Current state of research about acupuncture for the treatment of COVID-19: A scoping review

Chen Chen,Jie Zhan,Hao Wen,Xiaojing Wei,Lu Ding,Chenyang Tao,Cui Li,Peiming Zhang,Yuyuan Tang,Jing-chun Zeng,Li-ming Lu 한국한의학연구원 2021 Integrative Medicine Research Vol.10 No.-

Background Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), acupuncture has been widely used in the treatment of COVID-19. The research community has responded rapidly and has already published many research articles about this topic. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library as well as CNKI, Wanfang and VIP from January 1, 2020 to July 31, 2021. The dates of publication, language of publication, methodological characteristics and the key findings were analyzed separately. The data are presented as bar graphs, structured tables and figures. Results In this scoping review, 16 research articles were included: 7 case reports, 6 observational studies, 1 review, 1 RCT and 1 nonrandomized clinical trial. The majority of the articles (81.3%) were published by Chinese scholars, 12.5% articles were by scholars in the United States, and 6.3% articles were by scholars in Iran. The included studies reported that acupuncture could alleviate the symptoms of COVID-19 patients, shorten their hospitalization days, and is effective for the elderly. There were no side effects reported. The most frequent acupoints used were LI4, PC6, ST36 and KI3. They reported many obstacles in implementing acupuncture therapy for treating COVID-19 patients. Conclusion Acupuncture has a good effect for the treatment of COVID-19, but high-quality evidence support is still lacking. Coupled with the difficulties that acupuncturists experienced during the process of treatment, the promotion of acupuncture treatment for COVID-19 faces many obstacles. Background Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), acupuncture has been widely used in the treatment of COVID-19. The research community has responded rapidly and has already published many research articles about this topic. Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library as well as CNKI, Wanfang and VIP from January 1, 2020 to July 31, 2021. The dates of publication, language of publication, methodological characteristics and the key findings were analyzed separately. The data are presented as bar graphs, structured tables and figures. Results In this scoping review, 16 research articles were included: 7 case reports, 6 observational studies, 1 review, 1 RCT and 1 nonrandomized clinical trial. The majority of the articles (81.3%) were published by Chinese scholars, 12.5% articles were by scholars in the United States, and 6.3% articles were by scholars in Iran. The included studies reported that acupuncture could alleviate the symptoms of COVID-19 patients, shorten their hospitalization days, and is effective for the elderly. There were no side effects reported. The most frequent acupoints used were LI4, PC6, ST36 and KI3. They reported many obstacles in implementing acupuncture therapy for treating COVID-19 patients. Conclusion Acupuncture has a good effect for the treatment of COVID-19, but high-quality evidence support is still lacking. Coupled with the difficulties that acupuncturists experienced during the process of treatment, the promotion of acupuncture treatment for COVID-19 faces many obstacles.

Analysis of <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> cell viability, sublethal injury and death induced by synergistic combination of ultrasound and mild heat

Li, Jiao,Suo, Yuanjie,Liao, Xinyu,Ahn, Juhee,Liu, Donghong,Chen, Shiguo,Ye, Xingqian,Ding, Tian Elsevier 2017 Ultrasonics sonochemistry Vol.39 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>This study was designed to investigate the combined effects of ultrasound and mild heat on the viability of <I>S. aureus</I> in association with the cell membrane integrity and intracellular enzyme activity. Cells were treated by ultrasound under 55°C for 3, 5, 7, 10, and 15min. The dynamic changes of <I>S. aureus</I> cell viability, sublethal injury and death were evaluated using flow cytometric assay. Microscopies were applied to identify the morphological appearance, ultrastructure and topography of <I>S. aureus</I>. The results showed the membrane damage was synchronous with esterase inhibition during the exposure to sonication, leading to the immediate lethal effect. On the other hand, bacteria under the mild heat at 55°C were inactivated via a sublethal injury process. The different lethal modes were observed between sonication and mild heat treatments, which could synergistically inactivate <I>S. aureus</I>. The antibacterial value of thermo-sonication was greater than the sum of the individual treatments. The thermo-sonication combination synergistically reduced the number of sublethal cells and also resulted in severe cell damage.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> The lethal modes induced by ultrasound and mild heat were different. </LI> <LI> Two sterilization techniques were synergistic in cell inactivation. </LI> <LI> Cell viability, sublethal injury and death were distinguished by flow cytometry. </LI> <LI> Thermo-sonication treatment reduced the number of sublethal cells. </LI> <LI> Microscopies revealed <I>S. aureus</I> morphological changes and bactericidal effect. </LI> </UL> </P>

