ABSTRACT
Acupuncture is regarded as a relatively safe procedure, but it may have various complications. Cardiac tamponade after acupuncture is an extremely rare complication but can have fatal outcomes. We present a 73-year-old female patient with decreased consciousness and dyspnea after acupuncture at an oriental medical clinic. Initial vital signs were a blood pressure of 60/40 mmHg and a heart rate of 110 beats/min. Echocardiography and chest computed tomography were performed in the emergency department to determine the cause of the shock, and the result came out as hemopericardium. The patient underwent through an emergency cardiac surgery under the diagnosis of cardiac tamponade following acupuncture and was fully recovered after surgery.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: Green tea is known as a potent anti-oxidant, anti-carcinogen, and genetic protector. Glyphosate (N-phosphonomethyl glycine) is a widely used non-selective herbicide that causes DNA damage. The present study was conducted to investigate the protective effects of green tea in human blood lymphocytes exposed to glyphosate using the Sister Chromatid Exchange (SCE) frequency method. METHODS: Peripheral blood was obtained from 10 volunteers and cultured through four different conditions. Four groups were divided into control, glyphosate only (300 ng/mL), glyphosate and low (20 µm) concentrations of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and glyphosate and high (100 µm) concentrations of EGCG. RESULTS: The glyphosate exposed groups had a higher mean SCE frequency (10.33±2.50) than the control group (6.38±2.28, p<0.001). The low concentrations of EGCG groups had a lower mean SCE frequency (9.91±1.93) than the glyphosate-only group, although this difference was not significant (p=0.219). However, the high concentration group (9.49±1.85) had a significantly lower SCE frequency than the glyphosate-only group (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: EGCG has a gene protective effect in human lymphocytes exposed to the genotoxicity of glyphosate in the case of high concentrations.