tuina manipulation, pain behavior tests, and statistical analysis

Standardisierte Tuina-Manipulation bei Kniearthrose bei Ratten

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a degenerative disease mainly manifested in joint pain. Fibrosis, cracking, ulceration, and loss of articular cartilage are the main causes of this disease1. KOA has a high prevalence and may result in a profound impact on the daily life of patients, causing disability in severe cases. Among people aged 45-84 years, the prevalence of KOA increases with age, and the prevalence among people aged 85 years and above is 15%, with a predominance in women2,3. In addition, KOA might bring a serious economic burden on both the individual and the society. A survey showed that direct health care costs on KOA per capita reached up to $8,858 &#177; $5,120 per year4. With the aging of society, KOA has become a worldwide health problem and a major social issue, as well as a topical issue for scientific research.
Evidence-based studies have shown the effectiveness of Tuina manipulation in treating KOA5. Tuina manipulation could relieve pain and improve dysfunction in KOA patients, the mechanism of which is related to anti-inflammatory effects6,7. Scholars found that Tuina manipulation effectively inhibited the expression of inflammatory factors interleukin (IL)-&#946; and 5-hydroxytryptamine and slowed down the degeneration of articular cartilage in a rabbit KOA model8. It suggested that Tuina could promote blood circulation and metabolism at the lesion site, which helped clear inflammatory factors such as IL-1, IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-&#945;, thereby alleviating the clinical symptoms of KOA9. In addition, the passive movement of the joint through Tuina manipulation can promote the penetration and diffusion of synovial fluid into the articular cartilage and improves tissue nutrient metabolism10. Other studies suggested that Tuina manipulation can effectively improve the biomechanical indexes in KOA patients11. Manipulations applied on soft tissues can improve stress distribution over limbs and enhance balance function12,13. At the same time, with some joint adjustment manipulations, the alignment of the lower limbs can also be adjusted to correct abnormal gaits14,15.
The mechanism of action of Tuina manipulation in treating KOA remains to be explored, and therefore, an experimental study is necessary. The key to the application of Tuina in experimental animals is the standardization of modeling, animal fixation and intervention methods16. The modeling method determines whether the experimental animal can exhibit the characteristics of the disease. Meanwhile, appropriate fixation methods can facilitate the intervention of the Tuina manipulation and better reflect the effect of Tuina. The standardization of intervention methods is the most difficult part of Tuina manipulation. In 2010, the basic system of Chinese acupuncture standards mentioned the acupuncture point standards for experimental animals, providing the possibility for acupuncture and Tuina operations in animal experiments17. However, there are still difficulties in standardizing Tuina manipulation. There are multiple types of Tuina manipulation18. The choice of the specific manipulation mainly depends on the disease to be treated and the therapeutic theories the performer prefers. In the study of Tuina for KOA, more attention has been paid to the point-pressing manipulation (pressing the specific acupoints with the thumb or elbow), Yizhichan pushing manipulation (a pushing manipulation by wiggling the thumb), and press and kneading manipulation (which refers to pressing and kneading the specific area of the body surface by finger or palm)19. Press and kneading manipulation is one of the most widely used Tuina manipulations, which combines pressing and kneading to move the subcutaneous tissue20. Press and kneading manipulation applied on acupoints can promote blood circulation and relieve pain and represents the therapeutic effect of Tuina on KOA19.
In this protocol, the operation of press and kneading manipulation on KOA rats will be described in detail, including selected acupoints, intensity and frequency of the manipulation and the body position of the rat, so as to provide a reference for future research.

Autor im Rampenlicht: Verständnis des Mechanismus der Tuina-Manipulation bei Ratten 

Tuina-Manipulation zur Verringerung von Entzündung und Knorpelverlust bei Ratten mit Kniearthrose

