Current Issue : October - December Volume : 2016 Issue Number : 4 Articles : 5 Articles
Background: Insomnia is the common complaint among patients with stroke. Acupuncture has increasingly been\nused for insomnia relief after stroke.\nThe aim of the present study was to summarize and evaluate evidence on the effectiveness of acupuncture in\nrelieving insomnia after stroke.\nMethods: Seven databases were searched from inception through October 2014 without language restrictions.\nRandomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included if acupuncture was compared to placebo or other conventional\ntherapy for treatment of insomnia after stroke. Assessments were performed using the Pittsburgh sleep quality\nindex (PSQI), the insomnia severity index (ISI), the Athens insomnia scale (AIS), and the efficacy standards of\nChinese medicine.\nResults: A total of 165 studies were identified; 13 RCTs met our inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis showed that\nacupuncture appeared to be more effective than drugs for treatment of insomnia after stroke, as assessed by\nthe PSQI (weighted mean difference, 4.31; 95 % confidence interval [CI], 1.67ââ?¬â??6.95; P = 0.001) and by the efficacy\nstandards of Chinese medicine (risk ratio, 1.25; 95 % CI, 1.12ââ?¬â??1.40; P < 0.001). Intradermal acupuncture had significant\neffects compared with sham acupuncture, as assessed by the ISI (weighted mean difference, 4.44; 95 % CI, 2.75ââ?¬â??6.13;\nP < 0.001) and the AIS (weighted mean difference, 3.64; 95 % CI, 2.28ââ?¬â??5.00; P < 0.001).\nConclusions: Our results suggest that acupuncture could be effective for treating insomnia after stroke. However,\nfurther studies are needed to confirm the role of acupuncture in the treatment of this disorder....
Insomnia, a common sleep disorder, affects general well-being, hastens the onset of other diseases,\nand impairs work performance. Hypnotic medications are efficacious in the short term but have\nobvious side effects. Acupuncture, often used to treat insomnia in traditional Chinese medicine\n(TCM), is considered to be beneficial in restoring the normal sleep-wake cycle by regulating and\nrestoring the natural flow of qi (energy power). The three main TCM theories for treating insomnia\nby acupuncture are the tranquilization disturbance, zangfu disturbance (disequilibrium of internal\norgans), and imbalance of yin and yang theories. Moxibustion, another treatment for insomnia,\nis usually combined with acupuncture. Acupuncture and moxibustion with tuina (exercise\nmassage), acupuncture with Chinese herbal injection, electroacupuncture, and acupuncture with\nmedication or psychotherapy are other interventions. Some acupuncture-based methods such as\nneedle-rolling acupuncture, auricular acupoint plaster therapy, phlebotomy, and acupoint catgutembedding\ntherapy are used as well. Although most clinical trials have shown that acupuncture\nand its combination therapies are significantly effective in insomnia, the beneficial effects may\nhave been overvalued, because of small sample size, nonstrict inclusion and exclusion criteria,\nflawed methodology, short follow-up, or nonstandardized evaluation. Therefore, clinical studies of\nhigh methodological quality are needed to verify the efficacy of acupuncture, moxibustion, and\nother combination therapies in insomnia....
Background: Ganghwaljetongyeum (GHJTY) is a complex herbal decoction comprising 18 plants; it is used to treat\narthritis. In order to develop a new anti-arthritic herbal medication, we selected 5 out of 18 GHJTY plants by using\nbioinformatics analysis. The new medication, called ChondroT, comprised water extracts of Osterici Radix, Lonicerae\nFolium, Angelicae Gigantis Radix, Clematidis Radix, and Phellodendri Cortex. This study was designed to investigate\nits chondroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects to develop an anti-arthritic herb medicine.\nMethods: ChondroT was validated using a convenient and accurate high-performance liquid chromatographyââ?¬â??\nphotodiode array (HPLCââ?¬â??PDA) detection method for simultaneous determination of its seven reference\ncomponents. The concentrations of the seven marker constituents were in the range of 0.81ââ?¬â??5.46 mg/g. The\nchondroprotective effects were evaluated based on SW1353 chondrocytes and matrix metalloproteinase 1\n(MMP1) expression. In addition, the anti-inflammatory effects of ChondroT were studied by Western blotting of\npro-inflammatory enzymes and by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) of inflammatory mediators in\nlipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced RAW264.7 cells.\nResults: ChondroT enhanced the growth of SW1353 chondrocytes and also significantly inhibited IL-1Ã?²-induced\nMMP-1 expression. However, ChondroT did not show any effects on the growth of HeLa and RAW264.7 cells. The\nexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) was induced by LPS in\nRAW264.7 cells, which was significantly decreased by pre-treatment with ChondroT. In addition, ChondroT\nreduced the activation of NF-kB and production of inflammatory mediators, such as IL-1Ã?², IL-6, PGE2, and nitric\noxide (NO) in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells.\nConclusions: These results show that ChondroT exerted a chondroprotective effect and demonstrated multi-target\nmechanisms related to inflammation and arthritis. In addition, the suppressive effect was greater than that exhibited by\nGHJTY, suggesting that ChondroT, a new complex herbal medication, has therapeutic potential for the treatment of\narthritis....
