Current Issue : April - June Volume : 2017 Issue Number : 2 Articles : 6 Articles
Background: Ayurved Siriraj Wattana recipe (AVS073), has been prescribed as tonic, to increase appetite, and for\npain relief. It also exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulating and anti-cancer activities.\nHowever, the immunomodulatory effects on antigen-presenting cells and effector T cells remained elusive.\nWe thus aimed to study the effects of AVS073 on differentiation, maturation, functions and proportions\nof CIK cells and monocyte-derived DCs.\nMethods: CIK cells and monocyte-derived DCs were treated with AVS073, followed by the assessment of\nT-helper (Th) phenotypes using real-time RT-PCR and flow cytometry.\nResults: AVS073 promoted Th1 phenotype in CD3+CD56+ subset of CIK cells through increasing STAT4,\nT-bet, and interferon-�³. AVS073 inhibited Th2 phenotype through decreasing STAT6. AVS073 inhibited Treg\nphenotype through decreasing STAT5A, STAT5B and IDO. AVS073 promoted Th17 phenotype through\nincreasing STAT3, RORC and IL-17. AVS073 treatment of mDCs resulted in increasing Th1-prone cytokine\n(IL-12) and Th17-prone cytokines (IL-6 and IL-23).\nConclusions: AVS073 upregulated Th1 and Th17, but downregulated Th2 and Treg phenotypes within CD3\n+CD56+ cells. The treatment of mDCs drove Th1 and Th17-polarizations....
Background. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has long been used to treat chronic atrophic gastritis (CAG). The aim of the\npresent study was to evaluate the TCMsyndrome characteristics of CAG and its core pathogenesis so as to promote optimization of\ntreatment strategies. Methods. This study was based on a participant survey conducted in 4 hospitals in China. Patients diagnosed\nwith CAG were recruited by simple random sampling. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted on syndrome extraction.\nResults. Common factors extracted were assigned to six syndrome patterns: qi deficiency, qi stagnation, blood stasis, phlegm\nturbidity, heat, and yang deficiency. Distribution frequency of all syndrome patterns showed that qi deficiency, qi stagnation, blood\nstasis, phlegm turbidity, and heat excess were higher (76.7%ââ?¬â??84.2%) compared with yang deficiency (42.5%). Distribution of main\nsyndrome patterns showed that frequencies of qi deficiency, qi stagnation, phlegm turbidity, heat, and yang deficiency were higher\n(15.8%ââ?¬â??20.8%) compared with blood stasis (8.3%). Conclusions.The core pathogenesis of CAG is combination of qi deficiency, qi\nstagnation, blood stasis, phlegm turbidity, heat, and yang deficiency. Therefore, treatment strategy of herbal prescriptions for CAG\nshould include herbs that regulate qi, activate blood, resolve turbidity, clear heat, remove toxin, and warm yang....
Background: Ao-dake-humi is a traditional Japanese bamboo foot stimulator consisting of a half-pipe-shaped step\nmade of bamboo used to stimulate the foot by stepping on it, and is commonly used to promote general health\namong the elderly in Japan. However, its efficacy has not been reported in the scientific literature. This study was\nperformed to investigate the role of ao-dake-humi focusing on lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), constipation,\nand hypersensitivity to cold (HC).\nMethods: Participants with LUTS, constipation, or HC were enrolled in this study. Ao-dake-humi was used twice a\nday for 28 days. Before and 28 days after starting ao-dake-humi use, international prostate symptom score (IPSS),\nquality-of-life (QoL) score, and overactive bladder symptom score (OABSS) were measured to evaluate the efficacy\nof ao-dake-humi on LUTS. To evaluate the objective efficacy of ao-dake-humi on LUTS, a frequency-volume chart\n(FVC) was plotted in LUTS patients for 3 days. A visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to evaluate the efficacy of\nao-dake-humi on constipation (VAS-constipation) and HC (VAS-HC) in the participants with constipation or HC.\nResults: A total of 24 participants were enrolled in this study. Twenty-one participants had LUTS, 11 had\nconstipation, and 17 participants had HC. IPSS, especially storage-subscore, QoL score and OABSS, decreased\nsignificantly after use of ao-dake-humi. The use of ao-dake-humi increased maximal bladder capacity, resulting in\na significant decrease in urinary frequency as determined from the FVC. In accordance with the results of VAS constipation\nand VAS-HC, both constipation and HC were significantly relieved after ao-dake-humi use.\nConclusion: The results of this prospective pilot study indicated that ao-dake-humi is safe and has therapeutic\nefficacy in cases of LUTS, constipation and HC. The possibility of using ao-dake-humi as physical neuromodulation\ntherapy was shown in the management of LUTS, constipation and HC....
