Immediate effects of acupuncture on tongue pressure including swallowing reflex latency in Parkinson's disease.

BACKGROUND: It is important to evaluate tongue function in terms of its clinical implications for swallowing ability. Motor dysfunction and loss of coordination of the tongue are frequently seen, and this influences the oral and pharyngeal phases of swallowing. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effect of a single acupuncture treatment for tongue pressure in Parkinson's disease. METHODS: A total of 13 patients, aged 57- 84 years, were recruited. Tongue pressure was measured using a tongue pressure manometer. Furthermore, swallowing reflex latency was measured in 3 of the 13 patients. RESULTS: Significant changes were seen after acupuncture in mean tongue pressure, which increased from 23.1 to 26.7 kPa (p<0.01). Reductions were seen after acupuncture in mean swallowing reflex latency (from 5.2 to 4.6 s for first saliva swallow; from 19.9 to 15.7 s for second saliva swallow; and from 10.4 to 5.7 s for third saliva swallow(s)). CONCLUSIONS: Our study's findings suggest that acupuncture may be useful for improving oral cavity function, but further controlled trials are needed.

Effect of acupuncture on gait in Parkinson's disease: a case report.

This case report describes the treatment of gait disturbance in a 64-year-old woman with Parkinson's disease. Needling for 10 min of areas of muscle stiffness and of muscle tonus areas in both lower limbs resulted in immediate temporary alleviation of muscle stiffness and muscle tonus of the bilateral anterior surface of the thigh muscle, the biceps femoris muscle, and the semitendinosus muscle for the duration of the treatment, with improvement in the disturbed gait of the patient. This response occurred regularly on repeated treatment, and was maintained between treatments.

Combined standard medication and acupuncture for COPD: a case series.

BACKGROUND: Traditional acupuncture has been used in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, only a few studies have been performed to determine the efficacy of this treatment. OBJECTIVE: To observe changes in the symptoms of COPD during acupuncture treatment in patients with COPD stratified according to the severity of the disease. METHODS: A prospective case series of 26 patients with dyspnoea on exertion due to COPD was followed from October 2004 to October 2008 in the Departments of Respiratory Internal Medicine, Gifu University of Medicine and Meiji University of Integrative Medicine, Japan. All participants received acupuncture treatments once a week for 10 weeks in addition to standard medication therapy. The main outcome measure was the modified Borg dyspnoea scale after the 6 min walk test (6MWT) and the secondary outcome measure was the BODE index. RESULTS: All 26 patients showed significant improvement in the Borg dyspnoea scale after 10 weeks of acupuncture treatment (from 4.02 (2.85) to 1.96 (1.97), mean difference -2.06, 95% CI -3.03 to -1.09, p=0.0002, paired t test). Improvements in the BODE index, 6MWT and oxygen saturation during exercise, which indicates better reduced dyspnoea on exertion and prognosis, were also found. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that acupuncture treatment has clinically useful effects, at least in the short term, in reducing dyspnoea on exercise in patients with COPD, particularly in those more severely affected.

The effect of acupuncture in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

OBJECTIVE: Many claims have been made regarding the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture. However, most controlled clinical studies have been limited to treatment of pain-related disorders and do not provide objective, quantifiable data for analysis. Traditional acupuncture has been applied to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, only a few studies have been performed to determine the efficacy of this treatment. This study was conducted to determine whether a combination of traditional acupuncture treatment and conservative treatment for COPD improves dyspnea on exercise. METHODS: This was a prospective trial with matched-pair parallel groups of patients from the departments of respiratory internal medicine of Gifu University of Medicine, Meiji University of Oriental Medicine, and Gifu Red Cross Hospital, Japan. Thirty patients were divided into the acupuncture group (n = 15) and the control group (n = 15). The control group received conservative treatment with medication only. The acupuncture group received acupuncture treatments once a week for 10 weeks, in addition to conservative treatment with medication. The main outcome measure was the Modified Borg dyspnea scale after the 6-minute walk test. RESULTS: The acupuncture group had significantly better results on the Borg scale than the control group after 10 weeks (2.2 +/- 2.7 versus 6.4 +/- 3.4, p = 0.0001, 95% confidence interval, -5.10 to -2.35, paired t-test). The 6-minute walk distance and oxygen saturation at the minimum rate improved significantly in the acupuncture group compared with the control group. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that acupuncture contributed to the reduction of COPD-related dyspnea on exercise in 15 matched-pair parallel subjects.

Relationship of serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor level with other markers of disease severity in patients with atopic dermatitis.

Elevated serum levels of neurotrophins such as nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have been reported in allergic and autoimmune diseases. The aim of this study was to assess serum levels of BDNF in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) and to investigate the relationship of the BDNF level with other markers of disease severity. Serum BDNF concentration was significantly higher in patients with AD (n=62) compared to control subjects (n=20) (P<0.01). Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed a significant influence of the peripheral blood eosinophil counts (F=6.90) and the percentage of CD4(+)IL-4(+) (Th2) cells (F=6.61). Moreover, after remission of AD patients with conventionally treated AD patients (n=14), serum levels of BDNF, eosinophil counts and percentage of Th2 cells were decreased significantly. These results suggest that serum BDNF may be a useful marker of disease activity in AD and that both eosinophils and Th2 cells are major cellular sources of serum BDNF.

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha 7 regulates cAMP signal within lipid rafts.

Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are made of multiple subunits with diversified functions. The nAChR alpha 7-subunit has a property of high Ca2+ permeability and may have specific functions and localization within the plasma membrane as a signal transduction molecule. In PC-12 cells, fractionation by sucrose gradient centrifugation revealed that nAChR alpha 7 existed in low-density, cholesterol-enriched plasma membrane microdomains known as lipid rafts where flotillin also exists. In contrast, nAChR alpha 5- and beta2-subunits were located in high-density fractions, out of the lipid rafts. Type 6 adenylyl cyclase (AC6), a calcium-inhibitable isoform, was also found in lipid rafts and was coimmunoprecipitated with nAChR alpha 7. Cholesterol depletion from plasma membranes with methyl-beta-cyclodextrin redistributed nAChR alpha 7 and AC6 diffusely within plasma membranes. Nicotine stimulation reduced forskolin-stimulated AC activity by 35%, and this inhibition was negated by either treatment with alpha-bungarotoxin, a specific antagonist of nAChR alpha 7, or cholesterol depletion from plasma membranes. The effect of cholesterol depletion was negated by the addition of cholesterol. These data suggest that nAChR alpha 7 has a specific membrane localization relative to other nAChR subunits and that lipid rafts are necessary to localize nAChR alpha 7 with AC within plasma membranes. In addition, nAChR alpha 7 may regulate the AC activity via Ca2+ within lipid rafts.