Effect of Electro-acupuncture on Vasomotor Symptoms in Rats with Acute Cerebral Infarction Based on Phosphatidylinositol System / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To investigate the effect of electro-acupuncture (EA) on vasomotor symptoms in rats with acute cerebral infarction, by observing the changes in the expression of factors related to the phosphatidylinositol (PI) system.@*METHODS@#Forty-two Wistar rats were randomly divided into 3 groups by a random number table: the control group (n=6), the model group (n=18) and the EA group (n=18). The EA group was given EA treatment at Shuigou (GV 26) instantly after modeling with middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) method, while the model and control groups were not given any treatment. The degrees of neurological deficiency were evaluated using neurological severity scores (NSS) and the brain blood flow was evaluated by a laser scanning confocal microscope. Western blot analysis was conducted to detect the expression levels of G-protein subtype (Gq) and calmodulin (CaM). Competition for protein binding was conducted to detect the expression level of inositol triphosphate (IP3). Thin layer quantitative analysis was conducted to detect the expression level of diacylglycerol (DAG). The expression level of intracellular concentration of free calcium ion ([Ca@*RESULTS@#The NSS of the model group was significantly higher than the control group at 3 and 6 h after MCAO (P<0.01), while the EA group was significantly lower than the model group at 6 h (P<0.01). The cerebral blood flow in the model group was significantly lower than the control group at 1, 3 and 6 h after MCAO (P<0.01), while for the EA group it was remarkably higher than the model group at the same time points (P<0.01). The expressions of Gq, CaM, IP3, DAG and [Ca@*CONCLUSION@#EA treatment at GV 26 can effectively decrease the over-expression of related factors of PI system in rats with acute cerebral infarction, improve cerebral autonomy movement, and alleviate cerebral vascular spasm.

Systematic evaluation of therapeutic effect and safety of acupuncture for treatment of depression / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To assess the therapeutic effect of acupuncture on depression.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A systematic evaluation of all relevant randomized controlled trials (RCT) about acupuncture and moxibustion treatment of depression was carried out by the study methods of evidence-based medicine. The data were statistically analyzed with a special analysis software RevMan 4.2.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Fourteen papers of RCT met the enrolled criteria. Four of the trials used double-blind method. Meta-analysis indicated that the effective rate was no significant difference between the acupuncture treatment and medication, and acupuncture treatment is better than Amitriptyline in improvement of HAMD scores, but no significant differences as compared with other drugs.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Both acupuncture and medication possibly are effective for depression with good safety. However, because of lower methodological quality of the trials, this conclusion needs further be confirmed.</p>

Study on modern disease menu of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy in China / 中国针灸

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To analyze and summarize the diseases and syndromes treated by acupuncture and moxibustion.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Using literature researching methods to analyze and summarize the diseases and symptoms treated clinically by acupuncture and moxibustion for observation of therapeutic effects from Chinese Biomedicine Optical Disk Database between 1978-2005, and the frequency-time (number) of reported papers for each disease and syndrome were calculated.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The disease menu of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy, 461 kinds in 16 classifications were attained, including 338 diseases of western medicine, 73 symptoms of western medicine and 50 TCM syndromes.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Acupuncture and moxibustion are an effective therapy with wide indications.</p>