Ethnobotany, Pharmacology and Chemistry of Medicinal Orchids from Veracruz

Orchidaceae is a large family of 1,260 species in Mexico, of which 433 grow in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. Although economically important in horticulture because of the beauty of their flowers, researches have done little work regarding their medicinal properties. This paper aimed to present the results of ethnobotanical, pharmacological and active compounds research on Veracruz medicinal orchids. The ethnobotanical information was obtained by consulting the Atlas of the Mexican Traditional Medicine Plants, Veracruz Medicinal Flora Database （CITRO-UV project） and through field work in the Nahuatl community of Cuautlajapa, Veracruz. To obtain pharmacological and active compounds information of registered species, a search was carded out through MEDLINE （USA National Library of Medicine Journal Citation database）. Twelve medicinal orchids were recorded for Veracruz, i.e., Epidendrum chlorocorymbos Schltr., Habenaria floribunda Lindl., Isochillus latibracteatus A. Rich. ＆ Galeotti, lsochillus major Schltdl. ＆ Cham., Mormodes maculata var. unicolor （Hook.） L. O. Williams, Oestlundia luteorosea （A. Rich. ＆ Galeotti） W. E. Higgins, Oncidium ascendens Lindl., Scaphyglottis fasciculata Hook., Sobralia macrantha Lindl., Spiranthes eriophora （Rob. ＆ Greenm.）, Stanhopea oculata （G. Lodd.） Lindl. and Vanilla planifolia Andrews. Only two species have been investigated in terms of their pharmacology and active compounds. Also, information for another five species closely related to already identified ones was obtained. Given the relative poverty of current information on the topic, this paper demonstrates the need to further study the ethnobotanical, pharmacological and chemical aspects of the region＇s medicinal orchids.

Analysis of clinical application patterns in acupuncture-moxibustion treatment of Alzheimer disease

Objective:To summarize the clinical application patterns in acupuncture-moxibustion treatment of AD by reviewing the clinical literatures on acupuncture-moxibustion for Alzheimer disease(AD)published between January 2009 and December 2019.Methods:China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI),Wanfang Academic Journal Full-text Database(Wanfang),Chongqing VIP Database(CQVIP),Chinese Medicine Acupuncture-moxibustion Information Database,PubMed Medical Data Retrieval Service System,Springer Database and Ovid Technologies(OVID)were retrieved to screen clinical studies of acupuncture-moxibustion treatment of AD according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria to conduct quantitative,clustering and association analyses.Results:In acupuncture-moxibustion treatment of AD,the frequently used points were Baihui(GV 20),Zusanli(ST 36),Sishencong(EX-HN 1),Taixi(KI 3),Sanyinjiao(SP 6),and Neiguan(PC 6)in the descending order.Regarding meridians,the most frequently used one was the Governor Vessel,followed by the Stomach Meridian of Foot Yangming and Gallbladder Meridian of Foot Shaoyang.From the perspective of body regions,the points in the head-face region and the lower-limb region had the highest frequencies,followed by the upper-limb,back and chest-abdomen regions.The point group,Baihui(GV 20)and Sishencong(EX-HN 1)-Neiguan(PC 6)-Sanyinjiao(SP 6),showed the most significant association,and the group winning the second place was Baihui(GV 20)and Sishencong(EX-HN 1)-Neiguan(PC 6)-Zusanli(ST 36).The clustering analysis showed that the commonly used point pairs included Zusanli(ST 36)-Sishencong(EX-HN 1)and Taixi(KI 3)-Sanyinjiao(SP 6),which were closely associated with Baihui(GV 20).By analyzing the three commonly used acupuncture-moxibustion methods,acupuncture plus medication was found achieving the best result in the total effective rate and mini-mental state examination(MMSE)score,followed by monotherapy of electroacupuncture therapy,and these two methods were superior to acupuncture alone(P<0.05);the scores of MMSE,Alzheimer disease assessment scale-cognitive section(ADAS-cog)and activity of daily living scale(ADL)showed significant improvements after treatment(all P<0.01).Conclusion:In the acupuncture-moxibustion prescriptions for AD,the main points are Baihui(GV 20),Sishencong(EX-HN 1),Neiguan(PC 6),Zusanli(ST 36),Sanyinjiao(SP 6)and Taixi(KI 3).Monotherapy of acupuncture has the highest frequency amongst the treatment methods,but its effective rate is lower than that of acupuncture plus medication and monotherapy of electroacupuncture.

Bibliometric Analysis of Diseases Spectrum of Moxibustion Therapy

Objective： To make a bibliometric analysis and evaluation of acupuncture-moxibustion papers on moxibustion therapy published from 1954 to 2007, thus to reflect the diseases spectrum of moxibustion therapy and proper indications of moxibustion therapy objectively. Methods： Statistics were taken by a bibliometric analysis of the data from China Modern Acupuncture-moxibustion Information Databank. Results and Conclusion： The diseases spectrum of moxibustion therapy has 364 kinds of diseases. The most proper indications of moxibustion therapy are malposition, diarrhea, and colitis. The common proper indications are urinary incontinence and dysmenorrhea. The next common proper indications are knee osteoarthritis, temporomandibular joint disturbance syndrome, soft tissue injury, heel pain, asthma, urinary retention and herpes zoster. Diseases spectrum of moxibustion therapy varies with time.