[Electroacupuncture Reduces Body Fat by Down-regulating IL-6 and Vimentin in Abdominal White Adipose Tissue of Diet-induced Obesity Rats].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on IL-6 and vimentin protein expression in white adipose tissue (WAT) of diet-induced obesity (DIO) rats, so as to reveal its mechanism underlying losing weight. METHODS: Thirty-four Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal (control, n＝10), model, sham-EA and EA groups (n＝8 in each of the latter 3 groups). The obesity model was established by feeding the rats with high fat diet. EA (2 Hz/15 Hz, 1 mA) was applied to bilate-ral "Zusanli "(ST 36) and "Tianshu "(ST 25) for 30 min, 5 times per week for a total of 8 weeks. For sham-EA group, two sham points (about 5 mm lateral to ST 36 and to ST 25) were only punctured with filiform needles but without electrical stimulation. Du-ring EA treatment, all rats were fed with normal fodder, and their body weight were measured once a week. Histopathologic changes (diameters of adipose cells) of abdominal WAT were observed under microscope after sectioning and H．E. staining, and the expression levels of IL-6 and vimentin in the WAT were detected by Western blot. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the body weight, diameter of fat cells and the expression levels of IL-6 and vimentin in the WAT were significantly increased in the model group (P<0.05). Following EA, the body weight, diameter of fat cells and the expression levels of IL-6 and vimentin proteins were considerably down-regulated in the EA group (P<0.05), rather than in the sham-EA group relevant to the model group (P>0.05)．. CONCLUSION: EA intervention can effectively down-regulate the expression of IL-6 and vimentin in WAT of DIO rats, which may contribute to its action in reducing body fat by relieving chronic inflammation.

[Effect of Electroacupuncture at "Zusanli" (ST 36) on Vimentin (A Kind of Cytoskeleton Protein Related to Smooth Muscle Contraction) in Rats with Diarrhea-predominant Irritable Bowel Syndrome].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at "Zusanli" (ST 36) on cytoskeleton protein-Vimentin (related to smooth muscle contraction) in rats with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D). METHODS: Sixty female Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into normal, model, EA and pinaverium bromide (PB) groups (n=15/group). The IBS-D model was established by the method of high lactose feeding and chronic unpredictable mild stress. The changes of body weight, gastric emptying and small intestine propulsion rates were observed. The morphological changes of colon were observed by HE staining. And Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of Vimentin protein in colon. RESULTS: The body weight, small intestine propulsion rate and expression of Vimentin protein of the model group were significantly higher than those of the normal group (all P<0.05), while the gastric emptying rate decreased (P<0.05). After treatment, the body weight and small intestine propulsion rate of the EA group and PB group decreased compared with those of the model group (all P<0.05). The gastric emptying rate was higher and the expression of Vimentin protein was lower in the EA group than those in the model group (both P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: EA at ST 36 can down-regulate the expression of Vimentin protein in colon, thus improving the gastrointestinal motility and regulating the contraction of smooth muscle cells of IBS rats.

Anterior transversalis fascia approach versus preperitoneal space approach for inguinal hernia repair in residents in northern China: study protocol for a prospective, multicentre, randomised, controlled trial.

INTRODUCTION: Many surgical techniques have been used to repair abdominal wall defects in the inguinal region based on the anatomic characteristics of this region and can be categorised as 'tension' repair or 'tension-free' repair. Tension-free repair is the preferred technique for inguinal hernia repair. Tension-free repair of inguinal hernia can be performed through either the anterior transversalis fascia approach or the preperitoneal space approach. There are few large sample, randomised controlled trials investigating the curative effects of the anterior transversalis fascia approach versus the preperitoneal space approach for inguinal hernia repair in patients in northern China. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This will be a prospective, large sample, multicentre, randomised, controlled trial. Registration date is 1 December 2016. Actual study start date is 6 February 2017. Estimated study completion date is June 2020. A cohort of over 720 patients with inguinal hernias will be recruited from nine institutions in Liaoning Province, China. Patient randomisation will be stratified by centre to undergo inguinal hernia repair via the anterior transversalis fascia approach or the preperitoneal approach. Primary and secondary outcome assessments will be performed at baseline (prior to surgery), predischarge and at postoperative 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 1 year and 2 years. The primary outcome is the incidence of postoperative chronic inguinal pain. The secondary outcome is postoperative complications (including rates of wound infection, haematoma, seroma and hernia recurrence). ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This trial will be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and supervised by the institutional review board of the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University (approval number 2015-027). All patients will receive information about the trial in verbal and written forms and will give informed consent before enrolment. The results will be published in peer-reviewed journals or disseminated through conference presentations. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02984917; preresults.

Role of RASSF1A promoter methylation in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis of 21 cohort studies.

We carried out the current meta-analysis aiming to comprehensively assess the potential role of RASSF1A aberrant promoter methylation in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A range of electronic databases were searched: Web of Science (1945-2013), the Cochrane Library Database (Issue 12, 2013), PubMed (1966-2013), EMBASE (1980-2013), CINAHL (1982-2013) and the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) (1982-2013) without language restrictions. Meta-analysis was conducted using the STATA 12.0 software. Crude risk difference (RD) with their 95% confidence interval (95% CI) was calculated. In the present meta-analysis, 21 clinical cohort studies with a total of 1,205 HCC patients were included. The results of our meta-analysis illustrated that the frequency of RASSF1A promoter methylation in cancer tissues were significantly higher than those of normal, adjacent and benign tissues (cancer tissues vs. normal tissues: RD = 0.63, 95% CI 0.53-0.73, P < 0.001; cancer tissues vs. adjacent tissues: RD = 0.43, 95% CI 0.33-0.53, P < 0.001; cancer tissues vs. benign tissues: RD = 0.48, 95% CI 038-0.58, P < 0.001; respectively). Further subgroup by ethnicity demonstrated that RASSF1A aberrant promoter methylation was correlated with the pathogenesis of HCC among both Asians and Caucasians (all P < 0.05). The current meta-analysis suggests that RASSF1A aberrant promoter methylation may be implicated in the pathogenesis of HCC. Thus, detection of RASSF1A promoter methylation may be a helpful and valuable biomarker for diagnosis and prognosis of HCC.