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Pigment production is a unique character of melanocytes. Numerous factors are linked with melanin production, including genetics, ultraviolet radiation (UVR) and inflammation. Understanding the mechanism of melanogenesis is crucial to identify new preventive and therapeutic strategies in the treatment of melanoma. Here, we reviewed the current available literatures on the mechanisms of melanogenesis, including the signaling pathways of UVR-induced pigment production, MC1R’s central determinant roles and MITF as a master transcriptional regulator in melanogenesis. Moreover, we further highlighted the role of targeting BRAF, NRAS and MC1R in melanoma prevention and treatment. The combination therapeutics of immunotherapy and targeted kinase inhibitors are becoming the newest therapeutic option in advanced melanoma.

Diabetic wounds are a protracted complication of diabetes mainly characterised by chronic inflammation, obstruction of epithelialization, damaged blood vessels and collagen production (maturation), as well as neuropathy. As a non-coding RNA (ncRNA) that lack coding potential, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently been reported to play a salient role in diabetic wound healing. Here, this review summarises the roles of lncRNAs in the pathology and treatments of diabetic wounds, providing references for its potential clinical diagnostic criteria or therapeutic targets in the future.

Background As an immune regulator expressed on the surface of activated T cells, programmed cell death 1 (PDCD1) plays an important role in psoriasis. However, whether PDCD1 genetic polymorphism is associated with psoriasis has yet to be explored. Objective To study the association between polymorphisms of the immune‐related gene PDCD1 and psoriasis susceptibility in the Chinese population, to illustrate the genetic mechanism of psoriasis and provide new research ideas for the diagnosis and treatment of psoriasis (PS). Methods Overall, 128 psoriasis patients and 88 healthy controls were included in this study. Using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)‐Sanger sequencing analysis, six PDCD1 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were sequenced: PD1.1, PD1.3, PD1.4, PD1.5, PD1.6, and PD1.9. Results Among the six tested SNPs, PD1.6 showed a significant association with psoriasis in genotype and allele frequency distribution. The G allele of PD1.6 increased the risk of psoriasis (P = 0.03). In contrast, the other five SNPs failed to show association with psoriasis. Further analysis within the patient group showed that the frequency of the PD1.6 G allele was relatively high in severe psoriasis, but the difference was nonsignificant. Conclusion PDCD1 gene polymorphism is associated with psoriasis. The population carrying PD1.6 allele G are at a higher risk of developing psoriasis, though the severity of psoriasis does not correlate with PD1.6 polymorphism.

Increasing evidence suggests that long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are of vital importance for various biological processes, and dysregulation of lncRNAs is frequently associated with various diseases such as psoriasis. LncRNAs modulate gene expression at the transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and translational levels; however, the specific regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs in psoriasis remain largely unexplored. This review provides an overview of recent studies investigating mechanisms and functions of lncRNAs in psoriasis, especially focusing on the role of lncRNAs in keratinocytes, T cells, and dendritic cells.

Glycosides from the roots of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. f. are used for the treatment of oral lichen planus (OLP), a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the oral mucosa. To investigate the effectiveness and safety of Tripterygium glycosides (TGs) for OLP treatment, we conducted a systematic review of 18 randomized controlled trials, comprising 1,339 participants, from international and Chinese databases. We evaluated outcomes of TGs alone or in combination with conventional treatments. In combination with topical glucocorticoids (TGCs), including triamcinolone acetonide and prednisone, the total effectiveness rate (risk ratio [RR], 1.17; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-1.25; p < .00001), symptom score reducing index (mean difference [MD], -2.44; 95% CI, -3.12 to -1.77; p < .0001), and visual analog scale score (MD, -1.61; 95% CI, -2.22 to -1.00; p < .0001) were significantly improved. Patients treated with TGs combined with TGCs experienced lower recurrence rates (RR, 0.37; 95% CI, 0.18-0.76; p = 0.007). The occurrence of adverse events was not significantly different between the TGs groups and controls. The combination of TG and TGCs improved clinical efficacy and reduced recurrence without increasing the risk of adverse events. A high-quality multicenter clinical study is needed to corroborate these findings.

