Effectiveness of trigger point dry needling for plantar heel pain: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Plantar heel pain (plantar fasciitis) is a common and disabling condition, which has a detrimental impact on health-related quality of life. Despite the high prevalence of plantar heel pain, the optimal treatment for this disorder remains unclear. Consequently, an alternative therapy such as dry needling is increasingly being used as an adjunctive treatment by health practitioners. Only two trials have investigated the effectiveness of dry needling for plantar heel pain, however both trials were of a low methodological quality. This manuscript describes the design of a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of dry needling for plantar heel pain.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Eighty community-dwelling men and woman aged over 18 years with plantar heel pain (who satisfy the inclusion and exclusion criteria) will be recruited. Eligible participants with plantar heel pain will be randomised to receive either one of two interventions, (i) real dry needling or (ii) sham dry needling. The protocol (including needling details and treatment regimen) was formulated by general consensus (using the Delphi research method) using 30 experts worldwide that commonly use dry needling for plantar heel pain. Primary outcome measures will be the pain subscale of the Foot Health Status Questionnaire and "first step" pain as measured on a visual analogue scale. The secondary outcome measures will be health related quality of life (assessed using the Short Form-36 questionnaire - Version Two) and depression, anxiety and stress (assessed using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - short version). Primary outcome measures will be performed at baseline, 2, 4, 6 and 12 weeks and secondary outcome measures will be performed at baseline, 6 and 12 weeks. Data will be analysed using the intention to treat principle.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study is the first randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of dry needling for plantar heel pain. The trial will be reported in accordance with the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials and the Standards for Reporting Interventions in Clinical Trials of Acupuncture guidelines. The findings from this trial will provide evidence for the effectiveness of trigger point dry needling for plantar heel pain.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Australian New Zealand 'Clinical Trials Registry'. <a href="http://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12610000611022.aspx">ACTRN12610000611022</a>.</p

Membrane lipid composition differentially modulates the function of human plasma platelet activating factor-acetylhydrolase

Human plasma platelet activating factor-acetylhydrolase (HpPAF-AH) is a calcium-independent phospholipase that catalyzes the hydrolysis of ester bond at the sn-2 position of phospholipid substrates. The enzyme belongs to group VIIA of the phospholipase A 2 superfamily and is associated with the lipids. Circulating form of HpPAF-AH resides on the lipoprotein particles and acts on a wide variety of substrates, including oxidized phospholipids. In this study we have characterized the effect of lipid composition of the membrane vesicles on the function of purified HpPAF-AH. Lipid composition of the vesicles was varied by incorporating varying amounts of cholesterol in the matrix phospholipids, POPC and DPPC, and its effect on the membrane binding, membrane penetration and the activity of the enzyme was determined. Physicochemical properties of the phospholipid vesicles were characterized by using different fluorescent probes. For the first time our results show that (a) membrane binding of HpPAF-AH increases the activity of enzyme (interfacial activation) and (b) lipid composition of membrane vesicles, by changing the physicochemical properties, differentially modulates the binding, partial membrane penetration and the activity of the enzyme

Diurnal Variation of Sodium Dayglow at Poona

228-232The detection of sodium dayglow is an extremely difficult instrumental problem as the emission has to be detected in the presence of an overwhelming background which is larger by a factor of 10,000 or more. A Zeeman photometer incorporating the principles of resonance scattering and magnetic scanning was developed for surmounting these difficulties of detection. A total of 68 days of observations was secured using this instrument during the year 1976.A suitable sample of these data is analyzed to indicate the capability of the instrument. Our statistical analysis indicates that the dayglow can be detected by this instrument even under the above-mentioned adverse conditions of signal-to-noise ratio. The diurnal variation of the intensity of sodium dayglow was thereby deduced, which shows a symmetrical pattern around the noon as obtained by earlier investigators. The possible lines of improvements and analysis are indicated and discussed in the light of recent criticism on the method of Zeeman photometry

Closely related oxidized phospholipids differentially modulate the physicochemical properties of lipid particles

Oxidation of glycerophospholipids results in the formation of large variety of oxidized phospholipid products that differs significantly in their chemical compositions and molecular structures. Biological activities of these oxidized products also differ considerably. Here we report the comparisons of the physicochemical properties of non-oxidized phospholipid particle containing two closely related tOx-PLs: 1-palmitoyl-2-(5-keto-6-octendioyl)-sn-glycero-3- phosphocholine (KOdiA-PC) and 1-palmitoyl-2-(9-keto-10-dodecendioyl)-sn-glycero- 3-phosphocholine (KDdiA-PC). DMPC (1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) was used as a model membrane non-oxidized phospholipid. Physicochemical properties of the lipid particles were characterized by using fluorescence spectroscopy, native polyacrylamide gel and agarose gel electrophoresis. Our result shows that the presence of closely related tOx-PLs, which differ only in the chemical composition of the oxidized fatty acyl chains at the sn-2 position, exerts considerably different effect on the physicochemical properties of non-oxidized phospholipid particles containing them

Selective removal of the <i>N-</i>(<i>tert-</i>butoxycarbonyl) protecting group using H-β zeolite

1004-1007A simple and efficient protocol for the selective removal of Boc group from nitrogen atom in conjugation with an aromatic system employing H-β zeolite is described

One-pot three-component Kabachnik-fields synthesis of α-aminophosphonates using H-beta zeolite catalyst

One-pot three-component Kabachnik-Fields synthesis of α-aminophosphonates with high yields from the reaction between carbonyl compound, primary amine, and substituted phosphite can be carried out in a short period, using H-beta zeolite as a reusable catalyst

Microwave assisted solvent-free synthesis of dihydropyrimidinones by Biginelli reaction over Si-MCM-41 supported FeCl<SUB>3</SUB> catalyst

Among the Si-MCM-41 or montmorillonite K 10 clay supported ZnCl2, AlCl3, GaCl3, InCl3 and FeCl3 catalysts, FeCl3/Si-MCM-41 shows best performance for the microwave-assisted synthesis of dihydropyrimidinones by the Biginelli reaction involving multicomponent condensation of aromatic aldehyde, ethyl acetoacetate and urea in the absence of any solvent. It is a promising catalyst for the microwave-assisted reaction providing high product yield in a short period (3.0-5.0 min)