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To explore the regulating effect of acupuncture on pain based on the three dimensions of pain (pain sensation, pain emotion and pain cognition). The pain sensation is related to the body, the pain emotion is related to the seven emotions, the pain cognition is related to the mind of the five zang, and the three dimensions of pain interact with each other. Through the two ways of "regulating qi to treat mind" and "treating mind to regulate qi ", acupuncture comprehensively acts on pain sensation, pain emotion and pain cognition to achieve comprehensive regulation of pain.
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Humans , Acupuncture Analgesia , Acupuncture Therapy , Emotions , Cognition , PainABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial effect of electroacupuncture (EA) in experimental models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in vivo.@*METHODS@#Senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice were used as AD models and received EA at Yingxiang (LI 20, bilateral) and Yintang (GV 29) points for 20 days. For certain experiments, SAMP8 mice were injected intravenously with human fibrin (2 mg). The Morris water maze test was used to assess cognitive and memory abilities. The changes of tight junctions of blood-brain barrier (BBB) in mice were observed by transmission electron microscope. The expressions of fibrin, amyloid- β (Aβ), and ionized calcium-binding adapter molecule 1 (IBa-1) in mouse hippocampus (CA1/CA3) were detected by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Western blot or immunohistochemical staining. The expression of fibrin in mouse plasma was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The expressions of tight junction proteins zonula occludens-1 and claudin-5 in hippocampus were detected by qRT-PCR and immunofluorescence staining. Apoptosis of hippocampal neurons was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining.@*RESULTS@#Fibrin was time-dependently deposited in the hippocampus of SAMP8 mice and this was inhibited by EA treatment (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Furthermore, EA treatment suppressed the accumulation of Aβ in the hippocampus of SAMP8 mice (P<0.01), which was reversed by fibrin injection (P<0.05 or P<0.01). EA improved SAMP8 mice cognitive impairment and BBB permeability (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Moreover, EA decreased reactive oxygen species levels and neuroinflammation in the hippocampus of SAMP8 mice, which was reversed by fibrin injection (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Mechanistically, EA inhibited the promoting effect of fibrin on the high mobility group box protein 1 (HMGB1)/toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) and receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE)/nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) signaling pathways (P<0.01).@*CONCLUSION@#EA may potentially improve cognitive impairment in AD via inhibition of fibrin/A β deposition and deactivation of the HMGB1/TLR4 and RAGE/NADPH signaling pathways.
Subject(s)
Mice , Humans , Animals , NADP/metabolism , Toll-Like Receptor 4 , HMGB1 Protein/metabolism , Receptor for Advanced Glycation End Products/metabolism , Blood-Brain Barrier/metabolism , Neuroinflammatory Diseases , Electroacupuncture , Alzheimer Disease/therapy , Hippocampus/metabolism , Amyloid beta-Peptides/metabolismABSTRACT
Xiexin decoctions (XXDs) display beneficial anti-inflammatory and anti-diabetic effects, which raises interests on this group of formulae for broad clinical applications. However, there was no report about systematic analysis of XXDs to elucidate the constitution of chemical components, which hampers further investigations on the therapeutic values of XXDs. In this work, crude herbs were extracted and prepared to obtain the XXDs for systemic analysis on their chemical compositions, according to the information described in the ancient Zhang Zhongjing's herbal formulae. LC-MS analysis of five XXDs was carried out to facilitate recognition of the source herbs for compounds in the mixture. A total number of 93 compounds were identified through our methods and their chemical classes encompassed five major groups, including protoberberine alkaloids, flavonoids, stilbenes, anthraquinones and saponins. Our current work provided important information about material basis for pharmacological studies on XXDs and would help shed light on relationships between chemical compositions and therapeutic effects.
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Objective:To evaluate the effect of combined use of Guben-Tiaoping Decoction on the success rate of stepwise treatment and life quality of asthma patients. Methods:A total of 76 patients with asthma in remission stage who were using ICS were divided into treatment group (38 cases) and control group(38 cases) according to random number table. Both groups were treated with ICS reduction based on the 2017 Gina Protocol. The treatment group was treated with Guben-Tiaoping Decoction for 12 weeks. The number of patients who were able to successfully complete the stepwise treatment after the end of the trial was calculated, the relevant indexes of Asthma Control Test (ACT), TCM Syndrome score, St. George’s respiratory questionnaire (SGRQ) and lung function were collected before and after treatment. Result:After 12 weeks’ treatment, the success rate of stepwise was 89.5% (34/38) in the treatment group and 78.9% (30/38) in the control group ( χ2=14.862, P=0.001). Meanwhile, the ACT score of the treatment group were better than those in the control group (Daytime symptoms t=-3.860, P=0.001, Dyspnea t=-2.007, P=0.40, Night waking t=-2.732, P=0.009, Reliever needed for symptoms t=-2.262, P=0.031, Control situation t=-6.994, P=0.001, Total Score t=-9.562, P=0.001). The score of TCM Syndrome in the treatment group was significantly lower than that of the control group ( P=0.001); PEF in treatment group [(6.92 ± 1.71) L vs. (5.84 ± 1.22) L; t=-2.880, P=0.005] was significantly better than that of the control group. Conclusion:Guben-Tiaoping Decoction is helpful to improve the success rate of ICS stepwise treatment and the life quality of patients.