Background Postoperative ileus (POI) is an important complication of gastrointestinal (GI) surgery. Acupuncture has been increasingly used in treating POI. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture for POI following GI surgery. Methods Seven databases (PubMed, Embase, the Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wan fang Data, VIP Database for Chinese Technical Periodicals, and Chinese Biomedical Literature Database) and related resources were searched from inception to May 30, 2021. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) reporting the acupuncture for POI in GI were included. The quality of RCTs was assessed by the Cochrane Collaboration Risk of Bias tool, and the certainty of the evidence was evaluated by the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) approach. A meta-analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.4 software. Results Eighteen RCTs involving 1413 participants were included. The meta-analysis showed that acupuncture could reduce the time to first flatus (TFF) (standardized mean difference [SMD] = −1.14, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −1.54 to −0.73, P < 0.00001), time to first defecation (TFD) (SMD = −1.31, 95% CI: −1.88 to −0.74, P < 0.00001), time to bowel sounds recovery (TBSR) (SMD = −1.57, 95% CI: −2.14 to −1.01, P < 0.00001), and length of hospital stay (LOS) (mean difference [MD] = −1.68, 95% CI: −2.55 to −0.80, P = 0.0002) compared with usual care. A subgroup analysis found that acupuncture at distal acupoints once daily after surgery had superior effects on reducing TFF and TFD. A sensitivity analysis supported the validity of the finding. Acupuncture also manifested an effect of reducing TFF, TFD and TBSR compared with sham acupuncture but the result was not stable. Relatively few trials have reported whether adverse events have occurred. Conclusions Acupuncture showed a certain effect in reducing POI following GI surgery with very low-to-moderate quality of evidence. The overall safety of acupuncture should be further validated. More high-quality, large-scale, and multicenter original trials are needed in the future.

Background Moderate-severe acne treatment involves the use of isotretinoin and antibiotics as first-line therapeutics; however, these drugs have serious side effects. Fire needle therapy, which is widely used in China, has shown good clinical efficacy for treating moderate-severe acne; moreover, it has fewer side effects, hence, it can be used as a primary treatment (as an alternative to pharmaceutical medications) or in combination with pharmaceutical medications for clinical treatment. However, current clinical evidence regarding its use has not been comprehensively evaluated. Methods We systematically searched several databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, China Network Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), China Biomedical Literature Service System (SinoMed), China Science and Technology Journal Database (CQVIP), and Wanfang Data Knowledge Service Platform, from their inception time to November 22, 2018. Randomized controlled trials conducted to compare the efficacy, acne recurrence, and adverse events associated with fire needle therapy alone, or in combination with Chinese herbs or conventional pharmaceutical medication, to those of pharmaceutical treatment were selected. RevMan 5.3 software was used to calculate risk ratio (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results Ten trials, with a total of 904 participants, met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analyses showed that fire needle treatment with clindamycin or oral isotretinoin treatment had advantages over pharmaceutical medications alone in the treatment of moderate-severe acne [RR = 2.18, 95% CI (1.19, 3.99), P = 0.03 random model; I2 = 72%]. Moreover, the use of fire needle therapy alone in the treatment of moderate-severe acne had a better effect than pharmaceutical medications, regardless of the type of pharmaceutical medication used [RR = 2.32, 95% CI (1.77, 3.03), P Conclusion Fire needle therapy alone or combined with other treatments is effective for moderate-severe acne. However, further large-scale, rigorously designed trials are needed to confirm these findings.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Sheng-ji Hua-yu (SJHY) formula is a Chinese herbal prescription for diabetic ulcers (DUs) treatment, which can accelerate wound reconstruction and shorten the healing time. However, its mechanism role maintains unclear. Aim of the study To elucidate the molecular mechanisms of SJHY application on DUs. Materials and methods To begin with, transcriptome sequencing was adopted to identified differentially expression mRNAs among normal ulcers, DUs, and DUs + SJHY treatment in vivo. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was applied for the quality control of SJHY formula. GO and KEGG enrichment analysis were used to identify the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effect of SJHY formula, and then gene set enrichment analysis and ingenuity pathway analysis were conducted for functional analysis. Further, qPCR detection was performed in vivo for validation. Results SJHY administration could regulate the glucose metabolic process, AMPK and HIF-1 pathway to accelerate healing processes of DUs. Besides, CRHR1, SHH, and GAL were identified as the critical targets, and SLC6A3, GRP, FGF23, and CYP27B1 were considered as the upstream genes of SJHY treatment. Combined with animal experiments, the prediction results were validated in DUs mice model. Conclusions This study used modular pharmacology analysis to identify the biomarkers of SJHY formula and provide the potential therapeutic targets for DUs treatment as well.

