Plantar fasciitis (PF) is the most common reason for heel pain. The efficacy of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) as an ideal alternative to conservative treatments and surgery is controversial, and almost all previous articles compared general ESWT with placebo without indicating the kind of shock wave. We undertook a meta-analysis to compare the efficacy of general ESWT, focused shock wave (FSW), and radial shock wave (RSW) with placebo, to assess their effectiveness in chronic PF. The PubMed, Medline, EmBase, Web of Science, and Cochrane library databases were searched for studies comparing FSW or RSW therapy with placebo in chronic PF. Clinical outcomes included the odds ratios (ORs) of pain relief, pain reduction, and complications. Relevant data were analyzed using RevMan v5.3. Nine studies involving 935 patients were included. ESWT had higher improvement rates than the placebo group (OR 2.58, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.97–3.39, P < .00001). ESWT had markedly lower standardized mean difference than placebo, with heterogeneity observed (standardized mean difference 1.01, 95% CI −0.01 to 2.03, P = .05, I2 = 96%, P < .00001). FSW and RSW therapies had greater therapeutic success in pain relief than the placebo group (OR 2.17, 95% CI 1.49–3.16, P < .0001; OR 4.63, 95% CI 1.30–16.46, P = .02), but significant heterogeneity was observed in RSW therapy versus placebo (I2 = 81%, P = .005). This meta-analysis suggested that FSW therapy can relieve pain in chronic PF as an ideal alternative option; meanwhile, no firm conclusions of general ESWT and RSW effectiveness can be drawn. Due to variations in the included studies, additional trials are needed to validate these conclusions.

Chondrocytes are the sole cellular constituents of normal cartilage. The degeneration and apoptosis of these cells are considered the main cause of osteoarthritis (OA). Previous studies have suggested that the enhancement of autophagy in chondrocytes can delay the progression of osteoarthritis by affecting intracellular metabolic activity, i.e., by regulating the metabolism of nutrients, which can delay cell aging and death. In this review, we explored the relationship between autophagy and chondrocyte metabolism and provided new ideas for the prevention and treatment of OA.

Parkinson disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by chronic and progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in substansia nigra pars compacta. Oxidative stress is proposed to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of PD. Uric acid (UA), as an important physiological antioxidant, is identified a molecular predictor associated with a decreased risk and a slower disease progression for PD and potential neuroprotectant of PD by increasing epidemiological and clinical evidences. Within this review, we will present a comprehensive overview of the data linking UA to PD in recent years. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science databases for relevant studies. Any observational or experimental studies that evaluated UA and PD were our goal of searching the electric databases. Twelve studies that evaluated UA and PD were identified in this review. We reviewed the roles of UA in the pathogenesis of PD, the association of UA with morbidity, severity/progression, nonmotor symptoms, motor complications of PD, with an attempt to provide new ideas for diagnosis and treatment in PD. Our findings supported that lots of clinical and epidemiological data observed lower UA levels in PD patients. Manipulation of UA or its precursors’ concentration could be effective to treat or prevent PD. However, it is still suspectable that higher UA levels are better enough to PD patients. Furthermore, for the complex nature of PD and its heterogeneous genetic and environmental influences, it is inadequate for just manipulating UA in treating the disease.