Types of Control in Acupuncture Clinical Trials Might Affect the Conclusion of the Trials: A Review of Acupuncture on Pain Management

Haiyong Chen,Zhipeng Ning,Wing Lok Lam,Wai-Yee Lam,Ying Ke Zhao,Jerry Wing Fai Yeung,Bacon Fung-Leung Ng,Eric Tat-Chi Ziea,Lixing Lao 사단법인약침학회 2016 Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies Vol.9 No.5

Analgesic effects of acupuncture have been extensively studied in various clinical trials. However, the conclusion remains controversial, even among large scale randomized controlled trials. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the conclusion of the trials and the types of control used in those trials via systematic review. Published randomized controlled trials of acupuncture for pain were retrieved from electronic databases (Medline, AMED, Cochrane libraries, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Clinicaltrials.gov, and CAB Abstracts) using a prespecified search strategy. One hundred and thirty-nine studies leading to 166 pairs of acupuncture-control treatment effect comparisons (26 studies comprised of 53 intervention-control pairs) were analyzed based on the proportion of positive conclusions in different control designs. We found that treatment effects of acupuncture compared with nontreatment controls had the highest tendency to yield a positive conclusion (84.3%), compared with nonneedle-insertion controls (53.3%). Whereas with needle-insertion controls, the lowest tendency of positive conclusions was observed (37.8%). Consistently, in studies reporting successful blinding, a higher tendency of positive findings on the treatment effect of acupuncture was found in the noninsertion sham controls compared with that in the insertion sham controls. We conclude that the type of control is likely to affect the conclusion in acupuncture analgesic trials. Appropriate control should be chosen according to the aims of studies. Analgesic effects of acupuncture have been extensively studied in various clinical trials. However, the conclusion remains controversial, even among large scale randomized controlled trials. This study aimed to evaluate the association between the conclusion of the trials and the types of control used in those trials via systematic review. Published randomized controlled trials of acupuncture for pain were retrieved from electronic databases (Medline, AMED, Cochrane libraries, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Clinicaltrials.gov, and CAB Abstracts) using a prespecified search strategy. One hundred and thirty-nine studies leading to 166 pairs of acupuncture-control treatment effect comparisons (26 studies comprised of 53 intervention-control pairs) were analyzed based on the proportion of positive conclusions in different control designs. We found that treatment effects of acupuncture compared with nontreatment controls had the highest tendency to yield a positive conclusion (84.3%), compared with nonneedle-insertion controls (53.3%). Whereas with needle-insertion controls, the lowest tendency of positive conclusions was observed (37.8%). Consistently, in studies reporting successful blinding, a higher tendency of positive findings on the treatment effect of acupuncture was found in the noninsertion sham controls compared with that in the insertion sham controls. We conclude that the type of control is likely to affect the conclusion in acupuncture analgesic trials. Appropriate control should be chosen according to the aims of studies.

Silencing MR-1 attenuates atherosclerosis in ApoE^-/- mice induced by angiotensin II through FAK-Akt -mTOR-NF-kappaB signaling pathway

Chen, Yixi,Cao, Jianping,Zhao, Qihui,Luo, Haiyong,Wang, Yiguang,Dai, Wenjian The Korean Society of Pharmacology 2018 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.22 No.2

Myofibrillogenesis regulator-1 (MR-1) is a novel protein involved in cellular proliferation, migration, inflammatory reaction and signal transduction. However, little information is available on the relationship between MR-1 expression and the progression of atherosclerosis. Here we report atheroprotective effects of silencing MR-1 in a model of Ang II-accelerated atherosclerosis, characterized by suppression focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and nuclear factor kappaB ($NF-{\kappa}B$) signaling pathway, and atherosclerotic lesion macrophage content. In this model, administration of the siRNA-MR-1 substantially attenuated Ang II-accelerated atherosclerosis with stabilization of atherosclerotic plaques and inhibited FAK, Akt, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and NF-kB activation, which was associated with suppression of inflammatory factor and atherogenic gene expression in the artery. In vitro studies demonstrated similar changes in Ang II-treated vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and macrophages: siRNA-MR-1 inhibited the expression levels of proinflammatory factor. These studies uncover crucial proinflammatory mechanisms of Ang II and highlight actions of silencing MR-1 to inhibit Ang II signaling, which is atheroprotective.

