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To observe the effect of acupuncture at "Sanyinjiao" (SP6) on sperm motility, testicular B cell lymphoma/leukelia-2 (Bcl-2), Bcl-2 associated X protein (Bax), and Caspase-3 in mice with oligoasthenospermia induced by microwave radiation, so as to explore its underlying mechanisms in improving oligoasthenospermia.Male BALB/C mice were randomly divided into control, model and acupuncture groups(Compared with the control group, the percentages of PR sperms, NP sperms, PR+NP sperms, Johnson score, and expression level of Bcl-2 were significantly decreased (Manual acupuncture at SP6 can improve sperm motility in oligoasthenospermia mice induced by microwave radiation, which may be related to its effects in down-regulating the expressions of Bax and Caspase-3, increasing expression of Bcl-2 in the testis.

Background BTBD7_hsa_circ_0000563, which is located on chromosome 14, contains conserved binding sites with miR‐155/130a and RNA‐binding proteins according to bioinformatic prediction. We investigated the association of BTBD7_hsa_circ_0000563 expression in coronary artery segments with atherosclerotic stenosis and identified the proteome‐wide BTBD7_hsa_circ_0000563‐regulated proteins in human coronary artery. Methods The atherosclerotic grade and extent in coronary artery segments were determined by hematoxylin and eosin staining. BTBD7_hsa_circ_0000563 expression in eight coronary artery segments from one patient was quantified by RT‐qPCR assay. A proteomic approach was adopted to reveal significant differences in protein expression between among four groups differing in their BTBD7_hsa_circ_0000563 expression levels. Results The RT‐qPCR assay revealed that coronary artery segments with severe atherosclerotic stenosis had significantly low BTBD7_hsa_circ_0000563 levels. The proteomic analysis identified 49 differentially expressed proteins among the segment groups with different BTBD7_hsa_circ_0000563 expression levels, of which 10 were downregulated and 39 were upregulated with increases in the BTBD7_hsa_circ_0000563 level. The 10 downregulated proteins were P61626 (LYSC_HUMAN), P02760 (AMBP_HUMAN), Q02985 (FHR3_HUMAN), P01701 (LV151_HUMAN), P06312(KV401_HUMAN), P01624 (KV315_HUMAN), P13671 (CO6_HUMAN), P01700(LV147_HUMAN), Q9Y287(ITM2B_HUMAN), and A0A075B6I0 (LV861_HUMAN). The top 10 upregulated proteins were Q92552 (RT27_HUMAN), Q9UJY1(HSPB8_HUMAN), Q9Y235(ABEC2_HUMAN), P19022 (CADH2_HUMAN), O43837(IDH3B_HUMAN), Q9H479(FN3K_HUMAN), Q9UM22(EPDR1_HUMAN), P48681(NEST_HUMAN), Q9NRP0(OSTC_HUMAN), and Q15628(TRADD_HUMAN). Conclusion BTBD7_hsa_circ_0000563 is involved in the atherosclerotic changes in human coronary artery segments. Verification, mechanistic, and function studies are needed to confirm whether patients with coronary artery disease would benefit from such personalized medicine in the future., We investigated BTBD7_hsa_circ_0000563 expression level in coronary artery segments with atherosclerotic stenosis and identified 49 differentially BTBD7_hsa_circ_0000563‐regulated proteins in human coronary artery which were mainly located in the mitochondria and involved in the citrate cycle (TCA cycle) pathway. It provided new insights into ATP synthase important role in the regulatory network of BTBD7_hsa_circ_0000563 in the coronary artery.

To overview the systematic review/meta-analysis on acupoint application for bronchial asthma.A computerized retrieval was performed from 6 databases, named CNKI, CBM, VIP, WF, PubMed and Cochrane Library. The time of retrieval was from the establishment of the database to April 1, 2019. According to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the two researchers independently selected articles and extracted data. In case of disagreement, a third party was adopted to solve it. Using AMSTAR2, PRISMA and GRADE, the literature quality and evidence grade were assessed.A total of 19 articles relevant with systematic evaluation/meta-analysis were included, 16 articles of which were in Chinese and 3 articles in English, published in the period from 2007 to 2018. Forty-two outcome indicators were included. It was found that the quality of methodology was very low, the quality of literature report has some or serious flaws and the quality level of evidence is mostly low or very low.Currently, regarding the articles of systematic review/meta-analysis on acupoint application for bronchial asthma, it is quite low in methodological quality and literature report quality and is not high in the grade of outcome indicators. The clinical research should be intensively specified in association with the characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine so as to provide more reliable clinical evidence.

Many ejection landslides in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake exhibited unusually dramatic behaviour in which a huge sliding mass was launched into the air and supported for a long distance because of the aerodynamic effect. In this paper, the formation conditions and movement characteristics of ejection landslides are analysed. The flight behaviour of the centroid of the ejection mass is studied by numerical solution with and without the aerodynamic effect. The impact and movement processes of the sliding mass are simulated by incorporating an advanced discretisation approach into discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA). Simulation results of the Dayanke rock avalanche induced by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake show that the aerodynamic effect significantly affects its flight behaviour before collision. Simultaneously, the colluvium on the slope surface remarkably reduces its traveling speed and runout. Moreover, the initial angle between the velocity of the detached ejection mass and the horizontal direction strongly affects the flight distance and final deposition pattern of the avalanche.

Background: To investigate the association of BTBD7_hsa_circ_000563 expression in coronary artery segments with atherosclerotic stenosis, and to explore the proteome-wide identification of the BTBD7_hsa_circ_000563-regulated proteins in coronary artery Methods: The coronary artery samples were obtained from two autopsy cases. The epicardial coronary artery of every autopsy was divided into 10 segments, and coronary atherosclerosis grade and extent of the coronary artery segments were analysed by Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining. The BTBD7_hsa_circ_000563 expression of 8 segments from case 2 was quantified using RT-qPCR analysis. Results: The present study demonstrated that coronary artery segments with severe atherosclerotic stenosis showed extremely low expression of the BTBD7_hsa_circ_000563, compared with normal coronary artery segments. Furthermore, it was predicted that hsa-miR-155-5p, and hsa-miR-130a-3p are targets of the BTBD7_hsa_circ_000563. The results from the present study may laid an epigenetic foundation for studying the underlying mechanisms of the development and progression of coronary artery atherosclerosis. Conclusions: BTBD7_hsa_circ_000563 were involved in atherosclerotic changes in coronary artery segments of human being, and the verification study, mechanism study, and function study are necessary in order for CAD patients to benefit from the personalized medicine in the future.

To explore the association between methylation of antisense non-coding RNA in the INK4 locus (ANRIL) and coronary artery disease (CAD) development. Methylation levels of ANRIL in 100 subjects with CAD and 100 controls were quantitatively analyzed using Sequenom MassARRAY. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis was used to identify novel pathways. Our analyses indicated that 7 to 8 CpG sites within the 2nd CpG island located upstream of ANRIL, also known as cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2B – antisense 1 (CDKN2B-AS1), are hyper-methylated in CAD subjects compared to controls (p = 0.034). The 40th CpG site within the 2nd CpG island located upstream of CDKN2B-AS1 was methylated to a lesser extent in CAD subjects compared to controls (p = 0.045). Both Pearson and Spearman analyses indicated that methylation levels were significantly associated with total cholesterol (r = 0.204, p = 0.004), fasting high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = 0.165, p = 0.020), and fasting low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r = 0.265, p = 0.000). KEGG pathway analysis revealed a significant enrichment of genes associated with the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) signaling pathway. Among them, CCAAT/enhancer binding protein (C/EBPβ) was identified as a key transcription factor that promotes expression of CDKN2B-AS1 through promotor interaction. DNA methylation of the ANRIL promoter was significantly associated with CAD development in our study. Our analyses suggest that C/EBPβ is a key transcription factor that promotes CDKN2B-AS1 expression by directly interacting with the gene promotor mediated by TNF signaling.

