Effects of TAT-SOD at Acupoints on Essential Hypertension by Monitoring Meridians Electrical Potential.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect on essential hypertension of the topical application of TAT-Cu, Zn-superoxide dismutase (TAT-SOD) at left acupoint Zusanli (ST 36), and to observe whether the change of electrical potential difference (EPD) can be related to the change of blood pressure. METHODS: Sixteen patients with essential hypertension and 16 healthy subjects were included in the study. EPD between the left acupoints of Yanglingquan (GB 34) and Qiuxu (GB 40) was firstly screened out for the EPD detection. An intracellular superoxide quenching enzyme, TAT-SOD, was topically applied to the acupoint ST 36 within an area of 1 cm2 once a day, and the influence on EPD was investigated. The dosage applied to TAT-SOD group (n=8) was 0.2 mL of 3000 U/mL TAT-SOD cream prepared by adding purified TAT-SOD to a vehicle cream, while placebo group (n=8) used the vehicle cream instead. The left acupoints of Yanglingquan (GB 34) and Qiuxu (GB 40) were selected for EPD measurement after comparing EPD readings between 5 acupoints on each of all 12 meridians. RESULTS: EPDs between the left acupoints of GB 34 and GB 40 for 16 patients of essential hypertension and 16 healthy subjects were 44.9±6.4 and 5.6±0.9 mV, respectively. Daily application of TAT-SOD for 15 days at ST 36 of essential hypertension patients significantly decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 179.6 and 81.5 mm Hg to 153.1 and 74.1 mm Hg, respectively. Responding to the change in blood pressure, EPD between the left acupoints of GB 34 and GB 40 also declined from 44.4 to 22.8 mV with the same trend. No change was observed with SBP, DBP and EPD between the left acupoints of GB 34 and GB 40 with the daily application of the placebo cream. CONCLUSION: Enzymatic scavenging of the intracellular superoxide at ST 36 proved to be effective in decreasing SBP and DBP. The results reconfirm the involvement of superoxide anions and its transportation along the meridians, and demonstrate that EPD between acupoints may be an indicator to reflect its functioning status. Moreover, preliminary results suggest a close correlation between EPD and blood pressure readings, implying a possibility of using EPD as a sensitive parameter for blood pressure and to monitor the effect of antihypertensive treatment.

Topical Application of TAT-Superoxide Dismutase in Acupoints LI 20 on Allergic Rhinitis.

Reactive oxygen species are products of cellular metabolism and assigned important roles in biomedical science as deleterious factors in pathologies. In fact, some studies have shown that the therapeutic benefits of taking antioxidants were limited and the potential for therapeutic intervention remains unclear. New evidences showed that ROS have some ability of intercellular transportation. For treating allergic rhinitis, as a novel intracellular superoxide quencher, TAT-SOD applied to acupoints LI 20 instead of directly to nasal cavity can be used to test that. TTA group apply TAT-SOD cream prepared by adding purified TAT-SOD to the vehicle cream to acupoints LI 20, while placebo group used the vehicle cream instead. TTN group applied the same TAT-SOD cream directly to nasal cavity three times daily. Symptom scores were recorded at baseline and days 8 and 15. For the overall efficacy rate, TTA group was 81.0%, while placebo group was 5.9% and TTN was 0%. Malondialdehyde levels decreased observably in TTA group, and superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase levels remained basically unaffected. Enzymatic scavenging of the intracellular superoxide at acupoints LI 20 proved to be effective in treating allergic rhinitis, while no improvement was observed with the placebo group and TTN group.

[Investigating mechanism of toxicity reduction by combination of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata on terms of proteins self-assembly].

The combination of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata can increase efficacy and decrease toxicity. This study started from the phenomena of protein self-assembly in the mixed decoction of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma with Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata. The attenuated mechanism was explored between the combination of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata by using the protein of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma and aconitine which was the major toxic component of Aconiti Lateralis Radix Preparata. Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma protein with aconitine could form stable particles which particle mean diameter was (206.2 ± 2.02) nm and (238.20 ± 1.23) nm at pH 5.0 in normal temperature. Through the mouse acute toxicity experiment found that injection of aconitine monomer all mice were killed, and injection of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma protein-aconitine particles with the same content of aconitine all mice survived. Survey the stability of Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma protein-aconitine shows that the colloid particles is stable at room temperature, and it has the possibility to candidate drug carrier. Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma protein can reduce the toxicity of aconitine through self-assembly.