Auricular Acupressure Improve Constipation of Patients With Schizophrenia: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Study

Background. Constipation is a common distressing problem in patients with schizophrenia that can cause complications and impair quality of life. Objective. The objective of this study was to investigate the efficacy of applying auricular acupressure (AA) treatment in improving constipation in patients with schizophrenia. Methods. A crossover randomized controlled trial design was performed from April 2022 to December 2023 at four psychiatric rehabilitation care centers. A total of 23 patients with schizophrenia received an AA intervention or usual care according to the designated treatment sequences. Measurements comprised subjective assessment of constipation by the Patient Assessment of Constipation-Symptoms (PAC-SYM) questionnaire, an objective assessment of the stool pattern rated by a Bristol stool form scale, and heart rate variability. A generalized estimating equation model was used for data analyses. Results. After completing an 8-week AA intervention stimulating the Shenmen, San Jiao, Large intestine and Rectum, the AA group exhibited lower scores in the PAC-SYM total score (difference = -12.66, ,0.001), and the subscales: abdominal (difference = -3.36, p < .001), rectal (difference = -3.51, p < .001), and stool (difference = -5.79, p < .001), compared to those receiving usual care. The cases of constipation indicated by type 1 and type 2 of the BSF scale significantly decreased after the 8-week AA intervention. Moreover, the AA group displayed more parasympathetic dominance compared to the usual care group, with a low frequency to high frequency ratio of -1.15. Conclusion. AA is an effective non-pharmacological method for improving subjective constipation symptoms and objective stool pattern in patients with schizophrenia.

[Clinical efficacy of focused ultrasound ablation surgery in the treatment of internal adenomyosis]

Objective: To investigate the relationship between the clinical efficacy and the ablated area of endometrium in patients with internal adenomyosis treated with focused ultrasound ablation surgery (FUAS). Methods: From January 2015 to December 2018, 122 patients in Chongqing Haifu Hospital who were diagnosed as internal adenomyosis through history, clinical symptoms and enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and treated with FUAS were enrolled in this study. According to the patient's wishes, patients were given whether to ablate the adenomyotic lesion alone or ablate the adenomyotic lesion and the endometrium that involved in adenomyotic lesions together. The ablated area of adenomyotic lesions and endomitrium were evaluated by post-FUAS enhanced MRI. The adverse events and the changes of dysmenorrhea and menstrual volume at different follow-up points within 24 months were recorded. Results: Among the 122 patients, 32 patients chose to ablate adenomyotic lesion alone, and 90 patients chose to ablate the adenomyotic lesion and the endometrium during FUAS. No major complications such as bowel injury and nerve injury occurred after FUAS. The median non-perfused volume ratio of adenomyotic lesions was 31.7% in the group without endometrial ablation and it was 60.0% in the group with endometrium ablation (P<0.01). The improvement of dysmenorrhea in the group with endometrium ablation was significantly better than the group without endometrial ablation (P<0.01). The average menstrual volume score (3.4±0.9) before FUAS in the group with endometrial ablation was higher than that in the group without endometrial ablation (2.5±0.6; P<0.01), but it decreased significantly after FUAS treatment, reaching the similar menstrual volume score of the group without endometrial ablation (P>0.05). The proportions of abnormal vaginal discharge (34.4%, 31/90) and bleeding (16.7%, 15/90) were significantly higher in the group with endometrium ablation than those in the group without endometrial ablation (all P<0.01). Conclusions: FUAS could be safely and effectively used in the treatment of patients with internal adenomyosis. It seems that ablation of adenomyotic lesion and endometrium together could obtain better therapeutic effects.

