Current Issue : January - March Volume : 2014 Issue Number : 1 Articles : 6 Articles
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used in China for thousands of years to treat and prevent diseases. TCMhas\r\nbeen proven safe and effective, and it is being considered as one of the important types of complementary and alternative medicine\r\nand receives increasing attention worldwide.The dried root of Polygonum cuspidatum Sieb. et Zucc. (also known as ââ?¬Å?Hu Zhangââ?¬Â in\r\nChinese) is one of the medicinal herbs listed in the Pharmacopoeia of the Peopleââ?¬â?¢s Republic of China.Hu Zhang is widely distributed\r\nin the world. It can be found in Asia and North America and is used as folk medicine in countries such as Japan and Korea.\r\nIn China, Hu Zhang is usually used in combination with other TCM herbs. The therapeutic uses of those Hu Zhang-containing\r\nTCMprescriptions or formulations are for treating cough, hepatitis, jaundice, amenorrhea, leucorrhea, arthralgia, burns and snake\r\nbites. Recent pharmacological and clinical studies have indicated that Hu Zhang has antiviral, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory,\r\nneuroprotective, and cardioprotective functions. This review gives a summary of the reported therapeutic effects of the active\r\ncompounds and the different extracts of Hu Zhang....
Deqi, an important component of the traditional theory of acupuncture and moxibustion, is the key factor in determining clinical\r\ntherapeutic effect of acupuncture. In this paper, based on the digging up, arrangement, and in-depth analysis of the famous\r\ncontemporary Chinese acupuncturists� perspectives of deqi, the authors summarize the concept and manifestation, as well as the\r\nproperties of deqi, and correlativity of deqi with acupuncture manipulation through reviewing modern clinical research. Proposals\r\nfor more scientific and standardized acupuncture research are introduced to reexamine and restore the implication of deqi in\r\ncombination with the clinical practice....
The king of herbs, Panax ginseng, has been used widely as a therapeutic agent vis-a-vis its active pharmacological and physiological\r\neffects. Based on Chinese pharmacopeia Ben Cao Gang Mu and various pieces of literature, Panax ginseng was believed to exert\r\nactive vascular protective effects through its antiobesity and anti-inflammation properties.We investigated the vascular protective\r\neffects of ginseng by administrating ginseng extracts to rats after the induction of diabetes. We found that Panax ginseng can\r\nrestore diabetes-induced impaired vasorelaxation and can reduce serum triglyceride but not cholesterol level in the diabetic rats.\r\nTheginseng extracts also suppressed the expression of atherosclerosis-related genes and altered the expression of lipid-related genes.\r\nThe results provide evidence that Panax ginseng improves vascular dysfunction induced by diabetes and the protective effects may\r\npossibly be due to the downregulation of atherosclerosis-related genes and altered lipid metabolism, which help to restore normal\r\nendothelium functions....
Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy is a major dose-limiting side effect of commonly used chemotherapeutic agents.\r\nHowever, there are no effective strategies to treat the neuropathy.We examined whether Goshajinkigan, a herbal medicine, would\r\nprevent paclitaxel-induced allodynia without affecting the anticancer action in mice.Murine breast cancer 4T1 cells were inoculated\r\ninto the mammary fat pad. Paclitaxel (10 and 20mg/kg, intraperitoneal, alternate day from day 7 postinoculation) inhibited the\r\ntumor growth, and Goshajinkigan (1 g/kg, oral, daily from day 2 postinoculation) did not affect the antitumor action of paclitaxel.\r\nMechanical allodynia developed in the inoculated region due to tumor growth and in the hind paw due to paclitaxel-induced\r\nneuropathy. Paclitaxel-induced allodynia was markedly prevented by Goshajinkigan, although tumor-associated allodynia was not\r\ninhibited by Goshajinkigan. These results suggest that Goshajinkigan prevents paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy without\r\ninterfering with the anti-cancer action of paclitaxel....
It is well known that acupuncture treatment has an effect on patients with an overactive bladder, but the mechanism of its action\r\nremains to be clarified. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of acupuncture on bladder overactivity, and the excitability of\r\ninterstitial cells of Cajal of the bladder in a rat model of partial bladder outlet obstruction. Electroacupuncture (continuous wave,\r\n30Hz, 1 mA) was applied to stimulate the Ciliao point (BL32) and the Huiyang point (BL35) of rats for 20 min, 3 days. Results\r\nshowed that acupuncture suppressed detrusor unstable contraction frequency and decreased detrusor maximum pressure in the\r\nbladder filling period. Compared with the normal control rats, HCN2 mRNA and protein expression within the bladder were\r\nupregulated and were reversed by electroacupuncture in overactive bladder rats as determined by RT-PCR, western blotting and\r\nimmunohistochemistry.Moreover, in-vitro cell-culturedOAB rats bladder interstitial cells of Cajal intracellular Ca2+ concentration\r\nwere higher than normal control rats, which were lowered after acupuncture treatment. These findings suggest that acupuncture\r\nstimulation can suppress bladder overactivity, and regulate the excitability of bladder interstitial cells of Cajal in treatment of\r\noveractive bladder myogenic mechanism....
Trichosanthes kirilowii tuber is a traditional medicine which exhibits various medicinal effects including antidiabetic and anticancer\r\nactivities in several cancer cells. Recently, it was reported that Cucurbitacin D (CuD) isolated from Trichosanthes kirilowii also\r\ninduces apoptosis in several cancer cells. Constitutive signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), which is an\r\noncogenic transcription factor, is often observed in many human malignant tumor, including breast cancer. In the present study,\r\nwe tested whether Trichosanthes kirilowii ethanol extract (TKE) or CuD suppresses cell growth and induces apoptosis through\r\ninhibition of STAT3 activity in breast cancer cells.We found that both TKE andCuD suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis\r\nand G2/M cell cycle arrest in MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells by inhibiting STAT3 phosphorylation. In addition, both TKE and\r\nCuD inhibited nuclear translocation and transcriptional activity of STAT3. Taken together, our results indicate that TKE and its\r\nderived compound, CuD, could be potent therapeutic agents for breast cancer, blocking tumor cell proliferation and inducing\r\napoptosis through suppression of STAT3 activity....
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