We studied the mechanism of Tuina manipulation in treating knee osteoarthritis. We found that Tuina is effective for pain relieving and improving motor functions. However, there is still standard protocols for Tuina of KOA, and the conclusions are not reliable enough, so we are trying to build a standard protocol.Recently, many teams have begun to develop Tuina on massage robots, which can output special mechanical wave forms for manipulation to achieve standardization of techniques. In addition, there are some cell mechanic loading devices, which can now put the manual force for the cell for cellular research. We believe that the difficulty of Tuina in animals is how to maintain the standardization of manipulation and how to accurately locate acupuncture points.We preliminarily verified the effect of Tuina on inhibiting synovial inflammation and the cartilage of proptosis through preliminary experiments, which will point out the direction for future research on the mechanism of Tuina for KOA. In the future, we'll focus on the mechanism of Tuina for KOA, mainly related to the mechanical signal transduction pathway, and how to inhibit synovial inflammation and cartilage apoptosis.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Tuina Manipulation, Pain Behavior Tests, and Statistical Analysis at JoVE.com

Tuina Manipulation, Pain Behavior Tests, and Statistical Analysis  

Tuina-Manipulation, Schmerzverhaltenstests und statistische Analysen

Wählen Sie fünf Akupunkturpunkte an der rechten Hinterhand der Ratte nach den Prinzipien der Akupunkturpositionierung aus. Ziehen Sie vor der Tuina-Manipulation vorsichtig am Rattenschwanz, damit er sich in den Beutel eingräbt und seine Hinterbeine außerhalb des Beutels freilegt. Für die Tuina-Manipulation legen Sie die Ratte mit einer Hand in die Bauchlage, halten Sie ihren Schwanz und ihr Hinterbein und legen Sie dann den Daumen des Darstellers auf den ausgewählten Akupunkturpunkt, um rhythmisches Drücken und Kneten durchzuführen, wobei die Haut und das Unterhautgewebe in einer kreisförmigen Bewegung zusammengedrückt werden, um eine gleichbleibende Intensität und Häufigkeit der Manipulation zu gewährleisten.Für die nächste mechanische Entzugsschwelle (MWT) stimulieren Sie die Ratte mit einer elektronischen Von-Frey-Faser in der Mitte des Fußes und ziehen Sie die Faser zurück, wenn die Ratte offensichtliche Bewegungen zeigt, wie z. B. das Abstreifen der Beine und das Ausweichen. Das Gerät zeichnet automatisch den maximalen Druckwert in Newton auf. Löschen Sie nach der Messung die Werte mit großen Unterschieden und nehmen Sie den Durchschnitt der verbleibenden drei Werte als MWT.Als Nächstes konzentrierst du den Scheinwerfer für die Pfotenrückzugslatenz (PWL) auf die Mitte des Rattenfußes und drückst den Startknopf. Überwachen Sie die Ratte auf Verhaltensweisen wie das Einziehen des Fußes oder das Lecken der Pfoten und notieren Sie die Zeit, bevor Sie die Stopptaste drücken. Löschen Sie nach der Messung die Werte mit großen Unterschieden und nehmen Sie den Durchschnitt der verbleibenden drei Werte als PWL.Für statistische Analysen öffnen Sie die Analysesoftware. Wenn die Daten einer Normalverteilung entsprechen, führen Sie einen T-Test durch. Alternativ können Sie wiederholte Messdaten durch verallgemeinerte Schätzgleichungen analysieren.Die MWT-Ergebnisse zeigten, dass die MWT der rechten Hinterextremität nach der Modellierung signifikant niedriger war als zuvor. Im Vergleich zur Kontrollgruppe war die MWT der Ratten nach Tuina signifikant erhöht. Die PWL-Ergebnisse zeigten, dass die PWL der rechten Hinterextremität nach der Modellierung signifikant kürzer war als zuvor.Im Vergleich zur Kontrollgruppe war die MWT der Ratten nach Tuina signifikant verlängert.

tuina-manipulation-pain-behavior-tests-and-statistical-analysis

Research

JoVE Journal

Medicine

Tuina Manipulation, Pain Behavior Tests, and Statistical Analysis

127 Views.  Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine Affiliated to Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Select five acupoints on the right hind limb of the rat according to the principles of acupoint positioning. Before the Tuina manipulation, gently pull the rat tail to make it burrow into the bag and expose its hind limbs outside the bag. For Tuina manipulation, using one hand, place the rat in the prone position, holding its tail and hind leg, then place the performer's thumb on the selected acupuncture point to perform rhythmic press and kneading, driving the skin and subcutaneous tissue to...