An Update on Impacts of Epigallocatechin Gallate Co-administration in Modulating Pharmacokinetics of Statins, Calcium Channel Blockers, and Beta-blockers.

Brewed green tea, green tea extract, and its primary active compound, epigallocatechin gallate, may interact with drugs and alter the drug's therapeutic effectiveness, ultimately leading to therapeutic failure or drug overdose. Several isolated reports have claimed that epigallocatechin gallate is the main active ingredient that causes these effects. While a few studies aimed to uncover evidence of epigallocatechin gallate-drug interactions, no study has thoroughly and collectively reviewed them. Epigallocatechin gallate is a potential cardioprotective agent used by many patients with cardiovascular diseases as a complementary medicine alongside conventional modern medications, either with or without the knowledge of their physicians. Therefore, this review focuses on the impact of concurrent epigallocatechin gallate supplementation on pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of several commonly used cardiovascular drugs (statins, beta-blockers, and calcium channel blockers). The PubMed index was searched for key words related to this review, without year limit, and the results were analyzed for interactions of cardiovascular drugs with epigallocatechin gallate. This review concludes that epigallocatechin gallate increases systemic circulation of several statins (simvastatin, fluvastatin, rosuvastatin) and calcium channel blockers (verapamil), but decreases the bioavailability of beta-blockers (nadolol, atenolol, bisoprolol). Further studies on its clinical significance in affecting drug efficacy are required.

Acupoint selection rules of neurogenic dysphagia treated with acupuncture and moxibustion in ancient times / 中国针灸

Acupoint selection rules of neurogenic dysphagia treated with acupuncture and moxibustion from pre-Qin to late Qing Dynasty in were analyzed based on data mining. The literature regarding acupuncture and moxibustion for neurogenic dysphagia was searched and screened according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria in (5th Edition), the prescriptions were extracted according to the principle of acupoint extraction.The SPSS 21.0 and Clementine 12.0 were used to perform the cluster analysis and association rule analysis.A total of 191 acupuncture and moxibustion prescriptions were screened and extracted，including 45 acupoints. The top 5 acupoints of acupuncture and moxibustion for neurogenic dysphagia in frequency were Jiache (ST 6), Dicang (ST 4), Lieque (LU 7), Lianquan (CV 23), Shuigou (GV 26). The most involved meridians were the stomach meridian, the governor vessel and the conception vessel. The main acupoints were distributed in the scalp face neck and upper limbs. The most frequently used specific acupoints was crossing points,next was eight confluence points. There were 11 acupoint combinations with strong association according to the association rule analysis, and the top one acupoint combination was Hegu (LI 4)-Jiache (ST 6). There were 9 acupoint cluster groups according to the cluster analysis. Hegu (LI 4), Jiache (ST 6), Dicang (ST 4), Shuigou (GV 26) and Chengjiang (CV 24) were core acupoints for neurogenic dysphagia treated with acupuncture and moxibustion in ancient times, besides，selecting proximal and distal acupoints and selecting acupoints according to symptoms were emphasized.

Acupuncture for dysarthria: systematic review / 中国针灸

OBJECTIVE@#To systematically evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture for dysarthria, and to explore the rules of acupoints selection for dysarthria.@*METHODS@#The clinical randomized control trial literature regarding acupuncture for dysarthria published before January of 2018 were searched in databases, including CNKI, Wanfang, VIP, CBM, PubMed, Ebsco, Science Direct and Cochrane Library. The information of included studies was extract and the quality was assessed. The Meta analysis was performed by using RevMan 5.3 software. The frequency of acupoints was calculated by using Excel software to analyzed the rules of acupoints selection.@*RESULTS@#Totally 21 papers were included, involving 1651 patients. The pooled effects of clinical efficacy: heterogeneity test =0.74, =0%, =6.36, 95% CI: 4.55, 8.88, =10.84 (<0.01), indicating the efficacy in the treatment group was significantly higher than that in the control group. The pooled effects of the symptom score in Frenchay scale: heterogeneity test =0.56, =0%, =3.20, 95% CI: 1.38, 5.02, =3.45 (<0.01), indicating the efficacy in the treatment group was significantly higher than that in the control group. The acupoints with frequency of more than 5 times were Fengchi (GB 20), Yuye (EX-HN 13), Jinjin (EX-HN 12), Lianquan (CV 23), Baihui (GV 20), tongue-three needles and Yamen (GV15). The meridians with frequency of more than 5 times were the extra channels, governor vessel, gallbladder channel, conception vessel and stomach channel.@*CONCLUSION@#The clinical efficacy of acupuncture combined with speech training/regular treatment is significantly superior to that of control group (speech training, medication, regular treatment); acupuncture is safe and effective for dysarthria; the majority of selected acupoint is local acupoints around tongue, throat and neck, as well as extra points and empirical points. However, high-quality randomized controlled trials with large sample sizes are still needed to provide further evidence.

