Manual acupuncture is widely used for pain relief and stress control.Previous studies on acupuncture have shown its modulatory effects on the functional connectivity associated with one or a few preselected brain regi...Manual acupuncture is widely used for pain relief and stress control.Previous studies on acupuncture have shown its modulatory effects on the functional connectivity associated with one or a few preselected brain regions.To investigate how manual acupuncture modulates the organization of functional networks at a whole-brain level,we acupuncture at ST36 of a right leg to obtain electroencephalograph（EEG） signals.By coherence estimation,we determine the synchronizations between all pairwise combinations of EEG channels in three acupuncture states.The resulting synchronization matrices are converted into functional networks by applying a threshold,and the clustering coefficients and path lengths are computed as a function of threshold.The results show that acupuncture can increase functional connections and synchronizations between different brain areas.For a wide range of thresholds,the clustering coefficient during acupuncture and postacupuncture period is higher than that during the pre-acupuncture control period,whereas the characteristic path length is shorter.We provide further support for the presence of ＂small-world＂ network characteristics in functional networks by using acupuncture.These preliminary results highlight the beneficial modulations of functional connectivity by manual acupuncture,which could contribute to the understanding of the effects of acupuncture on the entire brain,as well as the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying acupuncture.Moreover,the proposed method may be a useful approach to the further investigation of the complexity of patterns of interrelations between EEG channels.展开更多
Background:The present investigation tested the efficacy of the Tennant Biomodulator,a novel pain management intervention that uses biofeedback-modulated electrical stimulation,to reduce chronic pain and its psychosoc...Background:The present investigation tested the efficacy of the Tennant Biomodulator,a novel pain management intervention that uses biofeedback-modulated electrical stimulation,to reduce chronic pain and its psychosocial sequelae in a sample of current and former military service members.The Tennant Biomodulator used on its most basic setting was compared to two commonly used,non-pharmacological pain treatments—traditional Chinese acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation(TENS)—in a comparative efficacy,randomized,open-label trial.Methods:Participants included 100 active duty and retired service men and women with chronic pain undergoing treatment at the Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas,USA,randomly assigned to receive six,weekly sessions of either Tennant Biomodulator treatment,traditional Chinese acupuncture,or TENS,in addition to usual care.Recruitment was conducted between May 2010 to September 2013.Outcome measures were collected at intake,before and after each treatment session,and at a 1-month follow-up.Intent-to-treat analyses were used throughout,with mixed models used to investigate main effects of group,time,and group×time interactions with consideration given to quadratic effects.Outcomes measured included ratings of chronic pain,pain-related functional disability,and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD)and depression.Results:On average,regardless of their treatment group,participants exhibited a 16%reduction in pain measured by the Brooke Army Medical Center’s Clinic Pain Log[F(1,335)=55.7,P<0.0001]and an 11%reduction in pain-related disability measured by the Million Visual Analog Scale[MVAS:F(1,84)=28.3,P<0.0001]from baseline to the end of treatment,but no one treatment performed better than the other,and the reductions in pain and pain-related disability were largely lost by 1-month follow-up.Symptoms of PTSD and depression did not change significantly as a function of time or group.Conclusions:Findings build on previous work suggesting that traditional Chinese acupuncture and TENS can reduce pain and its functional sequelae without risks associated with pharmacological pain management.The Tennant Biomodulator used on its most basic setting performs as well as these other interventions.Based on the present findings,large,randomized controlled trials on the Tennant Biomodulator are indicated.Future work should test this device using its full range of settings for pain-related psychological health.Trial registration:Clincialtrials.gov(NCT01752010);registered December 14,2012.展开更多
To investigate whether and how manual acupuncture（MA） modulates brain activities,we design an experiment where acupuncture at acupoint ST36 of the right leg is used to obtain electroencephalograph（EEG） signals in ...To investigate whether and how manual acupuncture（MA） modulates brain activities,we design an experiment where acupuncture at acupoint ST36 of the right leg is used to obtain electroencephalograph（EEG） signals in healthy subjects.We adopt the autoregressive（AR） Burg method to estimate the power spectrum of EEG signals and analyze the relative powers in delta（0 Hz-4 Hz）,theta（4 Hz-8 Hz）,alpha（8 Hz-13 Hz）,and beta（13 Hz-30 Hz） bands.Our results show that MA at ST36 can significantly increase the EEG slow wave relative power（delta band） and reduce the fast wave relative powers（alpha and beta bands）,while there are no statistical differences in theta band relative power between different acupuncture states.In order to quantify the ratio of slow to fast wave EEG activity,we compute the power ratio index.It is found that the MA can significantly increase the power ratio index,especially in frontal and central lobes.All the results highlight the modulation of brain activities with MA and may provide potential help for the clinical use of acupuncture.The proposed quantitative method of acupuncture signals may be further used to make MA more standardized.展开更多
