[Clinical observation of mild to moderate lumbodorsal fascitis treated with distal acupoints along meridian plus exercising combined with penetration needling on yang meridians of back].

OBJECTIVE: To compare the therapeutic effect between distal acupoints along meridian plus exercising combined with penetration needling on yang meridians of back and simple penetration needling on yang meridians of back for mild to moderate lumbodorsal fascitis. METHODS: A total of 60 patients with mild to moderate lumbodorsal fascitis were randomized into an observation group and a control group, 30 cases in each one. In the control group, penetration needling on yang meridians of back was applied at acupoints of the Governor vessel (T2-L5) and the first line of bladder meridian, penetration needling was performed from the top down along the governor vessel and the first line of bladder meridian of the lumbar back pain (from one acupoint down to another acupoint), until there was no pain. In the observation group, distal acupoints along meridian plus exercising were adopted on the base of treatment in the control group. The distal acupoints along meridian plus exercising was applied at Cuanzhu (BL 2) for 30 min, at the same time, lumbar back anteflexion, hypsokinesis and turning sides were used in combination for 10 min. And then penetration needling on yang meridians of back was performed. The treatments were given once a day, 5 consecutive treatments a week, 1 week as a course and 2 courses were required. The visual analogue scale (VAS) score and Oswestry disability index (ODI) before treatment, after treatment and 1-month in follow-up were observed in the two groups, and the clinical effects were compared. RESULTS: Compared before treatment, the VAS score and ODI were reduced after treatment in the two groups (P<0.01). The changes of the VAS score and ODI in the observation group were larger than those in the control group (P<0.01, P<0.05). In follow-up, the VAS score and ODI in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate in the observation group was 90.0% (27/30), which was superior to 83.3% (25/30) in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Distal acupoints along meridian plus exercising combined with penetration needling on yang meridians of back have a better therapeutic effect than simple penetration needling on yang meridians of back in the treatment of mild to moderate lumbodorsal fascitis.

Quantitative Serum Proteomic Analysis of Essential Hypertension Using iTRAQ Technique.

Essential hypertension (EH) is a risk factor for some severe diseases. This study aimed to screen out serum special proteins and seek interaction between them, which would provide new therapeutic targets and elucidate the comprehensive pathophysiological mechanism for EH. Patients with EH (Group A, n = 47) and healthy controls (HC) (Group B, n = 47) were recruited in this study. Serums from the two groups were analyzed with isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation coupled two-dimensional liquid chromatography followed by electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry technique, while the candidate special proteins were verified with ELISA and western blot. A total of 404 proteins were identified, of which 30 proteins were upregulated (>1.2-fold, p < 0.05) and 81 proteins were downregulated (<0.833-fold, p < 0.05) compared with HC group. With GO, KEGG analysis, and literature retrieval, 4 proteins, cathepsin G, transforming growth factor beta-1, hyaluronidase-1, and kininogen-1, were found jointly involved in the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system and kallikrein-kinin system. The profiles of these 4 candidate proteins were confirmed with ELISA and western blot. The concentration variation of these 4 proteins could better predict the occurrence and illustrate the pathophysiological mechanism of EH. And their discovery may help pave the way for exploring new therapies of EH.