Acupuncture for Essential Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Sham-Controlled Clinical Trials

Background. Acupuncture is frequently advocated as an adjunct treatment for essential hypertension. The aim of this review was to assess its adjunct effectiveness in treating hypertension. Methods. We searched PubMed, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and the Chinese databases Sino-Med, CNKI, WanFang, and VIP through November, 2012, for eligible randomized controlled trials that compared acupuncture with sham acupuncture. Outcome measures were changes in diastolic (DBP) and systolic blood pressure (SBP). Results. A total of 4 randomized controlled trials were included. We found no evidence of an improvement with the fact that acupuncture relative to sham acupuncture in SBP change (n=386; mean difference = −3.80 mmHg, 95% CI = −10.03–2.44 mmHg; I2=99%), and an insignificant improvement in DBP change (n=386; mean difference = −2.82 mmHg, 95% CI = −5.22–(−0.43) mmHg; I2=97%). In subgroup analyses, acupuncture significantly improved both SBP and DBP in patients taking antihypertensive medications. Only minor acupuncture-related adverse events were reported. Conclusions. Our results are consistent with acupuncture significantly lowers blood pressure in patients taking antihypertensive medications. We did not find that acupuncture without antihypertensive medications significantly improves blood pressure in those hypertensive patients

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Effects of music therapy on anxiety of patients with breast cancer after radical mastectomy: a randomized clinical trial.

AIM:   This paper is a report of a clinical trial of the effects of music therapy on anxiety of female breast cancer patients following radical mastectomy. BACKGROUND:   There is insufficient evidence on the effects of music therapy on state anxiety of breast cancer patients following radical mastectomy. METHODS:   A Hall's Core, Care, and Cure Model-based clinical trial was conducted in 120 female breast cancer patients from March to November 2009. A randomized controlled design was utilized. The patients were randomly allocated to the experimental group (n = 60) received music therapy in addition to routine nursing care, and the control group (n = 60) only received routine nursing care. A standardized questionnaire and the State Anxiety Inventory were applied. The primary endpoint was the state anxiety score measured at pretest (on the day before radical mastectomy) and at three post-tests (on the day before patients were discharged from hospital, the second and third time of admission to hospital for chemotherapy respectively). RESULTS:   The pretest score revealed that the majority of the patients had a moderate level (77·5%) and 15% had severe level of state anxiety. The repeated-measure ancova model analysis indicated that the mean state anxiety score was significantly lower in the experimental group than those in the control group at each of the three post-test measurements. The mean difference between the experimental and control group together with 95% confidence intervals were -4·57 (-6·33, -2·82), -8·91 (-10·75, -7·08) and -9·69 (-11·52, -7·85) at the 1st post-test, 2nd post-test and 3rd post-test respectively. CONCLUSION:   Music therapy is found to have positive effects on decreasing state anxiety score

Effects of music therapy on pain among female breast cancer patients after radical mastectomy: results from a randomized controlled trial.

Music therapy has been used in multiple health care settings to reduce patient pain, anxiety, and stress. However, few available studies have investigated its effect on pain among breast cancer patients after radical mastectomy. The aim of this study was to explore the effects of music therapy on pain reduction in patients with breast cancer after radical mastectomy. This randomized controlled trial was conducted at the Surgical Department of Oncology Center, First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University from March to November 2009. A total of 120 breast cancer patients who received Personal Controlled Analgesia (PCA) following surgery (mastectomy) were randomly allocated to two groups, an intervention group and a control group (60 patients in each group). The intervention group accepted music therapy from the first day after radical mastectomy to the third admission to hospital for chemotherapy in addition to the routine nursing care, while the control group received only routine nursing care. Pain scores were measured at baseline and three post-tests using the General Questionnaire and Chinese version of Short-Form of McGill Pain Questionnaire. The primary endpoint was the change in the Pain Rating Index (PRI-total) score from baseline. Music therapy was found to reduce the PRI-total score in the intervention group significantly compared with the control group with a mean difference (95% CI) of -2.38 (-2.80, -1.95), -2.41 (-2.85, -1.96), and -1.87 (-2.33, -1.42) for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd post-tests, respectively. Similar results were found for Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Present Pain Intensity (PPI) scores. The findings of the study provide some evidence that music therapy has both short- and long-term positive effects on alleviating pain in breast cancer patients following radical mastectomy

Increased NMDARs in neurons and glutamine synthetase in astrocytes underlying autistic-like behaviors of Gabrb1−/− mice

Summary: Mutations of the GABA-A receptor subunit β1 (GABRB1) gene are found in autism patients. However, it remains unclear how mutations in Gabrb1 may lead to autism. We generated Gabrb1−/− mouse model, which showed autistic-like behaviors. We carried out RNA-seq on the hippocampus and found glutamatergic pathway may be involved. We further carried out single-cell RNA sequencing on the whole brain followed by qRT-PCR, immunofluorescence, electrophysiology, and metabolite detection on specific cell types. We identified the up-regulated Glul/Slc38a3 in astrocytes, Grin1/Grin2b in neurons, glutamate, and the ratio of Glu/GABA in the hippocampus. Consistent with these results, increased NMDAR-currents and reduced GABAAR-currents in the CA1 neurons were detected in Gabrb1−/− mice. NMDAR antagonist memantine or Glul inhibitor methionine sulfoximine could rescue the abnormal behaviors in Gabrb1−/− mice. Our data reveal that upregulation of the glutamatergic synapse pathway, including NMDARs at neuronal synapses and glutamine exported by astrocytes, may lead to autistic-like behaviors

