The Successful Treatment of Flat Warts
with Auricular Acupuncture
Ning S, et al. Department of Dermatology of Shanghai Eighth
People's Hospital, Shanghai Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, School of Pharmacy, Fudan University,
Shanghai, China.
Background: Flat warts are a common presenting complaint in
adolescents and adults and may be a cosmetic problem as well. Patients suffering from flat warts are often
unsatisfied with conventional medical care because of adverse effects such as intolerable pain,
hyperpigmentation, hypopigmentation, or occasionally allergic contact dermatitis. To offset the
possibilities of hyperpigmentation, hypopigmentation, and scar formation, the method of auricular
acupuncture was used. Methods: Single-blind method adopted, 60 subjects with flat warts were all
outpatients and randomly allocated to a treatment group or a control group, with 30 patients in each
group. Thirty subjects in the treatment group were treated with weekly auricular acupuncture for 10 weeks
while the other subjects in the control group were treated with 0.1% of tretinoin ointment topically for
10 weeks. Results: Sixteen subjects in the treatment group (53.33%) recovered fully from flat warts
without recurrence during the ensuing six months' follow-up after 10 weeks' surgery compared with only
one subject in the control group (3.33%). The therapeutic effect of the treatment group was statistically
better than that of the control group by Mann-Whitney U-test with SPSS software (P<0.01). During the
treatment period and the ensuing six months' follow-up, no adverse effects were observed by the
investigators or reported by patients. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that auricular acupuncture may be
a viable alternative for the treatment of flat warts. Larger randomized studies are needed to fully
evaluate auricular acupuncture against more conventional treatments, and these are planned.
Int J Dermatol. 2012 Feb;51(2):211-5. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-4632.2011.05232.x.
Source: PubMed
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Fighting Fire with Fire: Poisonous Chinese Herbal Medicine
for Cancer Therapy
Wang S, et al. State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese
Medicine, Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau 999078, China.
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Following the known principle of "fighting fire with
fire", poisonous Chinese herbal medicine (PCHM) has been historically used in cancer therapies by skilled
Chinese practitioners for thousands of years. In fact, most of the marketed natural anti-cancer compounds
(e.g., camptothecin derivatives, vinca alkaloids, etc.) are often known in traditional Chinese medicine
(TCM) and recorded as poisonous herbs as well. Inspired by the encouraging precedents, significant
researches into the potential of novel anticancer drugs from other PCHM-derived natural products have been
ongoing for several years and PCHM is increasingly being recognized as a gathering place for promising
anti-cancer drugs. AIM OF THE REVIEW: The present review aimed at giving a rational understanding of the
toxicity of PCHM and, especially, providing the most recent developments on PCHM-derived anti-cancer
compounds. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Information on the toxicity and safety control of PCHM, as well as
PCHM-derived anti-cancer compounds, was gathered from the articles, books and monographs published in the
past 20 years. RESULTS: Based on an objective introduction to the CHM toxicity, we clarified the general
misconceptions about the safety of CHM and summarized the traditional experiences in dealing with the
toxicity. Several PCHM-derived compounds, namely gambogic acid, triptolide, arsenic trioxide, and
cantharidin, were selected as representatives, and their traditional usage and mechanism of anti-cancer
actions were discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Natural products derived from PCHM are of extreme importance in
devising new drugs and providing unique ideas for the war against cancer. To fully exploit the potential
of PCHM in cancer therapy, more attentions are advocated to be focused on their safety evaluation and
mechanism exploration.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2012 Jan 14.
Source: PubMed
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Effects of Radix Aconiti Lateralis Preparata and Rhizoma Zingiberis on Energy
Metabolism and Expression of the Genes Related to Metabolism in Rats
Yu HY, et al. Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jinan,
250355, China.
OBJECTIVE: To study the influence of Radix aconiti lateralis preparata and Rhizoma
zingiberis, two species of Chinese medicinal herbs with hot property, on energy metabolism and gene
expression spectrum, and to analyze the possible mechanism of their effects. METHODS: Forty-eight specific
pathogen free Wistar rats were randomly divided into a Radix aconiti lateralis preparata group, a Rhizoma
zingiberis group, and a control group. They were intragastrically treated with concentrated decoction of
Radix aconiti lateralis preparata, Rhizoma zingiberis and normal saline respectively for 20 days. Toe
temperature (TT), energy intake (EI), digestible energy (DE), and metabolizable energy (ME) were measured.
The content of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and energy charge (EC) in hepatic tissue were measured with
high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The activity of ATPase and succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) in
the liver were detected with chemical colorimetry. The gene expression in the liver was detected with
Illumina's rat Ref-12 gene array. The differential expression genes were selected, annotated and
classified based on Gene Ontology (GO). Real-time quantitative reverse-transcriptase PCR (Q-RT-PCR) was
used to test the accuracy of results. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the TT on the 10(th) day
after the beginning of administration and ATP in the Radix aconiti lateralis preparata and Rhizoma
zingiberis groups increased significantly (P<0.05). EI/body mass (BM), DE/BM, ME/BM, the hepatic EC and
the activity of Na(+)-K(+)-ATPase, Ca(2+)-Mg(2+)-ATPase and SDH of liver increased significantly only in
the Radix aconiti lateralis preparata group (P<0.05). There were 592 differential expression genes in the
Radix aconiti lateralis preparata group and 1 159 in the Rhizoma zingiberis group compared with the
control group. Among the differential expression genes, genes related to metabolic processes were the most
significant based on GO analysis. There were 337 strips of gene differential expression in common in both
Radix aconiti lateralis preparata and Rhizoma zingiberis groups compared with the control group.
CONCLUSIONS: Herbs with hot property such as Radix aconiti lateralis preparata and Rhizoma zingiberis
could improve the energy metabolism in rats, through influencing the metabolic process of sugar, lipid,
and amino acid. It could also promote the production, storage, and utilization of energy by regulating
the gene expression related to metabolism, which may be the main molecular mechanism of warming yang
and dispelling cold for the treatment of the cold syndrome according to Chinese medicine theory.
Chin J Integr Med. 2012 Jan;18(1):23-9. Epub 2012 Jan 10.
Source: PubMed
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