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are potential biomarkers and therapeutic targets of coronary artery disease due to their high stability, covalently closed structure. And implied roles in gene regulation. The aim of this study was to identify and characterize circRNAs from human coronary arteries. Epicardial coronary arteries were removed during the autopsy of an 81-year-old man who died from heart attack. The natural history and histological classification of atherosclerotic lesions in coronary artery segments were analyzed by hematoxylin and eosin staining, and their circRNA expression profiles were characterized by RNA sequencing. RNA sequencing identified 1259 annotated and 381 novel circRNAs. Combined with the results of histologic examination, intersection analysis identified 54 upregulated and 12 downregulated circRNAs, representing 4.0% of the total number. Coronary artery segments with or without severe atherosclerosis showed distinctly different circRNA profiles on the basis of hierarchical clustering. Our results suggest that these 66 circRNAs contribute to the pathology underlying coronary artery atherosclerosis and may serve as diagnostic or therapeutic targets in coronary artery disease.

The mechanical behavior of layered rock is seriously influenced by the bedding planes that have lower tensile strength and shear strength than rock matrix. We conducted experimental and numerical three-point-bending tests on semi-circular sandstone specimens with an opening mode fracture to study the influences of bedding parameters on their fracture behavior. Experimental study mainly focuses on the influences of the inclination angle between loading direction and bedding plane on fracture load, fracture patterns and failure process. The numerical simulations based on cohesive element method aim to explain how the shear strength, tensile strength and spacing of bedding planes influence the fracture load, crack propagation and fracture patterns. Results show that stronger bedding strength, larger bedding spacing or larger inclination angle will induce a larger fracture load. The anisotropy of sandstone becomes stronger for the weaker bedding strength and larger bedding spacing (≤5.5 mm). The fracture patterns of sandstone are greatly governed by the inclination angle and partly controlled by bedding strength and bedding spacing, which is exceptional for the specimen whose inclination angle is 0°. In addition, the length percentage of fracture along the bedding plane and the proportion of tensile or shear cracks are analyzed to further address the effects of bedding parameters on the fracture properties.

Background and aim: Circular RNAs (circRNAs) may be potential biomarkers or therapeutic targets of coronary artery disease due to their high stability, covalently closed structure. and implicated roles in gene regulation. The aim of this study was to determine and characterize the circRNAs from human coronary artery. Method: A 81 years male subject died from heart attack, at autopsy, epicardial coronary arteries were removed from the hearts. The natural history and histological classification of atherosclerotic lesions of the coronary artery samples which were analyzed by Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining, and the circRNAs expression profile was characterize by RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq). Results: When evaluated, by the RNA-Seq profiling in coronary artery samples, 1259 annotated circRNA and 381 novel circRNAs were identified. Combination with the results of Haematoxylin and Eosin (H&E) staining in coronary artery samples, the intersection analysis suggesting that the 54 up- and 12 downregulated circRNAs, representing 4.0% of the total amount, were distinctly found. Moreover, two groups of coronary artery segments, with or without severe atherosclerosis, were distinctly differentiated by these circRNAs on the basis of hierarchical clustering. Conclusions: The sixty six circRNAs are suggested to play a pathological role underlying the coronary arteries atherosclerosis and may serve as a valuable resource as diagnostic or therapeutic targets against coronary artery disease. Funding: The National Natural Science Foundation of China (grants30400173, 30971257, and 81170180) A project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. Declaration of Interest: There was not any conflict of interest existing in this manuscript. Ethical Approval: The methods were performed in accordance with the approved guidelines, and all experimental protocols were approved by the ethics committee of the Nanjing Medical University and the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University.

Aims: To investigate the relationship between the miR-130a polymorphism rs731384 and coronary artery disease (CAD) and to further explore the molecular mechanism of the pathogenesis of CAD, an observational single-center study was conducted. Method: A total of 876 subjects were recruited in the present study. Four milliliters of venous blood was drawn after 12 h of fasting to perform biochemical assays. CAD patients and controls were distinguished by coronary angiography. Rs731384 was genotyped on the Agena MassARRAY system according to the manufacturer’s user guide. Statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS 16.0 software. Results: The study found that the plasma levels of total cholesterol (TC) (P=0.006), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) (P=0.030), apolipoprotein A (ApoA) (P=0.038), and apolipoprotein B (ApoB) (P=0.022) distributed differently in patients with various alleles. Additionally, the AA genotype of rs731384 was found to be a protective factor against CAD in a recessive model (AA:AG+GG, odds ratio (OR) = 0.408, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) = 0.171–0.973, P=0.043). A significant association was found between the gene–environment interaction and CAD risk. The AA genotype along with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level ≥ 1.325 mmol/l significantly decreased the CAD risk (AA:AG+GG, OR = 0.117, 95% CI = 0.023–0.588, P=0.009). Conclusion: The mutant AA genotype of rs731384 seems to be a protective factor against CAD, and rs731384 plays an important role in the human metabolism of plasma lipids.

