[Chan-Chuang Qigong Improves Exercise Capacity, Depression, and Quality of Life in Patients With Heart Failure].

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based research has shown the effects of traditional Chinese exercise on exercise capacity, depression, and quality of life in patients with cardiovascular disease. However, the effects of Chan-Chuang qigong on the physical and psychological status and on the quality of life of these patients are unknown. PURPOSE: To investigate the effects of Chan-Chuang qigong on exercise capacity, depression, and quality of life in patients with heart failure. METHODS: A randomized controlled study with repeated measures was conducted. One hundred participants with heart failure were recruited from a teaching medical center in Taiwan. Permuted block randomization was used to randomly assign the participants to either the Chan-Chuang qigong group, which received Chan-Chuang qigong intervention for three-months, or the control group. The outcome variables included six-minute walk distance, depression, and quality of life. RESULTS: Generalized estimating equation analyses showed that the Chan-Chuang qigong group achieved significantly greater improvements than the control group in terms of six-minute walk distance (p = .001, p < .001, p < .001, respectively) and quality of life (p = .016, p < .001, p < .001, respectively) at 2, 4, and 12 weeks after the intervention and depression at 12 weeks after the intervention (p = .016). CONCLUSIONS / IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The results of this study indicate that Chan-Chuang qigong improves exercise capacity, depression, and quality of life in patients with heart failure without imposing harmful side effects.

Chemical Constituents with Anti-Lipid Droplet Accumulation and Anti-Inflammatory Activity from Elaeagnus glabra.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a type of steatosis caused by excess lipids accumulating in the liver. The prevalence of NAFLD has increased annually due to modern lifestyles and a lack of adequate medical treatment. Thus, we were motivated to investigate the bioactive components of Formosan plants that could attenuate lipid droplet (LD) accumulation. In a series of screenings of 3000 methanolic extracts from the Formosan plant extract bank for anti-LD accumulation activity, the methanolic extract of aerial parts of Elaeagnus glabra Thunb. showed excellent anti-LD accumulation activity. E. glabra is an evergreen shrub on which only a few phytochemical and biological studies have been conducted. Here, one new flavonoid (1), two new triterpenoids (2 and 3), and 35 known compounds (4-38) were isolated from the ethyl acetate layer of aerial parts of E. glabra via a bioassay-guided fractionation process. Their structures were characterized by 1D and 2D NMR, UV, IR, and MS data. Among the isolated compounds, methyl pheophorbide a (37) efficiently reduced the normalized LD content to 0.3% with a concentration of 20 µM in AML12 cell lines without significant cytotoxic effects. 3-O-(E)-Caffeoyloleanolic acid (13) and methyl pheophorbide a (37) showed inhibitory effects on superoxide anion generation or elastase release in fMLP/CB-treated human neutrophils (IC50 < 3.0 µM); they displayed effects similar to those of the positive control, namely, LY294002. These findings indicate that E. glabra can be used for developing a new botanical drug for managing LD accumulation and against inflammation-related diseases.