Hepatoprotective effect of ethanolic extract of
Trichosanthes lobata on paracetamol-induced liver
toxicity in ratsBackground:
Trichosanthes lobata (family cucurbitaceae) is used to treat malarial fever and liver disorders.This study aims to investigate possible hepatoprotective activities of ethanolic extract ofTrichosanthes lobata against paracetamol-induced hepatotoxicity.
Methods:
Hepatotoxicity was induced in Wistar male rats by oral administration, 2 g/kg body weight on7th day after the administration of ethanolic extract of Trichosanthes lobata and silymarin(100 mg/kg). Ethanolic extract of Trichosanthes lobata was administered orally at doses of200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg body weight daily for 7 days. Several serum markers, aspartatetransaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, total protein wasmeasured to assess the effect of the extract on paracetamol (acetaminophen)-induced hepaticdamage. The study included histopathological examination of liver sections.
Results:
Blood samples from rats treated with ethanolic extract of Trichosanthes lobata (200 mg/kgbody weight and 400 mg/kg body weight) had significant reductions in serum markers inparacetamol administered animals, indicating the effect of the extract in restoring the normalfunctional ability of hepatocytes. Silymarin (100 mg/kg, p.o.) was used as a reference drug.
Conclusion:
The ethanolic extract of Trichosanthes lobata exhibits protective effects againstparacetamolinduced hepatotoxicity.
Effects of Coptis extract combined with chemotherapeutic agents on ROS production, multidrug resistance, and cell growth in A549 human lung cancer cellsBackground:
Non-small cell lung cancer is associated with high expression of multidrug resistance (MDR) proteins and low production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Coptis extract (COP), a Chinese medicinal herb, and its major constituent, berberine (BER), have anticancer properties. This study aims to investigate the effects of COP and BER combined with chemotherapeutic agents, including fluorouracil (5-FU), camptothecin (CPT), and paclitaxel (TAX) on cell proliferation, ROS production, and MDR in A549 human non-small cell lung cancer cells.
Methods:
A549 cells were treated with different doses of COP and BER, combined with 5-FU, CPT, and TAX. Cell viability was measured by an XTT (2,3-bis-(2-methoxy-4- nitro-5-sulfophenyl)-2 H-tetrazolium-5-carboxanilide) assay. Intracellular ROS levels were determined by measuring the oxidative conversion of cell permeable 2' ,7' -dichlorofluorescein diacetate to fluorescent dichlorofluorescein. MDR of A549 cells was assessed by rhodamine 123 retention assay.
Results:
Both COP and BER significantly inhibited A549 cell growth in a dose-dependent manner. Combinations of COP or BER with chemotherapeutic agents (5-FU, CPT, and TAX) exhibited a stronger inhibitory effect on A549 cell growth. In addition, COP and BER increased ROS production and reduced MDR in A549 cells.
Conclusion:
As potential adjuvants to chemotherapy for non-small cell lung cancer, COP and BER increase ROS production, reduce MDR, and enhance the inhibitory effects of chemotherapeutic agents on A549 cell growth.
Kaempferol as a flavonoid induces osteoblastic differentiation via estrogen receptor signalingBackground:
Flavonoids, a group of compounds mainly derived from vegetables and herbal medicines, chemically resemble estrogen and some have been used as estrogen substitutes. Kaempferol, a flavonol derived from the rhizome of Kaempferia galanga L., is a well-known phytoestrogen possessing osteogenic effects that is also found in a large number of plant foods.The herb K. galanga is a popular traditional aromatic medicinal plant that is widely used as food spice and in medicinal industries. In the present study, both the estrogenic and osteogenic properties of kaempferol are evaluated.
Methods:
Kaempferol was first evaluated for its estrogenic properties, including its effects on estrogen receptors. The osteogenic properties of kaempferol were further determined its induction effects on specific osteogenic enzymes and genes as well as the mineralization process in cultured rat osteoblasts.
Results:
Kaempferol activated the transcriptional activity of pERE-Luc (3.98 ± 0.31 folds at 50 μM) and induced estrogen receptor α (ERα) phosphorylation in cultured rat osteoblasts, and this ER activation was correlated with induction and associated with osteoblast differentiation biomarkers, including alkaline phosphatase activity and transcription of osteoblastic genes, e.g., type I collagen, osteonectin, osteocalcin, Runx2 and osterix. Kaempferol also promoted the mineralization process of osteoblasts (4.02 ± 0.41 folds at 50 μM). ER mediation of the kaempferol-induced effects was confirmed by pretreatment of the osteoblasts with an ER antagonist, ICI 182,780, which fully blocked the induction effect.
Conclusion:
Our results showed that kaempferol stimulates osteogenic differentiation of cultured osteoblasts by acting through the estrogen receptor signaling.
Inquiry diagnosis of coronary heart disease in Chinese medicine based on symptom-syndrome interactionsBackground:
There is a long history of coronary heart disease (CHD) diagnosis and treatment in Chinese medicine (CM), but a formalized description of CM knowledge is still unavailable. This study aims to analyze a set of CM clinical data, which is important and urgent.
