从“神机”与“气立”理论探讨荨麻疹的病机与治疗

“神机”“气立”理论首载于《黄帝内经》,历代医家对其内涵及意义的研究解读较少。本文通过剖析《黄帝内经》原文,对“神机”“气立”进行解读,认为“神机”“气立”是保证人体生理功能的重要部分,二者相互协调,共同维持机体的生命活动,如若协调失衡,则导致疾病的发生,与荨麻疹发生发展联系密切。笔者提出“神机气立紊乱”为荨麻疹的核心病机:外邪侵伏,气立不固为发病根本,神机衰运,影响气立为发病关键,因此恢复神机气立失衡成为治疗荨麻疹的重要着力点。气立作为机体与外界沟通的门户,临证诊疗应首察气立、辨明病位,审证求因、辨识病性,治以固气立、强神机之法。气立在外宜疏宜固,以自拟固本定风汤、小青龙汤、自拟除湿利机汤、四妙勇安汤除风寒湿热邪以祛邪气固气立;神机在内宜升宜降,以自拟黄芪三甲固本定风汤、四逆汤、自拟大除湿利机汤、生脉散调节气血津液的运转以通血脉强神机,临证合理选方用药,疗效确切,以期为荨麻疹的临床中医治疗提供新的思路。

In- and Anti-transition of Firing Patterns Induced by Random Long-range Connections in Coupled Hindmarsh-Rose Neurons System

The effects of random long-range connections （shortcuts） on the transitions of neural firing patterns in coupled Hindmarsh-Rose neurons are investigated, where each neuron is subjected to an external current. It is found that, on one hand, the system can achieve the transition of neural firing patterns from the fewer-period state to the multi-period one, when the number of the added shortcuts in the neural network is greater than a threshold value, indicating the occurrence of in-transition of neural firing patterns. On the other hand, for a stronger coupling strength, we can also find the similar but reverse results by adding some proper random connections. In addition, the influences of system size and coupling strength on such transition behavior, as well as the internality between the transition degree of firing patterns and its critical characteristics for different external stimulation current, are also discussed.

Neural mechanism of acupuncture-modulated gastric motility

AIM: To investigate the acupuncture-modulated gastric motility and its underlying neural mechanism.METHODS: Intragastric pressure and/or waves of gastric contraction in rats were recorded by intrapyloric balloon and changes of gastric motility induced by acupuncture stimulation were compared with the background activity before any stimulation. Gastro-vagal or splanchnic-sympathetic nerves were recorded or cut respectively for investigating the involvement of autonomic nerve pathways. Spinalization experiment was also performed.RESULTS: Acupuncture-stimulation by exciting Aδ and/or C afferent fibers, could only modulate gastric motility. Acupuncture-stimulation on fore- and hind-limbs evoked a moderate gastric motility followed by increased vagus discharges with unchanged sympathetic activity, while the same stimulus to the acupoints in abdomen resulted in reversed effects on gastric motility and autonomic nervous activities. The inhibitory gastric response was completely abolished by splanchnic denervation, but the facilitative gastric response to stimulation of acupoints in limbs was not influenced, which was opposite to the effect when vagotomy was performed. The similar depressive effects were produced by the stimulation at the acupoints homo-segmental to the gastric innervation in the animals with or without spinalization. However, the facilitation induced by the stimulation at the acupoints hetero-segmental to the gastric innervation was not observed in the spinalized animals.CONCLUSION: Facilitative effects of stimulating hetero-segmental acupoints are involved in the intact preparation of vagal nerves and spinal cord, while the inhibitory response induced by stimulating homo-segmental acupoints is involved in the intact preparation of sympathetic nerves. Only the acupuncture-stimulation with intensity over the threshold of Aδ and/or C afferent fibers can markedly modulate gastrointestinal motility.

Coupling Strength and System Size Induce Firing Activity of Globally Coupled Neural Network

We investigate how firing activity of globally coupled neural network depends on the coupling strength C and system size N. Network elements are described by space-clamped FitzHugh- Nagumo （SCFHN） neurons with the values of parameters at which no firing activity occurs. It is found that for a given appropriate coupling strength, there is an intermediate range of system size where the firing activity of globally coupled SCFHN neural network is induced and enhanced. On the other hand, for a given intermediate system size level, there exists an optimal value of coupling strength such that the intensity of firing activity reaches its maximum. These phenomena imply that the coupling strength and system size play a vital role in firing activity of neural network.

Whole genome analyses reveal significant convergence in obsessive-compulsive disorder between humans and dogs

Obsessive-compulsive disorder(OCD)represents a heterogeneous collection of diseases with diverse levels of phenotypic,genetic,and etiologic variability,making it difficult to identify the underlying genetic and biological mechanisms in humans.Domestic dogs exhibit several OCD-like behaviors.Using continuous circling as a representative phenotype for OCD,we screened two independent dog breeds,the Belgian Malinois and Kunming Dog and subsequently sequenced ten circling dogs and ten unaffected dogs for each breed.Using population differentiation analyses,we identified 11 candidate genes in the extreme tail of the differentiated regions between cases and controls.These genes overlap significantly with genes identified in a genome wide association study(GWAS)of human OCD,indicating strong convergence between humans and dogs.Through gene expressional analysis and functional exploration,we found that two candidate OCD risk genes,PPP2R2B and ADAMTSL3,affected the density and morphology of dendritic spines.Therefore,changes in dendritic spine may underlie some common biological and physiological pathways shared between humans and dogs.Our study revealed an unprecedented level of convergence in OCD shared between humans and dogs,and highlighted the importance of using domestic dogs as a model species for many human diseases including OCD.