The American journal of Chinese medicine
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Meta Analysis Comparative Study
Analgesic effect of manual acupuncture and laser acupuncture for lateral epicondylalgia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Lateral epicondylalgia is a common orthopedic disorder. In traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture is often used for treating lateral epicondylalgia. Laser acupuncture, compared with manual acupuncture, has more advantages because it is painless, aseptic and safe. ⋯ Manual acupuncture is effective in short-term pain relief for the treatment of lateral epicondylalgia; however, its long-term analgesic effect is unremarkable. A suitable acupuncture point and depth can be used to treat lateral epicondylalgia. Manual acupuncture applied on lateral epicondylalgia produced stronger evidence of an analgesic effect than did laser acupuncture, and further study on the analgesic effect of laser acupuncture is required.
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Astragaloside (AST) is traditionally prescribed for the prevention and treatment of cerebrovascular diseases. We directly tested the therapeutic effects of AST in a rat model of traumatic brain injury (TBI). ⋯ TBI-induced microglial activation evidenced by the morphological transformation of microglia (or ameboid microglia) and the microglial overexpression of tumor necrosis factor-alpha was reduced by AST. Our results indicate that AST may protect against brain contusion and neuronal apoptosis after TBI by attenuating microglia activation in male rats.
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Review Meta Analysis
Ginkgo biloba on focal cerebral ischemia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Gingko biloba extract (EGB) has been used in traditional medicines for centuries, and although its application to cerebral ischemia has been of great interest in recent years, high quality evidence-based clinical trials have not been carried out. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to examine the neuroprotective effect of EGB on focal cerebral ischemia in animal models. A systematic literature search was performed using five databases spanning January 1980-July 2013. ⋯ Mechanisms of EGB neuroprotection were reported as anti-apoptotic, anti-oxidative, and anti-inflammatory. In conclusion, EGB exerts a significant protective effect on experimental focal cerebral ischemia. However, possible experimental bias should be taken into account in future clinical studies.
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Meta Analysis
Systematic review of traditional chinese medicine for depression in Parkinson's disease.
Depression is the most common non-motor symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD). Recent clinical trials have evaluated the effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in the treatment of depression in PD (dPD). However, the results are conflicting rather than conclusive. ⋯ Finally, a total of 10 studies involving 582 patients were identified. The pooled results revealed that TCM combined with conventional drugs significantly improved the total scores of the unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (WMD = -7.35, 95% CI: -11.24 to -3.47) and the score of the Hamilton rating scale for depression (HAM-D) (WMD = -4.19, 95% CI: -5.14 to -3.24) compared with conventional drug, respectively. Conclusively, there is evidence that TCM may be beneficial to the treatment of dPD in spite of the methodological weakness of the included studies.
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Ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation contributes to skin photoaging. Baicalin, a plant-derived flavonoid, effectively absorbs UV rays and has been shown to have anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that may delay the photoaging process. In the current study, cultured human skin fibroblasts were incubated with 50 μg/ml baicalin 24 hours prior to 10 J/cm(2) UVA irradiation. ⋯ UVA radiation caused an increased proportion of β-Gal positive cells and reduced telomere length in human skin fibroblasts. In addition, UVA radiation inhibited TGF-β1 secretion, induced G1 phase arrest, reduced SOD and GSH-Px levels, increased MDA levels, enhanced the expression of MMP-1, TIMP-1, p66, p53, and p16 mRNA, reduced c-myc mRNA expression, elevated p53 and p16 protein expression, and reduced c-myc protein expression. Baicalin treatment effectively protected human fibroblasts from these UVA radiation-induced aging responses, suggesting that the underlying mechanism involves the inhibition of oxidative damage and regulation of the expression of senescence-related genes, including those encoding for p53, p66(Shc) and p16.