Effects of acrous gramimeus and its main component alpha-asarone on the reactivity and convulsive threshold of immature rats to electric stimulation

BACKGROUND： The traditional Chinese medicine acrous gramimeus is the dry rhizome of Acrous gramimeus Soland, a kind of Araceae familial perennial herb, which has a sedation action, anticonvulsant and antiepileptic effect. Its effective component has not been known yet, and α-asarone, the major component of the volatile oil extracted from acrous gramineus, has been supposed to play a necessary role in it. OBJECTIVE： To explore the effects of acrous gramimeu and α-asarone on the reactivity and convulsive threshold to electric stimulation in immature rats, furthermore, attempt to definitize the anticonvulsant effect of α-asarone. DESIGN： A randomized controlled study.SETTINGS： Department of Pediatrics, First Hospital of Jilin University; Department of Histology and Embryology, School of Basic Medical Sciences of Jilin University; Department of Neurology, First Clinical Hospital affiliated to Harbin Medical University; Department of Internal Medicine, Children＇s Hospital of Changchun City. MATERIALS ： Seventy 3-week immature Wistar rats （either males or females） of 34-40 g were used. Acrous gramimeu （1 g/bag, the content of α-oasarone was 0.046 26%-0.070 16%） with the batch number of 0307113 was provided by Tianjiang Medicine Company Limited, Jiangyin City. α-asarone tablet （60 mg per tablet） with the batch number of 030219 was provided by Tianwei Pharmaceutical Factory, Shenyang City. α-asarone injectable preparation （2 mL per piece） with the batch number of 030105 was provided by Shuanghe Medicine Limited Company, Beijing City. METHODS ： The experiments were carried out in the Neurological Laboratory of the First Hospital of Jilin University between August and October in 2004.① The 70 rats were randomly divided into intragastric subset and intraperitoneal subset. The intragastric subset included four groups of control, phenobarbital sodium, acrous gramimeu and α-asarone; the intraperitoneal subset included three groups of control, phenobarbital sodium and α-asarone. There were 10 rats per group. ② In the intragastric subset, different group was treated with saline （1 mL for each time, phenobarbital sodium （18 mg/kg per day）, acrous gramineu （2 350 mg/kg per day） and α-asarone （29 mg/kg per day） respectively twice every day for 5 days. In the intraperitoneal subset, different group was treated with saline （0.5 mL）, phenobarbital sodium （29 mg/kg） and α-asarone （2.9 mg/kg） respectively. ③ Before and after administration for 5 days in the intragastric subset as well as before and after administration for about 1 hour in the intraperitoneal subset respectively, the rats were given electric stimulation with the NIHOM KOMDEM multifunctional electrophysiological recorder, and the reactivity and convulsive threshold to electric stimulation of the rats were recorded. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： The reactivity and convulsive threshold to electric stimulation in immature rats were compared. RESULTS： All the rats were involved in the analysis of results. ① Results for intragastric administration： Before intragastric administration, there were no obvious differences in the reactivity and convulsive threshold to electric stimulation among the groups （P 〉 0.05）. After intragastric administration for 5 days, the reactivity and convulsive threshold to the electric stimulation had no obvious changes in the control group, but those were significantly higher than before administration in the drug administration groups （t=-3.317-7.401, P 〈 0.01）, which were also obviously higher than those in the control group （t=3.027-8.941, P 〈 0.01）, and those in the acrous gramimeu group and α-asarone group were not markedly different from those in the phenobarbital sodium group. ② Results for intraperitoneal injection： Before intraperitoneal injection, the reactivity and convulsive threshold to the electric stimulation had no obvious differences among the groups. After the intraperitoneal injection for 1 hour, the reactivity and convulsive threshold to the electric stimulation had no obvious change in the control group, but those were significantly higher than before administration in the drug administration groups （P 〈 0.01）, which were also obviously higher than those in the control group （t=6.211-7.237, P 〈 0.01; t=4.085-5.633, P 〈 0.05）, and there was no marked difference between α-asarone group and phenobarbital sodium group （P 〉 0.05）.CONCLUSION ： ① As effective anticonvulsants, both acrous gramineu and α-asarone can enhance the reactivity and convulsive threshold of immature rats to electric stimulation. ② As one of the major effective components against convulsion of acrous gramineu, α-asarone is equivalent to phenobarbital sodium.

