Traditional Chinese medicine in psychiatry： the fruit-basket-problem

Traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） is gaining popularity in the treatment of psychiatric disorders that can be described and treated from either an Eastern or a Western perspective. In Eastern medicine, the disorders are described according to five diagnostic methods that are used in TCM： inspection, auscultation, olfaction, inquiry, and palpation, including tongue and pulse diagnosis.

Efficacy of acupuncture on cardiovascular complications in patients with diabetes mellitus in Korea:A nationwide retrospective cohort

Objective The main aim of this study is to investigate whether acupuncture could be an effective complementary treatment for reducing the risk of macrovascular complications in diabetic patients currently taking antidiabetic medications using a nationwide population-based database.Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study to assess the efficacy of acupuncture on cardiovascular complications in diabetic patients using data from patients between 40 and 79 years of age,newly diagnosed with diabetes between 2003 and 2006,found in the National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort(NHIS-NSC)in Korea.From the data,we identified 21,232 diabetic patients who were taking antidiabetic medication between 2003 and 2006.The selected patients were divided into two groups-those who received acupuncture at least three times and those who received no acupuncture(non-acupuncture)in the year following their diagnosis of diabetes.After 1:1 propensity score matching(PSM),each group had 3350 patients,and the observation ceased at the occurrence of a major adverse cardiovascular event(MACE),which was defined as either myocardial infarction,stroke,or death due to cardiovascular cause.Results After PSM,the acupuncture group had a lower incidence of MACE(hazard ratio[HR]:0.87;95%confidence interval[CI]:0.81-0.94;P=0.0003)and all-cause mortality(HR:0.77;95%CI:0.70-0.84;P<0.0001)than the non-acupuncture group;the HRs for stroke-related mortality(HR:0.75;95%CI:0.56-1.00;P=0.0485),ischemic heart disease mortality(HR:0.53;95%CI:0.34-0.84;P=0.006)and circulatory system disease mortality(HR:0.67;95%CI:0.55-0.82;P<0.0001)were lower in the acupuncture group than in the non-acupuncture group in the secondary analysis.Conclusion Our results indicate that diabetic patients receiving acupuncture treatment might have a lower risk of MACE,all-cause mortality and cardiovascular mortality.This population-based retrospective study suggests beneficial effects of acupuncture in preventing macrovascular complications associated with diabetes.These findings call for further prospective cohort or experimental studies on acupuncture treatment for cardiovascular complications of diabetes.

Moutan Cortex Radicis inhibits the nigrostriatal damage in a 6-OHDA-induced Parkinson's disease model

The traditionally used oriental herbal medicine Moutan Cortex Radicis [MCR; Paeonia Suffruticosa Andrews(Paeoniaceae)] exerts anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, and analgesic effects. In the present study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of differently fractioned MCR extracts in a 6-hydroxydopamine(OHDA)-induced Parkinson's disease model and neuro-blastoma B65 cells. Ethanol-extracted MCR was fractionated by n-hexane, butanol, and distilled water. Adult Sprague-Dawley rats were treated first with 20 μg of 6-OHDA, followed by three MCR extract fractions(100 or 200 mg·kg^(-1)) for 14 consecutive days. In the behavioral rotation experiment, the MCR extract-treated groups showed significantly decreased number of net turns compared with the 6-OHDA control group. The three fractions also significantly inhibited the reduction in tyrosine hydroxylase-positive cells in the substantia nigra pars compacta following 6-OHDA neurotoxicity. Western blotting analysis revealed significantly reduced tyrosine hydroxylase expression in the substantia nigra pars compacta in the 6-OHDA-treated group, which was significantly inhibited by the n-hexane or distilled water fractions of MCR. B65 cells were exposed to the extract fractions for 24 h prior to addition of 6-OHDA for 30 min; treatment with n-hexane or distilled water fractions of MCR reduced apoptotic cell death induced by 6-OHDA neurotoxicity and inhibited nitric oxide production and neuronal nitric oxide synthase expression. These results showed that n-hexane-and distilled water-fractioned MCR extracts inhibited 6-OHDA-induced neurotoxicity by suppressing nitric oxide production and neuronal nitric oxide synthase activity, suggesting that MCR extracts could serve as a novel candidate treatment for the patients with Parkinson's disease.

