Effects of acupuncture on the tissue distribution of Paclitaxel in lung carcinoma mice.

OBJECTIVE: To study whether acupuncture affects the tissue distribution of Paclitaxel in mouse lung carcinoma. METHODS: Totally 90 mice were divided into Paclitaxel group, Paclitaxel + Feishu (BL13) group, and Paclitaxel + Lingtai (DU10) group. Each group was consisted of 30 mice. After Paclitaxel injection, the mice received electro-acupuncture at Feishu or Lingtai acupoints once a day for 8 days. The effect of acupuncture on the tissue distribution of Paclitaxel was evaluated using high-performance liquid chromatography at 1, 2, and 3 h, respectively. The lung, liver, spleen, and kidney were examined for the concentration of Paclitaxel seperately. RESULTS: Paclitaxel was widely distributed in various organs, particularly in the lung, liver, and kidney. Acupuncture at Lingtai or Feishu acupoints resulted in an obvious decrease of Paclitaxel distribution in kidney and delayed Paclitaxel distribution in liver. Meanwhile, it increased the time of metabolism. Acupuncture at Feishu acupoint facilitated the delivery of Paclitaxel to lung more effectively than did acupuncture at Lingtai acupoint. CONCLUSIONS: Applying acupuncture at particular acupoints can influence tissue distribution of Paclitaxel. Tissue distribution change might be one of the mechanisms of acupuncture treatment during chemotherapy.

Different Surface Electromyography of Propagated Sensation along Meridians Produced by Acupuncturing Quchi Acupoint (LI11) or Control Points.

This study investigated the propagated sensation along meridians (PSM) produced respectively by acupuncture at a specific acupoint of right-side Quchi (LI11), a nonacupoint on meridian (control meridian point), and neither meridian nor acupoint (control point). All the stimulated points were on the right brachioradialis along the large intestine meridian of hand Yangming. Surface electromyography (sEMG) was used to reflect the activity of the brachioradialis along the large intestine meridian of hand Yangming. The PSM rate of LI11 (59.21%) and the control meridian point (53.95%) were significantly higher than the control point (38.16%) (P < 0.05). After acupuncture, the brachioradialis sEMG amplitude was 5.08 ± 2.93 uV at LI11, 3.08 ± 1.18 uV at the control point, and 2.77 ± 1.36 uV at the control meridian point. The amplitude of LI11 was significantly higher than both the control meridian point and the control point (P < 0.05). When the sEMG activity of brachioradialis returned to the stable base line, brachioradialis sEMG duration at LI11 (265 ± 87.87 s) was significantly longer than that at the control meridian point (91.69 ± 42.98 s) and the control point (83.31 ± 32.76 s) (P < 0.05). In conclusion, acupuncture activated PSM at all points but showed an acupoint specificity at LI11 and a meridian specificity at the control meridian point.

Effects of acupuncture at Taixi acupoint (KI3) on kidney proteome.

This research explored and identified the protein composition of rat kidneys after acupuncture at the Taixi acupoint (KI3). Twelve adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into a control group (n = 6) and an acupuncture group (n = 6). Rats in the acupuncture group received electroacupuncture on the bilateral KI3 for seven days. The kidneys were perfused with ice-cold saline and all kidney proteins were isolated. After protein sample preparation, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) was performed. The interesting spots were analyzed using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). There were nine protein spots with three-fold up-regulation in the kidney after the acupuncture. NAD-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase and quinone reductase, the proteins involved in energy metabolism, the reduction of endogenous quinones, chemoprotection, and electrophilic stress, were identified. The data indicated that acupuncture at the KI3 of the kidney meridian of the foot shaoyin was able to increase NAD-dependent isocitrate dehydrogenase and quinone reductase expression in the kidney, and supported the relationship between the kidney and KI3.

Effective purification of ginsenosides from cultured wild ginseng roots,red ginseng, and white ginseng with macroporous resins.

This study was aimed (i) to develop an effective method for the purification of ginsenosides for industrial use and (ii) to compare the distribution of ginsenosides in cultured wild ginseng roots (adventitious root culture of Panax ginseng) with those of red ginseng (steamed ginseng) and white ginseng (air-dried ginseng). The crude extracts of cultured wild ginseng roots, red ginseng, and white ginseng were obtained by using a 75% ethanol extraction combined with ultrasonication. This was followed sequentially by AB-8 macroporous adsorption chromatography, Amberlite IRA 900 Cl anion-exchange chromatography, and Amberlite XAD16 adsorption chromatography for further purification. The contents of total ginsenosides were increased from 4.1%, 12.1%, and 11.3% in the crude extracts of cultured wild ginseng roots, red ginseng, and white ginseng to 79.4%, 71.7%, and 72.5% in the final products, respectively. HPLC analysis demonstrated that ginsenosides in cultured wild ginseng roots were distributed in a different ratio compared with red ginseng and white ginseng.

Establishment of in vitro test system for the evaluation of the estrogenic activities of natural products.

In order to evaluate estrogenic compounds in natural products, an in vitro detection system was established. For this system, the human breast cancer cell line MCF7 was stably transfected using an estrogen responsive chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) reporter plasmid yielding MCF7/pDsCAT-ERE119-Ad2MLP cells. To test the estrogenic responsiveness of this in vitro assay system, MCF7/pDsCAT-ERE119-Ad2MLP cells were treated with various concentrations of 17beta-estradiol. Treatments of 10(-8) to 10(-12) M 17beta-estradiol revealed significant concentration dependent estrogenic activities compared with ethanol. We used in vitro assay system to detect estrogenic effects in Puerariae radix and Ginseng radix Rubra extracts. Treatment of 500 and 50 microg/ml of Puerariae radix extracts increased the transcriptional activity approximately 4- and 1.5-fold, respectively, compared with the ethanol treatment. Treatment of 500, 50, and 5 microg/ml of Ginseng radix Rubra extracts increased the transcriptional activity approximately 3.2-, 2.7-, and 1.4-fold, respectively, compared with the ethanol treatment. These observations suggest that Puerariae radix and Ginseng radix Rubra extracts have effective estrogenic actions and that they could be developed as estrogenic supplements.