Background: Scalp acupuncture (SA) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) are effective for\ntreating cerebral infarction. This study aims to examine the efficacy and safety of SA and electromagnetic\nconvergence stimulation (SAEM-CS), which was developed through collaboration between conventional medical\nphysicians and doctors who practice traditional Korean medicine. SAEM-CS was designed to improve function in\npatients with cerebral infarction, compared to the improvement after conventional stroke rehabilitation, SA, and\nrTMS therapeutic approaches.\nMethods/design: This study is a prospective, outcome assessor-blinded, randomized controlled clinical trial with a\n1:1:1:1 allocation ratio. Participants with motion or sensory disabilities caused by a first-time cerebral infarction (n =\n60) that had occurred within 1 month of the study onset will be randomly assigned to control, SA, rTMS, or SAEMCS\ngroups. All groups will receive two sessions of conventional rehabilitation treatment per day. The SA group will\nreceive SA on the upper limb area of MS6 and MS7 (at the lesional hemisphere) for 20 min, the rTMS group will\nreceive low-frequency rTMS (LF-rTMS) treatment on the hot spot of the M1 region (motor cortex at the\ncontralesional hemisphere) for 20 min, and the SAEM-CS group will receive LF-rTMS over the contralesional M1\nregion hot spot while receiving simultaneous SA stimulation on the lesional upper limb area of MS6 and MS7 for\n20 min. SA, rTMS, and SAEM-CS treatments will be conducted once/day, 5 days/week (excluding Saturdays and\nSundays) for 3 weeks, for a total of 15 sessions. The primary outcome will be evaluated using the Fuglââ?¬ÂMeyer\nAssessment, while other scales assessing cognitive function, activities of daily living, walking, quality of life, and\nstroke severity are considered secondary outcome measures. Outcome measurements will be conducted at\nbaseline (before intervention), 3 weeks after the first intervention (end of intervention), and 4 weeks after\nintervention completion.\nDiscussion: This study aims to explore the efficacy and safety of SAEM-CS on cerebral infarction. Collaborative\nresearch combined traditional Korean and conventional medicines, which can be useful in developing new\ntreatment technologies....
Background: Potentilla fruticosa, also called ââ?¬Å?Jinlaomeiââ?¬Â and ââ?¬Å?Gesanghuaââ?¬Â, is widely used as folk herbs in traditional\nTibetan medicine in China to treat inflammations, wounds, certain forms of cancer, diarrhoea, diabetes and other\nailments. Previous research found P. fruticosa leaf extract (C-3) combined with Ginkgo biloba extracts (EGb) showed\nobvious synergistic effects in a variety of oxidation systems. The aim of the present study was to further confirm the\nsynergy of P. fruticosa combined with EGb viewed from physiological bioavailability and explore the related bioactive\nmechanism behind the synergism.\nMethods: The microbial test system (MTS) was adopted to evaluate the related bioactive mechanism. The synergistic\neffects were evaluated by isobolographic analysis. The H2O2 production rate and antioxidant enzyme (Catalase (CAT),\nPeroxidase (POD), Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX)) activities were determined by the\ncolorimetric method. Enzyme gene (CAT, SOD) expression was measured by real time-PCR.\nResults: The MTS antioxidant activity results showed the combination of C-3 + EGb exhibited synergistic effects\nespecially at the ratio 5:1. Components of isorhamnetin and caffeic acid in C-3 and EGb displayed strong\nantioxidant activities on MTS and their combination also showed significant synergy in promoting H2O2\nproduction. The combinations of C-3 + EGb and isorhamnetin + caffeic acid promoted CAT and SOD enzyme\nactivities and the ratio 1:1 exhibited the strongest synergy while no obvious promotion on POD and GSH-PX\nenzyme activities was found. Both combinations above promoted gene expression of CAT and SOD enzymes\nand the ratio 1:1 exhibited the strongest synergy.\nConclusions: Antioxidant activity results in MTS further confirmed the significant synergy of C-3 combined\nwith EGb and isorhamnetin combined with caffeic acid. The synergy of C-3 combined with EGb may be\nattributed to the combination of isorhamnetin + caffeic acid, which promoted CAT and SOD enzyme gene\nexpression and further promoted the enzyme activities in E. coli. This study could further provide rational basis\nfor optimizing the physiological bioavailability of P. fruticosa by using natural and safe antioxidants in low\ndoses to produce new medicines and functional products....
Background: DanQi pill (DQP) is prescribed widely in China and has definite cardioprotective effect on coronary\nheart disease. Our previous studies proved that DQP could effectively regulate plasma levels of high density\nlipoprotein (HDL) and low density lipoprotein (LDL). However, the regulatory mechanisms of DQP and its major\ncomponents Salvianolic acids and Panax notoginseng saponins (DS) on lipid metabolism disorders havenâ��t been\ncomprehensively studied so far.\nMethods: Rat model of coronary heart disease was induced by left anterior descending (LAD) artery ligation operations.\nRats were divided into sham, model, DQP treated, DS treated and positive drug (clofibrate) treated groups. At 28 days\nafter surgery, cardiac functions were assessed by echocardiography. Expressions of transcription factors and key molecules\nin energy metabolism pathway were measured by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction or western blotting.\nResults: In ischemic heart model, cardiac functions were severely injured but improved by treatments of DQP and DS.\nExpression of LPL was down-regulated in model group. Both DQP and DS could up-regulate the mRNA expression of\nLPL. Membrane proteins involved in lipid transport and uptake, such as FABP4 and CPT-1A, were down-regulated in\nischemic heart tissues. Treatment with DQP and DS regulated lipid metabolisms by up-regulating expressions of FABP4\nand CPT-1A. DQP and DS also suppressed expression of cytochrome P450. Furthermore, transcriptional factors,\nsuch as PPAR�±, PPAR�³, RXRA and PGC-1�±, were down-regulated in ischemic model group. DQP and DS could\nup-regulate expressions of these factors. However, DS showed a better efficacy than DQP on PGC-1�±, a\ncoactivator of PPARs. Key molecules in signaling pathways such as AKT1/2, ERK and PI3K were also regulated\nby DQP and DS simultaneously.\nConclusions: Salvianolic acids and Panax notoginseng are the major effective components of DanQi pill in\nimproving lipid metabolism in ischemic heart model. The effects may be mediated by regulating transcriptional factors\nsuch as PPARs, RXRA and PGC-1�±....
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