Objectives: To investigate the potential role of GABAB Receptors (GABABRs) involved in the effect\nof Nourishing ââ?¬Å?Yinââ?¬Â-Removing ââ?¬Å?Fireââ?¬Â Chinese herb mixture (TCM) treatment on precocious puberty.\nMethods: Female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: normal (N),\ncentral precocious puberty (CPP) model (M), CPP fed with normal saline (S) and CPP fed with Nourishing\nââ?¬Å?Yinââ?¬Â-Removing ââ?¬Å?Fireââ?¬Â Chinese herb mixture (TCM). Rats of postnatal day 5 were given a\nsingle subcutaneous injection of 240 \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \ngroups were continuously administered with saline or nourishing ââ?¬Å?Yinââ?¬Â-removing ââ?¬Å?Fireââ?¬Â Chinese\nherb mixture since postnatal day 15. The expression of GABABRs was detected by means of realtime\nPCR and immunohistochemistry. Results: The expression of hypothalamic GnRH mRNA in M\nwas significantly increased on the day of pre-puberty when compared with that of N (P < 0.01). On\nthe day of onset-puberty, LH levels were higher in M than those in N (P < 0.01), while the serum E2\nand LH levels of TCM decreased when compared with those of M (P < 0.05). On the day of\npre-puberty, the number of GABAB1 receptor (GABABR1) immunoreactive cells in the arcuate nucleus\n(ARN) was decreased in M when compared with that of N (P < 0.05) and increased in TCM\ncompared with that of M (P < 0.05); simultaneously, the expression of GABABR1 mRNA in hypothalamus\nwas significantly decreased in M when compared with that of N (P < 0.01) and increased\nin TCM compared with that of M (P < 0.01). On the day of onset-puberty, the number of GABABR1\nimmunoreactive cells in medial septum (MS) was decreased in M compared with that in N (P <\n0.05) and increased in TCM comparing with that of M (P < 0.05); meanwhile, the mRNA expression\nof GABABR1 in hypothalamus was decreased in M compared with that in N (P < 0.05), while the numbers of GABAB2 receptor (GABABR2) immunoreactive cells in the ARN, MS and diagnonal band\nof broca (DBB) were decreased in M when compared with those of N (P < 0.05) and increased in\nTCM compared with those of M (P < 0.05) on the day of onset-puberty. At the same time, the mRNA\nexpression of GABABR2 was significantly decreased in M compared with that of N (P < 0.01). Conclusions:\nThese results indicated that the GABABRs might involve in the curative effect of Nourishing\nââ?¬Å?Yinââ?¬Â-Removing ââ?¬Å?Fireââ?¬Â Chinese herbal mixture on CPP rats....
Background: Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) and free radicals are inflammatory mediators and are\nimplicated in many diseases such as diabetes, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis etc. Multi targeted poly herbal drug\nsystems like Nawarathne Kalka (NK) are able to quench the overall effect of these mediators as they contain good\ncombinations of phytochemicals that have least side effects in contrast to modern medicinal drugs. The objectives\nof this study were to evaluate phytochemical composition, free radical scavenging activity, cytotoxicity and the\ninhibitory action on the formation of AGEs by aqueous extract of NK.\nMethods: Total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were determined using Folin ciocalteu\nmethod and aluminium chloride assay respectively. Free radical scavenging activity was assessed by DPPH radical\nscavenging assay (DRSA), phosphomolybdenum reduction antioxidant assay (PRAA) and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging\nassay. Brine Shrimp Lethality (BSL) bioassay was performed as preliminary screening for cytotoxic activity. Inhibitory\naction on AGE formation was evaluated using fructose mediated glycation of bovine serum albumin using\nfluorescence spectroscopic method.\nResults: The TPC and TFC were 75.1 Ã?± 3.0 mg/g gallic acid equivalents and 68.7 Ã?± 7.8 mg/g epigallocatechin gallate\nequivalents. The DRSA yielded EC50 of 19.15 Ã?± 2.24 Ã?¼g mLâË?â??1 for NK. DRSA of NK extract was greater than butylated\nhydroxy toluene (EC50 = 96.50 Ã?± 4.51 Ã?¼g mLâË?â??1) but lesser than L-ascorbic acid (EC50 = 5.60 Ã?± 0.51 Ã?¼g mLâË?â??1). The total\nantioxidant capacity of NK as evidenced by PRAA was 106.4 Ã?± 8.2 mg/g L-ascorbic acid equivalents. NK showed EC50\nvalue of 99.3 Ã?± 8.4 Ã?¼g mLâË?â??1 in the NO scavenging assay compared to the standard ascorbic acid (EC50 = 7.3 Ã?± 0.\n3 Ã?¼g mLâË?â??1). The extract indicated moderate cytotoxic activity in the BSL bioassay. The extract showed effective\ninhibitory action on the formation of AGEs with EC50 values of 116 Ã?± 19 Ã?¼g mLâË?â??1, 125Ã?±35 Ã?¼g mLâË?â??1 and 84 Ã?±\n28 Ã?¼g mLâË?â??1 in data obtained over three consecutive weeks respectively. Comparatively the reference standard,\naminoguanidine at a concentration of 500 Ã?¼g mLâË?â??1 demonstrated 65 % inhibition on the formation of AGE after\none week of sample incubation.\nConclusions: The results proved the potential of NK as a free radical scavenger, moderate cytotoxic agent and an\ninhibitor on the formation of advanced glycation end-products...
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