Functional constipation (FCon) is characterized by disrupted brain-gut communication, representing a core pathophysiological mechanism. Physical exercise, a safe and cost-effective intervention, has been proven efficacy in ameliorating constipation symptoms and is a vital self-management strategy. Tai Chi, a traditional Chinese exercise, has been demonstrated to benefit both the gastrointestinal tract and the brain. However, the potential mechanism underlying Tai Chi's gastrointestinal regulatory effects through enhancement of brain-gut communication remains to be elucidated. This randomized controlled trial enrolled 80 FCon patients and 32 healthy subjects. Patients were randomized to either Tai Chi or aerobic exercise group. Both groups participated in four 60-min sessions per week for 8 weeks. Outcome measures included symptom severity, quality of life, autonomic neural function (assessed via heart rate variability), and brain activity. Both groups exhibited significant improvements in clinical symptoms, mood states, and heart rate variability post intervention. Tai Chi showed a marginal superiority over aerobic exercise in alleviating clinical symptoms. Notably, the neuroimaging findings suggested that Tai Chi effectively modulated the abnormal functional connectivity of the anterior insula within the central autonomic network in FCon patients, which was not observed in the aerobic exercise group. These modulations correlated with clinical symptoms and heart rate variability indices. Our study suggests that Tai Chi may facilitate the coordination between central and autonomic nervous functions by modulating functional connectivity of the anterior insula within the central autonomic network, and promoting sympathetic/parasympathetic balance, thereby enhancing the brain-gut communication. This may represent the underlying mechanism by which Tai Chi exerts gastrointestinal modulation to improve FCon symptoms.Trial registration: ChiCTR1800019781.

BackgroundWith the rapid global spread of COVID-19, it has become evident that the virus can lead to multisystem complications, leading to a significant increase in related publications. Bibliometrics serves as a valuable tool for identifying highly cited literature and research hotspots within specific areas.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to identify current research hotspots and future trends in COVID-19 complications.MethodsThe dataset was obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection, covering COVID-19 complications from December 8, 2019, to October 31, 2022. Various aspects, including publication general information, authors, journals, co-cited authors, co-cited references, research hotspots, and future trends, were subjected to analysis. Visual analysis was conducted using VOSviewer, The Online Analysis Platform of Literature Metrology, and Charticulator.ResultsThere were 4,597 articles in the study. The top three countries with the most published articles are the USA (n=1350, 29.4%), China (n=765, 16.6%), and Italy (n=623, 13.6%). USA and China have the closest collaborative relationship. The institute with the largest number of publications is Huazhong University of Science and Technology, followed by Harvard Medical School. Nevertheless, half of the top 10 institutes belong to the USA. “Rezaei, Nima” published 13 articles and ranked first, followed by “Yaghi, Shadi” with 12 articles and “Frontera, Jennifer” with 12 articles. The journal with the largest number of publications is “Journal of Clinical Medicine”. The top 3 co-cited authors are “Zhou, Fei”, “Guan, Wei-Jie”, “Huang, Chaolin”. The top 3 co-cited references addressed COVID-19's clinical features in China and noticed that COVID-19 patients had a wide range of complications. We also list four research hotspots.ConclusionsThis study conducted a bibliometric visual analysis of the literature on COVID-19 complications and summarized the current research hotspots. This study may provide valuable insights into the complications of COVID-19.

