Hi Joon Park

Acupuncture inhibits microglial activation and inflammatory events in the MPTP-induced mouse model

Using a mouse model of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-induced Parkinsons disease (PD), this study investigated on the neuroprotective effects of acupuncture by examining whether acupuncture contributed to inhibiting microglial activation and inflammatory events. C57BL/6 mice were treated with MPTP (30 mg/kg, i.p.) for 5 consecutive days. Acupuncture was then applied to acupoints Yanglingquan (GB34) and Taichong (LR3) starting 2 h after the first MPTP administration and then at 48 h intervals until the mice were sacrificed for analyses at 1, 3, and 7 days after the last MPTP injection. These experiments demonstrated that acupuncture inhibited the decreased of the tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactivity (IR) and generated a neuroprotective effects in the striatum (ST) and the substantia nigra (SN) on days 1, 3, and 7 post-MPTP injections. Acupuncture attenuated the increase of macrophage antigen complex-1 (MAC-1), a marker of microglial activation, at 1 and 3 days and reduced the increases in cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression on days 1, 3, and 7. In MPTP group, striatal dopamine (DA) was measured by 46% at 7 days, whereas DA in the acupuncture group was 78%. On the basis of these results, we suggest that acupuncture could be used as a neuroprotective intervention for the purpose of inhibiting microglial activation and inflammatory events in PD.

Anti-inflammatory, anti-nociceptive, and anti-psychiatric effects by the rhizomes of Alpinia officinarum on complete Freund's adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Alpinia officinarum Hance (Zingiberaceae) is an annual plant. Its rhizome has long been used as an anti-inflammatory, an analgesic, a stomachic and a carminative in traditional medicine. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to test the anti-inflammatory effects of Alpinia officinarum rhizomes on acute and chronic arthritis in SD rats. METHODS Alpinia officinarum rhizomes were extracted by refluxing using 80% ethanol. The fractions were prepared by the fractionation of ethyl acetate (EtOAc), n-butanol, and water. This extract was administrated to rats by peroral injection. Acute arthritis was induced by a subcutaneous injection of carrageenan into the hind paw of SD rats. Chronic arthritis was stimulated by a subcutaneous injection of complete Freunds adjuvant (CFA) into the hind paw of SD rats. The paw volume was measured using a plethysmometer, thermal hyperalgesia was tested using a thermal plantar tester, hyperalgesia was evaluated by ankle flexion evoked vocalizations, and the expression of c-Fos in the brain hippocampus was measured with the avidin-biotin-peroxidase technique. Nitric oxide (NO) production was evaluated on nitrite by a Griess assay in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells. RESULTS An 80% ethanolic extract showed acute anti-inflammatory activity that it reduced the edema volume in carrageenan-stimulated arthritis and inhibited NO generation in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. In addition, this extract showed chronic anti-rheumatic and analgesic activities by suppressing the swelling volume, by recovering the paw withdrawal latency, and by inhibiting the flexion scores in CFA-induced arthritis. Particularly, this medicine had potent meaningful effects on the second signal of the left hind paw in the form of an immunological reaction compared to its effects on the first signal in the right hind paw after the CFA treatment. This also shows an anti-psychiatric effect through control of the expression of the c-Fos protein of the brain hippocampus in CFA-stimulated arthritis. On the other hand, each fraction showed acute anti-inflammatory effects; the action of the EtOAc fraction may have resulted from the suppression of NO production. CONCLUSIONS Alpinia officinarum rhizomes may be viable therapeutic or preventive candidates for the treatment of acute and chronic arthritis.

Decreased Peripheral and Central Responses to Acupuncture Stimulation following Modification of Body Ownership

Acupuncture stimulation increases local blood flow around the site of stimulation and induces signal changes in brain regions related to the body matrix. The rubber hand illusion (RHI) is an experimental paradigm that manipulates important aspects of bodily self-awareness. The present study aimed to investigate how modifications of body ownership using the RHI affect local blood flow and cerebral responses during acupuncture needle stimulation. During the RHI, acupuncture needle stimulation was applied to the real left hand while measuring blood microcirculation with a LASER Doppler imager (Experiment 1, N = 28) and concurrent brain signal changes using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI; Experiment 2, N = 17). When the body ownership of participants was altered by the RHI, acupuncture stimulation resulted in a significantly lower increase in local blood flow (Experiment 1), and significantly less brain activation was detected in the right insula (Experiment 2). This study found changes in both local blood flow and brain responses during acupuncture needle stimulation following modification of body ownership. These findings suggest that physiological responses during acupuncture stimulation can be influenced by the modification of body ownership.