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OBECTIVE： To study the mechanism of Wutou decoction in the treatment of osteoarthritis， and to provide a new direction and target for the treatment of osteoarthritis. METHODS： Using oral bioavailability （OB）≥30％， drug like （DL）≥0.18％ as index， active components were screened from Wutou decoction by using TCM systematic pharmacological analysis platform （TCMSP）， such as Aconitum carmichaelii， Ephedra sinica， Astragalus propinquus， Paeonia tactilora， Glycyrrhiza uralensis. Targets of osteoarthritis were obtained by retrieving therapeutic targets database （TTD） and mining thip data from gene expression database （GEO）. Target genes were analyzed by GO and KEGG pathway enrichment analysis were performed by using DAVID database. RESULTS： A total of 30 active components were screened， including quercetin， terpenoids and gardenol； 31 targets related to osteoarthritis were obtained， including β2 adrenergic receptor， arachidonate 5-lipoxygenase and androgen receptor. The biological process of Wutou decoction in treatment of osteoarthritis was mainly related to the IL-1 receptor signal transduction， synergistic activation of peroxidase proliferation activated receptor， signal transduction of tyrosine kinase receptor 2. It mainly regulated tumor necrosis factor signaling pathway， vascular endothelial growth factor signaling pathway， osteoclasts differentiation signaling pathway， nuclear factor κB signaling pathway， Toll-like receptor signaling pathway so as to play a role in the treatment of osteoarthritis. CONCLUSIONS： The study analysis the potential mechanism of Wutou decoction in the treatment of osteoarthritis based on network pharmacology， which can provide reference for further study on the material basis and target of Wutou decoction in the treatment of osteoarthritis.
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Objective: To investigate the potential molecular mechanism of Drynariae Rhizoma in the treatment of osteoarthritis based on network pharmacology and bioinformatics. Methods: The potential active constituents and targets of Drynariae Rhizoma were screened and predicted through the traditional Chinese medicine systems pharmacology database and analysis platform (TCMSP). Using TTD and four other osteoarthritis related disease databases, combining the topological analysis, the specific target of Drynariae Rhizoma in the treatment of osteoarthritis was filtered. And the further possible molecular mechanism of Drynariae Rhizoma was analyzed through ClueGo method. Results: Seventy-one corresponding compounds of Drynariae Rhizoma were retrieved from TCMSP. According to the values of oral bioavailability (OB) and drug likeness (DL), 18 possible bioactive components were screened out, and 92 potential targets were obtained by using the related target prediction technique. A total of 168 known targets closely related to the development of osteoarthritis were retrieved from the disease-related databases. A total of 99 key genes were screened out through network topological analysis. The ClueGo analysis showed that the action mode of Drynariae Rhizoma in treating osteoarthritis was mainly working on 31 signaling pathways related to cell cycle, inflammation, infection and cancer etc. Conclusion: Drynariae Rhizoma has the characteristics of multisystem, multiple targets, and multicomponent in the treatment of osteoarthritis. Through analysis, the possible mechanism includes not only directly acting on proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation of cells related to bone reconstruction and regulation of the balance of bone metabolism, but also affecting and interfering the bone and cartilage microenvironment through regulating immunity, inflammation, and other systems, which is consistent with the current mechanism of osteoarthritis treatment.
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<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To develop and evaluate the short version of patient reported outcomes (PROs) questionnaire for gastric stuffiness (Wei Pi) patients with modern test theory and technologies, hoping to provide testing tools for related clinical practice and scientific researches with higher quality and less administrative and response burdens.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Using descriptive study design, clinical data were collected with sociological questionnaire and previous developed full items version of PROs instrument for gastric stuffiness (Wei Pi) patients via field and online surveys between Sep 2011 and Mar 2012. The statistical analysis group identified the termination parameters firstly, and then selected items with discrimination, fitting residual, item information curve (IIC) , item characteristic curve (ICC), and the rank of computerized adaptive testing (CAT) select proportion, etc. After assumption evaluation of item response theory (IRT), IIC, ICC, difficulty coefficient distribution, items-response relation and thresholds, etc. were used for psychometric evaluation of instrument.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>A total of 331 patients [Ages: 31.99 +/- 10.29 yrs; Male: 186 (56.3%)] were enrolled in statistical analysis. The test termination criterion was Max SE = 0.2 or Max items number =16. After items selection, a 15-item short version of instrument, which contains symptoms facet (8 items) and impact facet (7 items) was generated. With good unidimensionality, local independence, and monotonicity, the IC and ICC in IRT analysis showed good working capability of the questionnaire. The difficulty coefficient distribution and items-response relation were also rational, as well as response thresholds.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The short version of PROs instrument for adult gastric stuffiness (Wei Pi) patients was successfully developed and assessed. The instrument with good methodological and reporting quality could be used in clinical and scientific evaluating their symptoms and impact.</p>