Methods:
Relative associated density (RAD) was used to analyze the one-way links between the symptoms or syndromes or both. RAD results were further used in symptom selection.
Results:
Analysis of a dataset of clinical CHD diagnosis revealed some significant relationships, not only between syndromes but also between symptoms and syndromes. Using RAD to select symptoms based on different classifiers improved the accuracy of syndrome prediction. Compared with other traditional symptom selection methods, RAD provided a higher interpretability of the CM data.
Conclusion:
The RAD method is effective for CM clinical data analysis, particular for analysis of relationships between symptoms in diagnosis and generation of compact and comprehensible symptom feature subsets.
NMR evaluation of total statin content and HMG-CoA reductase inhibition in red yeast rice (Monascus spp.) food supplementsBackground:
Red yeast rice (i.e., rice fermented with Monascus spp.), as a food supplement, is claimed to be blood cholesterol-lowering. The red yeast rice constituent monacolin K, also known as lovastatin, is an inhibitor of the hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA (HMG-CoA) reductase. This article aims to develop a sensitive nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) method to determine the total statin content of red yeast rice products.
Methods:
The total statin content was determined by a 400 MHz 1H NMR spectroscopic method, based on the integration of the multiplet at δ 5.37-5.32 ppm of a hydrogen at the hexahydronaphthalene moiety in comparison to an external calibration with lovastatin. The activity of HMG-CoA reductase was measured by a commercial spectrophotometric assay kit.
Results:
The NMR detection limit for total statins was 6 mg/L (equivalent to 0.3 mg/capsule, if two capsules are dissolved in 50 mL ethanol). The relative standard deviations were consistently lower than 11%. The total statin concentrations of five red yeast rice supplements were between 1.5 and 25.2 mg per specified daily dose. A dose-dependent inhibition of the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme activity by the red yeast rice products was demonstrated.
Conclusion:
A simple and direct NMR assay was developed to determine the total statin content in red yeast rice. The assay can be applied for the determination of statin content for the regulatory control of red yeast rice products.
Immediate effects of acupuncture on biceps brachii muscle function in healthy and post-stroke subjectsBackground:
The effects of acupuncture on muscle function in healthy subjects are contradictory and cannot be extrapolated to post-stroke patients. This study evaluated the immediate effects of manual acupuncture on myoelectric activity and isometric force in healthy and post-stroke patients.
Methods:
A randomized clinical trial, with parallel groups, single-blinded study design, was conducted with 32 healthy subjects and 15 post-stroke patients with chronic hemiparesis. Surface electromyography from biceps brachii during maximal isometric voluntary tests was performed before and after 20-min intermittent, and manual stimulation of acupoints Quchi (LI11) or Tianquan (PC2). Pattern differentiation was performed by an automated method based on logistic regression equations.
Results:
Healthy subjects showed a decrease in the root mean-squared (RMS) values after the stimulation of LI11 (pre: 1.392 +/- 0.826 V; post: 0.612 +/- 0.0.320 V; P = 0.002) and PC2 (pre: 1.494 +/- 0.826 V; post: 0.623 +/- 0.320 V; P = 0.001). Elbow flexion maximal isometric voluntary contraction (MIVC) was not significantly different after acupuncture stimulation of LI11 (pre: 22.2 +/- 10.7 kg; post: 21.7 +/- 9.5 kg; P = 0.288) or PC2 (pre: 18.8 +/- 4.6 kg; post: 18.7 +/- 6.0 kg; P = 0.468). Post-stroke patients did not exhibit any significant decrease in the RMS values after the stimulation of LI11 (pre: 0.627 +/- 0.335 V; post: 0.530 +/- 0.272 V; P = 0.187) and PC2 (pre: 0.601 +/- 0.258 V; post: 0.591 +/- 0.326 V; P = 0.398). Also, no significant decrease in the MIVC value was observed after the stimulation of LI11 (pre: 9.6 +/- 3.9 kg; post: 9.6 +/- 4.7 kg; P = 0.499) or PC2 (pre: 10.7 +/- 5.6 kg; post: 10.2 +/- 5.3 kg; P = 0.251). Different frequency of patterns was observed among healthy subjects and post-stroke patients groups (chi-square = 9.759; P = 0.021).
Conclusion:
Manual acupuncture provides sufficient neuromuscular stimuli to promote immediate changes in motor unit gross recruitment without repercussion in maximal force output in healthy subjects. Post-stroke patients did not exhibit significant reduction on the myoelectric activity and maximal force output after manual acupuncture and needs further evaluation with a larger sample.Trial registrationBrazilian Clinical Trials Registry RBR-5g7xqh
Metabolomic profiles of myocardial ischemia under treatment with salvianolic acid BBackground:
Radix Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen) has been used as a principal herb in treating cardiovascular diseases in Chinese medicine. Salvianolic acid B (SA-B), a water-soluble active component of Danshen, was found to have anti-myocardial ischemia (anti-MI) effect. This study aims to investigate mechanisms of SA-B on MI.
