visualizing-motion-patterns-in-acupuncture-manipulation

Visualizing Motion Patterns in Acupuncture Manipulation

Acupuncture manipulation varies widely among practitioners in clinical settings, and it is difficult to teach novice students how to perform acupuncture ...

Kyung Hee University

Three new phenolic compounds, (E)-4'-demethyl-6-methyleucomin (1), anemarcoumarin A (2), and anemarchalconyn (3), were isolated from an ethyl acetate extract of the rhizomes of Anemarrhena asphodeloides, together with seven known compounds (4-10). The structures of the new compounds (1-3) were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data interpretation. Compound 3 exhibited a potent inhibitory effect against the differentiation of preadipocyte 3T3-L1 cells with an IC50 value of 5.3 microM.

Identification of antiadipogenic constituents of the rhizomes of Anemarrhena asphodeloides.

Pinusolide and its derivative, 15-methoxypinusolidic acid (15-MPA) are diterpenoid compounds isolated from Biota orientalis, which has been used as a Korean folk medicine for treating inflammatory disorders. Pinusolide and 15-MPA suppress nitric oxide generation by suppressing inducible nitric oxide synthase and exerted anti-inflammatory functions, whereas other functions and regulatory mechanisms are largely unknown. In this study, we investigated whether pinusolide and 15-MPA modulate adipocyte differentiation from pre-adipocytes 3T3-L1 cells. We found that 15-MPA, not pinusolide, suppressed adipocyte differentiation in a dose-dependent manner, as revealed by lipid droplet formation and expression of adipogenic genes such as adiponectin and aP2. 15-MPA did not affect mRNA and protein levels of PPARgamma, a key adipogenic transcription factor, whereas transcriptional activity of PPARgamma was significantly attenuated by 15-MPA. While aP2 promoter activity was increased by ectopic overexpression of PPARgamma or by rosiglitazone-induced endogenous PPARgamma activation, PPARgamma-induced aP2 promoter activity was inhibited in the presence of 15-MPA. These results suggest that 15-MPA suppresses adipocyte differentiation through the inhibition of PPARgamma-dependent adipogenic gene expression.

Suppression of adipocyte differentiation by 15-methoxypinusolidic acid through inhibition of PPARγ activity.

The formation of γ-H2AX foci after DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) is crucial for the cellular response to this lethal DNA damage. We previously have shown that BRG1, a chromatin remodeling enzyme, facilitates DSB repair by stimulating γ-H2AX formation, and this function of BRG1 requires the binding of BRGI to acetylated histone H3 on γ-H2AX-containing nucleosomes using its bromodomain (BRD), a protein module that specifically recognizes acetyl-Lys moieties. We also have shown that the BRD of BRG1, when ectopically expressed in cells, functions as a dominant negative inhibitor of the BRG1 activity to stimulate γ-H2AX and DSB repair. Here, we found that BRDs from a select group of proteins have no such activity, suggesting that the γ-H2AX inhibition activity of BRG1 BRD is specific. This finding led us to search for more BRDs that exhibit γ-H2AX inhibition activity in the hope of finding additional BRD-containing proteins involved in DNA damage responses. We screened a total of 52 individual BRDs present in 38 human BRD-containing proteins, comprising 93% of all human BRDs. We identified the BRD of cat eye syndrome chromosome region candidate 2 (Cecr2), which recently was shown to form a novel chromatin remodeling complex with unknown cellular functions, as having a strong γ-H2AX inhibition activity. This activity of Cecr2 BRD is specific because it depends on the chromatin binding affinity of Cecr2 BRD. Small interfering RNA knockdown experiments showed that Cecr2 is important for γ-H2AX formation and DSB repair. Therefore, our genomewide screen identifies Cecr2 as a novel DNA damage response protein.

Genome-wide screen of human bromodomain-containing proteins identifies Cecr2 as a novel DNA damage response protein.

Food deprivation can affect performance on difficult cognitive task, such as the delayed nonmatch-to-place T-maze task (DNMT). The importance of food deprivation on maintaining high motivation for DNMT task has been emphasized, but not many studies have investigated the optimal conditions for depriving rodents to maximize performance. Establishing appropriate conditions for food deprivation is necessary to maintain DNMT task motivation. We applied different conditions of food deprivation (1-h food restriction vs. 1.5-g food restriction; single caging vs. group caging) and measured body weight and the number of correct choices that 8-week-old C57BL/6J mice made during the DNMT task. The 1.5-g food restriction group maintained 76.0±0.6% of their initial body weight, but the final body weight of the 1-h food restriction condition group was reduced to 62.2±0.8% of their initial body weight. These results propose that 1.5-g food restriction condition is effective condition for maintaining both body weight and motivation to complete the DNMT task.

Effect of Food Deprivation on a Delayed Nonmatch-to-place T-maze Task.

