Progress of researches on mechanisms of acupuncture for secondary prevention of ischemic stroke.

Ischemic stroke (IS) is one of the main causes inducing death and disability in adults. Because of the high recurrence rate of IS, prevention of recurrence is of great significance to this population, for which the evidence-based and effective secondary prevention strategy is an important means, and acupuncture intervention has a positive effect on its risk factors. In the present article, we reviewed the progress of researches on the mechanisms of acupuncture underlying prevention of IS relapse from the perspective of its main risk factors, namely 1) hypertension (preventing and controlling the adverse effects caused by the imbalance of blood pressure level, vascular and other tissue structures, endocrine factors and central nervous system activities in patients with hypertension after IS), 2) hypercholesterolemia (lowering serum total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) and raising high-density lipoprotein cholesterol), 3) diabetes (regulating the secretion function of adipose tissue, activating the insulin signal transduction pathway, protecting the function of pancreatic β cells, and regulating the central nervous system functions to participate in the secondary prevention of IS), 4) smoking (relieving the symptoms of smoking cessation and reducing the smoker's dependence on smoking by changing the internal environment, lowering the level of blood endorphin and regulating the excitability of central nervous system), 5) sleep apnea syndrome (regulating local muscle function and the excitability of the nervous system, but also affecting some organic changes as reducing tonsil swelling) and 6) obesity (lowering blood glucose and lipid, increasing the ratio of brown/white fat, reducing leptin resistance, and suppressing appetite to induce body weight loss, or directly regulate the changes of fat tissue, etc).

Expression and correlation analysis of silent information regulator 1 (SIRT1), sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1 (SREBP1), and pyroptosis factor in gestational diabetes mellitus.

Background And Aim: Globally, the prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is rising each year, yet its pathophysiology is still unclear. To shed new light on the pathogenesis of gestational diabetes mellitus and perhaps uncover new therapeutic targets, this study looked at the expression levels and correlations of SIRT1, SREBP1, and pyroptosis factors like NLRP3, Caspase-1, IL-1, and IL-18 in patients with GDM.

Methods: This study involved a comparative analysis between two groups.

[Application and thinking of acupuncture therapy in comprehensive management of hypertension].

The theory of disease prevention with traditional Chinese medicine is introduced into the prevention of chronic diseases such as hypertension. In order to fully implement the advantages of acupuncture, the three-level prevention strategy is strengthened on the whole-process intervention with acupuncture for hypertension, including prevention before disease onset, starting intervention at the early phase, and prevention disease from exacerbating. Moreover, the comprehensive management scheme, multidisciplinary coordination and participation mechanism are investigated in the field of traditional Chinese medicine for preventive treatment of hypertension.

[Acupuncture as adjuvant therapy for 32 cases of coronavirus disease 2019].

Objective: To observe the clinical effect of acupuncture on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) based on the conventional treatment.

Methods: A total of 35 patients with COVID-19 of mild or ordinary type were involved (3 cases dropped off). Acupuncture was applied on the basis of western medicine and Chinese materia medica treatment.

[Effect of fire-needle intervention on joint function, cartilage impairment and inflammatory response in knee osteoarthritis rats].

Objective: To observe the effect of fire-needle stimulation of "Neixiyan"(EX-LE4) and "Dubi"(ST35) on changes of motor function, structure of cartilage degradation and inflammatory factors in knee osteoarthritis (KOA) rats, so as to explore its underlying mechanisms in improving KOA.

Methods: Thirty-nine male SD rats were randomly divided into normal, model and fire-needle groups (＝13 in each group). The KOA model was established by injection of Monoiodoacetate (MIA, 1 mg) into the lumen of the right knee joint.

Recent advances in the annulation of Morita-Baylis-Hillman adducts.

In this review, we summarize some of the most recent advances in the construction of cyclic compounds from the annulation of Morita-Baylis-Hillman (MBH) adducts, which have demonstrated their importance by possessing diverse functional groups. Significant examples including [3 + 2], [3 + 3], [3 + 4] and other cyclizations described herein with MBH adducts were proven to be efficient approaches for the preparation of diverse cyclic structure motifs. However, most of the reported strategies are based on the use of non-chiral catalysts/ligands, whilst stereoselective reactions remain largely unexplored.