To observe the effect of fire-needle acupuncture of "Zusanli" (ST 36) and "Kunlun" (BL 60) on ankle-joint swelling and serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody (ACPA) contents in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rats, so as to study its mechanism underlying improvement of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)．.Thirty-two male Wistar rats were randomized into control, model, medication (Methotrexate) and fire-needling groups (The ankle diameter and serum concentrations of TNF-α and ACPA were significantly increased in the model group compared to the control group (Fire-needling stimulation of ST 36 and BL 60, similar to Methotrexate, can relieve the inflammatory reactions of hind-ankle joint in CIA rats, which may be related to its effect in down-regulating ACPA and TNF-α levels.

Objective: The aim of the present study is to investigate the association between the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor Δ (PPARD) and the risk of coronary artery disease (CAD). To this end, a prospective observational single-center study of the clinical data from 880 subjects in a Chinese population was conducted. Methods: A total of 880 subjects, including 609 CAD patients and 271 control subjects, were selected for the present study. All inpatients had 4 ml of venous blood drawn after 12 h of fasting, and then clinical tests were conducted to obtain the biochemical parameters. CAD patients and Controls were distinguished by coronary angiography. Statistical analysis was conducted with SPSS software (ver 16.0). Results: A significant association between the G-alleles of PPARD rs3777744 and rs3798343 and a decreased risk for CAD was found. Moreover, we found an interaction between high fasting high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) serum levels, low serum glucose levels and their genotypes, ultimately decreasing the risk of CAD. Haplotype analysis was conducted on the three SNP sites, rs3777744 and rs3798343 to form a block [r2 = 0.79, D′ = 0.99). The A-C haplotypes were associated with an increased risk of CAD (odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.321 (1.060–1.647), P=0.013], and the G-G haplotypes were associated with a decreased risk [OR, 95% CI: 0.714 (0.567–0.849), P=0.004]. Conclusions: Our study indicates a significant association between the G-alleles of PPARD rs3777744 and rs3798343 and a decreased CAD risk. In addition, genotypes interact with high serum HDL-C levels and low serum glucose levels, resulting in decreased prevalence of CAD.

Objective: To explore the association between ANRIL promoter methylation level and coronary artery disease development. Subject and method: The methylation status of ANRIL promote in 100 subjects with coronary artery disease patients and matched controls who underwent coronary angiography was quantitatively analyzed on Sequenom MassARRAY. KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were performed to identify the functions and pathways possibly influenced by the genes nearest the ANRIL promoter CpG sites in subjects with CAD compared with the controls. Result: Results indicate 7 to 8 CpG sites within the 2nd CpG island located at the upstream of CDKN2B-AS1 is hyper-methylated in CADs compared with the matched controls (p=0.034), 40th CpG sites within the 2nd CpG island located at the upstream of CDKN2B-AS1 is lower-methylated in CADs compared with the matched controls (p=0.045). The Pearson or Spearman analyses indicated that methylation level of 7 to 8 CpG sites within the 2nd CpG island was significantly associated with TCH (r=-0.204, p=0.004), HDL-C (r=0.165, p=0.020), and LDL-C (r=0.265, p=0.000), and the methylation level of 40th CpG sites within the 2nd CpG island was significantly associated with age (r=-0.147, p=0.037) and fasting blood glucose (r=-0.178, p=0.012). KEGG pathway analysis revealed a significant enrichment of genes associated with the TNF signaling pathway. Among them, the C/EBPbeta was identified as key transcription factor to promote the expression of CDKN2B-AS1 through interaction with their promoters. Conclusion: Expression levels of the ANRIL promoter DNA methylation were significantly associated with the CAD development in this population. Further KEGG pathway enrichment analyses suggested that C/EBPbeta has been identified as key transcription factor to promote the expression of CDKN2B-AS1 through interaction with their promoters via TNF signaling pathway. Funding Statement: the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grantsNo. 30400173, 30971257, and 81170180) and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. Declaration of Interests: There was not any conflict of interest existing in this manuscript. Ethics Statement: The study was performed based on the case-control principle in accordance with the protocol approved by the ethics committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University and the Friendship Hospital of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in China.