Methods:
Five conventional Western medicines (isosorbide dinitrate, verapamil, propranolol, captopril and trimethazine) with different mechanisms for treating cardiovascular diseases were selected as positive references to compare with SA-B in changing of the metabolomic profiles in MI rats under treatment. Potential mechanisms of SA-B were further investigated in H9C2 cell line.
Results:
The metabolomic profiles between SA-B- and propranolol-treated MI rats were similar, since there was a big overlap between the two groups in the PLS-DA score plot. Finally, it was demonstrated that SA-B exhibited a protective effect on MI mainly by decreasing the concentration of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) and Ca2+ and inhibiting protein kinase A (PKA).
Conclusion:
SA-B and propanolol exhibited similar metabolomic profiles, indicating that the two drugs might have a similar mechanism.
Effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine in treating liver fibrosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trialsBackground:
The studies on the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicines (CHM) in treating liver fibrosis (LF) were not consistent. This study aims to systematically review the effectiveness of CHM on treating LF patients.
Methods:
Databases including MEDLINE, AMED, EMBASE, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, TCMOnline, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, and Chinese Medical Current Contents were searched up to March 2011. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving LF patients receiving CHM, Western medicine, combined CHM and Western medicine compared with placebo, Western medicine or no intervention were included. LF markers including serum hyaluronic acid (HA), laminin (LN), procollagen type III (PC-III), type IV collagen (IV-C), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP), and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMP) were measured as primary outcomes. Liver biochemistry, including alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartarte aminotransferase (AST), and improvement of related clinical symptoms were measured as secondary outcomes. Risk of bias of allocation sequence, allocation concealment, blinding, incomplete outcome data, selective outcome reporting, and other biases were assessed.
Results:
Twenty-three RCTs with 2123 participants were analyzed in subgroups of types of comparison and study quality. Fifteen studies were graded as good quality. CHM alone and combined with Western medicine showed significant improvements in HA, LN, PC-III and IV-C compared with Western medicine alone. However, there were no significant differences observed between CHM and placebo treatments.
Conclusion:
The current inconclusive results in determining the effectiveness of CHM treatment on LF, due to the poor methodological quality and high heterogeneity of the studies, suggests that large RCTs using standardized Chinese medicine syndrome diagnosis and CHM formulae with longer follow-up are required for further evaluation.
Point specificity in acupunctureThe existence of point specificity in acupuncture is controversial, because many acupuncture studies using this principle to select control points have found that sham acupoints have similar effects to those of verum acupoints. Furthermore, the results of pain-related studies based on visual analogue scales have not supported the concept of point specificity. In contrast, hemodynamic, functional magnetic resonance imaging and neurophysiological studies evaluating the responses to stimulation of multiple points on the body surface have shown that point-specific actions are present. This review article focuses on clinical and laboratory studies supporting the existence of point specificity in acupuncture and also addresses studies that do not support this concept. Further research is needed to elucidate the point-specific actions of acupuncture.
The antinociceptive effect of electroacupuncture at different depths of acupoints and under the needling surfaceBackground:
The stimulation of acupoints along the meridians, but not the non-acupoints outside of the meridians, produces analgesia. Although the acupoint is defined at the body surface, the exact location of the acupoints is not known. This study aims to examine whether the intensity and duration of the analgesic effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at the Zusanli (ST36) and Sanynjiao acupoints (SP6) change according to the depth of the stimulation.
Methods:
Ninety-six male Wistar rats classified as responders were arbitrarily allocated into 16 groups of six rats each. Six groups received EA with uninsulated acupuncture needles (type I) or needles that were immersed in varnish and had the varnish circularly peeled 0.2 mm from the tip (type II), 0.2 mm at 3 mm (type III) or 5 mm (type IV) from the tip, or 0.2 mm at 5 and 1 mm from the tip (type V), or EA sham for 20 min. Five groups received injection of formalin into the acupoint bilaterally at 5 mm or 1 mm deep into ST36, 5 mm below ST36 but inserting the needle at 45° to the skin surface, or 5 mm deep into non-acupoints. The remaining groups received intraplantar injection of saline, 1% or 2.5% formalin. The analgesic effects were measured by the rat tail-flick test.
Results:
The bilateral stimulation of ST36 and SP6 by uninsulated or insulated needles produced analgesia in the rat tail-flick test. The stronger and longer lasting effects occurred after EA with the types I and V needles, or injection of formalin 5 mm deep into ST36. The remaining needles produced weaker and shorter lasting effects. Slow analgesic effect also occurred after formalin injection at 1 mm or 5 mm below ST36 by inserting the needle at 45° to the skin surface.
Conclusion:
The experimental results suggest that the efficacy of the EA stimulation depends on the spatial distribution of the current density under the needling surface rather than only the acupoint or the depth of needling.