Mongolian medical warm acupuncture is a traditional therapy of Mongolian medicine and was developed by people living on the Mongolian Plateau. This kind of traditional oriental medicine has a long history. The main characteristics of Mongolian medical warm acupuncture are the acupoints and the needles used. Its theory is based on the human anatomical structure and the distinct local culture. Mongolian medical warm acupuncture has been practiced for centuries and proved to be very effective in the treatment of age-related diseases, including the musculoskeletal and nervous diseases. This paper aims to briefly introduce the history and scope of Mongolian medical warm acupuncture, with a particular focus on age-related diseases, where Mongolian medical warm acupuncture has shown significant beneficial effects.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs or miRs) and the target genes before and after warm acupuncture at the genetic level were assessed, and the cytokines and neurotransmitters related to insomnia were studied. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were used to create PCPA insomnia rat models and randomly divided into the normal, model, warm acupuncture, and drug groups. The Dinghui Acupoint, Heyi Acupoint, and Xin Acupoint were inserted in the Mongolian medicine warm acupuncture group. The differential expression profile of microRNA in the brain tissue of the insomnia rats was determined before and after Mongolian medicine warm acupuncture for establishment of miR-101a mimics and inhibitor. qPCR was used to detect the expression level of miR-101a. Western blotting was used to detect the expression level of PAX8. The rats receiving Mongolian medicine warm acupuncture had 141 miRNAs with differential expression compared with the normal rats. The expression level of miR-101a in the cells of the hippocampus of the insomnia rats transfected with miR-101a mimics increased significantly at 72 h (P<0.05). The activity of the neuronal cells transfected with miR-101a inhibitor increased significantly at 72 h (P<0.05). The western blotting result indicated that the expression of the PAX8 protein in the neuronal cells of the insomnia model rats was inhibited and downregulated significantly at 72 h after addition of miR-101a mimics compared with that in the scramble added group (P<0.01). The levels of the interleukins IL-1, IL-2, and IL-6 and the tumor necrosis factor-α in the hypothalamus, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex decreased significantly compared with those in the blank control group (P<0.05). The levels of noradrenaline, dopamine, and glutamic decreased significantly following warm acupuncture or western medicine treatment (P<0.05). In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the upregulation of miR-101a in the rats treated with warm acupuncture is directly associated with PAX8 regulation.

Objective. Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders. Hypnotics have poor long‐term efficacy. Mongolian medical warm acupuncture has significant efficacy in treating insomnia. The paper evaluates the role of Mongolian medical warm acupuncture in treating insomnia by investigating the Mongolian medicine syndromes and conditions, Pittsburgh sleep quality index, and polysomnography indexes. Method. The patients were diagnosed in accordance with International Classification of Sleep Disorders (ICSD‐2). The insomnia patients were divided into the acupuncture group (40 cases) and the estazolam group (40 cases). The patients underwent intervention of Mongolian medical warm acupuncture and estazolam. The indicators of the Mongolian medicine syndromes and conditions, Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), and polysomnography indexes (PSG) have been detected. Result. Based on the comparison of the Mongolian medicine syndrome scores between the warm acupuncture group and the drug treatment group, the result indicated P < 0.01. The clinical efficacy result showed that the effective rate (85%) in the warm acupuncture group was higher than that (70%) in the drug group. The total scores of PSQI of both groups were approximated. The sleep quality indexes of both groups decreased significantly (P < 0.05). The sleep quality index in the Mongolian medical warm acupuncture group decreased significantly (P < 0.01) and was better than that in the estazolam group. The sleep efficiency and daytime functions of the patients in the Mongolian medical warm acupuncture group improved significantly (P < 0.01). The sleep time was significantly extended (P < 0.01) in the Mongolian medical warm acupuncture group following PSG intervention. The sleep time during NREM in the Mongolian warm acupuncture group increased significantly (P < 0.01). The sleep time exhibited a decreasing trend during REM and it decreased significantly in the Mongolian warm acupuncture group (P < 0.01). The percentage of sleep time in the total sleep time during NREM3+4 in the Mongolian medical warm acupuncture group increased significantly. Conclusion. Mongolian medical warm acupuncture is efficient and safe in treating insomnia. It is able to better improve the patients’ sleep time and daytime functions. It is better than that in the estazolam group following drug withdrawal in terms of improving the sleep time. It is more effective in helping the insomnia patients than hypnotics.