Background Psoriasis is a chronic relapsing inflammatory skin disease that may markedly influence the patients’ physical health and mental condition. According to animal models and clinical researches, it has been proved that Jueyin granules (JYG), a Chinese formula comprised of seven kinds of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), is a therapeutic agent for treating psoriasis, while the specific mechanisms of the anti-inflammation effects of JYG have not been fully elucidated. Objective To uncover the underlying mechanisms of the action of JYG on psoriasis by proteomics clues. Materials and methods Differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) were explored by tandem mass tag (TMT)-based quantitative proteomics analysis after JYG treatment (administered intragastrically for 12 days). Bioinformatics analysis of DEPs was conducted through hierarchical clustering, volcano plot, gene ontology (GO), and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis. Major DEPs were further identified by enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Results Ninety-five DEPs were identified, including 57 up-regulated and 38 down-regulated proteins, between imiquimod (IMQ) and IMQ+JYG groups. GO analysis indicated that DEPs were mainly associated with keratin filament, intermediate filament, extracellular exosome, extracellular space, innate immune response, keratinization, and keratinocyte differentiation. The KEGG pathway analysis manifested that estrogen signaling pathway, cholesterol metabolism, fat digestion, absorption, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR), and interleukin (IL)-17 signaling pathway might be the paramount pathways, through which JYG functioned on psoriasis. Furthermore, we determined that JYG could regulate macrophage and CD4+ T cell phenotypes by inducing autophagy. Conclusions JYG may induce autophagy by up-regulating ApoA1 and inhibit the infiltration of CD4+ T cells and macrophages, thereby alleviating IMQ-induced psoriatic inflammation.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by excessive proliferation of keratinocytes (KCs). Onset of psoriasis is related to genetic, immune and environmental factors. The environment can interact with the genome through epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation, and this modification is involved in the pathogenesis of psoriasis. In addition to a skin disease, psoriasis is also considered a systemic disease. We reviewed the current literature of psoriatic DNA methylation for studies from several aspects on the DNA methylation distribution patterns in different tissues/cells, single-nucleotide polymorphisms, and candidate disease genes and identified target genes regulated by DNA methylation that have been directly/indirectly validated. This review contributes to a comprehensive understanding of the important a role that DNA methylation plays in psoriasis from a holistic perspective and will promote the implementation of DNA methylation in diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for psoriatic patients.

Chemotherapy-induced neutropenia, a symptom of neutrophil depletion, makes cancer patients highly susceptible to invasive fungal infection with substantial morbidity and mortality. To address the cryptococcal brain infection in this condition, this study attempts to arm neutrophils (NEs) with antibiotics to potentiate the antifungal capability of NEs. To allow effective integration, amphotericin B, a potent antibiotic, is assembled with albumin nanoparticles through hydrophobic and hydrogen-bond interactions to form AmB@BSA nanoparticles (A-NPs). The nutrient composition (albumin) and virus-like size (~40 nm) facilitate efficient uptake of A-NPs by NEs to construct the antibiotics-armed NEs. It is demonstrated that the armed NEs can maintain the intrinsic biological functions of NEs, such as cell viability and capacity of migration to an inflammatory site. In a neutropenic mouse model of brain fungal infection, the treatment with the armed NEs allows for preventing fungal invasion more effectively than that with the native NEs, without the apparent systemic toxicity. Such a synergistic anti-infection system maximizes the antifungal effects by taking advantage of NEs and antibiotics. It provides a potential NEs-mediated therapeutic approach for treating fungal infection caused by chemotherapy-induced neutropenia.