Background: The incidence of glycolipid metabolic diseases is extremely high worldwide, which greatly hinders people’s life expectancy and patients’ quality of life. Oxidative stress (OS) aggravates the development of diseases in glycolipid metabolism. Radical oxygen species (ROS) is a key factor in the signal transduction of OS, which can regulate cell apoptosis and contribute to inflammation. Currently, chemotherapies are the main method to treat disorders of glycolipid metabolism, but this can lead to drug resistance and damage to normal organs. Botanical drugs are an important source of new drugs. They are widely found in nature with availability, high practicality, and low cost. There is increasing evidence that herbal medicine has definite therapeutic effects on glycolipid metabolic diseases.Objective: This study aims to provide a valuable method for the treatment of glycolipid metabolic diseases with botanical drugs from the perspective of ROS regulation by botanical drugs and to further promote the development of effective drugs for the clinical treatment of glycolipid metabolic diseases.Methods: Using herb*, plant medicine, Chinese herbal medicine, phytochemicals, natural medicine, phytomedicine, plant extract, botanical drug, ROS, oxygen free radicals, oxygen radical, oxidizing agent, glucose and lipid metabolism, saccharometabolism, glycometabolism, lipid metabolism, blood glucose, lipoprotein, triglyceride, fatty liver, atherosclerosis, obesity, diabetes, dysglycemia, NAFLD, and DM as keywords or subject terms, relevant literature was retrieved from Web of Science and PubMed databases from 2013 to 2022 and was summarized.Results: Botanical drugs can regulate ROS by regulating mitochondrial function, endoplasmic reticulum, phosphatidylinositol 3 kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT), erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf-2), nuclear factor κB (NF-κB), and other signaling pathways to improve OS and treat glucolipid metabolic diseases.Conclusion: The regulation of ROS by botanical drugs is multi-mechanism and multifaceted. Both cell studies and animal experiments have demonstrated the effectiveness of botanical drugs in the treatment of glycolipid metabolic diseases by regulating ROS. However, studies on safety need to be further improved, and more studies are needed to support the clinical application of botanical drugs.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a clinical syndrome characterized by persistent and irreversible airflow limitation and chronic respiratory symptoms. It has a wide spectrum of complications, and sleep disorders, as part of it, are common in severe cases, especially in elderly patients. Long-term lack of sleep may lead to the aggravation of the original disease, reducing patients' quality of life. Benzodiazepines are mainly used for symptomatic treatment of COPD combined with sleep disorders. However, such drugs have the side effect of respiratory central inhibition and could probably aggravate hypoxia symptoms. Auricular acupuncture is a special method of treating physical and psychosomatic dysfunctions by stimulating specific points in the ear. This article explains the specific methods of clinical operation of auricular acupuncture in detail, including assessment of patient eligibility, medical devices used, acupuncture points, course of treatment, post-treatment care, responses to emergencies, etc. The Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease assessment scale (CAT) were used as the observational index of this method. So far, clinical reports have proved that auricular acupuncture has a definite curative effect in the treatment of COPD combined with sleep disorders, and its advantages of simple operation, few adverse reactions are worthy of further study and promotion, which provide a reference for the clinical treatment of such diseases.

Most patients with COPD have a combination of abdominal distension, which has been shown to adversely affect pulmonary symptoms, frequency of acute exacerbations, and quality of life in patients with COPD. Warm acupuncture and moxibustion have been shown to be effective in relieving symptoms in patients with COPD combined with abdominal distention. Warm acupuncture and moxibustion are highly effective, easy to perform, and inexpensive forms of traditional Chinese medicine treatments. The standardized practice of warm acupuncture and moxibustion is very important for the treatment of COPD combined with abdominal distension. The specific steps include selecting the appropriate acupoints for needling through syndrome differentiation treatment and selecting moxa sticks of appropriate length for moxibustion for about 30 min after the De-qi. The course of treatment lasts for one week. The following indicators are specifically assessed: the score of the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) and the abdominal distension visual analog scale (VAS). This article will clearly illustrate how to standardize the manipulation of warm acupuncture and moxibustion to relieve COPD combined with abdominal distention.

