Biography
Ye Zhao has completed his PhD at the age of 33 years from Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese medicine and two postdoctoral studies from China Academy of Chinese Medical Science and University of Florida. He is the director of R&D Department of Hangzhou DeBuYou Inc., a premier Integrative Medicine company. He has published more than 20 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member and peer reviewer of repute.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed at evaluating the clinical efficacy and safety of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) to treat muscle spasticity after brain injury (Chinese Clinical Trial Registry: ChiCTR-TRC-11001310). METHODS: A total of 60 patients with muscle spasticity after brain injury were randomized to the following 3 groups: 100, 2, and 0 Hz (sham) TEAS. The acupoints Hegu (LI4) --Yuji (LU10) and Zusanli (ST36) --Chengshan (BL57) on the injured side were stimulated at 0, 2, or 100 Hz, 5 times per week for 4 weeks. The patients were followed up for 1 and 2 months after the treatments. The effects of the treatments on muscle spasticity at the wrist, thumb, the other 4 fingers, elbow, shoulder, knee, and ankle were evaluated by the Modified Ashworth Scale, and the effects on disability were assessed by the Disability Assessment Scale. The walking capability was evaluated by the Holden functional ambulation classification score. The overall performance was assessed by the Global Assessment Scale score and the improved Barthel Index. The safety of the treatments administered was also monitored. RESULTS: The wrist spasticity was significantly reduced from baseline at weeks 2, 3, and 4 of treatment and at the 1- and 2-month follow-up visits in the 100 Hz group (P < 0.01). Compared with 2 Hz or sham TEAS, 100 Hz TEAS decreased wrist spasticity at weeks 2, 3, and 4 of treatment and 1 month after treatment (P < 0.001). The other endpoints were not affected by the treatments. No treatment-emergent adverse events were reported during treatments and follow-up visits. CONCLUSIONS: TEAS appears to be a safe and effective therapy to relieve muscle spasticity after brain injury, although large-scale studies are required to further verify the findings.
Biography
Ting Han has completed her PhD at the age of 28 years from Second Military Medical University and visiting scholar studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is the vice director of Department of Pharmacognosy. She has published more than 48 papers in reputed journals.
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory polyarthritis which can result in irreversible damage to the joints. Litsea cubeba has been used as a folk prescription in Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat rheumatic diseases. This study was aimed to evaluate the anti-arthritic effect of 9,9'-di-O-(E)-feruloyl-meso-5,5'-dimethoxy secoisolariciresinol (LCA), a dibenzylbutane lignan in the root of Litsea cubeba and its synthetic analogue(LCA1) which has not been published before, and to explore the underlying mechanism. The in vitro anti-arthritic effect was tested in TNF-α-stimulated fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLSs) by measuring the cell proliferation and the expression of inflammatory factors with MTT assay, Flow cytometry and ELISA. Then, western blotting (WB) was used to investigate the mechanism of them. In addition, a carrageenan-induced air pouch model in mice was built to further investigate the anti-arthritic effect of the dibenzylbutane lignans in vivo. The results showed that both LCA and LCA1 efficiently suppressed inflammatory factors and promoted FLSs apoptosis by controlling the activation of the MEK-ERK signalling pathway. The symptoms of inflammation were as well as attenuated in mice treated with LCA and LCA1. In Conclusion, our results suggest that LCA and LCA1 containing a dibenzylbutane skeleton may have therapeutic benefits in RA through regulating the activation of the MEK/ERK pathway.