Haiyan Yin

Local Anesthesia at ST36 to Reveal Responding Brain Areas to deqi

Background. Development of non-deqi control is still a challenge. This study aims to set up a potential approach to non-deqi control by using lidocaine anesthesia at ST36. Methods. Forty healthy volunteers were recruited and they received two fMRI scans. One was accompanied with manual acupuncture at ST36 (DQ group), and another was associated with both local anesthesia and manual acupuncture at the same acupoint (LA group). Results. Comparing to DQ group, more than 90 percent deqi sensations were reduced by local anesthesia in LA group. The mainly activated regions in DQ group were bilateral IFG, S1, primary motor cortex, IPL, thalamus, insula, claustrum, cingulate gyrus, putamen, superior temporal gyrus, and cerebellum. Surprisingly only cerebellum showed significant activation in LA group. Compared to the two groups, bilateral S1, insula, ipsilateral IFG, IPL, claustrum, and contralateral ACC were remarkably activated. Conclusions. Local anesthesia at ST36 is able to block most of the deqi feelings and inhibit brain responses to deqi, which would be developed into a potential approach for non-deqi control. Bilateral S1, insula, ipsilateral IFG, IPL, claustrum, and contralateral ACC might be the key brain regions responding to deqi.

Gene Expression Profiles at Moxibustioned Site (ST36): A Microarray Analysis

As a major alternative therapy in Traditional Chinese Medicine, it has been demonstrated that moxibustion could generate a series of molecular events in blood, spleen, and brain, and so forth. However, what would happen at the moxibustioned site remained unclear. To answer this question, we performed a microarray analysis with skin tissue taken from the moxibustioned site also Zusanli acupoint (ST36) where 15-minute moxibustion stimulation was administrated. The results exhibited 145 upregulated and 72 downregulated genes which responded immediately under physiological conditions, and 255 upregulated and 243 downregulated genes under pathological conditions. Interestingly, most of the pathways and biological processes of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) under pathological conditions get involved in immunity, while those under physiological conditions are involved in metabolism.

Comparison of the efficacy between conventional moxibustion and smoke-free moxibustion on knee osteoarthritis: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundConventional moxibustion is a representative non-drug intervention in traditional Chinese medicine, and it has been reported to produce encouraging results and benefits in relieving symptoms and improving the quality of life for patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in previous clinical trials and systematic reviews. Given that increasing concerns on the safety of generated smoke from conventional moxibustion have received much attention, smoke-free moxibustion is regarded as a potential alternative. However, whether smoke-free moxibustion would display a similar efficacy to that of conventional moxibustion still remains unclear. Therefore, this randomized controlled trial attempts to investigate the difference of efficacy between conventional moxibustion and smoke-free moxibustion in patients with KOA.Methods/designThis is a multicenter, randomized, single-blinded, parallel-group clinical trial. A total of 138 eligible participants with KOA will be randomly allocated to two groups (conventional moxibustion group and smoke-free moxibustion group) in seven hospitals in China. Participants will receive 12 sessions of moxibustion treatment at three acupoints (EX-LE4, ST35, and ST36) over a period of 4 weeks (3 sessions per week). A smoke-removing device is placed at the top of the moxibustion device for the smoke-free moxibustion group (n = 69), while the conventional moxibustion group (n = 69) is treated with traditional moxibustion. The primary outcome measure will be the change of the global scale of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) from the baseline to 4 weeks. Secondary outcomes include the visual analog scale VASand Patient Global Assessment scores. Follow-up measurements will be performed on the 8th and 12th weeks after random allocation.DiscussionThis study will contribute to providing a solid foundation for the selection of moxibustion in clinical application as well as future research in moxibustion therapy.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02772055. Registered on 12 May 2016.

Analgesic Effect of Moxibustion with Different Temperature on Inflammatory and Neuropathic Pain Mice: A Comparative Study

The aim of this study was to determine whether variation of temperature during moxibustion would generate division of analgesic effect. The moxibustion with different temperatures (37°C, 42°C, 47°C, and 52°C) was applied to ST36 acupoint for 30 minutes in chronic inflammatory or neuropathic pain mice. The analgesic effect was evaluated by thermal hyperalgesia test in chronic inflammatory pain and by mechanical allodynia in neuropathic pain, respectively. The results indicated that interventions of moxibustion with different temperature caused different analgesic effect on either chronic inflammatory induced by injection of complete Freunds adjuvant (CFA) or neuropathic pain induced by spared nerve injury (SNI). In chronic inflammatory pain, different moxibustion temperature generated different intensity of analgesic effect: the higher the better. In chronic neuropathic pain, stronger analgesic effect was found in moxibustion with temperature 47°C or 52°C other than 37°C and 42°C. However, there is no significant difference displayed between moxibustion temperatures 47°C and 52°C or 37°C and 42°C. It implies that the temperature should be taken into account for moxibustion treatment to chronic inflammatory or neuropathic pain.