The effect of acupuncture on mood and working memory in patients with depression and schizophrenia

BACKGROUND： In patients with depression, as well as in patients with schizophrenia, both mood and working memory performance are often impaired. Both issues can only be addressed and improved with medication to some extent. OBJECTIVE： This study investigates the mood and the working memory performance in patients with depression or schizophrenia and whether acupuncture can improve these. DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS AND INTERVENTIONS： A pragmatic clinical trial design was used The study was conducted in a psychiatric clinic. Fifty patients with depression and 50 with schizophrenia were randomly divided into an experimental and a waiting-list group. Additionally, 25 healthy control participants were included. Twelve weeks of individualized acupuncture treatment was used as the clinical intervention. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES： All patients were tested before （T1） and after （T2） acupuncture treatment on a mood scale （Beck Depression Inventory-II, BDI-II）, a simple working memory task （digit span）, and a complex working memory task （letter-number sequencing）; the healthy controls were tested at T1 only. RESULTS： Patients with depression scored worse than the others on the BDI-II, and patients with schizophrenia scored worse than the healthy controls. On the digit span, patients with schizophrenia did not differ from healthy controls whereas they scored worse of all on the letter-number sequencing. With respect to the acupuncture findings, first, the present study showed that the use of acupuncture to treat patients with schizophrenia was both practical and safe. Moreover, acupuncture had a positive effect on the BDI-II for the depression group, but acupuncture had no effect on the digit span and on the letter- number sequencing performance for the two clinical groups. CONCLUSION： The clinical improvement in patients with depression after acupuncture treatment was not accompanied by any significant change in a simple working memory task or in a more complex working memory task; the same was true for the patients with schizophrenia.

Acupuncture Analgesia in Migraine

There is no curative treatment for migraine, although there does exist various options for pharmacological treatment.Drug treatment withβ-adrenoceptor blockers,calcium antagonists,or other agents has been shown to reduce the frequency of migraine attacks;however,the success of treatment is usually modest.Acupuncture has been increasingly used as adjunctive treatment in primary headache syndromes and there is growing evidences from clinical trials that it might be beneficial in the treatment of migraine,with an effect size comparable to pharmacologic treatment.Despite its popularity,there’s still some controversy as to the difference between the specific and the nonspecific effects of acupuncture.

Long-Term Androgen-Induced Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in a Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Mouse Model is Related to Mitochondrial Dysfunction

Objective:Metabolic disorders are markedly common in women with polycystic ovary syndrome(PCOS),and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)is observed in 30%-55%of all PCOS patients.Many studies have reported that autophagy and apoptosis,which are closely related to mitochondrial function,play important roles in the development of NAFLD.Therefore,in this study,we aimed to explore the role of mitochondrial dysfunction caused by liver apoptosis and autophagy imbalance in the development of NAFLD in a PCOS mouse model.Methods:We used a dihydrotestosterone(DHT)-induced PCOS model to mimic the pathological process of hyperandrogenism.Hematoxylin and eosin and Oil Red O staining assays were used to observe the pathological changes in the liver.Western blotting and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction were used to perform mitochondrion-related assays.Results:Hepatic steatosis and different degrees of inflammation were observed in the DHT-treated mice.The expression of molecules involved in the respiratory chain and aerobic respiration process was altered.The levels of the key molecules associated with apoptosis and autophagy were abnormal.Conclusions:Androgens may play a role in the process of hepatic steatosis development by affecting mitochondrial function and subsequently inducing apoptosis and autophagy.Such phenomena might be involved in the pathogenesis of NAFLD in women with PCOS.