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This article reviews the clinical studies about the treatment of allergic rhinitis （AR） with traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） in recent years. AR is a common and frequently occurring disease in the department of otolaryngology. The common manifestations of AR include nasal congestion， sneezing， runny nose， and nasal itching. AR， belonging to the category of rhinitis， is a dominant disease in the TCM treatment of otorhinolaryngologic diseases and head and neck diseases. The ancient literature has laid a solid theoretical basis on the etiology and pathogenesis of AR. According to the ancient literature， the theoretical basis， and their own experience， modern doctors classified the causes of AR into the disorders in Zang-fu organs and six meridians. Most of the explanations focus on the disorders in Zang-fu organs， especially the lung， spleen， and kidney. The clinical studies in this field mainly involve TCM treatment alone， integrated TCM and Western medicine treatment， and TCM external treatment. These therapies have good efficacy in the clinical treatment of AR. Among them， TCM treatment alone has significant advantages in alleviating the symptoms and nasal signs， declining the scores of related scales， and reducing the eosinophil count （EOS） of nasal secretions， with definite long-term efficacy. Integrated TCM and Western medicine treatment can complement with each other. The TCM external treatment methods include acupuncture， moxibustion， acupoint catgut embedding， acupoint application， and nasal irrigation with TCM， which are safe， simple， acceptable by patients and have good therapeutic effect. Finally， the clinical research status of TCM treatment of AR was summarized， and suggestions were put forward from three aspects： standardizing the clinical research protocol of TCM， encouraging pure TCM research， and exploring the mechanism of TCM treatment on the basis of frontier research achievements. This review aims to provide higher-level evidence for subsequent clinical research and promote the research on dominant AR diseases.
ABSTRACT
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disease characterized by progressive muscular atrophy and pyramidal deficit,due to the degeneration of upper and lower motor neurons,with an average survival of approximately 3-5 years from symptom onset.The pathogenesis of the disease is not yet clear.Riluzole and edaravone are the only FDA-approved drugs to treat ALS.Riluzole prolongs life by only a few months and edaravone improves patient functionality scores in a subset of patients.Due to the unavailability of effective drugs,there is an urgent need for new treatment modalities in ALS.A growing body of evidence shows dysregulated energy metabolism in ALS patients and models.Studies also found that eating behaviors and metabolic changes correlate with the change of structure and function of the hypothalamic melanocortin system.In addition,enhancement of mitochondrial function in ATP production and/or utilization could bring some kinds of benefit to the ALS patients or models.Here,we review disturbances in energy metabolism in ALS patients and models,and provide an overview of new energy metabolism approaches in ALS.
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Objective To explore the influences of proliferation and differentiation of preadipocytes on high fat diet-induced obesity and obesity prevention through exercises in rats.Methods Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into a normal diet control group (C,n=8),a normal diet with exercises group (E,n=8),a high fat diet control group (H,n=14) and a high fat diet with exercises group (HE,n=10).Group C and group H kept sedentary,while group E and group HE underwent treadmill exercises at about 75％VO2max level.After 12 weeks of intervention,the body weight,epididymal,perirenal and retroperitoneal fat mass were recorded,and the total fat mass was determinated.Stereology method was used to calculate the number and average diameter of fat cells.Western Blotting was conducted to measure the expression of PPARγ and C/EBPα protein in adipose tissues.Results (1) The body weight and total fat mass of group H were significantly higher than those of group C (P＜0.01).Perirenal,retroperitoneal fat and total fat mass of group E and HE were significantly lower than those of group C and H respectively (P＜0.01).(2) The total fat cell number of group H was significantly higher than that of group C.The average diameter of fat cells in perirenal and retroperitoneal fat pads of group E were significantly lower than that of group C (P＜0.05,P＜0.01),while that of group HE in epididymal,perirenal and retroperitoneal fat pads was significantly lower than that of group H (P＜0.01).(3) Compared with group C,the expression of PPARγ protein of group E and H increased significantly in epididymal,perirenal and retroperitoneal fat pads (P＜0.01).The expression of C/EBPα protein of group H was significantly higher than that of group C in epididymal and perirenal fat pads (P＜0.01),the expression of C/EBPα protein of group E was significantly higher than that of group C in perirenal and retroperitoneal fat pads (P＜0.01),while the expression of C/EBPα protein of group HE was significantly lower than that of group H in perirenal fat pads(P＜0.01).Conclusion The proliferation and differentiation of preadipocyte was enhanced in the development of high fat diet induced obesity and exercises to prevent obesity,but its role and mechanisms were different.The high fat diet increases the number of fat cells which is a compensatory mechanism for the body to adapt to fat accumulation,while exercises might promote cell renewal and decrease the average size of fat cells which is an adaptive mechanism to improve fat storage.
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Transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1) is a family member of the transient receptor potential (TRPs). It is primarily localized to a subpopulation of primary sensory neurons, such as trigeminus, vagus and dorsal root ganglia. Neuropathic pain is often caused by peripheral nerve injury, diabetes and chemotherapeutics. A large of oxidative/nitrative stress products are produced during neuropathic pain, which cause acute nociception, allodynia, and hyperalgesia. TRPA1 antagonists may be beneficial in the treatment of neuropathic pain. Here, the role of TRPA1 in neuropathic pain is summarized.
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Adiponectin is an adipocyte-derived peptide with anti-inflammatory and anti-atherogenic effects. It has found that adiponectin can prevent the occurrence and progression of atherosclerosis. This paper reviews the recent studies on adiponectin in cerebrovascular diseases, especially on ischemic stroke. Meanwhile, it also elaborates the close relationship between adiponectin and other traditional vascular risk factors.