[The effect of heat-reinforcing needling on the level of TRAF6-K63 ubiquitination and NF-κB pathway in the synovial tissue of knee joint in rabbits with rheumatoid arthritis of cold syndrome].

Objectives: To observe the effect of heat-reinforcing needling on the level of tumor necrosis factor receptor associated factor 6 (TRAF6)-K63 ubiquitination and the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway in the synovial tissue of the knee joints of a rabbit model with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) of cold syndrome, so as to explore the mechanism by which the heat-reinforcing needling inhibits inflammatory response in RA synovitis.

Methods: Eight out of 32 rabbits were randomly selected and assigned to the normal group. The remaining rabbits were induced to establish the RA cold syndrome model using ovalbumin combined with complete Freund's adjuvant and low-temperature cryogenic methods.

[Effect and mechanism of acupotomy tendon-sparing and knot-dissolving technique in inhibiting bone destruction in rats with rheumatoid arthritis based on the PI3K/AKT/NFATc1 pathway].

Objectives: To observe the effect of acupotomy tendon-sparing and knot-dissolving technique on bone destruction and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT)/nuclear factor of activated T cells c1 (NFATc1) pathway in rats with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), so as to investigate the underlying mechanism.

Methods: Forty SD rats were randomly divided into normal, model, medication (tripterygium wilfordii), and acupotomy groups, with 10 rats in each group. Except for the normal group, the rest of the rats were injected with bovine type II collagen emulsion at the base of tails to establish a collagen-induced RA model.

LncRNA-mediated cell autophagy: An emerging field in bone destruction in rheumatoid arthritis.

In recent years, research on the mechanism of bone destruction in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has remained in the initial stages, and the mechanism has not been fully elucidated to date. Recent studies have shown that long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) participate in RA bone destruction via autophagy, but the specific regulatory mechanism of lncRNA-mediated autophagy is unclear. Therefore, in this article, we review the mechanisms of lncRNA-mediated autophagy in fibroblast-like synoviocytes and chondrocytes in RA bone destruction.

[Heat-tonifying acupuncture relieves pain and synovial inflammatory injury by regulating Keap1-Nrf2/ARE/ HO-1 signaling pathway in rabbits with cold syndrome type rheumatoid arthritis].

Objective: To observe the effect of heat-tonifying needling on Keap1-Nrf2/ARE/HO-1 signal transduction pathway in knee synovium in rabbits with cold syndrome type rheumatoid arthritis (RA), so as to explore its mechanisms underl-ying improvement of RA.

Methods: New Zealand rabbits were randomly divided into normal control, RA model, uniform reinforcing-reducing acupuncture, twisting reinforcing acupuncture and heat-tonifying acupuncture groups, with 6 rabbits in each group. The cold syndrome type RA model was established by subcutaneous injection of mixture fluid of ovalbumin and Freund's complete adjuvant at the shoulder-back as well as injection of mixture of ovalbumin and normal saline into knee-joint cavity combined with ice-compress freezing.