Effects of mind-body therapy on quality of life and neuroendocrine and cellular immune functions in patients with ulcerative colitis.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mind-body therapy on neuroendocrine and cellular immune measures, health-related quality of life and disease activity in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) in remission. METHODS: Thirty UC patients in remission or with low disease activity were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n = 15) or a usual-care waiting control group (n = 15). Intervention consisted of a structured 60-hour training program over 10 weeks which included stress management training, moderate exercise, Mediterranean diet, behavioral techniques and self-care strategies. Quality of life, perceived stress and disease activity were assessed with standardized questionnaires (IBDQ, SF-36, PSS, CAI). In addition, the distribution of circulating lymphocytes and lymphocyte subsets as well as the beta-adrenergic modulation of TNF-alpha production in vitro were analyzed. Urine catecholamines and plasma cortisol, prolactin and growth hormone were measured pre- and postinterventionally, and were compared with a healthy control group (n = 10). RESULTS: In response to therapy, patients in the intervention group showed significantly greater improvement in the SF-36 scale Mental Health and the Psychological Health Sum score compared with changes observed in the usual-care waiting control group. Patients in the intervention group showed significantly greater improvement on the IBDQ scale Bowel Symptoms compared with the control group. However, no significant group differences in circulating lymphocyte subsets or endocrine parameters were observed in response to therapy. In addition, no significant effects of intervention on either the basal levels of TNF-alpha or the suppressive action of the beta-adrenergic agonist isoproterenol on TNF-alpha production were observed. CONCLUSION: Mind-body therapy may improve quality of life in patients with UC in remission, while no effects of therapy on clinical or physiological parameters were found, which may at least in part be related to selective patient recruitment.

Repeated acupuncture treatment affects leukocyte circulation in healthy young male subjects: a randomized single-blind two-period crossover study.

Acupuncture is the most popular component of traditional Chinese medicine in western countries, which has been widely used in the treatment of numerous medical conditions, e.g., pain, emesis or asthma. However, the effects of acupuncture on neuroendocrine and immune functions in humans remain unclear. Therefore, the present study was performed to analyse whether acupuncture treatment affects leukocyte circulation as well as plasma levels of cortisol and norepinephrine in humans. Ten healthy young male subjects were enrolled in a randomized single-blind two-period crossover study. Each period contained three sessions of either acupuncture or sham acupuncture (placebo) treatment. After randomisation, the group 1 (n=5) received acupuncture treatment at acu-points ST36, LI11, SP10, and GV14, while sham acupuncture was performed for group 2 (n=5). Two weeks later, each group received the alternative treatment. Blood samples were taken before needling, 10 min after, and 30 min after removing the needles in the first and the third session. In addition, blood pressure and heart rate were determined simultaneously. Although acupuncture treatment did not affect leukocyte circulation in peripheral blood after the first session, we observed a significant decrease in leukocyte and lymphocyte values after the third session. In contrast, cortisol and norepinephrine plasma levels remained unchanged by acupuncture. These data indicate that repeated acupuncture treatment can affect leukocyte circulation in healthy humans by still unknown mechanisms.

Characterization and primary structures of bovine and porcine thyroxine-binding globulin.

Thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG) is the major serum transport protein for iodothyronines in most of the large, omni- or herbivorous mammals. Characterization of human TBG (hTBG), including its 20 known natural variants, allowed the identification of the ligand-binding site and a correlation of diminished synthesis or loss of function with mutations in the TBG gene. Further refinement of the structure-function correlation, especially the high binding affinity and heat stability, requires characterization of other mammalian TBGs, of which only rat and sheep TBG were available. We now present some of the chemical and physical properties of bovine TBG (bTBG) and porcine TBG (pTBG) and their primary structures deduced from their cDNA sequences. The serum concentrations of bTBG and pTBG estimated by Scatchard analysis of T(4)-binding were similar to hTBG. The T(4)-binding affinity of human, bovine and porcine TBGs were all similar, at 1.2x10(10) M(-1). However, heat stability of the animal TBGs was reduced, with a half life of denaturation of 7 min (bTBG) and 5 min (pTBG) at 55 degreeC, compared with 21 min for hTBG. Nucleotide alignment revealed identity with hTBG of 85.5% (bTBG) and 83.7% (pTBG) and amino acid identity of 82.8% (bTBG) and 82.6% (pTBG). As expected, the relevant parts of the ligand-binding domain (amino acids 215-291, and 363-395) were highly conserved at more than 95% similarity. Comparison of the five known mammalian TBGs allows focusing of future mutagenesis experiments to further characterize the properties of the molecule.