Discussion on rules of acupoint selection for vascular dementia / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>The clinical research literature regarding acupuncture treatment for vascular dementia was reviewed and analyzed to provide the references for clinical selection and compatibility of acupoints.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>With computer and manual retrieval method, the clinical literature regarding acupuncture treatment for vascular dementia in recent 10 years was collected. The acupoint type, meridian and use frequency were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Totally 38 articles of acupuncture treatment for vascular dementia were screened; the most selected meridians were the governor vessel, gallbladder meridian, stomach meridian and spleen meridian; the main acupoints with frequency of more than 5 times were Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), Shenting (GV 24), Fengchi (SP 40) and Shuigou (GV 26); the matching acupoints with frequency of more than 5 times were Fenglong (ST 40), Zusanli (ST 36), Taichong (LR 3), Taixi (KI 3), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Xuehai (SP 10), Zhongwan (CV 12), Neiguan (PC 6), Fengchi (GB 20).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The rules and characteristics of acupoint selection for vascular dementia were featured with taking the local acupoints at head as main points, combining disease differentiation and syndrome differentiation as clinical principle, valuing local acupoints and distal acupoints, applying various techniques of acupuncture and moxibustion and combing traditional acupuncture manipulation and modern electroacupuncture stimulation.</p>

Acupuncture for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome:a meta-analysis / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture on diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in the past five years.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Online databases, including CNKI, VIP, WANFANG, PubMed, CBM, ScienceDirect OnSite, Cochrane Library, etc. were searched for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture for diarrhea-predominant IBS. Retrieval time was from January of 2011 to January of 2016. According to modified Jadad standard, the bias risk and quality assessment of each RCT included were evaluated by two researchers. RevMan 5.3 software was adopted for the meta-analysis.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Totally 17 RCTs were included with 1 333 patients. The result of meta-analysis indicated the total effective rate of clinical symptoms improvement in the acupuncture group or acupuncture combined with western medicine group was superior to that in the western medicine group (=3.92, 95%:2.83~5.43,<0.01), and the funnel plot was basically symmetry. The result of meta-analysis showed 3-month recurrence rate:=0.22, 95%:0.12~0.41 (<0.01), indicating the recurrence rate in the acupuncture group was lower than that in the western medicine group in three month.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Acupuncture for diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome is superior to conventional treatment of western medication, which can improve the clinical symptoms and reduce the recurrence rate of patients.</p>

The effective stimulating pulse for restoration of blink function in unilateral facial nerve paralysis rabbits, verified by a simple FES system.

The trains of 200 ms biphasic square pulses with the width of 9 ms delivered at 50 Hz were found to be the most suitable and effective mean as stimulation in FES system of restoring the blink function in unilateral facial nerve paralysis rabbit model. FES system is a reliable tool for these patients. Facial paralysis affects thousands of people every year. Many will have long term facial difficulties and the loss of the ability to blink the eye, which can lead to potential loss of the eye. Although many treatments exist, no one approach corrects all the deficits associated with the loss of orbicularis oculi function. FES is a means of providing movement in paralysed muscles to assist with practical activities and one possible way of restoring blink and other functions in these patients. Although some previous researches had investigated the effect of simple FES system on restoration of paralyzed facial muscles, there is still controversy about the appropriate details of the most effective stimulating pulses, such as the frequency, wave pattern and pulse width. Our aim is to find out the parameters of the most appropriate and effective stimulatin verify it by a simple FES system. 24 healthy adult male New Zealand white rabbits were accepted the surgery of right side facial nerve main trunk transaction under general anesthesia as the unilateral facial nerve paralysis models. The platinum tungsten alloy electrodes were implanted in orbicularis oculi muscle. The parameters of stimulus pulses were set to a 200 ms biphasic pulse with different waveforms (square, sine and triangle), different frequencies (25, 50, 100 Hz) and different widths from 1 to 9 ms. Next, we set up a simple FES system to verify the previous results as the stimulus signal. We observed the movement of the both sides of eyelid when eye blink induced by different kinds of pulses. In all animals, the three kinds of waveforms pulse with frequency of 25 Hz could not evoke the smooth blink movement. But the pulses with frequency of 50 and 100 Hz can achieve this effect. The voltage threshold of the square pulse was lower than that of the sine pulse and triangle pulse. With the increase of pulse width from 1 to 9 ms, the voltage threshold decreased gradually. The voltage threshold of the pulse with frequency of 100 Hz was obviously lower than that of 50 Hz. But the amount of total charge of the stimulation pulse of 100 Hz was significantly more than that of 50 Hz. In addition, when the FES system was turned on, the eye blink on the affected side with the stimulation pulses that were set by the previous step results was successfully aroused by the blink movement as a trigger on the contralateral.

