Accumulating data indicates that brain inflammation plays an important role in the pathophysiology of chronic exercise-induced fatigue. Moxibustion in traditional Chinese medicine has been found to alleviate exercise-induced fatigue. However, it remains unclear whether the effect of moxibustion is related to its anti-inflammatory properties. In this study, rats were exposed to 3-week exhaustive swimming to induce chronic exercise-induced fatigue. The body weight, exhaustive swimming time, tail suspension test and open-field test were observed. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to determine the mRNA expression of proinflammatory cytokines (interleukin-1β [IL-1β], interleukin-6 [IL-6], and tumor necrosis factor-α[TNF-α]), and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α concentrations. Chronic exhaustive exercise significantly reduced the body weight and exhaustive swimming time, and increased tail suspension immobility time, which were reversed by moxibustion treatment. Compared with control rats, the mRNA and protein expression of IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α in the hippocampus was significantly increased in exhaustive swimming trained rats. Moxibustion significantly decreased the level of IL-6 in the hippocampus, but not affected IL-1β and TNF-α level significantly. Our results suggested that a potential inflammatory damage in the brain may be involved during chronic exhaustive exercise-induced fatigue. Moxibustion could attenuate the inflammatory impairment in exercise-induced fatigue, which might be mediated by inhibition of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 levels in the brain region.

The inducible nitric oxide synthase/nitric oxide (iNOS/NO) signaling pathway and inflammatory cytokines play important roles in the pathogenesis of exercise-induced fatigue. Studies have found that Mongolian warm acupuncture (WA) could alleviate exercise-induced fatigue. However, the exact mechanisms underlying its effects remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the effects of Mongolian WA on iNOS/NO signaling pathway and proinflammatory cytokines in a chronic exhaustive swimminginduced fatigue rat model. Animals were randomly divided into Control group, Ctrl + WA group, Model group, and Model + WA group. The body weight, exhaustive swimming time test, and Morris water maze test were performed before and after the chronic exhaustive swimming. The serum levels of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interferon-γ (IFN-γ), and iNOS were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The mRNA expressions of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ, and iNOS in the hippocampus were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Moreover, the protein expression of iNOS in the hippocampus was measured by western blot, and the NO productions in the serum and hippocampus were detected by Griess reaction system. Chronic exhaustive exercise significantly reduced the body weight and exhaustive swimming time, and induced impairment in learning and memory, and which were reversed by WA treatment. Chronic exhaustive exercise also increased the expressions of iNOS and proinflammatory cytokines, while WA treatment significantly decreased the level of iNOS and proinflammatory cytokines. However, chronic exhaustive exercise did not affect the NO production. These findings demonstrated that WA could alleviate the chronic exhaustive swimming-induced fatigue and improve the learning and memory ability, and the actions might be related to the reduction of inflammatory response and iNOS expression.

BackgroundWe aimed to predict the abnormal LDL level by using TG, TC, HDL, and non-HDL in this study.Material/MethodsTriglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) data were obtained from the Laboratory Information System (LIS) for 4 years (Oct 1, 2013 to Sept 30, 2017) from among 34 270 healthy Chinese patients at Shuyang People’s Hospital. TG, TC, HDL, and LDL (direct clearance method) were measured using a TBA2000FR biochemical analyzer. The non-HDL was calculated as TC minus HDL. Correlations between TG, TC, non-HDL, and LDL were analyzed using Spearman’s rank correlation. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the predictive utility of TG, TC, and non-HDL for the abnormal LDL level (<130 mg/dL).ResultsBoth TC (r=0.870) and non-HDL (r=0.893) were significantly positively correlated with LDL. The area under curve of TC and non-HDL can be used to predict abnormal LDL levels. Optimal thresholds were 182.5 mg/Dl (4.72 mmol/L) for TC and 135.3 mg/Dl (3.50 mmol/L) for non-HDL. Based on these optimal thresholds, less than 0.5% and 0.4% of tests with elevated LDL were missed using TC and non-HDL, respectively, but the value of these missed LDL levels was not very high (<147.3 mg/dL).ConclusionsIf the value of non-HDL is less than 135.3 mg/Dl (3.50 mmol/L) and/or TC is less than 182.5 mg/Dl (4.72 mmol/L) for the apparently healthy populations, the LDL level will be less than 130 mg/Dl (3.36 mmol/L). TC and non-HDL can be used to predict the abnormal LDL level in apparently healthy populations.

Establishing reference intervals for CA19-9 and giving age-related reference intervals of CA19-9 using a big data of healthy adult, we first discovered that CA19-9 tends to increase with age in adult males but not in females.

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