Acupuncture for Lowering Blood Pressure: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

BACKGROUND We conducted a systematic review to estimate the effect of acupuncture on blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive patients. METHODS Electronic literature searches for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of acupuncture were performed in six electronic databases to June 2007 without language restrictions. RESULTS Eleven RCTs testing acupuncture either as an adjunct or an alternative met our inclusion criteria and they showed a wide variety of methodological quality, mainly due to poor reporting. Three sham-controlled trials out of 11 studies were statistically pooled: systolic BP (SBP) change was not statistically significant (mean difference -5 mm Hg, 95% CI (-12, 1), P = 0.12) and acupuncture only marginally reduced diastolic BP (DBP) by 3 mm Hg (95% CI (-6, 0), P = 0.05), but substantial heterogeneity was observed (I(2) = 92% for SBP, I(2) = 79% for DBP). When given with antihypertensive medication, acupuncture significantly reduced SBP (-8 mm Hg, 95% CI (-10, -5), P < 0.00001) and DBP (-4 mm Hg, 95% CI (-6, -2), P < 0.0001) and no heterogeneity between studies was detected. Four studies that investigated acupuncture against antihypertensive medication indicated noninferiority of acupuncture in lowering BP, albeit the quality of them was poor, and their sample sizes were not satisfactory as an equivalence study. Other studies comparing acupuncture with various control procedures had inconsistent findings and most of them were of low methodological quality. CONCLUSIONS Considering the limitation of the four positive noninferiority studies and the results of the meta-analysis of the three sham-controlled studies, the notion that acupuncture may lower high BP is inconclusive. More rigorous trials are warranted.

Protective effect of topiramate on kainic acid–induced cell death in mice hippocampus

The protective effect of topiramate (TPM) on seizure‐induced neuronal injury is well known; however, its molecular basis has yet to be elucidated. We investigated the effect and signaling mediators of TPM on seizure‐induced hippocampal cell death in kainic acid (KA)‐treated ICR mice. KA‐induced hippocampal cell death was identified by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase–mediated dUTP nick end labeling. Immunoreactivity (IR) of p‐Erk, p‐Jnk, p‐P38, and caspase‐3, and caspase‐3 activity were observed in the hippocampal region 3 h after KA (0.1 μg/5 μL, i.c.v.) administration, and/or TPM (100 mg/kg, i.p.) pretreatment. TPM attenuated seizure‐induced neuronal cell death and reduced KA‐induced p‐Erk IR in the CA3 region of the hippocampus, but did not affect p‐Jnk and p‐P38. In addition, TPM reduced caspase‐3 IR and activation by KA. KA‐induced seizures were also suppressed by TPM pretreatment. TPM inhibits seizures, and decreases Erk phosphorylation and caspase‐3 activation by KA, thereby contributing to protection from neuronal injury.

Acupuncture application for neurological disorders

Abstract Background: Acupuncture has been widely used for a range of neurological disorders. Despite its popularity, the evidence to support the use of acupuncture is contradictory. Methods: This review was designed to summarize and to evaluate the available evidence of acupuncture for neurological disorders. Results: Most of the reviewed studies suffer from lack of methodological rigor. Owing to paucity and poor quality of the primary studies, no firm conclusion could be drawn on the use of acupuncture for epilepsy, Alzheimers disease, Parkinsons disease, ataxic disorders, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal cord injury. For stroke rehabilitation, the evidence from recent high-quality trials and previous systematic reviews is not convincing. Conclusion: More rigorous trials are warranted to establish acupunctures role in neurological disorders.

Effect of Acupuncture on Hypothalamic–Pituitary–Adrenal System in Maternal Separation Rats

The maternal separation (MS) animal model has been widely used to study early life stress and several psychiatric conditions such as depression and anxiety. In this study, we investigated the effect of acupuncture on anxiety-related behaviors and hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) system in MS-induced early life stress of Sprague–Dawley rat pups (14–21 postnatal days). For determining anxiety-related behaviors, the elevated plus-maze test was performed. The effects of acupuncture on the activation of stress were measured by assessing plasma levels of corticosterone (CORT) and adrenocorticotropin hormone (ACTH). The hypothalamic immunoreactivity (IR) of arginine vasopressin (AVP) was also examined. Acupuncture was conducted at acupoint HT7, which is used to treat mental disorders in Oriental medicine, for seven consecutive days. Acupuncture significantly decreased the frequencies of open arm entries and the amount of time spent in the open arms in MS rats. In addition, acupuncture reduced CORT and ACTH levels in plasma of MS rats, and AVP-IR in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus of MS rats. In conclusion, acupuncture reduced anxiety-related behaviors and modulated the HPA system. These findings suggest that acupuncture at HT7 may be useful as a therapeutic treatment in MS-induced early life stress.

