New Methods to Study Gustatory Coding

The sense of taste allows animals to detect chemicals in the environment, giving rise to behaviors critical for survival. When Gustatory Receptor Neurons ...

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

To observe the effect of Aconite cake-separated moxibustion on primary knee osteoarthritis of liver and kidney deficiency type.

[Clinical observation on treatment of primary knee osteoarthritis of liver and kidney deficiency type with Aconite cake-separated moxibustion].

To investigate and research the appraisal scores of the symptoms and physical signs index for the evaluation of the clinical efficacy of acupuncture and manipulative regulation of knee muscle balance for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis, and provide clinical basis for the treatment.

[Clinical study on the treatment of knee osteoarthritis by acupuncture plus manipulative regulation of knee muscle].

The clinical effects of coronary heart disease unstable angina treated by Danhong injection as well as its influence on Hcy (Homoeystein), Hs-CRP (High sensitivity C-reactive protein) and NT(-pro)BNP (N-Terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide) were observed. 72 cases of hospitalized patients in Gaomi city people's hospital cardiology department confirmed to the standard of coronary heart disease unstable angina were selected, and were divided randomly into experimental group (red) and the control group with 36 cases in each group. Based on conventional western medicine treatment, experimental group combined with Danhong injection 20 ml; while the control group with blood producing needle 400 mg. After two weeks treatment, symptoms were observed before and after treatment.Hcy (Homoeystein), Hs-CRP (High sensitivity C-reactive protein) and NT(-pro)BNP (N-Terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide) of two groups were lowered before and after treatment, there was statistical difference (P<0.05). The comparison of Hs-CRP (High sensitivity C-reactive protein), NT(-pro)BNP (N-Terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide) between two groups after treatment was statistically different, experimental group was better than that of control group, (P<0.05).Danhong injection is traditional Chinese medicine preparations to treat coronary heart disease unstable angina for its curative effect affirmation and good safety, and its improvement onHcy (Homoeystein), Hs-CRP (High sensitivity C-reactive protein), NT(-pro)BNP (N-Terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide) and other laboratory index and is worthy of clinical use and further study.

The index and improvement effect of using Danhong injection to patients with atherosclerosis symptoms of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Acupuncture is a potential strategy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the possible mechanisms worth to be explored. In this study, we proposed and tested the hypothesis that whether Notch signaling pathway is involved in the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) treatment. Rats that received EA treatment on the acupoints of Baihui (Du 20) and Shenshu (BL 23) had shorter latency and remained in the original platform quadrant longer and crossed the former platform contained quadrant more frequently compared to the Aβ injection rats without EA treatment. EA obviously alleviated the cell apoptosis resulted by Aβ infusion in hippocampus CA1 regions through upregulating the expression of Bcl-2 and downregulating the expression of Bax. EA could further obviously promote the expression of synapsin-1 and synaptophysin in hippocampus. Aβ injection significantly increased the expression of Notch1, Jag1, and Hes1 mRNA, while EA treatment downregulated the level of Notch1 and Hes1 mRNA in hippocampus, but not Jag1 mRNA. Our data suggested that EA treatment improved learning and memory function in the AD rat model partially through downregulating Notch signaling pathway.

Electroacupuncture Suppressed Neuronal Apoptosis and Improved Cognitive Impairment in the AD Model Rats Possibly via Downregulation of Notch Signaling Pathway.

Four of the five major sensory systems (vision, olfaction, somatosensation, and audition) are thought to use different but partially overlapping sets of neurons to form unique representations of vast numbers of stimuli. The only exception is gustation, which is thought to represent only small numbers of basic taste categories. However, using new methods for delivering tastant chemicals and making electrophysiological recordings from the tractable gustatory system of the moth Manduca sexta, we found chemical-specific information is as follows: (1) initially encoded in the population of gustatory receptor neurons as broadly distributed spatiotemporal patterns of activity; (2) dramatically integrated and temporally transformed as it propagates to monosynaptically connected second-order neurons; and (3) observed in tastant-specific behavior. Our results are consistent with an emerging view of the gustatory system: rather than constructing basic taste categories, it uses a spatiotemporal population code to generate unique neural representations of individual tastant chemicals.

Spatiotemporal Coding of Individual Chemicals by the Gustatory System.

With the continuous decline in prevalence and intensity of Schistosoma japonicum infection in China, more accurate and sensitive methods suitable for field detection become much needed for schistosomiasis control. Here, a novel rapid and visual detection method based on the combination of recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) and lateral flow dipstick (LFD) was developed to detect S. japonicum DNA in fecal samples.

Recombinase polymerase amplification combined with a lateral flow dipstick for rapid and visual detection of Schistosoma japonicum.

Current diagnostic methods for Schistosoma japonicum infection are insensitive for low-density infections. Therefore, a new diagnostic assay based on recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) technology was established and assessed for field applification.

Kui Sun

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

New Methods to Study Gustatory Coding