A clinical study on medical cupping for metabolic syndrome with abdominal obesity

目的:观察药罐疗法治疗代谢综合征(MetS)腹型肥胖的临床疗效。方法:将75例MetS腹型肥胖患者随机分为药罐组、针刺组、等待组各25例。药罐组给予化浊消满中药外抹和拔罐治疗,每周治疗两次,共八周;针刺组采用“通调带脉法”针刺治疗,每周治疗三次,共8周;空白等待组观察8周。观察比较三组治疗前后代谢性指标,包括腰围(WC)、血压和空腹血甘油三酯(TG)、高密度脂蛋白-胆固醇(HDL-C)、血糖(FBG)、餐后2小时血糖(2hBG),和腹部皮下脂肪厚度的变化。结果:治疗后,药罐组和针刺组WC、TG、FBG、2hBG均低于等待组,药罐组与针刺组各指标均无差异。药罐组和针刺组脐上、脐右、侧腰皮下脂肪厚度均低于等待组;药罐组脐上、侧腰皮下脂肪厚度低于针刺组。药罐组和针刺组MetS患病率低于等待组。结论:药罐治疗能有效缓解MetS腹型肥胖的各代谢性指标和腹部皮下脂肪厚度,减少MetS的患病率,疗效优于对照组,且与针刺组相当。药罐治疗频次少于针刺治疗,同时解决了部分患者对针刺的恐惧,值得临床推广。

Ectopic pregnancy implanted under the diaphragm: A rare case report

BACKGROUND Abdominal pregnancy is a rare type of ectopic pregnancy.We describe here a case of ectopic pregnancy implanted under the surface of the diaphragm,presenting the particular features of imaging findings from ultrasound,computed tomography(CT)and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI).CASE SUMMARY A 30-year-old woman presented with complaint of intermittent abdominal pain,that had begun 5 d earlier.She had no current or abnormal vaginal bleeding,and her serum human chorionic gonadotropin level(13372.08 IU/L)indicated pregnancy.Vaginal ultrasound showed a mixed echogenic mass in the right ovary.CT(plain)scan showed a curved high density mass beneath the subhepatic space.MRI scan showed a curved mixed signal,with restricted diffusion beneath the subhepatic space.Abdominal ultrasound demonstrated a mixed echogenic mass in the right lobe of the liver near the apex of the diaphragm,with a visible yolk sac and germ cell region with a bud.Subsequent laparoscopy visualized a dark red mass under the right diaphragm,which was resected completely.Histopathological examination of the resected mass confirmed an ectopic pregnancy.The recovery was swift and uneventful,and the patient was discharged to home.CONCLUSION Ectopic pregnancy should be in the differential diagnostic workup(via multiple imaging modalities)of childbearing woman with unexplained abdominal pain.

Oncogenic osteomalacia caused by a phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor of the femur: A case report

BACKGROUND Oncogenic osteomalacia caused by phosphaturic mesenchymal tumors is very difficult to detect.We report a case of tumor-induced osteomalacia caused by a phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor of the left femur in a middle-aged woman after medical imaging and biopsy.CASE SUMMARY A 57-year-old woman presented with progressive bone pain for five years.She was diagnosed with hypophosphatemic osteomalacia,as her laboratory data showed low serum phosphorus and low serum calcium.Her knee joint radiography revealed an osteolytic lesion of the left femur.A computed tomography scan showed mixed density shadows in the left femur.Magnetic resonance imaging of the left femur showed the presence of an oval area with a hypointense signal in T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)and highlow mixed signal in T2-weighted MRI.Biopsy samples revealed the presence of short spindle cells,vascularization,and characteristics of phosphaturic mesenchymal tumors.Tumor resection was performed,and the clinical presentations and laboratory abnormalities were reversed.CONCLUSION Diagnosis of oncogenic osteomalacia is difficult due to the varieties and localization of source tumors and absence of pathognomonic biomedical signs.Our case highlights the importance of a combination of medical imaging and biopsy in the diagnosis of oncogenic osteomalacia caused by a phosphaturic mesenchymal tumor.

