Effect of various acupuncture treatment protocols upon sepsis in Wistar rats.

Sepsis is a syndrome characterized by infection and generalized inflammatory response that can lead to organ failure and death. In this study we standardize a model to investigate acupuncture's effects upon sepsis. the objectives were to study the use of acupuncture in the infectious process and to formulate acupuncture's treatment protocol for sepsis. The CLP (cecal ligation and puncture) model in rats was used to induce sepsis through bacterial entrance into the peritoneal cavity. An acupuncture treatment protocol that enhanced survival and reversed the neutrophil impairment migration toward the peritoneal cavity in rats with sepsis was achieved. It seems that acupuncture can be used for the treatment of experimental infectious processes. The effects of acupuncture and related mechanisms are discussed.

Myrcene mimics the peripheral analgesic activity of lemongrass tea.

Oral administration of an infusion of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) fresh leaves to rats produced a dose-dependent analgesia for the hyperalgesia induced by subplantar injections of either carrageenin or prostaglandin E2, but did not affect that induced by dibutyryl cyclic AMP. These results indicate a peripheral site of action which was confirmed with the essential oil obtained by steam distillation of the leaves. Silica gel column fractionation of the essential oil allowed the identification of myrcene as the major analgesic component in the oil. Identification of the components was made by thin-layer chromatography and checked by mass spectrometry. The peripheral analgesic effect of myrcene was confirmed by testing a standard commercial preparation on the hyperalgesia induced by prostaglandin in the rat paw test and upon the contortions induced by intraperitoneal injections of iloprost in mice. In contrast to the central analgesic effect of morphine, myrcene did not cause tolerance on repeated injection in rats. This analgesic activity supports the use of lemongrass tea as a "sedative" in folk medicine. Terpenes such as myrcene may constitute a lead for the development of new peripheral analgesics with a profile of action different from that of the aspirin-like drugs.

Is methylnalorphinium the prototype of an ideal peripheral analgesic?

Oral methylnalorphine ( methylnalorphinium ) caused a dose-dependent selective inhibition of inflammatory hyperalgesia (measured in the rat by a modified version of the Randall- Selitto test) without affecting the oedema. When subcutaneously injected, repeated doses of morphine for 5 days caused progressive analgesic tolerance. Tolerance was not observed after similar treatment with methylnalorphinium or methylmorphinium . Animals displaying analgesic tolerance to systemic morphine did not exhibit tolerance to the local ( intraplantar ) injection of morphine, methylnalorphinium or methylmorphinium . In contrast with nalorphine and other opiates, methylnalorphinium did not reduce intestinal transit in mice. Methylnalorphinium , a mixed opiate agonist-antagonist devoid of central effects, might be considered the prototype of an ideal peripheral analgesic since it was orally active, did not affect intestinal transit and did not cause analgesic tolerance.