing, pathway analysing, and correlated diseases prediction was applied. METHODS: Twelve small molecular compounds of WDG were selected as the objects from 74 volatiles with the relative abundances above 2 %, and their ADME parameters were collected from Traditional Chinese Medicine Systems Pharmacology platform (TCMSP), and the corresponding targets, genes, pathways, and diseases were predicted according to the data provided by TCMSP, DrugBank, Uniport, and the Database for Annotation, Visualization, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID). Then the related pathways and correlation analysis were explored by the Kyoto Encyclopedia and Genomes (KEGG) database. Finally, the networks of compound target, target pathway, and pathway disease of WDG were constructed by Cytoscape software. RESULTS: Twelve compounds interacted with 49 targets, of which top three targets were gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor subunit alpha-1 (GABRA1), prostaglandin G/H synthase 2 (PGHS-2), and sodium-dependent noradrenaline transporter. Interestingly, these targets were highly associated with depression, insomnia, and Alzheimer's disease that mainly corresponded to mental and emotional illnesses. CONCLUSION: The integrated network pharmacology method provides precise probe to illuminate the molecular mechanisms of the main volatiles of WDG for relieving senile dementia related syndromes, which will also facilitate the application of traditional Chinese medicine as an alternative or supplementary to conventional treatments of AD, as well as follow-up studies such as upgrading the quality standard of clinically applied herbal medicine and novel drug development.

Association between Recreational Physical Activity and the Risk of Upper Urinary Calculi.

OBJECTIVE: Upper urinary calculi (UUC) is considered to be a comprehensive disease associated with many risk factors, but the role of physical activity (PA) is undefined. Here, we conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate this relationship in Asian populations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients diagnosed with UUC were the subjects of study and those who participated in a health examination in local medical center were included as controls. Information was collected through the same standard questionnaire. A metabolic equivalent score (METs) was measured for each kind of activity. OR of UUC in categories of PA were determined by logistic regression. RESULTS: A total of 1,782 controls and 1,517 cases were enrolled. People who took higher PA (5-9.9, 10-19.9, 20-29.9 and >30 METs/wk) weekly were associated with lower risks of UUC than those took lower PA (<4.9 METs/wk) after adjusting for age, ethnicity, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, water intake, history of gout, history of diabetes mellitus, history of supplemental calcium use and history of hypertension (adjusted OR 0.11, 0.32, 0.24, 0.34; 95% CI 0.08-0.15, 0.23-0.43, 0.15-0.40, 0.22-0.53, respectively; p value <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In our cross-sectional study, PA was associated with UUC.

Inhibition of autophagy enhances the radiosensitivity of nasopharyngeal carcinoma by reducing Rad51 expression.

Radiotherapy has long been considered as the mainstay of treatment for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, locoregional recurrence or distant metastasis may occur in some patients due to the radiation resistance of cancer cells. Autophagy plays a vital role in protecting cells against radiation. However, the mechanism of autophagy in radiation therapy remains obscure. In the present study, we demonstrated that suppression of autophagy related 5 (Atg5) aggravated ionizing radiation (IR)-induced DNA damage and apoptosis in human NPC cells without accelerating the cell cycle, whereas regulation of the cell cycle has been widely regarded as the most important determinant of IR sensitivity. Further study showed that inhibition of autophagy suppressed the mRNA expression of Rad51, a key protein of homologous recombination that has been demonstrated to play a critical role in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks induced by radiation. Moreover, suppression of Atg5 had no impact on the radiosensitivity when cells were pre-treated by the Rad51 inhibitor, and the enhanced radiosensitivity by Atg5 suppression was reversed by overexpression of Rad51 in human NPC cells. Our results suggest that inhibition of autophagy enhances the susceptibility of NPC cells to radiation by reducing Rad51 expression. Therefore, Rad51 targeted therapy may be investigated as a potential novel agent for the adjuvant treatment of traditional radiation of NPC.

