Effects of heat-sensitive moxibustion combined with naprapathy and warming needle moxibustion combined with naprapathy in patients with periarthritis of shoulder.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of heat-sensitive moxibustion (HSM) combined with naprapathy and warming needle moxibustion (WNM) combined with naprapathy on shoulder function and serum levels of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), substance P (SP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) in patients with periarthritis of shoulder (POS). METHODS: From July 2017 to July 2020, sixty patients with POS admitted to our hospital were selected as the study subjects, and divided into HSM group (n=29) receiving HSM combined with naprapathy and WNM group receiving WNM combined with naprapathy (n=31). The changes in shoulder function, degrees of pain and serum levels of CGRP, SP, TNF-α and IL-2 were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: After treatment, the scores of myodynamia, pain, range of motion (ROM) of shoulder joint and activities of daily living (ADLs) were improved in both groups (P<0.05), and the scores in HSM group were remarkably higher than those in WNM group (P<0.05). Visual analogue scale (VAS) scores after 3 courses of treatment were lower than those after 1 and 2 courses of treatment respectively (P<0.05), and the VAS scores in HSM group were markedly lower than those in WNM group after 1, 2, and 3 courses of treatment (P<0.05). After treatment, the serum levels of CGRP, SP, TNF-α and IL-2 were decreased in both groups (P<0.05), and the levels in HSM group were noticeably lower than those in WNM group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: HSM combined with naprapathy is superior to WNM combined with naprapathy in inhibition of inflammatory factors of pain and serum inflammatory factors, alleviating the pain and promoting the restoration of shoulder function in patients with POS.

Chinese herb cinobufagin-reduced cancer pain is associated with increased peripheral opioids by invaded CD3/4/8 lymphocytes.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the mechanism of cinobufagin-reduced cancer pain in mouse cancer pain model and in vitro cell co-culture system. METHODS: Female Kunming mice were randomly divided into 4 groups. One group of animals was set as normal control without any treatment. Other three groups of animals received H22 hepatoma cell inoculation in right hind paw. At day 9 after inoculation, mice in other three groups were injected intraperitoneally once a day for 8 days with the solvent, morphine or cinobufagin, respectively. The pain behavior was recorded daily. On the last day, all mice were sacrificed and xenograft tissues homogenate and plasma levels of ß-endorphin (ß-END), corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and interleukin-1ß (IL-1ß) were assessed by ELISA assay. Immunohistochemistry was performed to determine the expression of ß-END, pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) and the µ-opioid receptor (µ-OR) in the xenograft tissues. Immunofluorescence was used to localize lymphocytes with expression of CD3+, CD4+ and CD8+ in xenograft tumors and adjacent tissues. Mice splenic lymphocytes and H22 hepatoma carcinoma ascites cells were prepared for co-culture. ß-END and CRF were detected in co-culture supernatants. The MTT assay and cytometry were used to assess cell proliferation. RT-PCR was conducted to determine the gene expression of POMC and Cathepsin L (CTSL). Chemotaxis was examined using a transwell-based migration assay. RESULTS: Compared to the model group, the thermal and mechanical pain thresholds were increased in mice after cinobufagin treatment. The expression of ß-END and CRF in the plasma and tumor tissues of cinobufagin group were much higher than that of the model group mice, but the expression of IL-1ß in the plasma and tumor tissues was much lower than that in the model group mice. Meanwhile, the expression of ß-END, POMC and µ-OR proteins was significantly increased in the xenograft tissues from cinobufagin group. Lymphocyte population of CD3+, CD4+, CD8+ were also elevated in xenograft tumors and adjacent tissues. In the cell co-culture assays, the content of ß-END in the supernatant was significantly increased by cinobufagin in a dose-dependent manner. Cinobufagin also largely increased the proliferation of immune cells and inhibited H22 hepatoma carcinoma cell proliferation in single or co-culture cell assays. Gene expression of POMC and CTSL in cinobufagin group was significantly up-regulated comparing to the control group. Finally, cinobufagin addition enhanced the migration of immune cells in transwell assay. CONCLUSIONS: Cinobufagin-induced local analgesic effect might be associated with increased activity of POMC/ß-END/µ-OR pathway released from invaded CD3/4/8 lymphocytes in cancer tissues.

A Study on the Mechanism of Cinobufagin in the Treatment of Paw Cancer Pain by Modulating Local ß -Endorphin Expression In Vivo.

Background. Cinobufagin has been widely used in the treatment of carcinoma and plays an important role in the relief of cancer pain. But the involved mechanism remains unknown. Aim. To investigate the changes in thermal and mechanical hyperalgesia in paw cancer pain in mice and the action mechanism of cinobufagin using a paw cancer pain model. Methods. 60 female mice were randomly divided into 5 groups: control group, model group, cinobufagin group, cinobufagin +NAL-M group, and morphine group; except ones in control group, mice were inoculated with H22 hepatoma cells in the right hind paw. From the 9th day after inoculation, mice were administrated drug once daily lasting for 8 days. The pain behavior was determined on the 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 8th days before and after administration. On the last day, they were sacrificed. The levels of ß -END, CRF, and IL-1 ß were analyzed by ELISA; immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the expressions of ß -END, POMC, and µ -OR in the tumor and adjacent tissue. Results. The thresholds of thermal pain and mechanical pain were significantly increased by cinobufagin. Moreover, the expressions of ß -END, CRF, POMC, and µ -OR were significantly upregulated by cinobufagin. The analgesic effect of cinobufagin was blocked by the peripheral opioid receptor antagonist NAL-M. Conclusions. Cinobufagin significantly relieved cancer pain in mice and raised their pain threshold, mainly upregulating the expression levels of ß -END and µ -OR in the hind paw tumor and adjacent tissue.

Effects of polysaccharides extracted from zhu zi shen (rhizoma panacis majoris) on oxidative stress and hemodynamics in rats with adriamycin-induced chronic heart failure.

OBJECTIVE: To probe into the intervening action of polysaccharides of Zhu Zi Shen (Rhizoma Panacis Majoris) (PZZS) on oxidative stress and hemodynamics in rats with adriamycin-induced chronic congestive heart failure (CHF). METHODS: After SD rats were successfully modeled with adriamycin, they were randomly divided into a normal control group, a model group, a PZZS group, and a captopril group, and were administrated respectively. At the end of experiment, the hemodynamic function, whole heart weight index, and the blood CK, SOD, MDA, NO, NOS were detected; and the myocardial morphological examinations were carried out. RESULTS: Compared with the normal control group, the arterial systolic pressure (SBP), diastolic pressure (DBP), mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), left ventricular systolic peak (LVSP), and left ventricular pressure change rate (dp/dt(max)) significantly decreased, and left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP), whole heart weight index, the blood CK, MDA, NO, NOS significantly increased in the model group. PZZS significantly improved the hemodynamic function, lowered the MDA and NO levels, and decreased the CK and NOS activities in the CHF rats. CONCLUSION: PZZS can improve the hemodynamic function, and alleviate the oxidative stress reaction in the CHF rat.