Aims: To investigate the relationship between the miR-130a polymorphism rs731384 and coronary artery disease (CAD), and to further explore the molecular mechanism of the pathogenesis of CAD, a prospective and observational single-center study was conducted. Method: 876 subjects were recruited in this study. Four millilitres of venous blood were drawn after 12 hours of fasting to perform biochemical assays. CAD patients and controls were distinguished by coronary angiography. Rs731384 was genotyped on the Agena MassARRAY system according to manufacturer's user guide. Statictical analysis was conducted with SPSS 16.0 software. Results: The study found that the serum levels of TC (p=0.006), LDL (p=0.030), ApoA (p=0.038), ApoB (p=0.022) distribute differently in various alleles. Additionally, AA genetype of rs731384 was found to be a protective factor against CAD in recessive model (AA:AG GG, OR=0.408, 95%CI=0.171-0.973, p=0.043). Significant association was found between the gene-environment interation and CAD risk. AA genetype along with HDL level ≥1.325 mmol/L significantly decreased the CAD risk (AA:AG GG, OR=0.117, 95%CI=0.023-0.588, p=0.009). Conclusion: The mutant AA genetype of rs731384 seems to be a protective factor against CAD and rs731384 plays an important role in human metabolism of serum lipid. Funding: This study received support from the National Natural Science Foundations of China (No. 81170180, 30400173 and 30971257) and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions. Dr. En-Zhi Jia is an Assistant Fellow at the Collaborative Innovation Center for Cardiovascular Disease Translational Medicine. Declaration of Interest: There are not any conflicts of interest existing in this manuscript. Ethical Approval: The study was approved by the ethics committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University and the Friendship Hospital of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in China. All subjects provided written informed consent.

To observe the influence of moxibustion on serum interleukin -17 (IL-17) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) levels in collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rats, so as to study its mechanism underlying improvement of rheumatoid arthritis.A total of 40 male Wistar rats were used in the present study, and 8 rats were randomly selected as a normal control group. The other 32 rats were modeled. The primary immunity emulsion was made with mixed Type Ⅱ chicken collagen and complete Freund's adjuvant, and 0.3 mL emulsion (containing 0.3 mg collagen) was injected equally into left pelma, tail root and the back. Seven days after the primary immune, the same procedure was conducted to induce the secondary immunity, and the emulsion was made with mixed Type Ⅱ chicken collagen and incomplete Freund's adjuvant. The whole course of mo-deling lasted 21 days. And then 24 CIA rats were randomly divided into model group, medication group and moxibustion group (After modeling, the left ankle diameter and serum concentrations of IL-17 and TNF-α increased (Moxi-bustion is effective in CIA rats, and the mechanism may be related to the reduction of serum IL-17 and TNF-α levels.

// Jie-Yin Liu 1, * , Qiao-Wei Jia 1, * , Xiao-Ling Zang 1 , Rong-Hu Wang 1 , Chun-Jian Li 1 , Lian-Sheng Wang 1 , Wen-Zhu Ma 1 , Zhi-Jian Yang 1 and En-Zhi Jia 1 1 First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China * These authors contributed equally to this work Correspondence to: En-Zhi Jia, email: enzhijia@njmu.edu.cn Keywords: high-sensitivity troponin T, the 99th percentile, myoglobin, creatine kinase-MB Received: May 03, 2017 Accepted: August 06, 2017 Published: August 18, 2017 ABSTRACT Background: Recently, very low concentrations of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT), below the 99th percentile, have been used to immediately exclude acute myocardial infarction in certain patients without taking their age and sex into consideration. Results: The hs-cTnT values below the 99th percentile (≤ 14 ng/L) were higher in men ( p = 0.000) and significantly increased with age ( p = 0.000) among both men and women. In addition, hs-cTnT was positively associated with age ( r = 0.459, p = 0.000), myoglobin ( r = 0.392, p = 0.000), and creatine kinase-MB ( r = 0.133, p = 0.000). Moreover, males were younger ( p = 0.001) and had higher myoglobin ( p = 0.000) and creatine kinase-MB ( p = 0.000) concentrations than females. Materials and Methods: A total of 5585 consecutive subjects who presented with non-traumatic chest pain/discomfort to the inpatient, outpatient, or emergency department and who underwent high-sensitivity troponin T, myoglobin and creatine kinase-MB testing at presentation, with hs-cTnT below the 99thpercentile (≤ 14 ng/L), were eligible for enrollment. Conclusions: We suggest that patients’ age, sex and levels of myocardial injury biomarkers should be taken into consideration when ruling out acute myocardial infarction and/or adverse prognostic implications in patients who have very low hs-cTnT concentrations.