Persistent chronic inflammation and delayed epithelialization lead to stalled healing in diabetic ulcers (DUs). PD-L1 shows anti-inflammatory and proliferative activities in healing defects, whereas its function in DU pathogenesis remains unknown. Lower levels of PD-L1 were found in DU tissues, and exogenous PD-L1 has therapeutic effects in the healing process by accelerating re-epithelialization and attenuating prolonged inflammation, which contributed to the delayed wound closure. We detected the downstream effectors of PD-L1 using transcriptional profiles and screened the interacting proteins using immunoprecipitation in combination with mass spectrometry and coimmunoprecipitation assays. The biological functions of eIF3I‒PD-L1‒IRS4 axis were tested both in vivo and in vitro. Finally, we validated the expression levels of eIF3I, PD-L1, and IRS4 in DU tissues from human clinical samples by immunohistochemistry staining. Mechanistically, PD-L1 binds to eIF3I and promotes cutaneous diabetic wound healing by downregulating IRS4. These findings identify that the eIF3I‒PD-L1‒IRS4 axis contributes to wound healing defects, which can serve as a potential therapeutic target in DUs.

Taodan granules (TDG) have been observed to decrease interleukins, or psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score for psoriasis vulgaris, without significant adverse events. However, the regulatory network remains elucidated.The objective is to identify critical genes and kernel pathways of TDG treated psoriasis.Firstly, construct a network of components-targets of TDG using network pharmacology. Secondly, the ClusterONE algorithm was used to build a modular network and identify critical genes and corresponding pathways. Thirdly, the critical genes and kernel pathways were verified in imiquimod (IMQ) induced psoriasis-like mice model.The results validated that TDG downregulated the mRNA expression of MMP2 (degree = 5, P 0.05), IL6 (degree = 9, P 0.05), TNF (degree = 14, P 0.05), CCL2 (degree = 8, P 0.05), CXCL2 (degree = 8, P 0.05), IL1B (degree = 9, P 0.05), and JUN (degree = 9, P 0.05), while upregulated IL10 (degree = 8) expression. Besides, TDG were observed to regulate IL17 signaling pathway and TNF signaling pathway (size = 18), via the skin tissue homogenate of psoriasis-like mice.In summary, this study identified the potential targets and pathways, providing additional evidence for the clinical application of TDG treated psoriasis.

Pancreatic cancer is often accompanied by severe abdominal or back pain. It's the first study to evaluate the analgesic effect of electroacupuncture on pancreatic cancer pain. A randomized controlled trial compared electroacupuncture with control acupuncture using the placebo needle.Sixty patients with pancreatic cancer pain were randomly assigned to the electroacupuncture group (n = 30) and the placebo control group (n = 30). Patients were treated on Jiaji (Ex-B2) points T8-T12 bilaterally for 30 min once a day for 3 days. Pain intensity was assessed with numerical rated scales (NRS) before the treatment (Baseline), after 3 treatments, and 2 days follow-up.Baseline characteristics were similar in the two groups. After 3 treatment, pain intensity on NRS decreased compared with Baseline (-1.67, 95% confidence interval [CI] -1.46 to -1.87) in the electroacupuncture group; there was little change (-0.13, 95% CI 0.08 to -0.35) in control group; the difference between two groups was statistically significant (P 0.001). Follow-up also found a significant reduction in pain intensity in the electroacupuncture group compared with the control group (P 0.001).Electroacupuncture was an effective treatment for relieving pancreatic cancer pain.

To observe the effect of acupuncture intervention on the diarrhea, mucosal thickness of the small intestine, plasma endotoxin (ET) and D-lactic acid (D-LA) contents, and diamine oxidase (DAO) activity in 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu) induced intestinal mucosal damage rats, in order to provide an experimental basis for acupuncture therapy in improving chemotherapy-induced intestinal mucosa injury.Thirty female SD rats were randomly divided into control group, model group and acupuncture group (n = 10 in each group). The intestinal mucosal damage model was established by intraperitoneal injection of 5-Fu (50 mg/kg, for six consecutive days). Acupuncture stimulation was applied to bilateral "Tianshu" (ST 25) and "Zusanli" (ST 36) once a day for six consecutive days. The changes of body weight and diarrhea score (0-3 points, according to Kurita's methods) as well as mucosal thickness of the small intestine were determined. The plasma ET and D-LA contents, and DAO activity were measured by ELISA.On the sixth day, the body weight was significantly higher in the acupuncture group than in the model group (P0.05). After intraperitoneal injection of 5-Fu, both the incidence rate and average score of diarrhea reached the peak on the sixth day in the model and acupuncture groups, and were significantly lower in the acupuncture group than in the model group (P0.01). On the seventh day, the mucosal thickness of small intestine was significantly lower in the model group than in the control group (P0.05), but had no remarkable changes after acupuncture intervention( P0.05). The contents of plasma ET and D-LA and DAO activity level were significantly higher in the model group than in the control group, and markedly decreased in the acupuncture group than in the model group (P0.01).Acupuncture intervention can lower the incidence rate and average score of diarrhea and down-regulate the increased plasma ET and D-LA contents and DAO activity levels in 5-Fu induced intestinal mucosal damage rats, suggesting a somewhat protective effect of acupuncture against chemotherapy induced damage of the intestinal mucosal barrier.