Excessive mechanical strain accelerates intervertebral disc degeneration by disrupting intrinsic circadian rhythm

Ding Sheng-Long,Zhang Tai-Wei,Zhang Qi-Chen,Ding Wang,Li Ze-Fang,Han Guan-Jie,Bai Jin-Song,Li Xi-Lei,Dong Jian,Wang Hui-Ren,Jiang Li-Bo 생화학분자생물학회 2021 Experimental and molecular medicine Vol.53 No.-

Night shift workers with disordered rhythmic mechanical loading are more prone to intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). Our results showed that circadian rhythm (CR) was dampened in degenerated and aged NP cells. Long-term environmental CR disruption promoted IDD in rats. Excessive mechanical strain disrupted the CR and inhibited the expression of core clock proteins. The inhibitory effect of mechanical loading on the expression of extracellular matrix genes could be reversed by BMAL1 overexpression in NP cells. The Rho/ROCK pathway was demonstrated to mediate the effect of mechanical stimulation on CR. Prolonged mechanical loading for 12 months affected intrinsic CR genes and induced IDD in a model of upright posture in a normal environment. Unexpectedly, mechanical loading further accelerated the IDD in an Light-Dark (LD) cycle-disrupted environment. These results indicated that intrinsic CR disruption might be a mechanism involved in overloading-induced IDD and a potential drug target for night shift workers.

JCAD deficiency attenuates activation of hepatic stellate cells and cholestatic fibrosis

Li Xie,Hui Chen,Li Zhang,Yue Ma,Yuan Zhou,Yong-Yu Yang,Chang Liu,Yu-Li Wang,Ya-Jun Yan,Jia Ding,Xiao Teng,Qiang Yang,Xiu-Ping Liu,Jian Wu 대한간학회 2024 Clinical and Molecular Hepatology(대한간학회지) Vol.30 No.2

Background/Aims: Cholestatic liver diseases including primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) are associated with active hepatic fibrogenesis, which ultimately progresses to cirrhosis. Activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) are the main fibrogenic effectors in response to cholangiocyte damage. JCAD regulates cell proliferation and malignant transformation in nonalcoholic steatoheaptitis-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (NASH-HCC). However, its participation in cholestatic fibrosis has not been explored yet. Methods: Serial sections of liver tissue of PBC patients were stained with immunofluorescence. Hepatic fibrosis was induced by bile duct ligation (BDL) in wild-type (WT), global JCAD knockout mice (JCAD-KO) and HSC-specific JCAD knockout mice (HSC-JCAD-KO), and evaluated by histopathology and biochemical tests. In situ-activated HSCs isolated from BDL mice were used to determine effects of JCAD on HSC activation. Results: In consistence with staining of liver sections from PBC patients, immunofluorescent staining revealed that JCAD expression was identified in smooth muscle α-actin (α-SMA)-positive fibroblast-like cells and was significantly up-regulated in WT mice with BDL. JCAD deficiency remarkably ameliorated BDL-induced hepatic injury and fibrosis, as documented by liver hydroxyproline content, when compared to WT mice with BDL. Histopathologically, collagen deposition was dramatically reduced in both JCAD-KO and HSC-JCAD-KO mice compared to WT mice, as visualized by Trichrome staining and semi-quantitative scores. Moreover, JCAD deprivation significantly attenuated in situ HSC activation and reduced expression of fibrotic genes after BDL. Conclusions: JCAD deficiency effectively suppressed hepatic fibrosis induced by BDL in mice, and the underlying mechanisms are largely through suppressed Hippo-YAP signaling activity in HSCs.

