Current Issue : April - June Volume : 2015 Issue Number : 2 Articles : 6 Articles
Visceral pain is the most common form of pain caused by varied diseases and a major reason for patients to seek medical\nconsultation. Despite much advances, the pathophysiological mechanism is still poorly understood comparing with its somatic\ncounterpart and, as a result, the therapeutic efficacy is usually unsatisfactory. Acupuncture has long been used for the management\nof numerous disorders in particular pain and visceral pain, characterized by the high therapeutic benefits and low adverse effects.\nPrevious findings suggest that acupuncture depresses pain via activation of a number of neurotransmitters or modulators including\nopioid peptides, serotonin, norepinephrine, and adenosine centrally and peripherally. It endows us, by advancing the understanding\nof the role of ion channels and gut microbiota in pain process, with novel perspectives to probe the mechanisms underlying\nacupuncture analgesia. In this review, after describing the visceral innervation and the relevant afferent pathways, in particular\nthe ion channels in visceral nociception, we propose three principal mechanisms responsible for acupuncture induced benefits on\nvisceral pain. Finally, potential topics are highlighted regarding the future studies in this field....
This study evaluated the in vivo potential antihypertensive effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Syzygium cumini leaves (HESC) in\nnormotensive Wistar rats and in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR), as well as its in vitro effect on the vascular reactivity of\nresistance arteries.Thehypotensive effect caused by intravenous infusion of HESC (0.01ââ?¬â??4.0mg/kg) in anesthetizedWistar rats was\ndose-dependent and was partially inhibited by pretreatment with atropine sulfate. SHR received HESC (0.5 g/kg/day), orally, for 8\nweeks and mean arterial pressure, heart rate, and vascular reactivity were evaluated. Daily oral administration of HESC resulted\nin a time-dependent blood pressure reduction in SHR, with a maximum reduction of 62%. In the endothelium-deprived superior\nmesenteric arteries rings the treatment with HESC reduced by 40% the maximum effect (????max) of contraction induced by NE. The\ncontractile response to calcium and NE of endothelium-deprived mesenteric rings isolated from untreated SHR was reduced in\na concentration-dependent manner by HESC (0.1, 0.25, and 0.5mg/mL). This study demonstrated that Syzygium cumini reduces\nthe blood pressure and heart rate of SHR and that this antihypertensive effect is probably due to the inhibition of arterial tone and\nextracellular calcium influx....
This research was designed to identify whether Gastrodiae Rhizoma ethanol extract (GREE) enhances pentobarbital-induced sleep\nvia ????-aminobutyric acid- (GABA-) ergic systems and modulated sleep architectures in animals. GREE (25, 50, and 100mg/kg, p.o.)\ninhibited locomotor activity in mice, in a dose-dependent manner. GREE not only prolonged total sleep time, but also reduced\nsleep latency time in pentobarbital (42mg/kg)-treated mice. Subhypnotic pentobarbital (28mg/kg, i.p.) also increased the number\nof total sleeping animals in concomitant administration of GREE. GREE (100mg/kg) alone reduced the count of sleep-wake\ncycles in electroencephalogram. Furthermore, GREE increased total sleep time and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. From the in\nvitro experiments, GREE increased intracellular chloride level in primary cultured cerebellar granule cells. Protein expressions of\nglutamine acid decarboxylase (GAD) andGABAA receptors subtypes bywestern blotwere increased. Therefore, our study suggested\nthat GREE enhances pentobarbital-induced sleeping behaviors and increased REM via the activation of GABAA-ergic transmission\nin rodents....
In the practice of traditional Chinese medicine, many Yang-tonic herbs have been used for retarding the decline in bodily function\nand delaying the onset of age-related diseases. Our earlier studies have demonstrated that Yang-invigorating herbs/formulations\nprotect against oxidative injury in various organs and also extend the median lifespan in mice. This lifespan extension was associated\nwith an upregulation of cellular antioxidant status including that of mitochondria whose functional capacity is also increased by\nââ?¬Å?Yang-invigoratingââ?¬Â herbs/formulations. In this paper, we propose that triterpenes and phytosterols, which are ubiquitously found\nin Yang-tonic herbs, may be the chemical entities responsible for enhancing mitochondrial functional and antioxidant capacity\nand thus the ââ?¬Å?Yang-invigoratingââ?¬Â action. The biochemical mechanism underlying this ââ?¬Å?Yang-invigoratingââ?¬Â action may involve a\nsustained production of low levels of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (ROS) secondary to an increased activity of the electron\ntransport chain, with the possible involvement of mitochondrial uncoupling. The increase in mitochondrial functional capacity\ncan retard the decline in bodily function during aging, whereas the mitochondrial ROS production is instrumental in eliciting a\nglutathione antioxidant response via redox-sensitive signaling pathways, which can delay the onset of age-related diseases....
Our objective was to investigate the efficacy of ââ?¬Å?energy/spiritual healingââ?¬Â in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Eligible patientswerewomen\nwith RA on stable medication. The design was a randomised, blinded, sham-controlled trial; the third group included an external\nunblinded control of the natural course of RA. Participants in both groups received 8 sessions with ââ?¬Å?perceived healingââ?¬Â over 21\nweeks with 8 weeks of follow-up. Active healing (AH) treatment comprised healing with no physical contact, and sham healing\n(SH) included exactly the same healing with a sham healer. During intervention, participants wore hearing protectors and were\nblindfolded. No healing (NH) only had their outcomes assessed. Coprimary outcomes were disease activity score (DAS) for 28\njoints and Doppler ultrasound. All 96 patients randomised were handled as the intention-to-treat population, using a baselinecarried\nforward approach to replace the missing data. Eighty-two (85%) participants completed the 29-week trial. At end point\n(week 29), mean difference in DAS28 between AH versus SH was statistically but not clinically significant in favour of AH (0.62\nDAS28 points; 95% CI: 0.13 to 1.11; ???? = 0.014), while no differences between groups occurred in Doppler ultrasound. There are no\nclear physiological or psychological explanations for the findings in this tightly controlled study. The trial data indicates a need for\nindependent replication....
The study aimed at testing the hypothesis that tongxinluo capsule might exert its cardioprotective effect by preventing ventricular\nremodeling and improving coronary microvascular function in a rat model of doxorubicin-induced dilated cardiomyopathy\n(DCM). Rats that survived DCM induction were randomly divided into three groups to be given 1.5 g?kg?1?day?1 (TXL-H,\nn = 9) or 0.15 g?kg?1?day?1 (TXL-L, n = 10) of tongxinluo, or normal saline at the same volume (DCM-C, n = 10)\nintragastrically. Age matched normal rats treated with normal saline were used as normal controls (NOR-C, n = 9). After four\nweeks of treatment, the DCM-C, TXL-H, and TXL-L groups exhibited significant cardiac dysfunction, left ventricular remodeling,\nand coronary microvascular dysfunction, compared with the NOR-C rats. However, myocardial functional parameters were\nsignificantly improved and microvascular density (MVD) increased in the TXL-H group compared with the DCM-C group (all\nP < 0.01). Left ventricular remodeling was prevented. There were close linear relationships between CVF and LVEF (r = ?0.683,\nP < 0.05), MVD and LVEF (r = 0.895, P < 0.05), and MVD and CVF (r = ?0.798, P < 0.05). It was indicated that high-dose\ntongxinluo effectively improved cardiac function in rat model of DCM....
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