Incidence and progression of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is a multi-factor, multi-step process. The present study investigated the association between the expression level of microRNA (miR)-4458 in NSCLC and paracarcinoma liver tissues and survival rates, and studied the biological functions of miR-4458 at the cellular and protein level. NSCLC and paracarcinoma tissues were sequenced using a miR expression chip. The association between miR-4458 expression and tumor-node-metastasis staging, total survival rate and relapse-free survival rate was analyzed. miR-4458 was subjected to target gene prediction. The target protein of cyclin D1 (CCND1) was verified with western blot analysis, immunohistochemistry and a luciferase reporter assay. The relative level of miR-4458 in paracarcinoma tissues of 9 NSCLC patients decreased from 2.38 to 0.65 (P<0.001). Total five-year survival rates of the high-expression miR-4458 group (29.21%) significantly exceeded that of the low-expression group (14.37%) (P=0.025). The viability of human lung carcinoma A549 and H460 cells transfected with miR-4458 decreased significantly compared with cells transfected with a normal control (blank control plasmid) within 72 h (P<0.001). The percentage of A549 and H460 cells transfected with a miR-4458 mimic at the cell cycle stage G0/G1 was 69.94±8.05 and 68.15±7.75%, respectively. The percentages increased significantly compared with the control group (46.06±6.93 for A549 cells; 45.22±7.24 for H640 cells; P<0.001). CCND1 mRNA was downregulated significantly in H460 cells 72 h subsequent to the addition of miR-4458 mimics (P<0.001). The activity of mutant-CCND1 altered slightly, while the fluorescence intensity of the wild-type-CCND1 group decreased significantly following the addition of miR-4458 mimics. In conclusion, miR-4458 was expressed at low levels in lung cancer tissues, and it arrested cells in vitro at stage G0/G1 and inhibited cell proliferation. Therefore, miR-4458 may participate in the onset of lung cancer as a suppressor gene by inhibiting CCND1.

Background. Mongolian medical warm acupuncture has a desirable therapeutic effect on sciatica. Apoptosis of the nucleus pulposus cells is considered to play an important role in sciatica. Evidence has demonstrated that oxidative stress and its induced activation of the signaling pathways play important roles in sciatica. However, further research is expected to reveal whether Mongolian medical warm acupuncture can inhibit the apoptosis of nucleus pulposus cells and oxidative stress. Objective. To study the effect of the p38 MAPK pathway activated by the generated ROS on apoptosis and the expression of the genes related to the balance of the extracellular matrix metabolism during treatment of sciatica with Mongolian medical warm acupuncture. Method. The volume of the active oxygen generated in the nucleus pulposus cells was detected following intervention of Mongolian medical warm acupuncture. The p38 MAPK phosphorylation level was detected with Western blot. The genes are related to the metabolism of the nucleus pulposus extracellular matrix. Result. Mongolian medical warm acupuncture reduced the active oxygen within the nucleus pulposus cells and inhibited the activation of the p38 MAPK pathway (P=0.013). Meanwhile, it upregulated the gene expression of Type II collagen, aggrecan, Sox‐9, and tissue matrix metalloproteinase reagent 1 (P‐0.015; P=0.025; P=0.031; P=0.045) and downregulated the gene expression of matrix metalloproteinase 3 (P=0.015). Conclusion. Mongolian medical warm acupuncture may inhibit apoptosis of nucleus pulposus cells and activation of the extracellular matrix decomposition metabolism pathway and promote its anabolism. This process may rely on the oxidative stress matrix of the p38 MAPK pathway.

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is closely associated with nervous functions. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of gabazine and tiagabine on the cognitive functions (CF) of REM sleep-deprived and sleep recovered rats. Rats were divided into REM sleep deprivation, blank control (CC) and environmental groups. The REM sleep deprivation group was further divided into non-operation (nonOP), sham-operated (Sham), gabazine (SR) and tiagabine groups. Each group was evaluated over five time points: Sleep deprived for 1 day (SD 1 day), SD 3 day, SD 5 day, sleep recovery 6 h (RS 6 h) and RS 12 h. A rat model of REM sleep deprivation was established by a modified multi-platform water method, with CF assessed by Morris water maze. Hypothalamic γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamic acid contents were measured via high performance liquid chromatography. The number and morphology of hypocretin (Hcrt) neurons and Fos in the hypothalamus, and GABAARα1-induced integral optical density were detected by immunofluorescence. Compared to the CC group, the nonOP and Sham group rats CF were significantly diminished, Fos-positive and Fos-Hcrt double positive cells were significantly increased, and GABA content and GABAARα1 expression levels were significantly elevated (P<0.05). The tiagabine and CC groups exhibited similar results at three time points. The CF of rats in the SR group were diminished and the number of Fos-positive and Fos-Hcrt double positive cells were significantly increased (P<0.05) at RS 6 h and RS l2 h. GABA content and GABAARα1 expression levels were significantly increased in the SR group at all time points (P<0.05), whereas only GABAARα1 expression levels were significantly increased in the tiagabine group at SD 5 day (P<0.05). The results of the present study indicated that REM sleep deprivation diminished CF, increased the number of Hcrt neurons, GABA content and GABAARα1 expression. Furthermore, all alterations were positively correlated with deprivation time and corrected by sleep recovery, as demonstrated by single-factor multi-level variance analysis at the various time points in each group. Therefore, the Hcrt nervous system may be an eligible therapeutic target for the treatment of insomnia.