[A new way for inbred strain mice genetic monitoring and the discovery of sex-linkaging RAPD markers]

We used 21 10 bp random primers to amplify DNA for four colonies of BALB/ c mice, four individuals of C 57 BL mice, and four individuals of Kunming stock mice. The amplified band patterns were different between BALB/c and C 57 BL mice in the products of 13 primers, and 8 primer products showed difference between BALB/c and Kunming stock mice. These results indicated that we can easily distinguish different strains of mice by RAPD method. For the four colonies of BALB/c mice, the genetic background of Chengdu colony. Shanghai colony and Beijing colony were homogeneous at all RAPD markers, however, in Kunming colony, there were two BALB/c individuals were disclosed different amplified patterns by 4 primers, showing that these two Kunming BALB/c mice maybe suffer genetic contamination or mutation some time. An unexpected phenomenon discovered in this study is that sex specific amplification bands were amplified by primer OPG 2, OPE 4, OPE 9 in all male mice. Although an 1.2 kb band were disclosed by both OPG 2 and OPE 4 in male mice, cross RAPD and not hybridization showed that the two bands were not homologous.

Immunoglobulin responses to echovirus type 11 by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay: single-serum diagnosis of acute infection by specific IgM antibody

An indirect solid-phase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for the determination of specific IgM and IgG antibodies to echovirus type 11 in a single dilution of serum was developed using partially purified echovirus type 11 bound to microplates. Whole serum was used for IgG antibody but prior to assaying for IgM antibody interfering IgG was removed by ion exchange chromatography. The ELISA for echovirus type 11 IgG antibody was a more sensitive, rapid, technically easier and less costly alternative to the neutralisation test. With the IgG ELISA 12 of 132 sera (10.6%) known to contain enterovirus antibodies other than echovirus type 11 were positive but it could not be determined to what extent this was due to the greater sensitivity of the ELISA or cross-reactions. The IgM ELISA was even more sensitive than the IgG ELISA with acute sera, and showed a reactivity in 4 of 36 sera (11.1%) with no detectable echovirus type 11 neutralising antibodies. Echovirus type 11 IgM antibody was detected in all sera collected after the first week of infection and up to 30 days after infection. However, it was only detected in 58% of sera collected during the first week after onset thus limiting its use for rapid diagnosis. The echovirus type 11 IgM ELISA appears to have considerable laboratory diagnostic potential when a rising antibody level cannot be demonstrated in paired sera or when virus is not cultured.

Diagnosis of postnatally acquired rubella by use of three enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays for specific immunoglobulins G and M and single radial hemolysis for specific immunoglobulin G

Three commercial indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) (RUBELISA, Enzygnost-Rubella, and Rubazyme) and a commercial single radial hemolysis (SRH) test (Rubazone) were evaluated for the diagnosis of acute rubella by testing 41 acute- (less than 7 days postonset) and convalescent-phase (8 to 82 days postonset) serum pairs from cases of rubella previously confirmed by significant change in the hemagglutination inhibition test titer. Specificity was tested by using 10 acute- and convalescent-phase serum samples from patients with rash not confirmed as rubella (control group). In testing for rubella-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody, Enzygnost-Rubella and Rubazyme confirmed infection in 40 and RUBELISA in 39 of the 41 proven rubella patients. For one patient all three ELISAs failed to show a significant titer rise. No false-positive diagnoses occurred in the control group, although a suspected infection was shown by Rubazyme in one patient. No specific IgM could be detected in this case. Single radial hemolysis confirmed infection in 39 of the 41 proven rubella patients, and one false-positive diagnosis occurred in the control group patients. Of the 43 convalescent-phase serum samples, rubella-specific IgM was detected in 42 by Enzygnost-Rubella, in 41 by RUBELISA M, and in 39 by Rubazyme-M. For a rapid diagnosis with acute-phase sera, specific IgM detection by ELISA was most reliable in hemagglutination inhibition test-positive sera; of 18 such serum samples IgM was shown in 15 by Enzygnost-Rubella, in 13 by RUBELISA M, and in 11 by Rubazyme-M. False-positive specific IgM results were shown by Rubazyme-M in two serum samples from one patient in the control group. These serum samples were negative with the other two ELISA methods.