OBJECTIVE To apply the real-time data collection and demonstration system for acupuncture manipulation to quantitative analysis of acupuncture manipulation for acupuncture teaching and research. METHODS The real-time observation and analysis of parameter changes of acupuncture manipulation were implemented by this system. RESULTS During the course of lifting and thrusting manipulation, the needle body moved in a uniform variable motion, and the action force was still kept while the arrival of Qi was achieved. During the course of twirling manipulation, the variations of twirling number and radian caused the changes of resistance moment, and this reaction was related to the body response. During the course of rotating and shaking manipulation, the radius for rotating and shaking was related to such factors as the force, the action point and the direction. CONCLUSION The real-time data collection and demonstration system for acupuncture manipulation can provide a new experimental method for quantitative data analysis, standardized research and teaching demonstration of acupuncture.

To observe the dose-effect relationship of electroacupuncture of different current intensities combined with Morphine of different dosage on alleviating the rats' tibial cancer pain, and explore the possible mechanism, which could provide the experiment basis for alleviating the tibial cancer pain by electroacupuncture combined with Morphine.One hundred female Wistar rats were randomly divided into a normal group, a model group and eight treatment groups, 10 cases in each group. The rats in the treatment groups were treated by combined therapies of electroacupuncture of different intensities with 2 Hz /100 Hz dense-disperse wave on "Jiaji"(EX-B 2)and different dosage Morphine in 2 factor 3 level conditions, once a day for 6 days. The pain thresholds were observed before the treatment and 0 min, 1 h, 2 h and 5 h after the first treatment as well as after 3 and 6 times of treatments. The glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression was determined by immunohistochemical method.The rats' pain thresholds were significantly increased with electroacupuncture of 2 mA and 1 mA (all P0.01) on the 0 min, 1 h and 2 h of the first treatment, between which there were no significant differences (all P0.05). The pain threshold was still increased by electroacupuncture of 2 mA on the 5 h of the treatment (P0.01), while that of 1 mA failed to take effect (P0.05). After 3 and 6 times of treatments, both electroacupuncture of 2 mA and 1 mA had the effect of increasing the pain threshold (all P0.01), and the effect of 2 mA was superior to that of 1 mA (P0.05), had the synergistic effect with 5 mg/(kg x d) Morphine (P0.05). After 6 times of treatments, both electroacupuncture of 2 mA and 1 mA could inhibit the expression of GFAP (both P0.01), and there was no significant difference between them (P0.05). Both of 5 mg/(kg x d) and 2.5 mg/(kg x d) of Morphine, however, didn't bring about inhibition effect (P0.05).There is a does-effect relationship on electroacupuncture of different current intensity for alleviating the tibial cancer pain in rats. The electroacupuncture with 2 mA, which is better than that with 1 mA, has the synergistic effect with 5 mg/(kg x d) of Morphine. The electroacupuncture can inhibit the expression of GFAP to cooperate with Morphine for the purpose of alleviating the rats' tibial cancer pain.

