ABSTRACT
Objective:To evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture plus tuina in treating cervical vertigo (CV).Methods:One hundred CV patients were randomized into an observation group and an acupuncture group by the random number table,with 50 cases in each group.The acupuncture group received acupuncture at Xiang Ba Zhen (eight acupoints on the nape);the observation group received tuina treatment in addition to the Xiang Ba Zhen acupuncture.The two groups were both treated once every other day for 10 sessions in total.The two groups were examined by transcranial cerebral Doppler (TCD) before and after the treatment,and their therapeutic efficacies were evaluated.Results:After the treatment,the mean velocity (Vm) of vertebral artery (VA) and basilar artery (BA) showed significant improvement in both groups (all P＜0.001);there were significant differences in the Vm of VA and BA between the two groups (both P＜0.05).The total effective rate was 100.0％ in the observation group versus 82.0％ in the acupuncture group,and the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.01).Conclusion:Xiang Ba Zhen acupuncture as a monotherapy or used together with tuina can improve CV,but Xiang Ba Zhen plus tuina can produce a more significant efficacy.
ABSTRACT
<p><b>AIM</b>To examine the ability of calcium ionophore (CI) to induce tryptase and histamine release from human mast cells and its mechanisms.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Enzymatically dispersed cells from human colons were challenged with CI, and the cell supernatants after challenge were collected. Tryptase release was determined with a sandwich ELISA procedure and histamine release was measured using a glass fibre-based fluorometric assay.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>CI was able to induce a concentration dependent release of histamine and tryptase from human colon mast cells following 15 min incubation. The maximum of induced histamine and tryptase release were approximately 5.3 and 2.8 fold more than the levels of spontaneous release, respectively. CI at the concentrations higher than 1.0 micromol/L was able to induce significantly more histamine than tryptase release from mast cells. The time course revealed that the action of CI on mast cells started from 10 s, peaked at 6 min and lasted at least 15 min following incubation. Pertussis toxin and metabolic inhibitors were able to inhibit mast cell response to CI.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Human colon mast cells were able to release tryptase and histamine in response to CI. The process seemed to be associated with the activation of a G-protein coupled receptor on the membrane of mast cells and requires cell energy supply.</p>
Subject(s)
Humans , Calcium Ionophores , Pharmacology , Cells, Cultured , Colon , Cell Biology , Histamine , Metabolism , Mast Cells , Metabolism , Bodily Secretions , Tryptases , MetabolismABSTRACT
Proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) expression has been observed on numerous cell types. However, little is known about the functional expression of PAR-2 in human mast cells. In the current study, the actions of a PAR-2 agonist trans-cinnamoyl-Leu-Ile-Gly-Arg-Leu-Orn-amide (tc-LIGRLO) on tryptase release from dispersed human colonic mast cells were examined. The results showed that tc-LIGRLO was able to induce a fold increase in tryptase release over the basal level following a 15 min incubation of colonic mast cells, whereas tc-OLRGIL did not have any effect on tryptase release. The potency of tc-LIGRLO appeared greater than that of anti-IgE and calcium ionophore A23187 (CI) in induction of tryptase release. Extending the incubation time to 30 min had no significant effect on the actions of tc-LIGRLO or anti-IgE. In the time course study, it was observed that the tryptase release from mast cells induced by tc-LIGRLO started at 1 min and peaked at 3 min following incubation. The above-mentioned results indicate that tc-LIGRLO is a potent stimulus of tryptase release from human mast cells, which strongly suggests that PAR-2s are expressed in human mast cells.