Urolithin A Prevents Sleep-deprivation-induced Neuroinflammation and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Young and Aged Mice.

Sleep deprivation (SD) has reached epidemic proportions worldwide and negatively affects people of all ages. Cognitive impairment induced by SD involves neuroinflammation and mitochondrial dysfunction, but the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. Urolithin A (UA) is a natural compound that can reduce neuroinflammation and improve mitochondrial health, but its therapeutic effects in a SD model have not yet been studied. Young (3-months old) and aged (12-months old) mice were sleep deprived for 24 h, and UA (2.5 mg/kg or 10 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally for 7 consecutive days before the SD period. Immunofluorescent staining, western blotting, and RT-PCR were employed to evaluate levels of proteins involved in neuroinflammation and mitochondrial function. Transmission electron microscope and Golgi-Cox staining were used to evaluate mitochondrial and neuronal morphology, respectively. Finally, contextual fear conditioning and the Morris water maze test were conducted to assess hippocampal learning and memory. In the hippocampus of young (3 months-old) and aged (12 months-old) mice subjected to 24 h SD, pretreatment with UA prevented the activation of microglia and astrocytes, NF-κB-NLRP3 signaling and IL-1ß, IL6, TNF-α cytokine production, thus ameliorating neuroinflammation. Furthermore, UA also attenuated SD-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, normalized autophagy and mitophagy and protected hippocampal neuronal morphology. Finally, UA prevented SD-induced hippocampal memory impairment. Cumulatively, the results show that UA imparts cognitive protection by reducing neuroinflammation and enhancing mitochondrial function in SD mice. This suggests that UA shows promise as a therapeutic for the treatment of SD-induced neurological disorders.

[Moxibustion therapy is superior to manual acupuncture in the treatment of perimenopausal insomnia: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical effect of manual acupuncture and moxibustion therapies in the treatment of perimenopausal insomnia (PMI). METHODS: A total of 60 outpatients with PMI were randomly and equally divided into an acupuncture group (29 cases) and a moxibustion group (28 cases). Acupoints Zhongwan (CV12), Xiawan (CV10), Qihai (CV6) and Guanyuan (CV4) were employed in these two groups. For acupuncture group, filiform needles were inserted slowly into these acupoints and twirled mildly for a while, and then retained for 30 min. When moxibustion performed, the ignited moxa-cone was applied to the same 4 acupoints, with 7 cones for each acupoint. The treatment was conducted once daily for 10 consecutive days, suspended for 2 days, then another 10 days' treatment followed. The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scale (7 items: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, duration of sleep, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbance, use of sleeping medications, and daytime dysfunction, 0－3 points per item, 0－21 points in total) was used to evaluate the patient's sleep quality. The clinical therapeutic effect was also assessed according to the sleep rate (＝sleep duration/total duration from spin-in to wake-up×100%). The contents of serum follicular stimulating hormone (FSH), estradiol (E2) and luteinizing hormone (LH) were detected using radioimmunoassay. RESULTS: After treatment, the total score of PSQI and the score of each item were all significantly reduced in the two groups relevant to their own pre-treatment (P<0.01). The scores of sleep latency, sleep disturbance and daytime dysfunction were comparable between the two groups (P>0.05), but the total score, and scores of sleep quality, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, and use of sleeping medication were significantly lower in the moxibustion group than in the acupuncture group (P<0.05). Of the 29 and 28 cases in the acupuncture and moxibustion groups, 6 (20.69%) and 11 (39.29%) were cured, 7 (24.14%) and 9 (32.14%) experienced marked improvement, 9(31.03%) and 5 (17.86%) were effective, and 7(24.14%) and 3 (10.71%) ineffective, with the total effective rate being 75.86% and 89.29%, respectively. The therapeutic effect of moxibustion was obviously superior to that of acupuncture treatment (P<0.05). After the treatment, the levels of serum FSH and LH were significantly decreased (P<0.01), and that of E2 was significantly increased in both groups (P<0.01). The levels of FSH and E2 in the moxibustion group were obviously improved than those of the acupuncture group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Both acupuncture and moxibustion can relieve the sleep quality of patients with PMI, which may be associated with their effect in regulating serum hormone levels. The therapeutic effect of moxibustion is superior to that of acupuncture.

The history, hotspots, and trends of electrocardiogram.

The electrocardiogram (ECG) has broad applications in clinical diagnosis and prognosis of cardiovascular disease. Many researchers have contributed to its progressive development. To commemorate those pioneers, and to better study and promote the use of ECG, we reviewed and present here a systematic introduction about the history, hotspots, and trends of ECG. In the historical part, information including the invention, improvement, and extensive applications of ECG, such as in long QT syndrome (LQTS), angina, and myocardial infarction (MI), are chronologically presented. New technologies and applications from the 1990s are also introduced. In the second part, we use the bibliometric analysis method to analyze the hotspots in the field of ECG-related research. By using total citations and year-specific total citations as our main criteria, four key hotspots in ECG-related research were identified from 11 articles, including atrial fibrillation, LQTS, angina and MI, and heart rate variability. Recent studies in those four areas are also reported. In the final part, we discuss the future trends concerning ECG-related research. The authors believe that improvement of the ECG instrumentation, big data mining for ECG, and the accuracy of diagnosis and application will be areas of continuous concern.