Hesperidin alleviates rat postoperative ileus through anti-inflammation and stimulation of Ca(2+)-dependent myosin phosphorylation.

AIM: Postoperative ileus (POI) is a postoperative dysmotility disorder of gastrointestinal tract, which remains one of the most perplexing problems in medicine. In the present study we investigated the effects of hesperidin, a major flavonoid in sweet oranges and lemons, on POI in rats. METHODS: SD rats were administered hesperidin (5, 20, and 80 mg·kg(-1)·d(-1), ig) for 3 consecutive days. POI operation (gently manipulating the cecum for 1 min) was performed on d 2. The gastrointestinal motility and isolated intestinal contraction were examined 1 d after the operation. Then the myosin phosphorylation and inflammatory responses in cecum tissue were assessed. Smooth muscle cells were isolated from rat small intestine for in vitro experiments. RESULTS: The gastric emptying and intestinal transit were significantly decreased in POI rats, which were reversed by administration of hesperidin. In ileum and cecum preparations of POI rats in vitro, hesperidin (2.5-160 µmol/L) dose-dependently increased the spontaneous contraction amplitudes without affecting the contractile frequency, which was blocked by the myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) inhibitor ML-7 or verapamil, but not by TTX. Furthermore, administration of hesperidin increased the phosphorylation of MLC20 in the cecum tissue of POI rats. Moreover, administration of hesperidin reversed the increased levels of inflammatory cytokines, iNOS and COX-2 in cecum tissue of POI rats. In freshly isolated intestinal smooth muscle cells, hesperidin (5-80 µmol/L) dose-dependently increased the intracellular Ca(2+) concentration as well as the phosphorylation of MLC20, which was abrogated by ML-7 or siRNA that knocked down MLCK. CONCLUSION: Oral administration of hesperidin effectively alleviates rat POI through inhibition of inflammatory responses and stimulation of Ca(2+)-dependent MLC phosphorylation.

Effectiveness of acupuncture for smoking cessation in a Chinese population.

An observational study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture for smoking cessation, and determine predictors for successful quitters. Smokers received at least 6 sessions of body acupuncture provided by Chinese medicine practitioners and initiated self-administered auricular acupuncture. We determined self-report 26-week and 52-week quit rates by intention-to-treat analysis and examined predictors for successful quitting by univariate and multivariate analyses. A total of 1002 smokers were recruited; 26-week and 52-week quit rates were 16.8% and 15.8%, respectively. Male sex, older age, lower nicotine dependence level, and number of body acupuncture and counseling sessions received were associated with successful quitting. A multiple logistic regression model showed that sex, nicotine dependence level, and number of body acupuncture sessions received were predictors for successful quitting. Body and auricular acupuncture is effective in smoking cessation and should be considered as an alternative to help smokers in quitting, especially for those whose past attempts using conventional methods were in vain.

[Progress on the research of acupuncture for smoking cessation in foreign and domestic].

Up to December of 2011, the domestic and overseas literatures of acupuncture for smoking cessation are searched and collected through Pubmed, CNKI, Wanfang and Chongqing VIP databases, which are analyzed from treatment method, action mechanism, influencing factors of efficacy and efficacy evaluation research and so on. The result shows that (1) acupuncture has positive effect on smoking cessation, and large clinical trials has been carried out. However, most of them are needling methods and the short-term effect observation, which lack of long-term efficacy research of withdrawal symptoms, especially continuous withdrawal symptoms and index of life quality. (2) Because of unified clinical treatment, manipulation standard and curative effect criteria, it is difficult to make comparison among them. (3) The study of mechanism on acupuncture for smoking cessation is not of in-depth. In future, clinical research project of acupuncture on smoking cessation should be optimized and regulated, including the unified treatment, manipulation standard and curative effect criteria, also long-term researches with large-scale samples should be launched to confirm effect ofacupuncture for smoking cessation to further discuss its action mechanism.