Anti-inflammatory effects of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease / 中西医结合学报

Numerous randomised controlled trials have suggested the positive effects of acupuncture on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the underlying therapeutic mechanisms of acupuncture for COPD have not been clearly summarized yet. Inflammation is central to the development of COPD. In this review, we elucidate the effects and underlying mechanisms of acupuncture from an anti-inflammatory perspective based on animal studies. Cigarette smoke combined with lipopolysaccharide is often used to establish animal models of COPD. Electroacupuncture can be an effective intervention to improve inflammation in COPD, and Feishu (BL13) and Zusanli (ST36) can be used as basic acupoints in COPD animal models. Different acupuncture types can regulate different types of inflammatory cytokines; meanwhile, different acupuncture types and acupoint options have similar effects on modulating the level of inflammatory cytokines. In particular, acupuncture exerts anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting the release of inflammatory cells, inflammasomes and inflammatory cytokines. The main underlying mechanism through which acupuncture improves inflammation in COPD is the modulation of relevant signalling pathways: nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) (e.g., myeloid differentiation primary response 88/NF-κB, toll-like receptor-4/NF-κB, silent information regulator transcript-1/NF-κB), mitogen-activated protein kinase signalling pathways (extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2, p38 and c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase), cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway, and dopamine D2 receptor pathway. The current synthesis will be beneficial for further research on the effect of acupuncture on COPD inflammation. Please cite this article as: Jiang LH, Li PJ, Wang YQ, Jiang ML, Han XY, Bao YD, Deng XL, Wu WB, Liu XD. Anti-inflammatory effects of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(6): 518-527.

Expressions of IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-13 mRNA in Lung Tissue and Serum of Rats Drown in Fresh Water / 法医学杂志

Objective To detect the changes of (interleukin, IL) -1α, IL-1β and IL-13 mRNA in lung tissue and serum of drown rats, and to explore the potential value for the diagnosis of drowning in forensic practice. Methods Eighteen SD rats were randomly divided into drowning group, blank control group and myocardial infarction group (as control group). The serum of right ventricular, the inferior lobe of right lung and the myocardium were taken from the rats in different groups. The expressions of IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-13 mRNA in the lung tissue and the serum of right ventricular were detected by TaqMan probe method. Results The expression differences of IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-13 mRNA in lung tissue between drowning group and blank control group, myocardial infarction group were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The expression of IL-1β and IL-13 mRNA in serum of right ventricular increased (P<0.05). The expression differences of IL-1α, IL-1β and IL-13 mRNA in serum between blank con-trol group and myocardial infarction group were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Conclusion The changes of cytokines IL-1β and IL-13 mRNA in the serum of right ventricular of drown rats are statis-tical significance, which are highly correlated with drowning.