Influence of a Liquid Structural Change on the Solidification of the Alloy CuSn30

Jie Chen,Fang Qiu Zu,Xian Fen Li,Guo Hua Ding,Hon Sheng Chen,Li Zou 대한금속재료학회 2008 METALS AND MATERIALS International Vol.14 No.5

Artificial neural network reconstructs core power distribution

Wenhuai Li,Peng Ding,Wenqing Xia,Shu Chen,Fengwan Yu,Chengjie Duan,Dawei Cui,Chen Chen 한국원자력학회 2022 Nuclear Engineering and Technology Vol.54 No.2

To effectively monitor the variety of distributions of neutron flux, fuel power or temperatures in thereactor core, usually the ex-core and in-core neutron detectors are employed. The thermocouples fortemperature measurement are installed in the coolant inlet or outlet of the respective fuel assemblies. Itis necessary to reconstruct the measurement information of the whole reactor position. However, thereading of different types of detector in the core reflects different aspects of the 3D power distribution. The feasibility of reconstruction the core three-dimension power distribution by using different combinations of in-core, ex-core and thermocouples detectors is analyzed in this paper to synthesize theuseful information of various detectors. A comparison of multilayer perceptron (MLP) network and radialbasis function (RBF) network is performed. RBF results are more extreme precision but also moresensitivity to detector failure and uncertainty, compare to MLP networks. This is because that localizedneural network could offer conservative regression in RBF. Adding random disturbance in trainingdataset is helpful to reduce the influence of detector failure and uncertainty. Some convolution neuralnetworks seem to be helpful to get more accurate results by use more spatial layout information, thoughrelative researches are still under way

Folate Deficiency and FHIT Hypermethylation and HPV 16 Infection Promote Cervical Cancerization

Bai, Li-Xia,Wang, Jin-Tao,Ding, Ling,Jiang, Shi-Wen,Kang, Hui-Jie,Gao, Chen-Fei,Chen, Xiao,Chen, Chen,Zhou, Qin Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.21

Fragile histidine triad (FHIT) is a suppressor gene related to cervical cancer through CpG island hypermethylation. Folate is a water-soluble B-vitamin and an important cofactor in one-carbon metabolism. It may play an essential role in cervical lesions through effects on DNA methylation. The purpose of this study was to observe effects of folate and FHIT methylation and HPV 16 on cervical cancer progression. In this study, DNA methylation of FHIT, serum folate level and HPV16 status were measured using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP), radioimmunoassay (RIA) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR), respectively, in 310 women with a diagnosis of normal cervix (NC, n=109), cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN, n=101) and squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix (SCC, n=101). There were significant differences in HPV16 status (${\chi}^2=36.64$, P<0.001), CpG island methylation of FHIT (${\chi}^2=71.31$, P<0.001) and serum folate level (F=4.57, P=0.011) across the cervical histologic groups. Interaction analysis showed that the ORs only with FHIT methylation (OR=11.47) or only with HPV 16 positive (OR=4.63) or with serum folate level lower than 3.19ng/ml (OR=1.68) in SCC group were all higher than the control status of HPV 16 negative and FHIT unmethylation and serum folate level more than 3.19ng/ml (OR=1). The ORs only with HPV 16 positive (OR=2.58) or with serum folate level lower than 3.19ng/ml (OR=1.28) in CIN group were all higher than the control status, but the OR only with FHIT methylation (OR=0.53) in CIN group was lower than the control status. HPV 16 positivity was associated with a 7.60-fold increased risk of SCC with folate deficiency and with a 1.84-fold increased risk of CIN. The patients with FHIT methylation and folate deficiency or with FHIT methylation and HPV 16 positive were SCC or CIN, and the patients with HPV 16 positive and FHIT methylation and folate deficiency were all SCC. In conclusion, HPV 16 infection, FHIT methylation and folate deficiency might promote cervical cancer progression. This suggests that FHIT may be an effective target for prevention and treatment of cervical cancer.

Down-regulation of FRα Inhibits Proliferation and Promotes Apoptosis of Cervical Cancer Cells in Vitro

Bai, Li-Xia,Ding, Ling,Jiang, Shi-Wen,Kang, Hui-Jie,Gao, Chen-Fei,Chen, Chen,Zhou, Qin,Wang, Jin-Tao Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.14