As a convenient approach to the characterization of cerebral cortex electrical information, electroencephalograph （EEG） has potential clinical application in monitoring the acupuncture effects. In this paper, a meth...As a convenient approach to the characterization of cerebral cortex electrical information, electroencephalograph （EEG） has potential clinical application in monitoring the acupuncture effects. In this paper, a method composed of the mutual information method and Lempel-Ziv complexity method （MILZC） is proposed to investigate the effects of acupuncture on the complexity of information exchanges between different brain regions based on EEGs. In the experiments, eight subjects are manually acupunctured at ＇Zusanli＇ acupuncture point （ST-36） with different frequencies （i.e., 50, 100, 150, and 200 times/min） and the EEGs are recorded simultaneously. First, MILZC values are compared in general. Then average brain connections are used to quantify the effectiveness of acupuncture under the above four frequencies. Finally, significance index P values are used to study the spatiality of the acupuncture effect on the brain. Three main findings are obtained： （i） MILZC values increase during the acupuncture; （ii） manual acupunctures （MAs） with 100 times/rain and 150 times/min are more effective than with 50 times/min and 200 times/rain; （iii） contralateral hemisphere activation is more prominent than ipsilateral hemisphere＇s. All these findings suggest that acupuncture contributes to the increase of brain information exchange complexity and the MILZC method can successfully describe these changes.展开更多
The neural system characterizes information in external stimulations by different spiking patterns. In order to examine how neural spiking patterns are related to acupuncture manipulations, experiments are designed in...The neural system characterizes information in external stimulations by different spiking patterns. In order to examine how neural spiking patterns are related to acupuncture manipulations, experiments are designed in such a way that different types of manual acupuncture （MA） manipulations are taken at the ＇Zusanli＇ point of experimental rats, and the induced electrical signals in the spinal dorsal root ganglion are detected and recorded. The interspike interval （ISI） statistical histogram is fitted by the gamma distribution, which has two parameters： one is the time-dependent firing rate and the other is a shape parameter characterizing the spiking irregularities. The shape parameter is the measure of spiking irregularities and can be used to identify the type of MA manipulations. The coefficient of variation is mostly used to measure the spike time irregularity, but it overestimates the irregularity in the case of pronounced firing rate changes. However, experiments show that each acupuncture manipulation will lead to changes in the firing rate. So we combine four relatively rate- independent measures to study the irregularity of spike trains evoked by different types of MA manipulations. Results suggest that the MA manipulations possess unique spiking statistics and characteristics and can be distinguished according to the spiking irregularity measures. These studies have offered new insights into the coding processes and information transfer of acupuncture.展开更多
The actions of thc hippocampal formation were studied by recording the electrical activi-tics of a single neuron of that area.Two different reactions of some neurons in CA2,CA3 and thedentate gyrus ntight occur after ...The actions of thc hippocampal formation were studied by recording the electrical activi-tics of a single neuron of that area.Two different reactions of some neurons in CA2,CA3 and thedentate gyrus ntight occur after peripheral noxious stimulations,that is,increase of the reaction frc-qtcncy of the nociccptive cxcitcd neurons(NENs)and decrcasc of the macron frequeency of thenociocptive inhibited neurons(NENs).Flctrical acuptmcture of the“points”would result in inhib-iting cffcet on most of the NENs but disinhibiting cffcct on NENs.Identical effect to that ofacupunctre could be creatcd by injecting morphine to the expcrimental animals.Electricalstimulation of thc nucleus raphc magnus or peri-aqueduct gray mattcr could affcct the NENs andNINs in the hippocampus,and the results were similar to that of acupucture.When 5-HT was in-jccted into thc latcral ventricle or applied to thc hippocampal neurons through micro-iontophoresis,effects similar to that of acupuncture also occurred.These facts imply that the effects of peripheral“point”acupuncture on the eletrical activities of the neurons of the hippocampal formation might be rre-lated to the activities of the cndogenous serotoninergic neurons,or to the cndogenous morphine-likesubstance.The NENs would be inhibitod after large amounts of GABA were injected into the lateralventricle.The relationship between this phcnomenon and the acfivites of GABAergic intenrons inthe hippocampus awaits furthcr investigation .展开更多
