[Controlled observation of the efficacy on motion sickness in the prevention and treatment with jianpixingnao needling therapy].

OBJECTIVE: To verify the efficacy of Jianpi-xingniao needling therapy on prevention and treatment of motion sickness. METHODS: Sixty volunteers of motion sickness were randomized into an acupuncture group and a delayed acupuncture group, 30 cases in each one. In the acupuncture group, acupuncture was given at Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), Neiguan (PC 6), Zusanli (ST 36) and Hegu (LI 4). The needles were retained for 20 min. The treatment was given twice a week and 10 treatments were required. In the delayed acupuncture group, acupuncture was postponed, meaning no acupuncture during observation stage. Graybel scale was adopted to observe the score of symptoms and physical signs of the subjects of motion sickness before and after intervention. The efficacy was compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Twenty-five cases in the acupuncture group and 22 cases in the delayed acupuncture group were included in the statistical analysis. The score of symptoms and physical signs of motion sickness was reduced significantly after treatment in the acupuncture group as compared with that before treatment (10.12 +/- 3.37 vs 0.92 +/- 0.40, P < 0.05). The score in the acupuncture group was lower apparently than that in the delayed acupuncture group (0.92 +/- 0.40 vs 9.86 +/- 2.53, P < 0.05). The difference was not significant before and after treatment in the self-comparison of the delayed acupuncture group (P > 0.05). The total effective rate was 96.0% (24/25) in the acupuncture group, which was significantly better than 0.0% (0/22) in the delayed acupuncture group (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Jianpixingniao needling therapy relieves the symptoms of motion sickness in the patients and achieves a better clinical efficacy.

Taurine administration after appearance of proteinuria retards progression of diabetic nephropathy in rats.

Oxidative stress has been postulated to be involved in the development of diabetic nephropathy. In the present study, we evaluated the effect of taurine, an endogenous antioxidant, on diabetic nephropathy by mixing it with the daily drinking water (1%w/v) of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats from the beginning of the fourth month after the induction of diabetes, during which the urinary protein excretion in untreated diabetic rats showed significant increase in comparison with nondiabetic rats. The taurine administration significantly suppressed further increase in urinary protein excretion in diabetic rats, accompanied by the reduction of mesangial extracellular matrix expansion and TGF-beta expression in the renal glomerulus. Immunohistochemical study showed that taurine administration suppressed the intensified stainings to the three different types of oxidative stress markers, such as 8-hydroxyl-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), pentosidine, and nitrotyrosine observed in the renal tissues of untreated diabetic rats. These findings suggest that taurine has the ability to suppress the progression of diabetic nephropathy at least in part by its antioxidant property. Since this beneficial effect of taurine was obtained even if its administration was started after the time point when urinary protein excretion already became apparently higher than that of age-matched nondiabetic animals, taurine administration was potentially expected to be applied in clinical field to retard the development of nephropathy in diagnosed diabetic patients.