Acupuncture for aphasia: a retrospective analysis of clinical literature / 中国针灸

With the Meta-analysis method, the clinical efficacy of acupuncture and other regular methods for aphasia was evaluated, and the acupoints selection for aphasia was explored. The acupuncture literature of clinical randomized control trials for aphasia published in CNKI, WANFANG, VIP and CBM database was searched; the statistical analysis of clinical efficacy of acupuncture and other regular methods for aphasia was performed by using software Revman 5. 2 provided by Cochrane library. A file of Microsoft Excel was established to perform the analysis of acupoints selection based on frequency analysis method, so as to summarize the characteristics and rules. Totally 385 articles were searched, and 37 articles those met the inclusive criteria was included, involving 1,260 patients in the acupuncture group and 1 238 patients in the control group. The Meta-analysis results showed OR = 3.82, 95% Cl [3.01, 4.85]; rhombus was located on the right side and the funnel plot was nearly symmetry, indicating the treatment effect of the acupuncture group for aphasia was superior to the control group (Z = 11.04, P < 0.000 01). The frequency-analysis results showed that the frequency of acupoints from top to bottom was Lian-quan (CV 23), Tongli (HT 5), Yamen (GV 15), Jinjin (EX-HN 12), Yuye (EX-HN 13), Baihui (GV 20), Yuyan II, Yuyan I and Yuyan III. The frequency of meridians from top to bottom was the governor vessel, extra channels, conception vessel, heart meridian and large intestine meridian. It is concluded that the clinical efficacy of acupuncture combined with speech rehabilitation training and medication treatment for aphasia is superior to that of speech rehabilitation training and medication treatment alone. The clinical treatment for aphasia focuses on its local effect; the main acupoints are in the head and face, and the meridians are governor vessel, extra channels and conception vessel.

Identification of main related substances in potassium sodium dehydroandrographolide succinate / 药学学报

To identify the structure of three related substances in potassium sodium dehydroandrographolide succinate (PSDS), an HPLC preparation method was used to separate the impurities. These main impurities were identified using LC-ESI/TOFMS, LC-ESI/MSn, NMR, UV and IR. One of the main impurities was a hydrolyzed and oxidized product of PSDS, which has not been reported previouely. The other two impurities were hydrolyzed products of PSDS after losing different succinic acids. The results indicate that PSDS can be easily hydrolyzed and oxidized. It should be stored at cool and dry places.

Epidemiological survey on TCM syndrome distribution and season correlation of hypertension in Hunan Province / 中国中西医结合杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze the epidemiologic characteristics of TCM syndrome distribution and season correlation in hypertension patients.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Clinical materials regarding population, symptoms and signs, etc. of 698 hypertension patients were collected, and statistical analysis on them was conducted.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>TCM syndrome type revealed in patients, in order of frequency from high to low, were: Gan-fire flaming-up syndrome, yin-deficiency and yang-excess syndrome, phlegm-dampness accumulation syndrome, both yin-yang deficiency syndrome, and others. The incidence of various syndromes was higher in the winter/spring and rather low in the summer, and Gan-fire flaming-up syndrome was positively related to the spring and negative to the summer.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The syndrome types of hypertension patients are chiefly the Gan-fire flaming-up syndrome, yin-deficiency and yang-excess syndrome, phlegm-dampness accumulation syndrome, and both yin-yang deficiency syndrome; Gan-fire flaming-up syndrome is the dominance; their incidence is higher in the winter/spring and lower in the summer.</p>