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Objective: To detect the body surface temperature of the relevant back- shu points in patients with chronic persistent asthma by infrared thermal imaging technology, and observe the specific changes of the body surface temperature of the relevant back- shu points under the condition of lung disease., Methods: Forty-five patients with chronic persistent asthma (observation group) and 45 healthy subjects (control group) were selected. The body surface temperature of bilateral Feishu (BL 13), Geshu (BL 17), Pishu (BL 20) and Shenshu (BL 23) were measured by BK-MT02A medical infrared thermography., Results: The body surface temperature of bilateral Feishu (BL 13), Geshu (BL 17), Pishu (BL 20) and Shenshu (BL 23) in the observation group was higher than that in the control group ( P <0.01, P <0.05). The body surface temperature of bilateral Feishu (BL 13) and Geshu (BL 17) was higher than that of ipsilateral Pishu (BL 20) and Shenshu (BL 23) in the two groups ( P <0.01, P <0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in body surface temperature between ipsilateral Feishu (BL 13) and Geshu (BL 17), between ipsilateral Pishu (BL 20) and Shenshu (BL 23) ( P >0.05)., Conclusion: The pathological increase of body surface temperature of Feishu (BL 13), Geshu (BL 17), Pishu (BL 20) and Shenshu (BL 23) in patients with chronic persistent asthma indicates that above acupoints have specificity in reflecting lung diseases. The Feishu (BL 13) and Geshu (BL 17), which have significantly increased body surface temperature, not only provide objective basis for the pathological pathogenesis of "deficiency in origin and excess in symptom" in patients with chronic persistent asthma, but also reflect the different expressions of different acupoints on the same meridian for the lung diseases.

Migraine without aura (MWoA) is a major neurological disorder with unsatisfactory adherence to current medications. Acupuncture has emerged as a promising method for treating MWoA. However, the brain mechanism underlying acupuncture is yet unclear. The present study aimed to examine the effects of acupuncture in regulating brain connectivity of the key regions in pain modulation. In this study, MWoA patients were recruited and randomly assigned to 4 weeks of real or sham acupuncture. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data were collected before and after the treatment. A modern neuroimaging literature meta-analysis of 515 fMRI studies was conducted to identify pain modulation-related key regions as regions of interest (ROIs). Seed-to-voxel resting state-functional connectivity (rsFC) method and repeated-measures two-way analysis of variance were conducted to determine the interaction effects between the two groups and time (baseline and post-treatment). The changes in rsFC were evaluated between baseline and post-treatment in real and sham acupuncture groups, respectively. Clinical data at baseline and post-treatment were also recorded in order to determine between-group differences in clinical outcomes as well as correlations between rsFC changes and clinical effects. 40 subjects were involved in the final analysis. The current study demonstrated significant improvement in real acupuncture vs sham acupuncture on headache severity (monthly migraine days), headache impact (6-item Headache Impact Test), and health-related quality of life (Migraine-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire). Five pain modulation-related key regions, including the right amygdala (AMYG), left insula (INS), left medial orbital superior frontal gyrus (PFCventmed), left middle occipital gyrus (MOG), and right middle cingulate cortex (MCC), were selected based on the meta-analysis on brain imaging studies. This study found that 1) after acupuncture treatment, migraine patients of the real acupuncture group showed significantly enhanced connectivity in the right AMYG/MCC-left MTG and the right MCC-right superior temporal gyrus (STG) compared to that of the sham acupuncture group; 2) negative correlations were established between clinical effects and increased rsFC in the right AMYG/MCC-left MTG; 3) baseline right AMYG-left MTG rsFC predicts monthly migraine days reduction after treatment. The current results suggested that acupuncture may concurrently regulate the rsFC of two pain modulation regions in the AMYG and MCC. MTG and STG may be the key nodes linked to multisensory processing of pain modulation in migraine with acupuncture treatment. These findings highlighted the potential of acupuncture for migraine management and the mechanisms underlying the modulation effects., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To explore the dynamic change and clinical efficacy of acupuncture at Sifeng (EX-UE 10) on appetite regulating factors in the serum of infantile anorexia., Methods: Eighty cases, in compliance with the diagnostic criteria, aged from 3 to 6 years were randomized into an acupuncture group and a medication group, 40 cases in each one. Additionally, a healthy control group (30 cases) was set up. In the acupuncture group, the pricking method was adopted at Sifeng (EX-UE 10) with the three-edged needle. A few light yellow, transparent viscous liquid or blood was squeezed out after pricking. The treatment was given once a week, for 4 weeks totally. In the medication group, erkangning syrup was administered, 3 times a day, for 4 weeks totally. The ghrelin, leptin and neuropeptide Y (NPY), and the clinical efficacy were observed before and after treatment in each group., Results: The levels of ghrelin and NPY before treatment in acupuncture group and the medication group were lower apparently than those in the healthy control group (all P < 0.01), but the level of leptin was higher appa-rently than that in the healthy control group (P < 0.01). After treatment, the levels of ghrelin and NPY were higher apparently than those before treatment in the acupuncture group (both P < 0.01), and the level of leptin was lower apparently than that before treatment (P < 0.01). All of the above indices in the acupuncture group were improved obviously after treatment as compared with those in the medication group (all P < 0.01). The remarkable and effective rate were 82.5% (33/40) and 32.5% (13/40) and the total effective rate were 95.0% (38/40) and 45.0% (18/40) in the acupuncture group and medication group separately, the results in the acupuncture group were superior to the medication group (both P < 0.01)., Conclusion: Acupuncture at Sifeng (EX-UE 10) effectively promotes the secretion of ghrelin and NPY and inhibit leptin. It effectively promotes appetite for the children and the efficacy is superior to erkangning syrup.

Objective: To compare the efficacy difference between acupuncture and western medication in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis., Methods: One hundred and twenty cases were randomly divided into an acupunc ture group and a western medication group, 60 cases in each group. In acupuncture group, acupuncture was applied mainly to Neixiyan (EX-LE 4), Dubi (ST 35), Yinlingquan (SP 9) and Yanglingquan (GB 34) and to the other acupoints selected according to syndrome differentiation. In western medication group, Glucosamine Hydrochloride capsules were applied for oral administration, 2 capsules each time, 3 times per day. Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC)and Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36, Chinese version) were used to assess the therapeutic effect before treatment, after 4 weeks treatment and in follow-up visit of 9 weeks after treatment separately., Results: After 4 weeks treatment, the total effective rate was 86.7% (52/60) in acupuncture group and was 88.3% (53/60) in western medication group, indicating no statistical significant difference in the comparison between two groups (P > 0.05). In 9 weeks after treatment, the total effective rate was 83.3% (50/60) in acupuncture group, which was better than 61.7% (37/60, P < 0.05) in western medication group. The scores of WOMAC and SF-36 were all improved after treatment as compared with those before treatment in two groups (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). There were no significant differences in comparison between two groups after 4 weeks treatment (all P > 0.05). But, in follow-up visit of 9 weeks after treatment, the scores of WOMAC and SF-36 in acupuncture group were superior to those in western medication group (P < 0.05, P < 0.01)., Conclusion: The short-term efficacies on osteoarthritis of knee in acupuncture group according to syndrome differentiation are similar to that of oral adiministration of Glucosamine Hydrochloride, but the long-term efficacy in acupuncture group is better than that in western medication group.