Humanized Mice for the Evaluation of Francisella tularensis Vaccine Candidates.

Francisella tularensis (FT), a highly infectious pathogen, is considered to be a potential biological weapon owing to the current lack of a human vaccine against it. Tul4 and FopA, both outer membrane proteins of FT, play an important role in the bacterium's immunogenicity. In the present study, we evaluated the immune response of mice-humanized with human CD34+ cells (hu-mice)-to a cocktail of recombinant Tul4 and FopA (rTul4 and rFopA), which were codon-optimized and expressed in Escherichia coli. Not only did the cocktail-immunized hu-mice produce a significant human immunoglobulin response, they also exhibited prolonged survival against an attenuated live vaccine strain as well as human T cells in the spleen. These results suggest that the cocktail of rTul4 and rFopA had successfully induced an immune response in the hu-mice, demonstrating the potential of this mouse model for use in the evaluation of FT vaccine candidates.

Parsing brain activity associated with acupuncture treatment in Parkinson's diseases.

Acupuncture, a common treatment modality within complementary and alternative medicine, has been widely used for Parkinson's disease (PD). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we explored the neural mechanisms underlying the effect of specific and genuine acupuncture treatment on the motor function in patients with PD. Three fMRI scans were performed in random order in a block design, one for verum acupuncture (VA) treatment, another one for a covert placebo (CP), and the third one for an overt placebo (OP) at the motor function implicated acupoint GB34 on the left foot of 10 patients with PD. We calculated the contrast that subtracts the blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) response for the acupuncture effect (VA vs. CP) and the placebo effect (CP vs. OP). We found a significant improvement in the motor function of the affected hand after acupuncture treatment. The putamen and the primary motor cortex were activated when patients with PD received the acupuncture treatment (VA vs. CP) and these activations correlated with individual enhanced motor function. Expectation towards acupuncture modality (CP vs. OP) elicited activation over the anterior cingulate gyrus, the superior frontal gyrus, and the superior temporal gyrus. These findings suggest that acupuncture treatment might facilitate improvement in the motor functioning of patients with PD via the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit.

Intramuscular and nerve root stimulation vs lidocaine injection to trigger points in myofascial pain syndrome.

OBJECTIVES: To compare the efficacies of an intramuscular stimulation technique and 0.5% lidocaine injection to trigger points in myofascial pain syndrome. PARTICIPANTS: Forty-three people with myofascial pain syndrome of the upper trapezius muscle. INTERVENTIONS: Twenty-two subjects were treated with intramuscular stimulation and another 21 with 0.5% lidocaine injection at all the trigger points on days 0, 7 and 14. RESULTS: Intramuscular stimulation resulted in a significant reduction in Wong-Baker FACES pain scale scores at all visits and was more effective than trigger point injection. Intramuscular stimulation also resulted in significant improvement on the Geriatric Depression Scale - Short Form. Local twitch responses occurred in 97.7% (42/43) of patients. All the passive cervical ranges of motion were significantly increased. Post-treatment soreness was noted in 54.6% of patients in the intramuscular stimulation group and 38.1% in the trigger point injection group, respectively, and gross subcutaneous haemorrhage (> 4 cm2) was seen in only one patient in the trigger point injection group. CONCLUSION: In managing myofascial pain syndrome, after one month intramuscular stimulation resulted in more significant improvements in pain intensity, cervical range of motion and depression scales than did 0.5% lidocaine injection of trigger points. Intramuscular stimulation is therefore recommended for myofascial pain syndrome.

Anti-inflammatory effects of a traditional Korean herbal formulation, Silsosangami, consisting of seven medicinal herbs: effect on hemolysis, neutrophil function, and gene expressions of iNOS and COX-2.

Silsosangami is a dried decoctum of a mixture of seven Korean herbal medicine, which is consisted of seven herbs (indicated as concentrations) of Typhae Pollen, Pteropi Faeces, Paeoniae Radicis rubra, Cnidii Rhizoma, Persicae Semen, Carthami Flos and Curcumae Tuber. In the present study, the effects of Silsosangami water extract (SSG) on hemolysis in human blood were studied. Using an in vitro system, only Curcumae Tuber, Persicae Semen and Paeoniae Radicis rubra had the strongest effects on hemolysis; Typhae Pollen and Pteropi Faeces had the slight effects; and Cnidii Rhizoma and Carthami Flos had no effect. On the other hand, the SSG inhibited neutrophil functions, including degranulation, superoxide generation, and leukotriene B4 production, without any effect on 5-lipoxygenase activity. This SSG reduced nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglanin E2 (PGE2) production in mouse peritoneal macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide, without the influence on the activity of inducible NO synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase COX-2 and COX-1 being observed. SSG significantly reduced mouse paw oedema induced by carrageenan. Western blot analysis showed that SSG reduced the expression of iNOS and COX-2. These results suggested that SSG might be used as a novel antithrombotic therapeutic agents in post-myocardial infarction and also, indicated that SSG exerts anti-inflammatory effects related to the inhibition of neutrophil functions and of NO and PGE2 production, which could be due to a decreased expression of iNOS and COX-2.