The American journal of Chinese medicine
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The outbreak caused by COVID-19 is causing a major challenge to clinical management and a worldwide threat to public health. So far, there is no specific anti-coronavirus therapy approved for the treatment of COVID-19. Recently, as the efficacy and safety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely acknowledged, it has been brought to a crucial status by the public, governments, and World Health Organization (WHO). ⋯ Therefore, on the basis of epidemiology and virology information, we reviewed relevant meta-analysis and clinical studies of anti-coronavirus therapeutics by TCM, in the aspect of mortality, symptom improvement, duration and dosage of corticosteroid, incidence of complications and the like. In addition, we also summarized preclinical rationale for anti-coronavirus activity by TCM in terms of virion assembly and release, as well as viral entry and replication, which could be a useful contribution for figuring out effective Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) for coronavirus, including ingredients from single monomeric compounds, Chinese herbs, Chinese herb extracts and Chinese herb formulas, or potential targets for medicine. We would like to see these relevant studies, ranging from basic researches to clinical application, could provide some idea on effects of CHM to combat COVID-19 or other coronaviruses, and also offer new thinking for the exploration of therapeutic strategies under the guidance of TCM.
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Acupuncture reduces pain by activating specific areas called acupoints on the patient's body. When these acupoints are fully activated, sensations of soreness, numbness, fullness, or heaviness called De qi or Te qi are felt by clinicians and patients. There are two kinds of acupuncture, manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture (EA). ⋯ The descending pain modulation system in the brain, including the anterior cingulated cortex, the periaqueductal gray, and the rostral ventromedial medulla, plays an important role in EA analgesia. Multiple transmitters and modulators, including endogenous opioids, cholecystokinin octapeptide, 5-hydroxytryptamine, glutamate, noradrenalin, dopamine, [Formula: see text]-aminobutyric acid, acetylcholine, and orexin A, are involved in acupuncture analgesia. Finally, the "Acupuncture [Formula: see text]" strategy is introduced to help clinicians achieve better analgesic effects, and a newly reported acupuncture method called acupoint catgut embedding, which injects sutures made of absorbable materials at acupoints to achieve long-term effects, is discussed.
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Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a catastrophic disease associated with damaged neurological structures and has become a significant social and economic burden for the health care system and patients' families. The use of Chinese Herbal Medicine (CHM) to treat SCI has been increasing in recent years. This meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effectiveness of CHM for patients with SCI. ⋯ The methodological quality of the most included RCTs was poor and the quality of evidence for the main outcomes was from very low to moderate according to the GRADE system. Current evidence suggests that CHM is an effective and safe treatment for SCI and could be treated as a complementary and alternative option with few side effects. However, considering the low quality, small size, and high risk of the studies identified in this meta-analysis, higher methodological quality, rigorously designed RCTs with large sample sizes are needed to confirm the results.
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Meta Analysis
Benefits of Herbal Medicine on Bone Mineral Density in Osteoporosis: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.
Bone mineral density (BMD) has been validated not only for the diagnosis of osteoporosis but also for prediction of the risk of osteoporosis-related fractures. The purpose of this paper was to investigate the overall benefits of herbal medicines on BMD using a meta-analytic method. Systematic searches in PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Central, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were performed for eligible studies. ⋯ In addition, the most prescribed medicine among the effective herbs in the pooled studies was found to be Epimedium brevicornum Maxim. This paper provides evidence that herbal medicine interventions increase BMD more than conventional treatments in individuals with osteoporosis, especially postmenopausal women. The results of this study suggest that herbal medicines are effective for increasing BMD in individuals with osteoporosis.
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Autophagy is a process of active programmed cell death, where a dying cell induces autophagosomes and subsequently regulated by degradative machinery. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism behind induction of autophagic cell death by Naringin flavonoid in AGS cancer cells. Growth inhibition of AGS cells showed downregulation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling by Naringin treatment. ⋯ It has also been elucidated that pre-treatment with NAC inhibited mitochondria-LC3B colocalization, where ROS acted as upstream of ERK1/2-p38 MAPKs activation. Lysosomal cell death involvement has been evaluated by BAF A1 pre-treatment, inhibiting LAMP1, Cathepsin D, ROS, and blocking autophagolysosome in AGS cell death. Taken together, these findings show that, Naringin induced autophagy cell death involves LMP mediated lysosomal damage and BH3 protein Bad activation in AGS cancer cells.