Moxibustion versus diclofenac sodium gel for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: a study protocol for a double-blinded, double-placebo, randomised controlled trial

Introduction Knee osteoarthritis is a common form of arthritis in elderly patients that is characterised by pain and functional limitation. Moxibustion has been employed to relieve chronic pain as an alternative therapy for knee osteoarthritis. However, the evidence of its efficacy is equivocal due to the low methodological quality in most clinical studies. Therefore, we are performing a double-blinded, double-placebo, randomised controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of moxibustion in participants with knee osteoarthritis. Methods and analysis This is a multicentre, double-blinded, double-placebo, randomised controlled clinical trial. 144 eligible participants with knee osteoarthritis will be randomly assigned to two different groups in a 1:1 ratio. Participants in the moxibustion group will undergo active moxibustion plus placebo gel, whereas participants in the control group will receive diclofenac sodium gel plus placebo moxibustion. Each participant will receive 12 sessions of active/placebo moxibustion at three acupoints (ST35, ST36 and EX-LE4) as well as 2 months of follow-up. Diclofenac sodium gel or placebo gel at a dose of 4 g per knee will be applied three times per day for 4 weeks. The primary outcome measure will be the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score change at the end of the intervention period from baseline. The secondary outcome measures include changes of other subscales (pain, stiffness and function) of WOMAC, visual analogue scale and patient globalassessment. The safety of moxibustion and diclofenac sodium gel will be assessed at every visit. Ethics and dissemination This trial has been approved by the Sichuan Regional Ethics Review Committee (permission number: 2015KL-014). The results of this study are expected to provide clinical evidence on the efficacy of moxibustion for pain relief and physical function improvement in patients with knee osteoarthritis. The findings will be submitted for publication in peer-reviewed medical journals and presented at relevant academic conferences. Trial registration number NCT02769572.

Influence of electroacupuncture on COX activity of hippocampal mitochondria in senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 mice

ObjectiveTo observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on cytochrome c oxidase (COX) activity of hippocampal mitochondria in senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice, and to explore the EA mechanism on Alzheimer disease (AD) in improving energy metabolic disorder.MethodsTwelve SAMP8 mice were randomly divided into a model group and an EA group, with six in each group. Six senescence-accelerated mouse resistance 1 (SAMR1) mice were prepared as blank group. Mice in the EA group received EA on Baihui (GV 20) and Yongquan (KI 1), once a day for 7 d as a course, altogether 3 courses with one day interval between two courses. Mice in the model group and the blank group were manipulated and fixed as those in the EA group. After interventions, Morris water maze was employed to test spatial learning and memory ability to evaluate EA effect; spectrophotometry was used to detect the activity of hippocampal mitochondria COX.ResultsCompared with the blank group, mean escape latencies of the EA group and model group were prolonged significantly in Morris water maze tests (P<0.01), the residue duration in the former platform quadrant significantly decreased (P<0.01). Compared with the model group, mean escape latencies on 1 d, 2 d and 3 d of the EA group were significantly reduced (P<0.05), and those on 4 d and 5 d continued the decreasing tendency (P<0.01), the residue duration on the former platform quadrant was significantly prolonged (P<0.05). The COX activity tests showed that, compared with the blank group, COX activities of the model group and the EA group were significantly decreased (P<0.01); compared with the model group, COX activity of the EA group was significantly elevated (P<0.01).ConclusionIt’s plausible that EA improves AD learning and memory ability by increasing mitochondria COX activity, protecting the structure and function, and improving energy metabolism.

Moxibustion therapy on diabetic peripheral neuropathy in rats for the peripheral neuroprotection

Objective To study the mechanism of moxibustion therapy on diabetic peripheral neuropathy for the peripheral neuroprotection.