Background: The diameters of the coronary arteries have been suggested to be a potential predictor of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, whether the diameters of the coronary arteries are associated with the coronary lesion severity on angiography has not been determined. Methods: One hundred sixty-seven consecutive adult patients (109 men and 58 women) aged 31–84 years who underwent coronary angiography for suspected or known CAD were enrolled. The known catheter tip diameter was used as the calibration to measure the diameters of coronary arteries, and the severity of coronary lesions was evaluated with the vessel score and Gensini score. Results: In patients with a higher vessel score and Gensini score, the diameters of the left main (LM), left anterior descending (LAD), left circumflex (LCX), and right coronary arteries (RCA) were smaller (all p

Background: Differences in microRNA (miRNA) profiles between patients with and without coronary heart disease (CHD)have not been fully determined. The purpose of the study was to evaluate in a multi-ethnic population in China the predictive value of miRNAs previously suggested to have a role in CHD. Subject and method: 932 participants were included, and plasma samples obtained. A quantitative reverse-transcription PCR(RT-qPCR) assay was conducted to confirm the concentration of plasma miRNAs. Circulating levels of miRNAs were quantified using the 2-Δct method. The severity of coronary atherosclerosis was evaluated via Gensini Scores. Result: The circulating levels of the nine proposed miRNAs were not different among the five main ethnicities examined (all p > 0.05). The Spearman correlation analyses indicated that miR-221 and miR-130a were negatively associated with the severity of CHD as indicated by Gensini Scores (r = -0.106, p = 0.001;r = -0.073, p = 0.026). Results of the univariate analysis showed that lower circulating miR-221 (OR, 1.663; 95 % CI, 1.255-2.202, p =

To observe the influence of electroacupuncture (EA) on serum TNF-α, IL-1β and Intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) levels in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) rats so as to explore its mechanism in relieving RA.Eight Wistar rats were used as the normal control group in this study. The RA model was established by injecting mixture solution of incomplete Freund's adjuvant and type II chicken collagen into the left paw. The 24 successful RA rats were randomly divided into model, medication (Prednisolone) and EA groups (n = 8 in each group). EA(2 Hz /100 Hz,1-2 mA)was applied to "Zusanli"(ST 36) and "Kunlun" (BL 60) for 30 min, once daily for 10 days. For rats of the medication group, Prednisolone acetate (0. 1 mL/10 g) was intragastric infused daily. The rats' left ankle diameter was measured before and after the treatment, and the contents of serum TNF-α, IL-1β and ICAM-1 were assayed by ELISA.In comparison with the normal control group, the rats' ankle diameter, serum TNF-α, IL-1β and ICAM-1 contents were remarkably increased in the model group (P0.05); while compared with the model group, the increased ankle diameter, and serum TNF-α, IL-1β and ICAM-1 contents were obviously reversed in both medication and EA groups ( P0.05), without significant differences between the medication and EA groups (P0.05).EA intervention is effective in relieving RA rats' inflammatory reactions by down-regulating the levels of serum TNF-α, IL-1β and ICAM-1.