Role of transient receptor potential vanilloid subetype 1 in the increase of thermal pain threshold by moxibustion

OBTECTIVE:To explore the role of transient receptor potential vaniiloid subetype 1(TRPV1) in the increase of the thermal pain threshold by moxibustion.METHODS:Forty Kunming mice(20 ± 2) g were randomized into control group,capsaicin group,capsazepine group,moxibustion group and moxibustion + capsazepine(MC) group with 8 mice in each,and 16 C57BL/6 wild-type mice(18 ± 2) g were randomized into wild-type(WT) control group and WT moxibustion group with 8 mice in each,and 14 TRPV1 knockout mice(18 ± 2) g were randomized into knockout(KO) control group and KO moxibustion group with 7 in each.Each mouse in the capsaicin group was subcutaneously injected with the amount of 0.1 mL/10 g into L5 and L6 spinal cords;each mouse in the capsazepine group was intraperitoneally injected with the amount of0.1 mL/10 g.Similarly,each mouse in the moxibustion group was given a suspended moxibustion with specially-made moxa-stick for 20 min on L5 and L6 spinal cords.Each mouse in MC group was intraperitoneally injected with the amount of 0.1 mL/10 g first,then after 15 min was given a suspended moxibustion for 20 min on L5 and L6 spinal cords.Each mouse in WT moxibustion group and KO moxibustion group was given a suspended moxibustion with specially-made moxa-stick for 20 min on L5 and L6 spinal cords.The control group,WT control group and KO control group were of no treatment in any way.After all treatments were completed,the digital-display measurement instrument for thermal pain was used to measure the threshold of thermal pain in each group respectively.RESULTS:Compared with the control group,the thresholds of thermal pain in the moxibustion group and MC group were significantly increased(P <0.01);no significant changes in the thresholds in the capsaicin group and the capsazepine group(P > 0.05);compared with moxibustion group,he threshold of thermal in MC group was obviously decreased(P < 0.01).Compared with WT control group,the threshold of thermal pain in WT moxibustion group was significantly increased(P <0.01);compared with KO control group,no changes in the threshold in KO moxibustion group(P > 0.05).CONCLUSION:TRPV1 participated in the process of increasing the threshold of thermal pain by stimulating L5 and L6 of mice spinal cord with burning mosa-stick.

Feasibility of Atrial AutoCaptureTM to Detect Atrial Evoked Response： Experience from 102 Patients Implanted with Dual-chamber Pacemakers

Background： Atrial AutoCaptureTM （ACapTM） was a new technological development that confirmed atrial capture by analyzing evoked response （ER） with a new method - paced depolarization integral ER detection- and optimized energy output to changes in the stimulation threshold. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical performance ofACapTM function. Methods： This was a prospective, observational, nonrandomized two-center study. Between November 2008 and August 2014, 102 patients were enrolled from two different institutions. Data were collected by case report forms at enrollment, hospital discharge, and in-office follow-ups scheduled at 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 months postimplantation. Results： Ambulatory ACapTM function started to become available for 20.6% of patients at 1 day, then progressed to 30.4% at 7 days, 38.6% at 1 month, 41.6% at 2 months, 47.5% at 3 months, 53.5% at 6 months, and 63.4% at 1 year. The cause of the unsuccessful attempts to perform ACapTM threshold was ER/polarization 〈2：1. Availability for SD, BND, and HOCM indications had shown better results than AVB indication. For SD indication cases, feasibility was significantly better for SD with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation （pAF） than SD without pAF （78.4% vs. 35.0% at 1 year, n = 71, P 〈 0.001）. At each stage of the clinical follow-ups, there had been a strict correlation between ACapTM measurements and those conducted manually with P 〈 0.001 （n = 299）. Conclusions： It has been concluded that ACapTM function was safe and effective to confirm atrial threshold and reduce energy output automatically. ACapTM function is unavailable for some patients at early stages of the implantation; however, availability has been progressively increasing during follow-up.