Modifying Bodily Self-Awareness during Acupuncture Needle Stimulation Using the Rubber Hand Illusion

Background. The rubber hand illusion (RHI) is an experimental paradigm that manipulates important aspects of body self-awareness. Objectives. We were interested in whether modifying bodily self-awareness by manipulation of body ownership and visual expectations using the RHI would change the subjective perception of pain as well as the autonomic response to acupuncture needle stimulation. Methods. Acupuncture needle stimulation was applied to the real hand during the RHI with (experiment 1) or without (experiment 2) visual expectation while measuring concurrent autonomic changes such as the skin conductance response (SCR). Subjective responses such as perception of the RHI and perceived pain were measured by questionnaires. Results. In experiment 1, the amplitude of the increase in SCR was visibly higher during the synchronous session compared with that of the asynchronous session. In experiment 2, the amplitude of the increase of SCR was lower for the synchronous session compared with that for the asynchronous session. Comparing these two experiments, the visual expectation of needle stimulation produced a greater autonomic response to acupuncture stimulation. Conclusions. Our findings suggest that the sympathetic response to acupuncture needle stimulation is primarily influenced by visual expectation rather than by modifications of body ownership.

Combined treatment with acupuncture reduces effective dose and alleviates adverse effect of L-dopa by normalizing Parkinson's disease-induced neurochemical imbalance.

This study first showed the behavioural benefits of novel combination therapy of L-dopa with acupuncture on Parkinsons disease, and its underlying mechanisms within basal ganglia. The previous study reported that acupuncture may improve the motor function of a Parkinsons disease (PD) mouse model by increasing the dopamine efflux and turnover ratio of dopamine. Hence, we hypothesised that combining L-dopa with acupuncture would have a behavioural benefit for those with PD. We performed unilateral injections of 6-OHDA into the striatum of C57Bl/6 mice to model hemi-Parkinsonian attributes. To test motor function and dyskinetic anomalies, we examined cylinder behaviour and abnormal involuntary movement (AIM), respectively. We found that (1) a 50% reduced dose of L-dopa (7.5 mg/kg) combined with acupuncture showed an improvement in motor function that was comparable to mice given the standard dose of L-dopa treatment (15 mg/kg) only, and that (2) the combination treatment (L-dopa +acupuncture) was significantly superior in reducing AIM scores when equivalent doses of L-dopa were used. The combination treatment also significantly reduces the abnormal increase of GABA contents in the substantia nigra compared to the standard L-dopa treatment. Furthermore, abnormal expression of FosB, the immediate early gene of L-dopa induced dyskinesia (LID), was mitigated in the striatum by the combination treatment. All of these results indicate that acupuncture enhances the benefits of L-dopa on motor function with reduced dose of L-dopa and alleviating LID by normalising neurochemical imbalance within the basal ganglia.

What's in a name? A systematic review of the nomenclature of Chinese medical formulae.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has been modified to some extent in other Far Eastern countries such as Korea and Japan. Researchers of each of the three countries seem to use different English names for the same Chinese medicinal formulae. Lack of knowledge of the Chinese characters is destined to increase this confusion. In order to investigate this matter systematically, all investigations of Chinese medicine formulae published in the American Journal of Chinese Medicine (AJCM, 1997-March 2001) were evaluated. Moreover, PubMed (1966-June 2001) was searched using keywords differentiated by language, location and number of hyphens, and upper-or lower-case of the first letter of the English equivalent of each Chinese character. Fifty-four formulae of TCM were identified in 45 reports published in AJCM. Thirty-two were named in Chinese only (23 reports); six in Japanese (six reports); and five in Korean (five reports). Ten formulae were named in Japanese with the Chinese name in brackets (ten reports); and one in Chinese with the Japanese name in brackets (one report). By computerized literature search, different numbers of research papers were retrieved by using keywords differentiated by language, location and number of hyphens. Such confusion may prevent progress in the evaluation of TCM. To increase the efficiency of studies on Chinese medical formulae, standardization of terminology is required.