[Body mass index correlates with the level of serum prostate-specific antigen in men in Fangcheng area of Guangxi].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the influence of body mass index (BMI) on the serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level in males in the Fangcheng area of Guangxi. METHODS: We reviewed the health examination data of males collected from September 2009 to December 2011, including their height, weight, BMI, and serum PSA level. The subjects were categorized as underweight (BMI <18.5 kg/m2), normal (BMI 18.5-22.9 kg/m2), overweight (BMI 23.0-27.4 kg/m2), and obese (BMI > or = 27.5 kg/m2), and divided into four age groups: 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, and > or = 50 years old. The PSA levels were stratified by the BMI category for statistical analysis. RESULTS: A total of 2,397 men were included in this study, with a mean age of (37.4 +/- 11.0) yr, BMI of (23.3 +/- 3.4) kg/m2, and PSA level of (0.98 +/- 0.93) microg/L. There were significant differences in the age-associated PSA levels in the groups with BMI < 23 (0.81 microg/L) and > or = 23 kg/m2 (0.78 microg/L) (P < 0.05), as well as in those with BMI < 27.5 (0.81 microg/L) and > or = 27. 5 kg/m2 (0.70 microg/L) (P < 0.05). In the 30-39 and 40-49 age groups, the PSA levels were significantly decreased with the increase of BMI (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Increased BMI is associated with decreased PSA in men <50 years old in the Fangcheng area of Guangxi, which should be taken into consideration while determining whether to carry out prostate biopsy as part of early prostate cancer detection in young men with marginal PSA levels.

Relationship between serum osteocalcin levels and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in adult males, South China.

AIM: To determine serum osteocalcin levels in South Chinese males with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and to examine the relation between serum osteocalcin and NAFLD. METHODS: Data were collected from 1683 men attending the Fangchenggang Area Male Healthy and Examination Survey (FAMHES) from September 2009 to December 2009. Serum osteocalcin was measured with electrochemiluminescence immunoassay. An abdominal ultrasonographic examination for all individuals was performed by two experienced ultrasonographers. The associations of serum osteocalcin with NAFLD were evaluated. RESULTS: The levels of serum osteocalcin were lower in 364 NAFLD participants than in 1319 non-NAFLD participants (24.51 ± 1.38 ng/mL vs. 20.81 ± 1.33 ng/mL, p < 0.001). Serum osteocalin level was associated with the scale of NAFLD (r = -0.150, p < 0.01). Serum osteocalin level tended to decrease with the scale of NAFLD. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that decreased ORs for NAFLD were observed from the first to the fourth osteocalcin quartiles. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that a lower serum osteocalcin level is associated with the presence of NAFLD.

Induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy versus concurrent chemoradiotherapy with or without adjuvant chemotherapy for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma: meta-analysis of 1,096 patients from 11 randomized controlled trials.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (the treatment group) versus concurrent chemoradiotherapy with or without adjuvant chemotherapy (the control group) for locoregionally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma. METHODS: The search strategy included Pubmed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Internet Web, Chinese Biomedical Database and Wanfang Database. We also searched reference lists of articles and the volumes of abstracts of scientific meetings. All randomized controlled trials were included for a meta-analysis performed with RevMan 5.1.0. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system (GRADE) was used to rate the level of evidence. RESULTS: Eleven studies were included. Risk ratios of 0.99 (95%CI 0.72-1.36), 0.37 (95%CI 0.20-0.69), 1.08 (95%CI 0.84-1.38), 0.98 (95%CI 0.75-1.27) were observed for 3 years overall survival, 3 years progression-free survival, 2 years loco-regional failure-free survival and 2 years distant metastasis failure-free survival. There were no treatment-related deaths in either group in the 11 studies. Risk ratios of 1.90 (95%CI 1.24-2.92), 2.67 (95%CI 0.64-11.1), 1.04 (95%CI 0.79-1.37), 0.98 (95%CI 0.27-3.52) were found for grade 3-4 leukopenia, grade 3-4 thrombocytopenia, grade 3-4 mucous membrane, and grade 3-4 hepatic hematologic and gastrointestinal toxicity, the most significant toxicities for patients. CONCLUSION: Compared with the control group, induction chemotherapy followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy was well tolerated but could not significantly improve prognosis in terms of overall survival, loco-regional failure-free survival or distant metastasis failure-free survival.