Antofine (ANTF) is a phenanthroindolizidine alkaloid isolated from the root of Cynanchum paniculatum Kitagawa (Asclepiadaceae), which is used as an herbal remedy for pain and inflammation. ANTF also possesses antiviral and antitumorigenic activities. In this study, we investigated the role of ANTF in adipogenesis. Chronic ABTF administration suppressed adipocyte differentiation and marker expression in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, acute administration of ANTF at early stages of differentiation process inhibited lipid droplet formation and adipogenic gene expression. ANTF Treatment decreased expression of PPARγ protein, a master transcription factor in the regulation of adipocyte differentiation, leading to a suppression of aP2 promoter activity. These results suggest that ANTF exerts potent anti-adipogenic effects via direct suppression of PPARγ protein expression, with consequent downregulation of adipogenic gene expression.

Anti-adipogenic activity of the naturally occurring phenanthroindolizidine alkaloid antofine via direct suppression of PPARγ expression.

The utilisation of healthcare services is the result of a complex decision-making process with different determinants. This study aims to identify the determinants of the utilisation of acupuncture treatment using Andersen's behavioural model and quality of life.

Identification of determinants of the utilisation of acupuncture treatment using Andersen's behavioural model.

Throughout the history of East Asian medicine, different kinds of acupuncture treatment experiences have been accumulated in classical medical texts. Reexamining knowledge from classical medical texts is expected to provide meaningful information that could be utilized in current medical practices. In this study, we used data mining methods to analyze the association between acupoints and patterns of disorder with the classical medical book DongUiBoGam of Korean medicine. Using the term frequency-inverse document frequency (tf-idf) method, we quantified the significance of acupoints to its targeting patterns and, conversely, the significance of patterns to acupoints. Through these processes, we extracted characteristics of each acupoint based on its treating patterns. We also drew practical information for selecting acupoints on certain patterns according to their association. Data analysis on DongUiBoGam's acupuncture treatment gave us an insight into the main idea of DongUiBoGam. We strongly believe that our approach can provide a novel understanding of unknown characteristics of acupoint and pattern identification from the classical medical text using data mining methods.

Data Mining of Acupoint Characteristics from the Classical Medical Text: DongUiBoGam of Korean Medicine.

Although acupuncture manipulation has been regarded as one of the important factors in clinical outcome, it has been difficult to train novice students to become skillful experts due to a lack of adequate educational program and tools.

Evaluation of phantom-based education system for acupuncture manipulation.

This report describes the brain responses to acupuncture in an upper limb amputee patient. A 62-year-old male had previously undergone a lower left arm amputation following an electrical accident. Using functional MRI, we investigated brain responses to acupuncture stimulation in the aforementioned amputee under three conditions: (a) intact hand, (b) prosthetic hand (used by the patient), and (c) fake fabric hand. The patient described greater de qi sensation when he received acupuncture stimulation in his prosthetic hand compared to a fake hand, with both stimulations performed in a similar manner. We found enhanced brain activation in the insula and sensorimotor cortex in response to acupuncture stimulation in the amputee's prosthetic hand, while there was only minimal activation in the visual cortex in response to acupuncture stimulation in a fake hand. The enhanced brain responses to acupuncture stimulation of the patient's prosthetic hand might be derived from cortical reorganisation, as he has been using his prosthetic hand for over 40 years. Our findings suggest the possible use of acupuncture stimulation in a prosthetic hand as an enhanced sensory feedback mechanism, which may represent a new treatment approach for phantom limb pain.

Brain responses to acupuncture stimulation in the prosthetic hand of an amputee patient.

Background. Korean medicine was incorporated into the Korean Classification of Diseases (KCD) 6 through the development of U codes (U20-U99). Studies of the burden of disease have used summary measures such as disability-adjusted life years. Although Korean medicine is included in the official health care system, studies of the burden of disease that include Korean medicine are lacking. Methods. A data-based approach was used with National Health Insurance Service-National Sample Cohort data for the year 2012. U code diagnoses for patients covered by National Health Insurance were collected. Using the main disease and subdisease codes, the proportion of U codes was redistributed into the related KCD 6 codes and visualized. U code and KCD code relevance was appraised prior to the analysis by consultation with medical professionals and from the beta draft version of the International Classification of Diseases-11 traditional medicine chapter. Results. This approach enabled redistribution of U codes into KCD 6 codes. Musculoskeletal diseases had the greatest increase in the burden of disease through this approach. Conclusion. This study provides a possible method of incorporating Korean medicine into burden of disease analyses through a data-based approach. Further studies should analyze potential yearly differences.

Ye-Seul Lee

Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center,
College of Korean Medicine,
Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, College of Korean Medicine

Kyung Hee University

Visualizing Motion Patterns in Acupuncture Manipulation

Ye-Seul Lee

.css-o250i3{font-size:18px;font-family:Open Sans,sans-serif;line-height:21.6px;}Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center,College of Korean Medicine,Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, College of Korean Medicine

Kyung Hee University

Visualizing Motion Patterns in Acupuncture Manipulation

Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center,
College of Korean Medicine,
Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, College of Korean Medicine