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An Extract of Kudzu Root Reduces Alcohol Drinking by Heavy Drinkers in a Naturalistic Setting |
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Anti-HIV
Properties of Chinese Medicinal Herbs - H.C.X. |
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Acupuncture for the Treatment of Climacteric Syndrome Shen X, et al. The Second Clinical Dept. of Anhui TCM College, Hefei 230038, China. In order to evaluate the effects of acupuncture on the treatment of climacteric syndrome (menopause), 65 patients were randomly assigned to an acupuncture group (N=35) and a control group (N=30). The acupuncture group was treated with only acupuncture and the control group was treated with only medication. The effects of treatment were evaluated by means of the clinical outcome, improvement in the symptom scores and the results of radioimmunoassays. In the acupuncture group, 12 patients were cured, 16 patients showed significant improvement, and 6 patients showed improvement. The total effective rate was scored as high as 97.14%. The decrease in symptom scores, and especially the elevation of the decreased E2 level and the decrease of the increased FSH and LH levels, demonstrated that the beneficial effects of acupuncture was greater than medication. In conclusion, acupuncture is an effective therapy for climacteric syndrome. Acupuncture at Neiguan (P6) Increases Vagal Modulation Huang ST, et al. Department of Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Acupuncture at Neiguan (P6) point has been demonstrated to decrease nausea and vomiting, both of which are related to vagal modulation. A study was conducted to determine whether acupuncture at P6 could improve vagal modulation by using heart rate variability analysis. A comparison was made of the heart rate variability measures of 39 subjects receiving acupuncture at P6, 38 subjects receiving sham acupuncture, and 34 subjects receiving no treatment at all. A normalized high-frequency power was used as the index of vagal modulation, and a low-/high-frequency power ratio was used as the index of sympathovagal balance. The normalized high-frequency power after acupuncture increased significantly from 28.1 +/- 12.6 nu (mean +/- SD) to 30.7 +/- 14.1 nu in the P6 acupuncture group, but not in the sham acupuncture (30.6 +/- 13.7 nu versus 31.8 +/- 13.8 nu) or no-treatment group (30.1 +/- 15.0 nu versus 30.1 +/- 15.7 nu). In both the P6 and sham acupuncture groups, the average RR interval (the intervals between consecutive R waves in the electrocardiogram) increased significantly after acupuncture. However, in the no-treatment group, there was no statistical difference in all heart rate variability measures in the initial and later sessions. In conclusion, acupuncture at P6 can increase vagal modulation. An Extract of Kudzu Root Reduces Alcohol Drinking by Heavy Drinkers in a Naturalistic Setting Lukas SE, et al. Behavioral Psychopharmacology Research Laboratory, McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts 02478, USA. lukas@mclean.harvard.edu In a recent study, it has been shown that extracts of kudzu, containing a variety of isoflavones, have reduced alcohol drinking in rats and hamsters. Now, another study was conducted in order to test the effectiveness of kudzu root extract in a clinical population. For seven days, male and female "heavy" alcohol drinkers were treated with either a placebo or a kudzu root extract and were then given an occasion to drink their favorite brand of beer while in a naturalistic laboratory setting. All participants served as their own controls. Their drinking behavior was monitored by a digital scale in the room. After the seven days, the kudzu root drinkers showed a significant reduction in the number of beers consumed as well as an increase in the number of sips and the time to drink each beer and a decrease in the volume of each sip. However, there was no significant effect on the urge to drink alcohol. Furthermore, there were no reported side effects of the kudzu root extract. Anti-HIV Properties of Chinese Medicinal Herbs - H.C.X. Zhuo, Huan C1, Hudson JB2, Lee W1. 1Zhuollen Technology Ltd., New Westminster; 2University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada Objective: To evaluate Chinese Herbal Complex X for anti-HIV activity. Materials: Lonicera japonica; Taraxacum monoglicum; Phellodendron Chinese; Coix lacryma-jobi; Astragalus membranaceus; Boswellia carterii etc. Methods: The plaque-assays of evaluation of HCX had carried out in virology laboratory, Division of Medical Microbiology, VGH. Results: 25-50% HCX was non-toxic and displayed significant anti-Sindbis virus activity; 20-40% HCX had anti-mouse cytomegalovirus activity effects, but less than the former. The tests for anti-HIV activity were carried out in the B.C. Provincial AIDS Lab. (B.C. Centre for Disease Control) in conformity with regulations for HIV culture work. The extract, derived by steam extraction of HCX powder, is considered the starting material (100%) after making isotonic with concentrated saline solution. The extract was centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 20 minutes in the Sorvall centrifuge to pellet particular material. The clear supernatant was diluted with an equal volume of double-strength medium and filtered. The extract was then diluted with different volumes of medium and mixed (in duplicate) with an equal volume of HIV (103 TCD50) in the wells of tissue culture trays. Final concentrations of the extract (100µ1+100µ1virus) were 50, 30, 20, 10, 5 and 0%. The mixtures were incubated at 37Üc for 60 minutes and 4x105 CEM cells, in 2.0 ml complete medium (10% serum) were added to each culture well. At 5 days, culture supernat was removed for p24 antigen assays. Conclusions: 1) HCX had significant anti-HIV activity. At concentration 50%, there were no viral CPE, i.e. the virus had been completely destroyed. 2) There was no difference between the extracts derived from 4 different sources. |
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