Diabetic peripheral neuropathy(DPN)is a chronic microvascular complication of diabetes.However,studies on effect of acupuncture in DPN are rare.The purpose of this study was to research the mechanism of acupuncture in...Diabetic peripheral neuropathy(DPN)is a chronic microvascular complication of diabetes.However,studies on effect of acupuncture in DPN are rare.The purpose of this study was to research the mechanism of acupuncture in DPN rats.Rats rendered diabetic with a single injection of 35 mg/kg STZ.The STZ-diabetic rats were randomly divided into two groups:DPN model and acupuncture groups.After 14 days treatment,the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture was assessed using MWT and TWI evaluation of rats.展开更多
The Persian Gulf War of 1990 to 1991 involved the deployment of nearly 700,000 American troops to the Middle East.Deployment-related exposures to toxic substances such as pesticides,nerve agents,pyridostigmine bromide...The Persian Gulf War of 1990 to 1991 involved the deployment of nearly 700,000 American troops to the Middle East.Deployment-related exposures to toxic substances such as pesticides,nerve agents,pyridostigmine bromide(PB),smoke from burning oil wells,and petrochemicals may have contributed to medical illness in as many as 250,000 of those American troops.The cluster of chronic symptoms,now referred to as Gulf War Illness(GWI),has been studied by many researchers over the past two decades.Although over$500 million has been spent on GWI research,to date,no cures or condition-specific treatments have been discovered,and the exact pathophysiology remains elusive.Using the 2007 National Institute of Health(NIH)Roadmap for Medical Research model as a reference framework,we reviewed studies of interventions involving GWI patients to assess the progress of treatment-related GWI research.All GWI clinical trial studies reviewed involved investigations of existing interventions that have shown efficacy in other diseases with analogous symptoms.After reviewing the published and ongoing registered clinical trials for cognitivebehavioral therapy,exercise therapy,acupuncture,coenzyme Q10(CoQ10),mifepristone,and carnosine in GWI patients,we identified only four treatments(cognitive-behavioral therapy,exercise therapy,CoQ10,and mifepristone)that have progressed beyond a phase II trial.We conclude that progress in the scientific study of therapies for GWI has not followed the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research model.Establishment of a standard case definition,prioritized GWI research funding for the characterization of the pathophysiology of the condition,and rapid replication and adaptation of early phase,single site clinical trials could substantially advance research progress and treatment discovery for this condition.展开更多
In the paper,we review our preclinical and clinical studies on motilin (MTL) in recentyears.Our studies have demonstrated for the first time that MTL was widely distributed in hu-man body fluids,fetal cerebrospinal fl...In the paper,we review our preclinical and clinical studies on motilin (MTL) in recentyears.Our studies have demonstrated for the first time that MTL was widely distributed in hu-man body fluids,fetal cerebrospinal fluid and digestive tract and have revealed that both humanand rabbit Mo cells(MTL-secreting cells)did secret intracavitarily.The endogenous MTL hadan accelerating effect on small bowel transmit time.Wheaten food taking could inhibit the releaseof MTL into plasma,and acupuncturing in certain acupoints could promote its secretion.The ris-es of plasma MTL levels were found in patients with liver cirrhosis,pregnant hypertension syn-drome or in stress state.MTL levels in plasma and gastroduodenal juices of gastric cancer pa-tients were elevated significantly;MTL levels in plasma were decreased in patients with non-ul-cer dyspepsia,bile-regurgitational gastritis or leukemia.We also probed into the phys-iopathological significance of changes in MTL levels in other human body fluids.展开更多
基金Project supported by the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50537030)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61072012 and 61172009)+1 种基金the Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61104032 and 60901035)the Tianjin Municipal Natural Science Foundation,China (Grant No. 12JCZDJC21100)
文摘Manual acupuncture is widely used for pain relief and stress control.Previous studies on acupuncture have shown its modulatory effects on the functional connectivity associated with one or a few preselected brain regions.To investigate how manual acupuncture modulates the organization of functional networks at a whole-brain level,we acupuncture at ST36 of a right leg to obtain electroencephalograph（EEG） signals.By coherence estimation,we determine the synchronizations between all pairwise combinations of EEG channels in three acupuncture states.The resulting synchronization matrices are converted into functional networks by applying a threshold,and the clustering coefficients and path lengths are computed as a function of threshold.The results show that acupuncture can increase functional connections and synchronizations between different brain areas.For a wide range of thresholds,the clustering coefficient during acupuncture and postacupuncture period is higher than that during the pre-acupuncture control period,whereas the characteristic path length is shorter.We provide further support for the presence of ＂small-world＂ network characteristics in functional networks by using acupuncture.These preliminary results highlight the beneficial modulations of functional connectivity by manual acupuncture,which could contribute to the understanding of the effects of acupuncture on the entire brain,as well as the neurophysiological mechanisms underlying acupuncture.Moreover,the proposed method may be a useful approach to the further investigation of the complexity of patterns of interrelations between EEG channels.