Zoledronate suppressed angiogenesis and osteogenesis by inhibiting osteoclasts formation and secretion of PDGF-BB

<div><p>Purpose</p><p>Bisphosphonates related osteonecrosis of jaw (BRONJ) is a severe complication of systemic BPs administration, the mechanism of which is still unclarified. Recently, platelet-derived growth factor-BB (PDGF-BB) secreted by preosteoclasts was reported to promote angiogenesis and osteogenesis. This study aimed to clarify whether bisphosphonates suppressed preosteoclasts releasing PDGF-BB, and whether the suppression harmed coupling of angiogenesis and osteogenesis, which could contribute to BRONJ manifestation.</p><p>Methods and results</p><p>Zoledronate significantly inhibited osteoclast formation by tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP) staining and PDGF-BB secretion tested by ELISA. In line with decreasing secretion of PDGF-BB by preosteoclasts exposed to zoledronate, conditioned medium (CM) from the cells significantly induced less migration of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) compared to CM from unexposed preosteoclasts. Meanwhile, angiogenic function of EPCs and osteoblastic differentiation of MSCs also declined when culturing with CM from preosteoclasts treated by zoledronate (PZ-CM), evidenced by tube formation assay of EPCs and alkaline phosphatase activity of MSCs. Western blot assay showed that the expression of VEGF in EPCs and OCN, RUNX2 in MSCs declined when culturing with PZ-CM compared to CM from preostoeclasts without exposure of zoledronate.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>Our study found that zoledronate was able to suppress preosteoclasts releasing PDGF-BB, resulting in suppression of angiogenesis and osteogenesis. Our study may partly contributed to the mechanism of BRONJ.</p></div

Folic Acid Supplementation in Chinese Peri-conceptional Population: Results from the SPCC Study

Objective To determine the prevalence and determinants of folic acid (FA) supplementation in Chinese couples planning for pregnancy and in women during early pregnancy. Methods This was a cross-sectional study based on the Shanghai PreConception Cohort (SPCC) study. Data on FA supplementation and socio-demographic features were collected using questionnaires. Couples visiting clinics for pre-pregnancy examination and pregnant women at < 14 gestational weeks were recruited in Shanghai, China, between March 2016 and September 2018. Results Among the pregnancy planners, 42.4% (4710/11,099) women and 17.1% (1377/8045) men used FA supplements, while 93.4% (14,585/15,615) of the pregnant women used FA supplements. FA supplement use was higher in female pregnancy planners who were older (RR:1.13, 95%CI:1.08–1.18), had higher education (RR:1.71, 95%CI:1.53–1.92), and were residing in urban districts (RR:1.06, 95%CI:1.01–1.11) of FA supplementation; female pregnancy planners with alcohol consumption (RR:0.95, 95%CI:0.90–0.99) had lower odds of FA supplementation. In early pregnancy, women with higher educational level (RR:1.04, 95%CI:1.03–1.06), who underwent pre-pregnancy examination (RR:1.02, 95%CI:1.01–1.03) had higher odds of using an FA supplement; older aged (RR:0.99, 95% CI:0.98–0.99), and multigravida (RR:0.97, 95% CI:0.96–0.98) had lower odds of FA supplementatio

Zoledronate affected osteoclast formation and secretion of PDGF-BB.

<p>(a-c) Zoledronate affected viability of OPCs, MSCs and EPCs for 24, 48, 72 h. After a 48 h incubation, Zoledronate significantly inhibited the activity of OPCs at 0.1 μM (a) and showed obvious toxicity to EPCs and MSCs at 10 μM (b,c). (d) TRAP staining and DAPI counterstaining were made to show that zoledronate affected osteoclast formation. (e) Infusion index showed that zoledronate began to inhibit osteoclast formation obviously at 0.5 μM. (f) PDGF-BB secretion by ELISA also significantly decreased when treated by zoledronate at 0.5 μM for 48 h.</p

Identification of osteoclasts and secretion of PDGF-BB.

<p>(a) Flow cytometric analysis showed that adherent cells showed strong positive expression of F4/80. (b-d) TRAP staining during osteoclast formation. (b) Macrophages showed negative for TRAP staining. (c) After osteoclast differentiation for 72 h, almost all of cells became preosteoclasts (green arrows) and the others infused into multinucleated but not mature enough osteoclasts (yellow arrow). (d) Mature multinucleated cells were infused on the 5^th day. (e) Secretion of PDGF-BB by ELISA increased substantially and peaked during 72–96 h, along with the formation of preosteoclasts.</p