Effects of Zingiber cassumunar (Plai cream) in the treatment of delayed onset muscle soreness / 中西医结合学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To evaluate the effects of Zingiber cassumunar (Plai cream) in either 7% or 14% concentration on delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Seventy-five untrained healthy volunteers (28 males and 47 females), performed 4 sets of 25 eccentric repetitions of the dominant quadriceps muscle on an isokinetic dynamometry machine. Participants were then randomized into 3 groups: 14% Plai cream, 7% Plai cream and placebo cream. Two grams of the cream (strips of 5-cm long) were gently rubbed into the quadriceps muscles for 5 min immediately following the exercise and every 8 h thereafter for 7 d in all groups. Muscle soreness, muscle strength, jump height, thigh circumference and creatine kinase were measured before and after eccentric exercise.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Compared to the placebo cream the 14% Plai cream substantially reduced muscle soreness over the 7 d by -82% (95% CI = -155% to -6%, P = 0.03), but had similar muscle soreness effects to 7% Plai cream (-34%, -96% to 27%, P = 0.2). Compared to the placebo cream the 7% Plai cream resulted in a small non-significant reduction in muscle soreness levels over the following 7 d (-40%, -116% to 36%, P = 0.3). Compared to placebo cream there was little effect of Plai cream (7% or 14%) on muscle strength, jump height, thigh circumference or creatine kinase concentration.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Using 14% Plai cream over a 7-day period substantially reduced muscle soreness symptoms compared to 7% Plai cream or a placebo cream. The authors suggest that the administration of 14% Plai cream is a useful alternative in the management of DOMS.</p><p><b>TRIAL REGISTRATION</b>Thai Clinical Trial Registry TCTR20140215001.</p>

Antimigration of Cancer Cells by Derris scandens on Cholangiocarcinoma Cells

Background: Derris scandens (Leguminosae) is used as traditional remedies in Thailand for arthritis. Phytochemicals obtained from the stems are mainly isoflavones such as genistein and their derivatives. Many anticancer activities of isoflavone have been reported, including antimigration effect.Objectives: To assess antimigration activity of D. scandens extract on cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) cell lines compared to other human cancer cell lines and standard antimitotic drug (e.g., paclitaxel).Methods: Non-cytotoxic concentrations of D. scandens ethanol extract, paclitaxel and vehicle were determined by MTT assay. For antimigration assay, co-cultured technique using CCA cell lines (KKU-100, KKU-M139 and KKU-M213), hepatoma cell line (HepG2) and breast cancer cell line (MCF-7) was employed. The cells (2.5x104 cells) were pre-treated with non-cytotoxic concentrations of tested drug or herbal extract for 30 min before adding to insert (upper chamber), then further incubated for 18 h at 37oC in 5% CO2 incubator. Non-migrating cells were removed using cotton swab, the number of cells migrated to well (lower chamber) were counted under a microscope and percent inhibition was calculated.Results: From MTT assay, in comparison to vehicle (0.25-1% DMSO), the non-cytotoxic concentrations were up to 800 g/ml 0.5% DMSO and 10-9 M for D. scandens and paclitaxel, repectively. Antimigration activity of D. scandens was clearly demonstrated with nearly all of the human cancer cell lines, except KKU-100 which is derived from the poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma tissue. The migratory inhibition effect of paclitaxel was observed in all cell lines.Conclusions: The ethanol extract of D. scandens shows antimigration in most many cancer cell lines. For CCA cell lines, the extract showed potent inhibitory effect especially with squamous cell carcinoma (KKU-M139) and adenosquamous carcinoma (KKU-M213). Therefore, it is interesting that the extract may have a potential as antimetastasis on CCA cells, at least in part, mediated through antimigration activity.Key words: Derris scandens, Cholangiocarcinoma, Antimigration, Cytotoxicity\ 

An evaluation of pain score record form as the fifth vital sign for postoperative cares of orthopedic patients

Background: Postoperative pain should be closely monitored by regular scoring and documenting it as the 5th vital sign. Objective: To evaluate the use of a revised Graphic Sheet for recording pain scores as the 5th vital sign.   Design:   Descriptive study.Setting:  Orthopedic surgical wards at Srinagarind Hospital, Khon Kaen University, Thailand.Methods: The sequences of the study included:  1) revision of the old record form; 2) orientation of the ward nurses on how to assess and to document pain scores; and 3) the new Graphic Sheet was tested for 1 month. Pain (at rest) was assessed by nurses 4- hourly along with the other four vital signs for at least 3 days on every patient. The assessment was excepted in patients younger than 10 years or whose hospital stay was shorter than 2 days.Outcome Measures: All recorded Graphic Sheets were audited.  The value of pain scores were recorded each day and the number of  patients with severe pain (score  \> 7) noted. A questionnaire about  using the Graphic Sheet was sent to each nurse involved in recording the pain scores for practicability study.Results: A total of 121 patients, 49 from Ward #1 and 72 from Ward # 2, were operated on during the study period. Sixty-seven percent of the patients had their pain scores recorded on the Graphic Sheet and these were done between 2 and 3 times per day. The number of patients with severe pain on postoperative day 0 and day 1 was 43 and 45 percent, respectively.  Most of the nurses (95%) agreed that the Graphic Sheet was useful  for documenting pain scores as the 5th vital sign and in daily practice.Conclusion:  The revised Graphic Sheet for documenting pain scores was tested. The pain scores were documented in 67 percent of the patients. The Graphic Sheet was useful for postoperative pain management, therefore it should be promoted for use in the other surgical wards. 

Combined Effect of Hyaluronan and Subchondral Bone Drilling on Full-Thickness Chondral Defect of the Knee in Rabbits: a Pilot Study

Background: Articular cartilage has limited self-healing potential. The repair of a chondral lesion is often unsuccessful unless subchondral bone plate is penetrated. However, the quality of the regenerated fibrocartilage is mechanically inferior to that of hyaline cartilage.Objective: To investigate the combined effect of hyaluronan (HA) and subchondral bone drilling (SBD) on the repair of full-thickness chondral defect (FTD) in rabbits.Materials and Methods: Male New Zealand rabbits, 3-4 months old were used. A 5 mm x 12 mm FTD was created on the patellar groove of both knees and only the left knee was drilled to make six small holes (1 mm diameter) inside the FTD to induce fibrocartilage generation. A week after the surgery, the animals were treated weekly with 0.3 ml intra-articular HA injection for 5 consecutive weeks while the control group was injected with normal saline solution (NSS). One month after the treatment, the animals were sacrificed and the lesions were examined macroscopically, histologically, and immunohistochemically for the presence of type-I and type-II collagen as well as for chondrocyte proliferation.Results: New tissue grossly formed around SBD areas with histological appearance of fibrocartilage. FTD plus SBD in HA treated group showed significantly better histological grading than FTD treated with HA alone. Comparing the SBD lesion between HA-treated with the control group, the former showed histological evidence of better healing with increased chondrocyte proliferation and type II collagen content than the latter.Conclusions: Intraarticular injection of HA administered after SBD can enhance, at least in part, the quality of the repaired chondral tissue for FTD by increasing chondrocyte proliferation and type II collagen production.Keywords: Osteoarthritis, hyaluronan, subchondral drilling, full-thickness defect