Zhong xi yi jie he xue bao = Journal of Chinese integrative medicine最新文献

Objective: To analyze the distribution of traditional Chinese medicine constitution types in elderly patients with insomnia.

Methods: The epidemiological data were collected from communities in the Yangpu District, Shanghai via a cross-sectional field survey. The elderly participants were enrolled by using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) scale and the TCM Constitution Questionnaire.

Results: (1)The distribution of imbalanced constitutions between the elderly with insomnia and normal subjects showed statistical difference (P<0.01) and the elderly with insomnia tend to be of imbalanced constitutions. Among these unbalanced constitutions, deficient constitutions were more frequent than others in the elderly with insomnia, and yang-deficiency and qi-deficiency occurred mostly in unbalanced and simple constitutions. (2) Blood-stasis and qi-stagnation constitutions were more frequent in females than in males among the elderly with insomnia. Frequency of deficiency constitutions in the elderly increased as the age increases. (3) The frequency of composite constitutions was higher than that of simple constitutions in elderly patients with insomnia (74.8%), among which qi-deficiency was more likely to be composite with other constitutions.

Conclusion: Identification and classification of traditional Chinese medicine constitution types will provide further information for devising projects with systematic intervention for insomnia management.

Objective: To investigate the vasodilator effect and the endothelium-dependent mechanism of oroxylin A in thoracic aorta isolated from rats.

Methods: Thoracic aorta was isolated from Wistar rats. After pretreatment with norepinephrine or KCl, the effects of oroxylin A at different concentrations were detected on isolated vascular rings prepared from rats' thoracic aorta. The response of thoracic aortic ring was evaluated in the presence and absence of endothelium, and NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME), a specific inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase.

Results: Oroxylin A (10 and 100 μmol/L) caused vasodilation on endothelium-intact aortic rings pretreated with norepinephrine (1 μmol/L) and KCl (60 mmol/L) compared with the control (P<0.05, P<0.01). The vasodilation function of 10 and 100 μmol/L oroxylin A on the endothelium-denuded aorta rings was significantly lower than that on the endothelium-intact aorta rings (P<0.05, P<0.01). L-NAME pretreatment significantly attenuated the effect of 100 μmol/L oroxylin A on endothelium-intact aorta rings (P<0.05, P<0.01).

Conclusion: Oroxylin A can induce the relaxation of the aorta ring in endothelium-dependent manner. Nitric oxide may be involved in the endothelium-dependent effect of oroxylin A.

Objective: To establish a rat model of ulcerative colitis with syndrome of spleen deficiency and dampness stagnancy.

Methods: Sixty rats were divided into normal control group, ulcerative colitis group, ulcerative colitis with syndrome of spleen deficiency and dampness stagnancy group (model group) and strengthening spleen for resolving dampness group. Ulcerative colitis in rats was induced by enema containing trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS) and ethanol. The rats in the model group were suffered from standing in water, limiting sleeping time and abnormal diet based on administration of TNBS and ethanol. The rats in the spleen strengthening and dampness resolving group were gastrically administered with Shenlin Baizhu Powder, a compound traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Symptoms, signs and pathological changes in colon tissue of rats were observed after modeling. The levels of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in serum of rats were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: The rats in the model group showed lethargy, poor appetite, loss of energy, diarrhea and bloody stool. Their body weight decreased significantly compared with the normal control group, and similar changes were found in the comparison of food intake, drinking amount, urine amount, stool wet weight and assay of spontaneous activity (P<0.05). When observed under a light microscope, the colon tissues of rats in the model group showed mucosal edema, congestion, inflammatory cell infiltration and ulceration. The degree of colon injury and IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α levels were significantly increased (P<0.05) as compared to those in the normal control group. The changes mentioned above were improved by Shenlin Baizhu Powder (P<0.05).

Conclusion: The rat model of ulcerative colitis with syndrome of spleen deficiency and dampness stagnancy is successfully induced and has the characteristics of ulcerative colitis of humans both in pathological changes and in syndrome.

Recently, proper use of the statistical methods in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) randomized controlled trials (RCTs) has received increased attention. Statistical inference based on hypothesis testing is the foundation of clinical trials and evidence-based medicine. In this article, the authors described the methodological differences between literature published in Chinese and Western journals in the design and analysis of acupuncture RCTs and the application of basic statistical principles. In China, qualitative analysis method has been widely used in acupuncture and TCM clinical trials, while the between-group quantitative analysis methods on clinical symptom scores are commonly used in the West. The evidence for and against these analytical differences were discussed based on the data of RCTs assessing acupuncture for pain relief. The authors concluded that although both methods have their unique advantages, quantitative analysis should be used as the primary analysis while qualitative analysis can be a secondary criterion for analysis. The purpose of this paper is to inspire further discussion of such special issues in clinical research design and thus contribute to the increased scientific rigor of TCM research.

Objective: The present study was designed to investigate the antiperoxidative potential of p-coumaric acid, a common dietary phenol, in adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats.

Methods: Arthritis was induced by an intradermal injection of 0.1 mL complete Freund's adjuvant in the foot pad of right hind limb of rats. p-Coumaric acid (100 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally) and the reference drug indomethacin (3 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally) were administered to arthritic rats for 8 d from the 11th day to the 18th day after adjuvant injection. The antiperoxidative effect of p-coumaric acid was investigated by assessing changes in lipid peroxidation levels and antioxidant status in liver, spleen and plasma of the adjuvant-induced arthritic rats. In addition, radiological changes in hind limbs of the arthritic rats were also analyzed.

Results: p-Coumaric acid treatment reversed the altered lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status observed in arthritic rats to near normal levels. Soft swelling, bone erosion, and joint space narrowing noticed in arthritic rats were found to be mitigated in p-coumaric acid-treated arthritic rats.

Conclusion: The study clearly exhibits the antiperoxidative potential of p-coumaric acid against adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats.

Objective: To investigate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) at Neiguan (PC6) and Xinshu (BL15) on the nerve electrical activity in spinal dorsal root and norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) concentrations in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus in rats with acute myocardial ischemia (AMI).

Methods: A total of 100 male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham-operation, model, EA at PC6, EA at BL15 and EA at both PC6 and BL15 groups with 20 rats in each group. The nerve electrical activity in spinal dorsal roots was recorded by bipolar electrodes. NE and DA concentrations in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Results: When compared with the sham-operation group, the nerve electrical activity in spinal dorsal roots was significantly increased while the NE and DA concentrations in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus were decreased in the model group (P<0.01). The nerve electrical activity in spinal dorsal roots was decreased and the NE and DA concentrations were increased in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus in the EA at PC6 group, the EA at BL15 group and the EA at both PC6 and BL15 group in comparison to those in the model group (P<0.01). The nerve electrical activity in spinal dorsal roots and the NE and DA concentrations in paraventricular nucleus of hypothalamus of the EA at both PC6 and BL15 group were significantly improved when compared to those of the EA at PC6 and EA at BL15 groups (P<0.05).

Conclusion: EA at both PC6 and BL15 acupoints exhibits the synergistic protective effects against AMI. The possible mechanism is related to regulating the nerve electrical activity in spinal dorsal roots and the concentrations of NE and DA in paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus.