Background

Pulse wave analysis (PWA) quantifies the phenomenon of pulse waveform propagation in patients with cardiovascular diseases, whereas pulse image analysis (PIA) is a subjective examination in traditional Chinese medicine.

Objective

 This study evaluated the association of PIA with PWA and hemodynamics in patients with hypertension.Design, setting, participants and interventions This observational, cross-sectional study enrolled 45 patients (26 men, (55.2 ± 10.3) years, systolic blood pressure (155 ± 28) mmHg, diastolic blood pressure (93 ± 17) mmHg) for assessment of clinical and laboratorial data.

Main outcome measures

Primary outcomes comprised: pattern differentiation based on an automated method; PIA at the radial artery using the ‘simultaneous pressing’ method for identification of factors such as strength (strong/weak), depth (superficial/deep), and speed (fast/moderate/slow); and PWA at the same artery using a noninvasive system.

Results

Significant multivariate main effects were observed for depth (λ=0.648, F5,29 =3.149, P=0.022, η2 =0.352), strength (λ=0.608, F5,29 =3.736, P=0.010, η2 =0.392), and speed (λ=0.535, F5,29 =5.302, P=0.002, η2 =0.465). General effects comprised high values of PWA and blood pressure for superficial, strong, and fast pulse images. A strong pulse was found for pulse pressure ≥ 62.5 mmHg and systolic blood pressure ≥ 149.5 mmHg, whereas a superficial pulse was found for heart rate ≥ 58.25 beats/min; a fast pulse was found for heart rate ≥ 69.6 beats/min and pulse wave velocity ≥ 9.185 m/s.

Conclusion

Associations were explained by LaPlace's law, arterial remodeling in hypertension, alongside the traditional criterion for classifying speed in pulse images. PIA is associated with PWA and hemodynamics in patients with hypertension. Systolic and pulse pressures, heart rate, and pulse wave velocity are quantitative variables that have information to describe the qualitative pulse images such as strength, depth and speed.

Objective

To evaluate the effects of Zingiber cassumunar (Plai cream) in either 7% or 14% concentration on delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS).

Methods

Seventy-five untrained healthy volunteers (28 males and 47 females), performed 4 sets of 25 eccentric repetitions of the dominant quadriceps muscle on an isokinetic dynamometry machine. Participants were then randomized into 3 groups: 14% Plai cream, 7% Plai cream and placebo cream. Two grams of the cream (strips of 5-cm long) were gently rubbed into the quadriceps muscles for 5 min immediately following the exercise and every 8 h thereafter for 7 d in all groups. Muscle soreness, muscle strength, jump height, thigh circumference and creatine kinase were measured before and after eccentric exercise.

Results

Compared to the placebo cream the 14% Plai cream substantially reduced muscle soreness over the 7 d by -82% (95% CI = -155% to -6%, P = 0.03), but had similar muscle soreness effects to 7% Plai cream (-34%, -96% to 27%, P = 0.2). Compared to the placebo cream the 7% Plai cream resulted in a small non-significant reduction in muscle soreness levels over the following 7 d (-40%, -116% to 36%, P = 0.3). Compared to placebo cream there was little effect of Plai cream (7% or 14%) on muscle strength, jump height, thigh circumference or creatine kinase concentration.

Conclusion

Using 14% Plai cream over a 7-day period substantially reduced muscle soreness symptoms compared to 7% Plai cream or a placebo cream. The authors suggest that the administration of 14% Plai cream is a useful alternative in the management of DOMS.

Background

Disagreement exists regarding the need for knowledge about complementary and integrative health (CIH) strategies, as well as for the need to consider such strategies in clinical nursing practice.

Objective

This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and use of CIH strategies among nurses in Iran.

Design, setting, participants and interventions

A cross-sectional study of nurses working in two hospitals of Zabol University of Medical Sciences, in southeast Iran, was conducted from October 2014 to April 2015. The questionnaire, developed specifically for this research, was used to assess the knowledge, attitude and use of CIH by nurses. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to interpret the survey responses.

Results

Most nurses (n=95, 60.5%) have average knowledge about CIH strategies with most holding a positive attitude about use (n=81, 51.6%). The majority (n=90, 57.3%) of nurses, however, never applied CIH methods. Where CIH was used, massage was most often clinically applied (n=129, 82.2%) and a large percentage believed it useful for treating illness (n=136, 87.9%). Other CIH methods commonly used included prayer and herbal medicine.

