Electroacupuncture facilitates M2 macrophage polarization and its potential role in the regulation of inflammatory response.

The underlying mechanism of electroacupuncture (EA) in relieving obesity, anti-inflammation and the interaction with metabolic pathways in obese mice has not been elaborated. The aim of this study was to investigate the regulation of EA on macrophage polarization in obesity tissue of diet-induced obesity mice. Mice were divided in 6 groups: normal control group, model group, EA-7 group, EA-14 group, EA-21 group and EA-28 group. Low-frequency EA was applied at "Tianshu (ST 25)", "Guanyuan (CV 4)", "Zusanli (ST 36)" and "Sanyinjiao (SP 6)" for 10 min. Adipose tissue was assessed with hematoxylin and eosin staining. Adipocytokines and pro-inflammatory factors expression was measured by ELISA. The protein and mRNA levels of macrophage markers were examined by immumohistochemical staining and RT-PCR, respectively. EA treatment was associated with a decrease of adipose tissue and large adipocytes, and an increase of small adipocytes. After EA treatment, the levels of Leptin, Chemerin, TNF-α, F4/80, iNOS, and CD11c decreased obviously in adipose tissue, while IL-4, IL-10 and CD206 levels increased significantly. Besides, TNF-α in spleen tissue was also downregulated, but IL-4 and IL-10 were upregulated. EA prevents weight gain through modulation inflammatory response and macrophage polarization in obese adipose tissues.

Regulating Gut Flora Dysbiosis in Obese Mice by Electroacupuncture.

Recently, gut flora has been linked to the onset of obesity and has been shown to influence the host's metabolism. Acupuncture is a well-known agent used for the treatment of numerous diseases such as obesity. This study aimed to explore the impacts of electroacupuncture treatment on gut microbiota composition and function in obese mice. Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes and Metagenomic analysis of the fecal microbiota were used for this purpose. The basic parameters of body weight, Lee's index, serum lipid and epididymal adipose weight were ameliorated significantly after introducing an electroacupuncture intervention. Acidobacteria, Cyanobacteria and Basidiomycota (Normal group) and Fusobacteria, Firmicutes and Spirochmycetes (Model group) were remarkably affluent at the phylum level. Bacteroides sp. CAG: 927 and Prevotella sp. CAG: 1031 (Normal group), Lachnospiraceae bacterium and Helicobacter rodentium (Model group) at the species level were distinctly enriched. The structures and functions of the intestinal flora were significantly different between healthy and obese mice, and animals in the acupuncture group gradually tended towards healthy controls. Moreover, electroacupuncture altered the bacterial diversity and metabolic genes to establish new balance, observed the obvious change from 7[Formula: see text]d and stabilized gradually through 21[Formula: see text]d. These findings suggested gut flora could be a novel target of electroacupuncture treatment against obesity.

Effect of beta-cyclodextrin charge type on the molecular recognition thermodynamics of reactions with (ferrocenylmethyl)dimethylaminium derivatives.

Complex stability constants (KS), standard molar enthalpic changes (DeltaH degrees ), and entropic changes (TDeltaS degrees ) for the inclusion complexations of native beta-cyclodextrin (1) and two oppositely charged beta-cyclodextrins, i.e., mono(6-amino-6-deoxy)- beta-cyclodextrin (2) and mono[6-O-6-(4-carboxylphenyl)]- beta-cyclodextrin (3), with two (ferrocenylmethyl)dimethylaminium derivatives, i.e., FC4+Br(-) and FC8+Br(-), were determined at 25 degrees C in aqueous phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.20) by means of isothermal titration microcalorimetry (ITC). Cyclic voltammetry studies showed that the ferrocene groups of the guests were included in the beta-cyclodextrin cavity to form host-guest complexes. As compared with neutral beta-cyclodextrin, the positively charged host 2 showed decreased binding toward (ferrocenylmethyl)dimethylaminium guests. This was attributed to electrostatic repulsion, while the negatively charged host 3 displayed increased binding due to electrostatic attractions. Thermodynamically, the ionization of host CDs affects both enthalpic and entropic changes of host-guest complexations presumably by changing the hydrophobicity and the desolvation effect of hosts upon inclusion complexation. Moreover, the solvent effect was also discussed from the viewpoint of thermodynamics.