The questionnaire and the result of 2010' Hwato Cup National University Students' Acupuncture Manipulation Skills Competition were analyzed in this paper. It was showed that the competition achieved the significant effects of enhancing acupuncture manipulation skills for the university students and promoting the standardization on teaching acupuncture manipulation skills. The teachers and students were not very satisfied with the current acupuncture manipulation skill education. In the competition, only the item of reciting the classics achieved more than 90 scores, which just displayed the memory ability. The results of the manipulation competition were generally not very high. It is suggested that concerning to teaching acupuncture and moxibustion in the future, the ratio of class time for improving the practice ability on the human body should be increased and the practice on some manipulation techniques such as inserting the needle by holding the needle tip with the pressing hand, reinforcing-reducing technique by twirling and rotating the needle and warming needle technique should be intensified. It is necessary to enhance the interpretation, emphasis and supplementation on the keys and details of some manipulations of acupuncture and moxibustion.

To study the effect of acupuncture on skeletal muscle endurance in rats as a pre-games assistant training.Thirty male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: control, model and acupuncture group. Acupuncture group was treated at "Dazhui" (GV 14), "Housanli" (ST 36) by twisting mild reinforcing-reducing method for 20 min, no interventions were added on control and model group. Muscle strength was detected in three groups under anaesthetic (after model established in model group, after model established and treated in acupuncture group). Averaged change percentage of mean skeletal muscle endurance (P(m)) and averaged maximum percentage of skeletal muscle endurance (P(max)) were evaluated.(1) 10P(m) in model group decreased more than acupuncture group statistically (P0.05); 20P(m), 30P(m) and 40P(m) in model group decreased significantly compared to those in control group and acupuncture group (P0.05, P0.01). (2) Changes of 10P(max) in acupuncture group was much less than in model group (P0.05); changes of 20P(max), 30P(max), 40P(max) and 50P(max) decreased more in model group than in acupuncture group and control group (P0.01, P0.05).As an assistant training method, acupuncture can postpone descending point of muscle strength endurance to delay sport fatigue.

By using "Acupuncture Manipulation Information Analyzing System", the traditional reinforcing and reducing manipulations of acupuncture described in classical Chinese medical books were imitated and their parameters analyzed. It was found that in the oscillogram, the differences between the reinforcing and reducing manipulations (rapid-slow reinforcing-reducing skill, lifting-thrusting reinforcing-reducing skill) are the bigger duration of descending branch (t1) and smaller duration of ascending branch (t2) for the former, and shorter t1 and longer t2 for the later, due to slow insertion and rapid withdrawal of the acupuncture needle for the reinforcing, and rapid insertion and slow withdrawal of needle for the reducing. While for twirling reinforcing, t1t2 for predominantly-leftward twirling, and for twirling reducing, t1t2 for predominantly-rightward twirling were found. In addition, it is supposed that those parameters as the amplitude (s), frequency (f) and duration of one cycle (t) of the oscillogram may be related to acupuncture stimulating quantity, while t3 (duration of the plateau segment), t4 (duration of the horizontal plane segment) and their variance may be associated with the stability of the acupuncture manipulation. Due to the limited literal recordation, some other traditional acupuncture manipulations can not simulate indeed, because we don't know how to perform those kinds of acupuncture manipulation. This just reflects the importance of objectivity of acupuncture manipulations.

To observe the therapeutic effect of acupoint electrogymnastics therapy on apoplectic hemiplegia, so as to further popularize this therapy in treatment of apoplectic hemiplegia.Using three-central, randomized, controlled, multi-blind methods, 153 cases were divided into an electrogymnastics group (n = 77) and an electroacupuncture group (n = 76). They were treated with acupoint electrogymnastics (AE) and traditional electroacupuncture (TEA), respectively. Shousanli (LI 10) and Waiguan (TE 5) on upper limbs and Yanglingquan (GB 34) and Zusanli (ST 36) on the lower limbs were selected in the two groups. A JD-2008 hemiplegia treatment apparatus was used in the AE group. Fugl-Meyer method was used for assessment of motor function and sense function of the four limbs, balance function and joint activity, etc. before and after treatment.In the motor function and sense function of four limbs, balance function and joint activity in the two groups had significant improvement after treatment (both P0. 001) with no significant difference between the two groups (P0.05).Both acupoint electrogymnastics (AE) and traditional electroacupuncture (TEA) have a similar therapeutic effect on apoplectic hemiplegia, but AE has the advantages of safety, reliability and convenience in operation, so it is suitable for long-term rehabilitation treatment of the patient and for popularization in hospital of basic level.