基金funding source was grant#W81XWH-06-2-0279 from the United States Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity through the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Centerwhich was provided to the Samueli Institutefunding was provided as a gift to the Samueli Institute by an anonymous donor with no conflicts of interest to declare。
文摘Background:The present investigation tested the efficacy of the Tennant Biomodulator,a novel pain management intervention that uses biofeedback-modulated electrical stimulation,to reduce chronic pain and its psychosocial sequelae in a sample of current and former military service members.The Tennant Biomodulator used on its most basic setting was compared to two commonly used,non-pharmacological pain treatments—traditional Chinese acupuncture and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation(TENS)—in a comparative efficacy,randomized,open-label trial.Methods:Participants included 100 active duty and retired service men and women with chronic pain undergoing treatment at the Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas,USA,randomly assigned to receive six,weekly sessions of either Tennant Biomodulator treatment,traditional Chinese acupuncture,or TENS,in addition to usual care.Recruitment was conducted between May 2010 to September 2013.Outcome measures were collected at intake,before and after each treatment session,and at a 1-month follow-up.Intent-to-treat analyses were used throughout,with mixed models used to investigate main effects of group,time,and group×time interactions with consideration given to quadratic effects.Outcomes measured included ratings of chronic pain,pain-related functional disability,and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD)and depression.Results:On average,regardless of their treatment group,participants exhibited a 16%reduction in pain measured by the Brooke Army Medical Center’s Clinic Pain Log[F(1,335)=55.7,P<0.0001]and an 11%reduction in pain-related disability measured by the Million Visual Analog Scale[MVAS:F(1,84)=28.3,P<0.0001]from baseline to the end of treatment,but no one treatment performed better than the other,and the reductions in pain and pain-related disability were largely lost by 1-month follow-up.Symptoms of PTSD and depression did not change significantly as a function of time or group.Conclusions:Findings build on previous work suggesting that traditional Chinese acupuncture and TENS can reduce pain and its functional sequelae without risks associated with pharmacological pain management.The Tennant Biomodulator used on its most basic setting performs as well as these other interventions.Based on the present findings,large,randomized controlled trials on the Tennant Biomodulator are indicated.Future work should test this device using its full range of settings for pain-related psychological health.Trial registration:Clincialtrials.gov(NCT01752010);registered December 14,2012.
基金Project supported by the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50537030)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61072012 and 61172009)+1 种基金the Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61104032 and 60901035)the Tianjin Municipal Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 12JCZDJC21100)
文摘To investigate whether and how manual acupuncture（MA） modulates brain activities,we design an experiment where acupuncture at acupoint ST36 of the right leg is used to obtain electroencephalograph（EEG） signals in healthy subjects.We adopt the autoregressive（AR） Burg method to estimate the power spectrum of EEG signals and analyze the relative powers in delta（0 Hz-4 Hz）,theta（4 Hz-8 Hz）,alpha（8 Hz-13 Hz）,and beta（13 Hz-30 Hz） bands.Our results show that MA at ST36 can significantly increase the EEG slow wave relative power（delta band） and reduce the fast wave relative powers（alpha and beta bands）,while there are no statistical differences in theta band relative power between different acupuncture states.In order to quantify the ratio of slow to fast wave EEG activity,we compute the power ratio index.It is found that the MA can significantly increase the power ratio index,especially in frontal and central lobes.All the results highlight the modulation of brain activities with MA and may provide potential help for the clinical use of acupuncture.The proposed quantitative method of acupuncture signals may be further used to make MA more standardized.