Background:Reports regarding the antiviral activity of curcumin have surfaced. However, to date there has been no scientometric analysis of the relationship between curcumin and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). To comprehensively understand the studies involving curcumin in the context of COVID-19, we conducted a scientometric analysis to provide an exhaustive review of these studies.Methods:We systematically searched the Web of Science core collection database for bibliographic data indexed from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2022, using keywords such as 'curcumin', 'COVID-19', and their synonyms. To clarify the research content and trends related to curcumin in COVID-19, we utilized VOSviewer, Origin 2023, and Charticulator for analysis, supplemented by external data.Results:The final count of publications included in this study was 252. These publications originated from 63 countries or territories, with India contributing the highest number of publications. They were published across 170 journals. Notably, the Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB) emerged as the most important institution that carried out this study. The most cited publication had been referenced 166 times. The main elements involved in the keyword analysis were reflected in the antiviral activity of curcumin and the immuno-inflammatory modulation of the inflammatory cytokine storm. Furthermore, the pharmacological mechanisms of curcumin for treating COVID-19 emerged as a prominent area of research. Simultaneously, there exists direct evidence of clinical usage of curcumin to enhance COVID-19 outcomes.Conclusions:The scientometric analysis underscores the burgeoning professional domain of curcumin-based treatment for COVID-19. Ongoing studies have focused on the antiviral activity of curcumin and its immunomodulatory effects on inflammatory cytokine storms. On the other hand, the pharmacological mechanism of curcumin in the treatment of COVID-19 is a hot spot in the research field at present, which may become the main research trend in this field in the future. While maintaining a focus on foundational research, the clinical application of curcumin in COVID-19 infection is developing in parallel, highlighting its obvious guiding value in clinical practice. These insights offer researchers a snapshot of the present state of curcumin treatment for COVID-19 and guide further mechanistic validation efforts in the future.

Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is a common malignant tumor with a poor prognosis. Recent studies have found that angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4) is abnormally expressed in many tumors, so it can serve as a potential prognostic marker and therapeutic target. However, its prognostic value in LUAD remains unclear. We downloaded RNA sequence data for LUAD from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, methylation data from the University of California Santa Cruz genome database, and clinical information. R software (version 4.1.1) was applied to analyze the ANGPTL4 expression in LUAD and nontumor samples, and the correlation with clinical characteristics to assess its prognostic and diagnostic value. In addition, we analyzed the relationship between the ANGPTL4 expression and methylation levels. Tumor IMmune Estimation Resource (TIMER) tool was taken for immune infiltration analysis, and two Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) datasets were combined for meta-analysis. Finally, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to ANGPTL4 were analyzed to clarify its function. As shown in our results, ANGPTL4 was upregulated in LUAD and was an independent risk factor for the diagnosis and prognosis of LUAD. The general methylation level and eight ANGPTL4 methylation sites were significantly negatively correlated with the ANGPTL4 expression. Furthermore, we found that B cell infiltration was negatively correlated with ANGPTL4 expression and was an independent risk factor. Meta-analysis showed that the high expression of ANGPTL4 was closely associated with a poor prognosis. 153 DEGs, including the matrix metalloproteinase family, the chemokines subfamily, and the collagen family, were correlated with ANGPTL4. In this study, we found that ANGPTL4 was significantly elevated in LUAD and was closely associated with the development and poor prognosis of LUAD, suggesting that ANGPTL4 may be a prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for LUAD.

五运六气学说(简称运气学说),是在我国古代特定背景下,基于长期、大量对自然气候、星象、物候的观察演化而成.本文基于COVID-19的发病特征对本病五运六气特点进行探讨,COVID-19发病时正值己亥年终之气与庚子年(2020年)初之气.庚子年金运太过,燥气流行,己亥年土运不及,风气大行,表现为岁运相同脏腑受病,所不胜之脏乘而发病,所胜之脏侮而发病.故COVID-19的基本病机是伏燥与风热疫毒搏结,阴津耗损,正气亦亏.其特点是伏燥兼风热,木强土弱,木火刑金.病位主要在肺、脾、肝,即在外感邪实的基础上多见肝失疏泄、脾失健运、肺失宣畅之症.同时本文对五运六气学说在中医防疫中所具有的现实意义和潜在价值进行了思考,认为运气学说能对疾病发生发展做出早期预测,故了解并把握运气学说对实现未病先治、未病先防具有重要价值.并提出要辨证地看待运气学说,不能盲目夸大其预测作用,也不可机械推算、主观臆断,否认其科学内涵,而要做到灵活、辩证地发扬其真正的合理性.