Conclusion

Nurses have positive attitudes about CIH though knowledge was typically weak. Educational programs should carefully consider how knowledge about CIH methods could be strengthened within curricula.

Objective

It is unknown whether the psoas major muscle, thought to be a key muscle for treatment of lower back pain, can be punctured at Shenshu (BL23).

Methods

Twelve dissected specimens were used for studying the needling pathway of BL23 by perpendicularly inserting the depth-measuring blade of a vernier caliper at BL23. Dimensions of psoas muscle were measured. Correlation studies were conducted. In addition, our samples were grouped by gender and underlying medical conditions for analysis.

Results

Half (50%) of the needle insertions successfully punctured psoas muscle. The mean depth of needle insertion to puncture psoas muscle (D_min) in the group with short-term underlying medical conditions was 38.0 mm (interquartile range 29.0-51.8 mm), approximately 6 mm deeper than 32.0 (29.3-42.5) mm in the group with long-term health problems (P = 0.041). The cross-sectional area (CSA) of psoas muscle in the former group was on average approximately 1.5 times that of the latter group (P = 0.04). When the data were analysed by gender, the thickness of psoas muscle in the male group was 19.0 (6.5-24.0) mm compared to 19.5 (5.8-34.8) mm in the female group (P = 0.02). The age in the female group (P = 0.04) and the body length of the total group (P = 0.04) negatively correlated to D_min.

Conclusion

Needle insertion at BL23 might be able to puncture psoas muscle. Differences in the CSA of psoas muscle and D_minwere observed in groups with short-term and long-term underlying medical conditions.

Objective

Hypercholesterolemia is one of the well-established risk factors for cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in coronary heart disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-atherogenic effect of Chungtaejeon (CTJ, a Korean fermented tea) aqueous extract on proliferation and migration of human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASMCs) in vivoand in vitro.

Methods

The authors used high-fat atherogenic diet (HFAD) to induce hyperlipidemia in Wistar rats in in vivo animal experiments and used HASMCs for in vitro cell experiments. For the in vitro cell experiment, the proliferation of asms was evaluated using the MTT assay. Similarly, the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in HASMCs was measured using gelatin zymography. Antimigratory activity of CTJ was revealed using the wound-healing model and Boyden's chamber assay. In the in vivo experiment, CTJ was administered in three different doses for 20 d from the initiation of the HFAD. After 20 d, the serum lipid profile and total lipid contents in liver were measured.

Results

Treatment with CTJ for 24 h dose-dependently inhibited the proliferation and migration of HASMCs and expression of MMP-2 in HASMCs. The oral administration of CTJ at concentrations of 200 and 400 mg/kg decreased the levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, total serum cholesterol and hepatic cholesterol of HFAD-fed rats.

Conclusion

CTJ possessed strong antiproliferative, antimigratory, as well as lipid-lowering activities. Thus, CTJ can be considered as a therapeutic option in the treatment of high-fat diet-induced atherosclerosis.

Objective

To provide in vitro evidence of Psorinum treatment against cancer cells in a controlled study.

Methods

Effects of homeopathic Psorinum 6× on cell viability were initially determined in several cancer cell lines, including A549, HepG2 and MCF-7, using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, and an ethanol 6× control. The cell line that exhibited highest inhibition was selected and used in the following experiments. A range of Psorinum 6× doses was used to explore treatment effects on cell cycle arrest, cell death (apoptosis), generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and change in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) using flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy, respectively. Expression of several signal proteins related to apoptosis and cell survival were quantified with Western blotting and confocal microscopy. Further, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy was used to determine possible drug-DNA interactions, as well as the induction of conformational changes.

Results

Treatment of cancer cell lines with Psorinum showed greater anticancer effects in A549 cells than in others. In A549 cells Psorinum treatment inhibited cell proliferation at 24 h after treatment, and arrested cell cycle at sub-G₁ stage. It also induced ROS generation, MMP depolarization, morphological changes and DNA damage, as well as externalization of phosphatidyl serine. Further, increases in p53 expression, Bax expression, cytochrome c release, along with reduction of Bcl-2 level and caspase-3 activation were observed after Psorinum 6× treatment, which eventually drove A549 cells towards the mitochondria-mediated caspase-3-dependent pathway. CD spectroscopy revealed direct interaction of Psorinum with DNA, using calf thymus-DNA as target.

Conclusion

Psorinum 6× triggered apoptosis in A549 cells via both up- and down-regulations of relevant signal proteins, including p53, caspase-3, Bax and Bcl-2.