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Home > Newsletters > November 2009 > Recent Research

Points - Recent Research
Effect of Acupuncture at Zhongwan (CV 12) and Si-Guan Points Combined with Reinforcing-Reducing Manipulation of Respiration for Treatment of Depression
Possible Involvement of Histamine, Dopamine, and Noradrenalin in the Periaqueductal Gray in Electroacupuncture Pain Relief
A TCM Formulation Consisting of Rhizoma Corydalis and Rhizoma Curcumae Exerts Synergistic Anti-Tumor Activity

Effect of Acupuncture at Zhongwan (CV 12) and Si-Guan Points Combined with Reinforcing-Reducing Manipulation of Respiration for Treatment of Depression

Xie YC, et al. Department of TCM, General Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300052, China. xieyicong2006@126.com

OBJECTIVE: To search for an effective therapy for depression. METHODS: One hundred and twenty cases were randomly divided into two groups. The acupuncture group (60 cases) was treated with acupuncture at Zhong wan (CV 12) and Si-guan points [Taichong (LR 3) and Hegu (LI 4)] selected as main acupoints, combined with Baihui (GV 20), Sishencong (EX-HN 1), etc. , meanwhile, the reinforcing-reducing manipulation of respiration was adopted. The western medicine group (60 cases) was treated with oral administration of Fluoxetine Hydrochloride at the dosage of 20 mg every day. These treatments lasted for 8 weeks in both groups. The depression severities were assessed with Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD) before treatment and at the 8th week of the treatment and adverse reactions were appraised respectively with Treatment Emergent Symptom Scale (TESS). RESULTS: The total effective rate was 95.0% in the acupuncture group and 91.7% in the western medicine group with no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). After treatment, the HAMD score had very significant changes in the two groups as compared with those before treatment (both P < 0.01), but there was no significant difference between the two groups (P > 0.05). After treatment, there was a significant difference between two groups in TESS score (P < 0.01). There was almost no adverse reaction in the acupuncture group, while the main clinical manifestations in the western medicine group were nausea, anorexia, diarrhea, etc. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture at Zhongwan (CV 12) and Si-guan points combined with reinforcing-reducing manipulation of respiration can significantly improve symptoms of depression patients with a similar therapeutic effect to oral administration of Fluoxetine Hydrochloride and it is a safe method for depression without adverse reactions.

Zhongguo Zhen Jiu. 2009 Jul;29(7):521-4.

Source: PubMed

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Possible Involvement of Histamine, Dopamine, and Noradrenalin in the Periaqueductal Gray in Electroacupuncture Pain Relief

Murotani T, et al. Department of Medical Science and Technology, Division of Health Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.

Acupuncture and electroacupuncture are used in pain relief; however, the mechanism underlying the analgesic effect of acupuncture is unclear. Several lines of evidence propose that the periaqueductal gray (PAG), which is one of the regions that contributes to the endogenous pain inhibitory system, is involved in the analgesic effect of acupuncture, and the region receives several neural projections such as histamine and noradrenalin and contains the dopamine cell bodies. The current study examined the effects of electroacupuncture at Zusanli (ST36) and Shangjuxu (ST37) acupoints, which are used for clinical pain control, on the release of neurotransmitters in the PAG in rats. Histamine and dopamine release was increased after pain stimulus, while the changes were completely abolished by electroacupuncture. Pain stimulus had no effect on noradrenalin release, but electroacupuncture increased its release. These findings indicate that acupuncture at Zusanli and Shangjuxu exerts an antinociceptive effect via the activation of neurons in the PAG and that the histaminergic, dopaminergic, and noradrenalinergic systems in the PAG are related to electroacupuncture-induced pain relief.

Brain Res. 2009 Oct 9.

Source: PubMed

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A TCM Formulation Consisting of Rhizoma Corydalis and Rhizoma Curcumae Exerts Synergistic Anti-Tumor Activity 

Gao JL, et al. Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences, University of Macau, Macau 999078, P.R. China.

Synergy analysis of anticancer agents is an important approach to determining the ratio and/or dose of drugs for clinical combination therapy. However, this method is rarely used to evaluate the composition of traditional Chinese medicine formulation. 'Yanhusuo San' (YHSS), which consists of yanhusuo (Rhizoma Corydalis) and Ezhu (Rhizoma Curcumae), has been an archaic Chinese medicine prescription since the Song dynasty (960-1279 AD). We previously demonstrated that either yanhusuo or ezhu has strong anticancer effect. Herein, we sought to determine the possible synergic effect between these two Chinese herbs. We measured the IC50 of each herb extract and both extracts at different ratios of doses by MTT assay. Isobologram and combination index (CI) analyses were used to evaluate the synergistic effect of yanhusuo and ezhu in different fixed ratios. Our results indicated that a combination of two herbal extracts exhibits the strongest anticancer cell proliferation effect at the ratio of 3:2 (ezhu to yanhusuo; referred to as E3Y2). Using Boyden Chamber assay, flow cytometry, and fluorescence microscopy analysis, we found that E3Y2 could markedly reduce the cell invasion ability and induce cytochrome c release rather than single use, but E3Y2 could not influence the cell cycle distribution. When the levels of ERK1/2, p-ERK1/2 and p-Rb were determined by Western blot analysis, we found that the E3Y2 significantly suppresses the level of p-ERK. Thus, our studies provide a plausible molecular basis of the synergistic anti-tumor effect of ezhu and yanhusuo.

Oncol Rep. 2009 Nov;22(5):1077-83.

Source: PubMed

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This Month's Articles

November 2009
Volume 7, Number 11

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History of Herbology - Reveals Roots of Herbs  

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