Tai Chi has been proven to be a safe and effective assistant therapy for healthcare and disease treatment. However, whether the adjuvant therapeutic effect of Tai Chi is general or disease-oriented remains uncertain. This trial focuses on exploring the specific and nonspecific effects of Tai Chi and its potential central responses. The results will deepen our understanding of the characteristics of Tai Chi exercise for adjuvant therapeutic effects and promote its application in the clinic. In this neuroimaging trial, 40 functional constipation (FC) patients and 40 healthy subjects (HS) will be recruited and will receive 10 weeks of Tai Chi exercise. The motor function, respiratory function, stool-related symptoms, quality of life, and emotional state of the participants will be evaluated at the baseline, the 5-week Tai Chi practice, and the end of practice. The potential changes in the heart rate variability and the cerebral function will be recorded by the 24 h dynamic electrocardiogram at the baseline and the functional magnetic resonance imaging at the end of practice. The possible correlations among the clinical variables, the heart rate variability, and the cerebral activity alterations in FC patients and HS will be analyzed. The healthcare and therapeutic effects of Tai Chi exercise might consist of the specific and nonspecific effects. This study provides not only a new perspective for understanding Tai Chi but also a new approach for investigating the mind-body exercise. This trial was registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (http://www.chictr.org.cn/showproj.aspx?proj=33243) on 28 November 2018 (registration number: ChiCTR1800019781; protocol version number: V1.0). This trial is currently in the stage of recruiting patients. The first patient was included on 1 December 2018. To date, 18 FC patients and 20 HS have been included. Recruitment will be completed in December 2020.

Introduction COVID-19 is a highly infectious acute pneumonia. Glycyrrhizic acid preparation (GAP) has been found to have hepatoprotective and antiviral effects, but there is no supporting evidence on its efficacy and security for patients with COVID-19.Methods and analysis The systematic review methods will be defined by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. This study will start on 1 July 2021 and end on 31 October 2021. A comprehensive electronic search will be conducted with the search of Web of Science, PubMed, Ovid web, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Chinese Scientific and Journal Database, Wanfang Database and grey literature, and manual search will be conducted to search literature of randomised controlled trials, single-arm trials and retrospective studies about GAP in the treatment of anti-SARS-CoV-2 drug-induced liver injury from 1 December 2019 to 1 July 2021. There is no time limitations of publication and language will be restricted to Chinese and English. Retrieved studies will be independently screened by two researchers and relevant data will be extracted from studies. Interstudy heterogeneity will be assessed using the I2 statistic and explored through meta-regressions and subgroup analyses. Depending on data availability, we plan to conduct subgroup analyses by study population, geographical region and other selected clinical variables of interest. Quality assessment of the studies will be performed. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions will be used to assess the risk of bias, and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation will be used to access the confidence in cumulative evidence.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval will not be required for no primary data of individual patients will be collected. The final report will be shared with the scientific community through publication in a peer-reviewed journal, as well as with key stakeholders, including patients, healthcare professionals and those working on COVID-19 research.PROSPERO registration number CRD42021234647.

我国将新型冠状病毒肺炎(COVID-19)纳入传染病防治法规定的乙类传染病,其传染迅速、病情险恶,对人们的生命健康造成了严重威胁.疫情爆发后,中医以独特的优势,在本次抗击疫情工作中发挥了巨大作用.本次新型冠状病毒感染性肺炎可归属于中医疫病范围,其发生、发展、传变、转归等多个环节与“风温夹湿”类似,新冠肺炎患者临床症状主要表现在肺系及脾胃系,病位在肺与脾,笔者试从“风温夹湿”探讨新型冠状病毒感染性肺炎的辨证论治.