Embarrassingly Parallel Acceleration of Global Tractography via Dynamic Domain Partitioning

Wu, Haiyong,Chen, Geng,Jin, Yan,Shen, Dinggang,Yap, Pew-Thian Frontiers Media S.A. 2016 Frontiers in neuroinformatics Vol.10 No.-

<P>Global tractography estimates brain connectivity by organizing signal-generating fiber segments in an optimal configuration that best describes the measured diffusion-weighted data, promising better stability than local greedy methods with respect to imaging noise. However, global tractography is computationally very demanding and requires computation times that are often prohibitive for clinical applications. We present here a reformulation of the global tractography algorithm for fast parallel implementation amendable to acceleration using multi-core CPUs and general-purpose GPUs. Our method is motivated by the key observation that each fiber segment is affected by a limited spatial neighborhood. In other words, a fiber segment is influenced only by the fiber segments that are (or can potentially be) connected to its two ends and also by the diffusion-weighted signal in its proximity. This observation makes it possible to parallelize the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm used in the global tractography algorithm so that concurrent updating of independent fiber segments can be carried out. Experiments show that the proposed algorithm can significantly speed up global tractography, while at the same time maintain or even improve tractography performance.</P>

Silencing MR-1 attenuates atherosclerosis in ApoE–/– mice induced by angiotensin II through FAK-Akt –mTOR-NF-kappaB signaling pathway

Yixi Chen,Jianping Cao,Qihui Zhao,Haiyong Luo,Yiguang Wang,Wenjian Dai 대한생리학회-대한약리학회 2018 The Korean Journal of Physiology & Pharmacology Vol.22 No.2

Myofibrillogenesis regulator-1 (MR-1) is a novel protein involved in cellular proliferation, migration, inflammatory reaction and signal transduction. However,little information is available on the relationship between MR-1 expression and the progression of atherosclerosis. Here we report atheroprotective effects of silencing MR-1 in a model of Ang II-accelerated atherosclerosis, characterized by suppression focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB) signaling pathway,and atherosclerotic lesion macrophage content. In this model, administration of the siRNA-MR-1 substantially attenuated Ang II-accelerated atherosclerosis with stabilization of atherosclerotic plaques and inhibited FAK, Akt, mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) and NF-kB activation, which was associated with suppression of inflammatory factor and atherogenic gene expression in the artery. In vitro studies demonstrated similar changes in Ang II-treated vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and macrophages: siRNA-MR-1 inhibited the expression levels of proinflammatory factor. These studies uncover crucial proinflammatory mechanisms of Ang II and highlight actions of silencing MR-1 to inhibit Ang II signaling, which is atheroprotective.

Efficacy of Sublingual Immunotherapy for House Dust Mite-Induced Allergic Rhinitis: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Bohai Feng,Haijie Xiang,Haiyong Jin,Jinjian Gao,Saiyu Huang,Yunbin Shi,Ruru Chen,Bobei Chen 대한천식알레르기학회 2017 Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Research Vol.9 No.3

Purpose: Allergic rhinitis (AR) has become a global issue for a large part of the general population. Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) has been used extensively to treat persistent allergic rhinitis (PAR). Although systematic reviews have confirmed the effectiveness of SLIT for the treatment of AR, a considerable number of studies using extracts of house dust mites (HDMs) for immunotherapy found no consensus on basic treatment parameters and questioned the efficacy of SLIT. Methods: In this study, we evaluated SLIT for PAR by a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Library database searches were performed for RCTs on the treatment of PAR by SLIT that assessed clinical outcomes related to efficacy through May 2016. Descriptive and quantitative information was abstracted. An analysis was performed with standardized mean differences (SMDs) under a fixed or random effects model. Subgroup analyses were performed. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 metric. Results: In total, 25 studies were eligible for inclusion in the meta-analysis for symptom scores and 15 studies for medication scores. SLIT was significantly different from the controls for symptom scores (SMD=1.23; 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.74 to 0.73; P<0.001). For medication scores, significant differences for SLIT were also observed versus the controls (SMD=-1.39; 95% CI=-1.90 to -0.88; P<0.001). Conclusions: Our meta-analysis indicates that SLIT provided significant symptom relief and reduced the need for medications in PAR. In this study, significant evidence was obtained despite heterogeneity with regard to the use of mite extract. Specifically, the mite extract used was provided by the patients with PAR. Furthermore, to confirm both the objective outcomes and the effective doses of HDM allergen extracts, experimental data should be obtained from large high-quality population-based studies.

Experimental and numerical studies on erosion damage in damping holes on the valve plate of an axial piston pump

Shaogan Ye,Junhui Zhang,Bing Xu,Wei Song,Long Chen,Haiyong Shi,Shiqiang Zhu 대한기계학회 2017 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.31 No.9

Erosion damage affects the reliability and durability of axial piston pumps. An axial piston pump was tested using endurance life testing method. The phenomenon of erosion damage on the valve plate was observed using a confocal laser scanning microscope, by comparing the surface on the valve plate before and after the endurance life testing. A CFD turbulence model inclusive of the cavitation effects was developed to predict the flow physics. The flow physics in the axial piston pump were presented and analyzed, including the fluid velocities, velocity fields, the total volume fraction fields of gas and vapor, and pressure fields. Two causes of erosion damage were found, the appearances of large amount of vapor, and directly hitting by the jetting flow. The first one is the cause of erosion damage on the surface near the transition region from the inlet port to the outlet port, and the second one is the cause of erosion damage on the surface near the transition region from the outlet port to the inlet port. Besides, the findings show that the fluid velocities closely relate to the area of erosion damage. The study provides insights into the occurrence of erosion damage in axial piston pumps.