Folate receptor alpha ($FR{\alpha}$) mediates folate uptake by endocytosis, and while folate is essential to DNA methylation and synthesis and may have an important role in proliferating cells. $FR{\alpha}$ is known to be expressed in rapidly proliferating cells, including many cancer cell lines, but there has been no systematic assessment of expression in cervical cancer cell lines. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of $FR{\alpha}$ on proliferation and apoptosis of cervical cells and correlation mechanism. In this study, we investigated the biological function of $FR{\alpha}$ in Hela cells using RNA interference. Cell proliferation was evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) assay, while cell cycling and apoptosis were assessed by flow cytometry, mRNA levels by real time-PCR and protein levels of $FR{\alpha}$, c-Fos and c-Jun by Western blotting. The results revealed that $FR{\alpha}$ was highly expressed in Hela cells and its silencing with a small interfering RNA (siRNA) inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis, arresting the cell cycle in G0/G1 stages while decreasing the proportion in S and G2/M stages, and suppressed the expression levels of c-Fos and c-Jun. In conclusion, the results of this study indicated that $FR{\alpha}$ down-regulation might be capable of suppressing cervical cancer cell proliferation and promoting apoptosis. It suggested that $FR{\alpha}$ might be a novel therapeutic target for cervical cancer.

Cordblood-Based High-Throughput Screening for Deafness Gene of 646 Newborns in Jinan Area of China

Shou-Xia Li,Ding-Li Chen,Su-Bin Zhao,Li-Li Guo,Hai-Qin Feng,Xiao-Fang Zhang,Li-Li Ping,Zhi-Ming Yang,Cai-Xia Sun,Gen-Dong Yao 대한이비인후과학회 2015 Clinical and Experimental Otorhinolaryngology Vol.8 No.3

Objectives. Infants with slight/mild or late-onset hearing impairment might be missed in universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS). We identified the mutation hot spot of common deaf gene in the newborns in Jinan area population by screening the mutation spot with neonate cord blood, in order to make clear whether the neonate cord blood for screening is feasible. Methods. Six hundred and forty-six newborns were subjected to both UNHS and genetic screening for deafness by using neonate cord blood. The newborn genetic screening targeted four deafness-associated genes, which were commonly found in the Chinese population including gap junction beta-2 protein (GJB2), gap junction beta-3 protein (GJB3), solute carrier family 26 member 4 (SLC26A4), and mtDNA 12S rRNA. The most common 20 spot mutations in 4 deaf genes were detected by MassARRAY iPLEX platform and mitochondrial 12S rRNA A1555G and C1494T mutations were sequenced using Sanger sequencing. Results. Among the 646 newborns, 635 cases passed the UNHS and the other 11 cases (1.7%) did not. Of the 11 failures, two cases were found to carry homozygous GJB2 p.R143W pathogenic mutation, one case was found to have heterozygous GJB2 235delC mutation, and another one case carried heterozygous GJB3 p.R180X pathogenic mutation. Six hundred and thirty-five babies passed the newborn hearing screening, in which 25 babies were identified to carry pathogenic mutations, including 12 heterozygotes (1.9%) for GJB2 235delC, eight heterozygotes (1.3%) for SLC26A4 IVS7-2A>G, one heterozygote (0.2%) for p.R409H, two homozygotes (0.3%) for m.1494C>T, and two homozygotes (0.3%) for m.1555A>G. Conclusion. Newborn genetic screening through the umbilical cord blood for common deafness-associated mutations may identify carriers sensitive to aminoglycoside antibiotic, and can effectively prevent or delay hearing loss occurs.

Effect of Sub-Structure and Precipitation Behavior on Mechanical Properties of Al–xCu–Li Alloys

Yu‑zhuo Li,Guang‑jun Zeng,Ding‑ding Lu,Zhen‑zhen Liu,San‑xi Deng,Peng‑cheng Ma,Yong‑lai Chen,Rui‑feng Zhang,Jin‑feng Li 대한금속·재료학회 2023 METALS AND MATERIALS International Vol.29 No.11

The tensile properties and microstructure of extruded and cold rolled 2A55 Al–Li alloys with different Cu content werestudied. After solution treatment, the strength of extruded sheets is slightly higher than that of cold rolled sheets due to strongdeformation texture and high density of substructure. However, the strength change order is different with the increase of Cucontent with T6-24 h. The extruded sample with higher Cu content have higher strength due to many dense T1precipitates. The δ′/θ′/δ′ composite precipitates and θ′ precipitates suppress the formation of T1precipitates, which cause cold rolled samplewith higher Cu content shows lower strength. Additionally, many fine T1precipitates nucleate at the sub-grain boundariesformed in the extrusion process, which have a significant effect on the mechanical property.