SIRT6 is an epigenetic repressor of thoracic aortic aneurysms via inhibiting inflammation and senescence

Thoracic aortic aneurysms(TAAs)develop asymptomatically and are characterized by dilatation of the aorta.This is considered a life-threating vascular disease due to the risk of aortic rupture and without effective treatments.The current understanding of the pathogenesis of TAA is still limited,especially for sporadic TAAs without known genetic mutation.Sirtuin 6(SIRT6)expression was significantly decreased in the tunica media of sporadic human TAA tissues.Genetic knockout of Sirt6 in mouse vascular smooth muscle cells accelerated TAA formation and rupture,reduced survival,and increased vascular inflammation and senescence after angiotensin II infusion.Transcriptome analysis identified interleukin(IL)-1βas a pivotal target of SIRT6,and increased IL-1βlevels correlated with vascular inflammation and senescence in human and mouse TAA samples.Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed that SIRT6 bound to the Il1b promoter to repress expression partly by reducing the H3K9 and H3K56 acetylation.Genetic knockout of Il1b or pharmacological inhibition of IL-1βsignaling with the receptor antagonist anakinra rescued Sirt6 deficiency mediated aggravation of vascular inflammation,senescence,TAA formation and survival in mice.The findings reveal that SIRT6 protects against TAA by epigenetically inhibiting vascular inflammation and senescence,providing insight into potential epigenetic strategies for TAA treatment.

Short‑chain fatty acids(SCFAs)as potential resuscitation factors that promote the isolation and culture of uncultured bacteria in marine sediments

Many marine bacteria are difcult to culture because they are dormant,rare or found in low-abundances.Enrichment culturing has been widely tested as an important strategy to isolate rare or dormant microbes.However,many more mechanisms remain uncertain.Here,based on 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing and metabolomics technology,it was found that the short-chain fatty acids(SCFAs)in metabolites were signifcantly correlated with uncultured bacterial groups during enrichment cultures.A pure culture analysis showed that the addition of SCFAs to media also resulted in high efciency for the isolation of uncultured strains from marine sediments.As a result,238 strains belonging to 10 phyla,26 families and 82 species were successfully isolated.Some uncultured rare taxa within Chlorobi and Kiritimatiellaeota were successfully cultured.Amongst the newly isolated uncultured microbes,most genomes,e.g.bacteria,possess SCFA oxidative degradation genes,and these features might aid these microbes in better adapting to the culture media.A further resuscitation analysis of a viable but non-culturable(VBNC)Marinilabiliales strain verifed that the addition of SCFAs could break the dormancy of Marinilabiliales in 5 days,and the growth curve test showed that the SCFAs could shorten the lag phase and increase the growth rate.Overall,this study provides new insights into SCFAs,which were frst studied as resuscitation factors in uncultured marine bacteria.Thus,this study can help improve the utilisation and excavation of marine microbial resources,especially for the most-wanted or key players.

Synthesis of novel, azasugar-modified anthraquinone derivatives and their cytotoxicity

A series of novel, azasugar-modified 2-monosubstituted, 2,6- and 2,7-bissubstituted anthraquinone derivatives have been synthesized by the nucleophilic substitution of N-alkylamino azasugar with mono-, bis（2-chloroacetamido）anthraquinones. Their cytotoxic activities against HeLa and MCF-7 ceils were preliminarily evaluated and compound 9a with mono-azasugar pendant at 2-position showed similar activity to the control drug （Cisplatin）.

Cytotoxic activity and DNA binding of naphthalimide derivatives with amino acid and dichloroacetamide functionalizations

A series of novel naphthalimide derivatives modified by amino acids and their dichloroacetamide derivatives at the 3-position have been synthesized. Their cytotoxic activities were preliminarily evaluated against He/a, A549 and K562 cells, which showed that the length of the side chains of the amino acids influenced the cytotoxic activities. Moreover, compound 7d showed a very good cytotoxic activity against A549 cells with an IC50 value of 4.78 μmol L-1, Furthermore, the UV-vis, fluorescence, and circular dichroism （CD） spectroscopies and thermal denaturation experiment indicated that compounds 6a, 6d and 7a, 7d, as DNA intercalators, exhibited binding affinities with calf-thymus DNA （Ct-DNA）.