Acupuncture in the treatment of tinnitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

This study aimed at a systematic review and meta-analysis of all available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using acupuncture to treat tinnitus. Five electronic databases, in both English and Chinese, were searched. All studies in our review and meta-analysis included parallel RCTs of tinnitus patients which compared subjects receiving acupuncture (or its other forms, such as electroacupuncture) to subjects receiving no treatment, sham treatment, drugs or basic medical therapy. Data from the articles were validated and extracted using a predefined data extraction form. Nearly all of Chinese studies reported positive results, while most of English studies reported negative results. Analysis of the combined data found that the acupuncture treatments seemed to provide some advantages over conventional therapies for tinnitus. It had difference in acupuncture points and sessions between Chinese studies and English studies. Methodological flaws were also found in many of the RCTs, especially in Chinese studies. The results of this review suggest that acupuncture therapy may offer subjective benefit to some tinnitus patients. Acupuncture points and sessions used in Chinese studies may be more appropriate, whereas these studies have many methodological flaws and risk bias, which prevents us making a definitive conclusion.

Trichosanthin down-regulates Notch signaling and inhibits proliferation of the nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE2 in vitro.

The prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is still poor. Trichosanthin (TCS) has abortifacient, anti-virus, immunoregulation and various anti-tumor pharmacological activities, but there are no reports about its effect on NPC and the exact mechanisms that TCS inhibits tumor are not well known. In this study, the proliferation, apoptosis and soft agar colony formation abilities of CNE2 cells were examined with various assays in vitro followed by treatment with TCS. Furthermore, the activation status of Notch signaling pathway in TCS and control cells also was examined. The results revealed that TCS could inhibit NPC cell line CNE2 in vitro, reduce clone formation ability and induce apoptosis of CNE2 cells. Down-regulation of Notch signaling may be one of the mechanisms that TCS inhibits NPC.

Inhibitory effect of Ginkgo biloba extract on hyperhomocysteinemia-induced intimal thickening in rabbit abdominal aorta after balloon injury.

Ginkgo biloba extract (GBE) has been widely used to treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disorders. Hyperhomocysteinemia (Hhcy) is associated with the risk of atherosclerosis and restenosis after angioplasty. The objective of this study was to investigate whether GBE could attenuate the Hhcy-induced intimal thickening after balloon injury in rabbit abdominal aorta. It was observed in this study that GBE could decrease the neointima area (NA) and the ratio of the neointima area to the media area (NA/MA), down-regulate the mRNA expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and up-regulate the protein expression of p21 (WAF1/CIP1) (p21). It suggests that GBE can reverse the Hhcy-induced neointima formation in rabbits following balloon injury, and the suppressive effect of GBE on the migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) may contribute to its actions.