To understand the standardization of acupuncture manipulation methods at present.Apply "the acupuncture manipulation information analysis system" to analyze the collective acupuncture manipulation methods of teachers and acupuncture and moxibustion physicians, and to find basic rules of acupuncture manipulation methods.In the 6 basic acupuncture reinforcing and reducing manipulations researched in this study, almost all of the 7 parameters analyzed showed significant differences (P0.01), indicating that the basic acupuncture manipulation of reinforcing and reducing is lack of uniform manipulation standardization, which may be due to acupuncture manipulation having no objective standard as basis; it also was found that there were more differences among various acupuncture manipulations, but the difference between reinforcing and reducing manipulations was reflected in every manipulator's experimental data, and showed the same characteristics as those recorded in traditional acupuncture and moxibustion literatures, suggesting a that teaching and clinical practice of acupuncture manipulation possibly are at the present situation of good qualification and worse quantification.

Acupuncture anesthesia (AA) appeared in 1950s. It originates with Chinese TCM researchers and is one of important achievements of modern medicine. AA was developed vigorously and applied widely between 1960s-1970s. Due to the objective and subjective reasons, clinical application and research of AA in recent 20 years have developed very little. The paper reviews the formation and development processes of AA, analyzes the advantages and mechanisms of AA and its problems, then provides the feasible advice for the development of AA.

The electric characteristics of acupoints have been confirmed by researchers at home and abroad. Because the traditional detection methods are various (mainly are different positions of the reference electrode), and they are influenced by many affective factors, with unstable results and bad repeatability, so the studies of the electric characteristics of acupoints are limited. The acupoint electric characteristic sensing needle is introduced in detail from its design, detection methods and so on, which can detects changes of the acupoint electric characteristics of channels and acupoints in different healthy states real-timely, dynamically and continuously. It not only can avoid those affective factors, and also the detective results are relatively stable and the repeatability is also better.

Through literature review of acupoint electric characteristic (AEC) detection, some problems in the traditional method of AEC detection were found. The major reasons were lack of distinguishing the relationship between the acupoint and "skin on the acupoint" in the electric characteristics, which can not solve those objective and subjective interferential factors in acupoint detection. Therefore, the traditional acupoint detection method is not stable, and its repeatability is no good. The conception to design the probe of acupoint characteristic detection is put forward, which can give a real time and dynamic detection for the electric characteristics of the acupoint's various anatomic layers. Meanwhile, the circumstance of the body tissue is relatively stable, so the detection method can avoid those interferential factors.

To search for a stimulation method for increasing athletes' performance.One hundred and fifty athletes were randomly divided into a trial group and a control group, 75 athletes in each group. Acupoints were stimulated with audio frequency pulse modulated wave and multi-blind method were used to investigate effects of the electric stimulation of acupoints on 30-meter running, standing long jumping and Cybex isokinetic testing index.The acupoint electric stimulation method could significantly increase athlete's performance (P0.05), and the biomechanical indexes, maximal peak moment of force (P0.05), force moment accelerating energy (P0.05) and average power (P0.05).Electrical acupoint stimulation can enhance athlete's rapid strength.

To explore the best pulse waveform of electroacupuncture for treatment of adjuvant arthritis (AA).Forty Wistar rats were randomly divided into 5 groups. The electroacupuncture groups of AA were treated with different pulse waveforms of electroacupuncture, respectively. Pain threshold, swelling degrees of joint, and contents of 5-HT, beta-EP and LEK in local tissues of inflammation were observed.After the treatment, pain thresholds of the electroacupuncture groups with different pulse waveforms were higher than that of the model group (P0.05, P0.01); the local swelling degrees of inflammation in the electroacupuncture group were higher than that in the normal group (P0. 01), but was lower than that in the model group (P0.05, P0. 01); the contents of 5-HT in local tissues of inflammation in the electroacupuncture groups were lower than that in the model group (P0.05, P0.01); in comparison with the model group, the electroacupuncture of sound-electric wave increased the contents of beta-EP and LEK (P0.01, P0.05) and the electroacupuncture of intermittent wave increased the content of beta-EP in local tissues of inflammation (P0.05).Sound-electric wave is the best pulse waveform of electroacupuncture for treatment of adjuvant arthritis.