The Effect of Acupuncture on Oestrogen Receptors in Rats with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
Liang Pan, et al.
Abstract
The effects of acupuncture on the protein and gene expression of oestrogen receptors (ERs) alpha (a) and beta (ß) in testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in rats remains unclear. In this study, rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 10 per group). The rats in the blank group did not receive any treatment, while the rats in the model group were injected intraperitoneally with testosterone propionate for 28 days to establish the BPH model and then randomly sub-divided into a control group, an acupuncture group and a finasteride group (positive control group). Dissections were performed after rats were anesthetized with isoflurane, and then the weight and volume of the prostate were then measured. The expression of ERs was detected via immunohistochemistry, western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The results showed that ERa was discontinuously distributed in epithelial cells and expressed in large quantities in stromal cells, and ERß was aggregated and expressed in hyperplastic nodules. Acupuncture and finasteride could significantly improve the distribution of ERa and ERß which suggested that acupuncture and finasteride could improve BPH.
There was no significant difference in ERa messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) expression among the groups, but the ERß mRNA expression in the
finasteride group showed a significant difference compared with the control and acupuncture groups. The mechanism of the acupuncture treatment
of BPH may be related to the increased transcription level of ERß mRNA in prostate tissues, the improved distribution of ERa expression in
epithelial cells and the aggregation expression of ERs in hyperplastic nodules.
Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Volume 234, November 2023, 106402
Source: ScienceDirect
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Acupuncture Benefits to Women with Recurrent Implantation Failure
Di Gan, et al.
Abstract
The current study aims to assess the effectiveness of acupuncture in improving the live birth rate (LBR), ongoing pregnancy rate (OPR), clinical pregnancy rate (CPR), biochemical pregnancy rate (BPR), and pregnancy loss (early abortion rate, late abortion rate, ectopic pregnancy rate) in patients with recurrent implantation failure (RIF).
Design
This retrospective study compares the outcomes of patients with RIF who underwent frozen embryo transfer (FET) with or without acupuncture.
Setting
The medical records of patients diagnosed with RIF and visiting Chengdu Xi'nan Gynecological Hospital between January 2018 and June 2021 were reviewed. The Chengdu Xi'nan Gynecological Hospital Ethics Committee approved this retrospective study (No. 2021–029).
Participants
A total of 923 patients with RIF who underwent FET were included in this study. The patients were divided into two groups: the Acupuncture (n = 303) and the Non-acupuncture groups (n = 620).
Exposure
The Acupuncture group consisted of 303 RIF patients who received acupuncture therapy in addition to standard hormone replacement therapy (HRT)/delayed hormone replacement therapy (d-HRT) for FET. The Non-acupuncture group consisted of 620 RIF patients who received only standard HRT/d-HRT for FET.
Primary and secondary outcome measures
The primary outcome was the LBR. The secondary outcome referred to OPR, CPR, BPR, and pregnancy loss.
Results
The Acupuncture group had significantly higher BPR (P = 0.08) and CPR (P = 0.049) than the Non-acupuncture group. A potentially higher LBR (P = 0.16) and OPR (P = 0.248) were observed in the Acupuncture group than in the Non-acupuncture group. However, the survival analysis did not show that acupuncture significantly promoted live birth.
Conclusions
Acupuncture is an appropriate adjunctive technique in the in vitro fertilization process as it improves biochemical and clinical pregnancies.
Therefore, it is necessary to be cautious about the role of acupuncture throughout the whole pregnancy cycle.
Heliyon. Volume 9, Issue 7, July 2023, e18193
Source: PubMed
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Therapeutic Potential and Mechanism of Chinese
Herbal Medicines in Treating Fibrotic Liver Disease
Yanwei LI, et al.
Abstract
Liver fibrosis is a pathological condition characterized by replacement of normal liver tissue with scar tissue, and also the leading cause of liver-related death worldwide. During the treatment of liver fibrosis, in addition to antiviral therapy or removal of inducers, there remains a lack of specific and effective treatment strategies. For thousands of years, Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) have been widely used to treat liver fibrosis in clinical setting. CHMs are effective for liver fibrosis, though its mechanisms of action are unclear. In recent years, many studies have attempted to determine the possible mechanisms of action of CHMs in treating liver fibrosis. There have been substantial improvements in the experimental investigation of CHMs which have greatly promoted the understanding of anti-liver fibrosis mechanisms. In this review, the role of CHMs in the treatment of liver fibrosis is described, based on studies over the past decade, which has addressed the various mechanisms and signaling pathways that mediate therapeutic efficacy.
Among them, inhibition of stellate cell activation is identified as the most common mechanism. This article provides insights into the
research direction of CHMs, in order to expand its clinical application range and improve its effectiveness.
Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines (CJNM). Volume 21, Issue 9, September 2023, Pages 643-657
Source: PubMed
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