The aim of this study was to identify the synergistic effect of microRNA expression with classical risk factors of coronary heart disease (CHD) and to explore their diagnostic value for coronary stenotic lesions in subjects with CHD. Plasma samples were obtained from 66 subjects with CHD and from 58 control individuals. A quantitative reverse-transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) assay was conducted to confirm the relative expressions of the known CHD-related miRNAs. The severity of coronary atherosclerosis was based on the Gensini scoring system. The expression of miR-125b in plasma of the CHD group was lower than that of the non-CHD group (0.14 ± 0.09 vs. 0.18 ± 0.10, p = 0.055) and the miR-125b levels significantly decreased following an increasing Gensini score (P = 0.037). Spearman correlation analyses indicated the Gensini score was negatively associated with miR-125b (r = −0.215, p = 0.017). Of all the miRNAs, miR-125b showed the lowest AUC (0.405; 95% CI: 0.305 ~ 0.506, p = 0.070). We found several synergistic effects between miR-125b and classical risk factors, such as age, sex, CR, FBG and HDL-C; the proportion of CHD attributable to the interaction of miR-125b and age was as high as 80%. Therefore, miR-125b was shown to play an important role in individual’s susceptibility to developing CHD.

To observe the influence of electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation of "Zusanli" (ST 36) and "Kunlun" (BL 60) on serum and knee-joint IL-17 and IL-23 contents in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) rats so as to study its underlying mechanism in improving RA.Male Wistar rats were randomly allocated to normal control, RA model, EA and Prednisolone groups (n = 8 in each group). The RA model was established by intra-planta injection of incomplete Freund's adjuvant and type II collagen. EA (2 Hz/100 Hz,1-2 mA)was applied to bilateral "Zusanli"(ST 36) and "Kunlun"(BL 60) for 30 min, once daily for 10 days. The rats' ankle diameter was measured, and IL-17 and IL-23 contents in the serum and the knee-joint cavity were assayed by ELISA and Western blot, respectively.In comparison with the normal control group, the rats' ankle diameter, serum IL-17 and IL-23 contents and knee-joint IL-17 and IL-23 protein expression levels were significantly increased in the model group (P0.05). After EA and Prednisolone treatment, compared with the model group, all the rats' ankle diameter, serum IL-17 and IL-23 contents and knee-joint IL-17 and IL-23 protein expression levels were decreased remarkably (P0.05). No obvious differences were found between the EA and Prednisolone groups in the aforementioned indexes (P0.05), except IL-17 protein expression level (being markedly lower in the Prednisolone group than in the EA group).EA intervention can reduce inflammatory reaction of the ankle-joint in RA rats, which may be related to its effects in down-regulating serum and knee-joint IL-17 and IL-23 levels.

Objective This study was designed to examine the prevalence of unilateral and bilateral diagonal earlobe creases (DELCs) with respect to the diagnosis of coronary heart disease (CHD). Methods A total of 558 consecutive participants (402 males and 156 females) aged 36–91 years who underwent coronary angiography were enrolled in this study. The participants were classified as being without a DELC, having a unilateral DELC and having bilateral DELCs; participants with either a unilateral DELC or bilateral DELCs were defined as participants with DELCs. Significant CHD was defined as at least one major vessel with >50% stenosis, and coronary atherosclerosis severity was defined using the Gensini scoring system. Results In the present study, bilateral DELCs were more frequently among male (p=0.001), CHD (p=0.000), older people (p=0.000) and those with more severe coronary artery atherosclerosis (p=0.000). The results of the multiple regression analyses indicated that DELCs (OR, 4.861; 95% CI 3.093 to 7.642, p=0.000) remained independently associated with a risk of CHD. It was assumed that participants without a DELC have a certain background risk for CHD (OR is assumed to be 1); the results of the multivariate logistic regression indicated that the relative risk of CHD among participants with bilateral DELCs was 5.690 among all participants (OR, 5.690; 95% CI 3.450 to 9.384, p=0.000), 5.436 among male participants (OR, 5.436; 95% CI 2.808 to 10.523, p=0.000) and 7.148 among female participants (OR, 7.148; 95% CI 3.184 to 16.049, p=0.000). Moreover, a positive association between DELC and age (SI=1.21, SIM=1.65, AP =0.132), gender (SI=2.09, SIM=0.81, AP=0.49) and smoking status (SI=1.49, SIM=0.73, AP=0.29) was found, respectively. Conclusions The results of the present study indicated that DELCs are a simple and a feasible means of identifying CHD. However, the exact mechanism underlying the relationship between DELCs and CHD warrants further study.