In December 2019, COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China, and spread rapidly to various places China officially included the COVID-19 into the management of class B infectious diseases in accordance with Law on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases Its rapid spread and severe outcomes resulted in a serious threat to people's lives and health After the epidemic disease broke out, Traditional Chinese medicine has played an important role due to its unique advantages In Traditional Chinese medicine, COVID-19 can be classified into “Yibing” It showed that the occurrence, development, transmission, and outcome of COVID-19 were similar to those of TCM “Fengwenjiashi” Patients with COVID-19 mainly experience the respiratory and digestive symptoms, and the lung and spleen are affected In this study, we tried to explore the syndrome differentiation and treatment for COVID-19 from “Fengwenjiashi” theory

湿疹是一种常见的皮肤病,病情缠绵易反复发作,其中湿热夹瘀型较为常见.《内经》 有云:"此皆尝有所伤于湿气,藏于血脉之中,分肉之间,久留而不去",提示湿性胶着,易稽留于血脉分肉,久滞不去则蕴而化热,湿热阻滞经脉则为瘀血,从而出现湿热内蕴夹瘀的病理状态.茵陈、 生茜草、 络石藤药组具有清热利湿、 祛瘀通络之效,可应用于湿热夹瘀型湿疹.

Introduction Taiji has been proven to be effective for regulating both the physical and mental state compared with simple aerobic exercise. However, whether the improvement of Taiji for constipation is related to regulate imbalanced brain–gut axis and emotional disorder for functional constipation (FC) remains uncertain. The results of the study will demonstrate the differences in regulation brain–gut balance between Taiji and simply aerobic exercise for patients with FC and provide a potential therapy for clinical treatment of FC, and a new approach for the research of mind–body exercise. Methods and analysis In this randomised controlled neuroimaging trial, 80 patients with FC will be allocated into two groups: Taiji group and aerobic exercise group. The two groups will receive 10 weeks of Taiji exercise or aerobic exercise, respectively. The stool diary, Cleveland Constipation Score and Patient Assessment of Constipation Symptom, Patient Assessment of Constipation Quality of Life Questionnaire will be used to evaluate the clinical efficacy, the Self-rating Depression Scale, Self-rating Anxiety Scale, Eysenck Personality Questionnaires and Mini-Mental State Examinations will be used to assess the mental state at the baseline, the 5-week intervention and the end of intervention. The 24-hour heart rate variability will be used for assessing the autonomic nervous function, functional MRI and positron emission tomography-CT will be performed for detecting the cerebral functional changes at the baseline and the end of the intervention. The clinical data and multimodal imaging data will be analysed, respectively. Correlation analysis will be conducted to investigate the relationship between cerebral functional changes and symptom improvement. Ethics and dissemination The procedures have been approved by the Sichuan Regional Ethics Review Committee on Traditional Chinese Medicine (No. 2018KL-047) and conformed to the Declaration of Helsinki. Results will be disseminated through policy briefs, workshops, peer-reviewed publications and conferences. Trial registration number Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ChiCTR1800019781).

《黄帝内经》有云:"汁沫与血相抟,则并合凝聚不得散",启示津血抟聚之理.津血同源,津凝成痰,血聚为瘀,二者"相抟",随气上行,痹阻上部,而为上焦痰瘀互结证.葛根、川芎、石菖蒲药组具有通经活络,祛瘀化痰之功效,可广泛应用于痰瘀互结,痹阻上焦之头痛、眩晕、耳鸣、耳聋、肩周炎、颈椎病等多种病症.笔者结合临证体会,对该药组的证治规律,尤其是脉证进行深入分析,为临床治疗上焦痰瘀互结证提供了新的解决方法和思路.