基金supported by the Key Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.50537030)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.61072012)the Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos.50907044,61104032,and 60901035)
文摘As a convenient approach to the characterization of cerebral cortex electrical information, electroencephalograph （EEG） has potential clinical application in monitoring the acupuncture effects. In this paper, a method composed of the mutual information method and Lempel-Ziv complexity method （MILZC） is proposed to investigate the effects of acupuncture on the complexity of information exchanges between different brain regions based on EEGs. In the experiments, eight subjects are manually acupunctured at ＇Zusanli＇ acupuncture point （ST-36） with different frequencies （i.e., 50, 100, 150, and 200 times/min） and the EEGs are recorded simultaneously. First, MILZC values are compared in general. Then average brain connections are used to quantify the effectiveness of acupuncture under the above four frequencies. Finally, significance index P values are used to study the spatiality of the acupuncture effect on the brain. Three main findings are obtained： （i） MILZC values increase during the acupuncture; （ii） manual acupunctures （MAs） with 100 times/rain and 150 times/min are more effective than with 50 times/min and 200 times/rain; （iii） contralateral hemisphere activation is more prominent than ipsilateral hemisphere＇s. All these findings suggest that acupuncture contributes to the increase of brain information exchange complexity and the MILZC method can successfully describe these changes.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 61072012 and 61172009)the Young Scientists Fund of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 61104032)the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (Grant No. 2012M510750)
文摘The neural system characterizes information in external stimulations by different spiking patterns. In order to examine how neural spiking patterns are related to acupuncture manipulations, experiments are designed in such a way that different types of manual acupuncture （MA） manipulations are taken at the ＇Zusanli＇ point of experimental rats, and the induced electrical signals in the spinal dorsal root ganglion are detected and recorded. The interspike interval （ISI） statistical histogram is fitted by the gamma distribution, which has two parameters： one is the time-dependent firing rate and the other is a shape parameter characterizing the spiking irregularities. The shape parameter is the measure of spiking irregularities and can be used to identify the type of MA manipulations. The coefficient of variation is mostly used to measure the spike time irregularity, but it overestimates the irregularity in the case of pronounced firing rate changes. However, experiments show that each acupuncture manipulation will lead to changes in the firing rate. So we combine four relatively rate- independent measures to study the irregularity of spike trains evoked by different types of MA manipulations. Results suggest that the MA manipulations possess unique spiking statistics and characteristics and can be distinguished according to the spiking irregularity measures. These studies have offered new insights into the coding processes and information transfer of acupuncture.
文摘The actions of thc hippocampal formation were studied by recording the electrical activi-tics of a single neuron of that area.Two different reactions of some neurons in CA2,CA3 and thedentate gyrus ntight occur after peripheral noxious stimulations,that is,increase of the reaction frc-qtcncy of the nociccptive cxcitcd neurons(NENs)and decrcasc of the macron frequeency of thenociocptive inhibited neurons(NENs).Flctrical acuptmcture of the“points”would result in inhib-iting cffcet on most of the NENs but disinhibiting cffcct on NENs.Identical effect to that ofacupunctre could be creatcd by injecting morphine to the expcrimental animals.Electricalstimulation of thc nucleus raphc magnus or peri-aqueduct gray mattcr could affcct the NENs andNINs in the hippocampus,and the results were similar to that of acupucture.When 5-HT was in-jccted into thc latcral ventricle or applied to thc hippocampal neurons through micro-iontophoresis,effects similar to that of acupuncture also occurred.These facts imply that the effects of peripheral“point”acupuncture on the eletrical activities of the neurons of the hippocampal formation might be rre-lated to the activities of the cndogenous serotoninergic neurons,or to the cndogenous morphine-likesubstance.The NENs would be inhibitod after large amounts of GABA were injected into the lateralventricle.The relationship between this phcnomenon and the acfivites of GABAergic intenrons inthe hippocampus awaits furthcr investigation .
文摘Diabetic peripheral neuropathy(DPN)is a chronic microvascular complication of diabetes.However,studies on effect of acupuncture in DPN are rare.The purpose of this study was to research the mechanism of acupuncture in DPN rats.Rats rendered diabetic with a single injection of 35 mg/kg STZ.The STZ-diabetic rats were randomly divided into two groups:DPN model and acupuncture groups.After 14 days treatment,the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture was assessed using MWT and TWI evaluation of rats.
文摘The Persian Gulf War of 1990 to 1991 involved the deployment of nearly 700,000 American troops to the Middle East.Deployment-related exposures to toxic substances such as pesticides,nerve agents,pyridostigmine bromide(PB),smoke from burning oil wells,and petrochemicals may have contributed to medical illness in as many as 250,000 of those American troops.The cluster of chronic symptoms,now referred to as Gulf War Illness(GWI),has been studied by many researchers over the past two decades.Although over$500 million has been spent on GWI research,to date,no cures or condition-specific treatments have been discovered,and the exact pathophysiology remains elusive.Using the 2007 National Institute of Health(NIH)Roadmap for Medical Research model as a reference framework,we reviewed studies of interventions involving GWI patients to assess the progress of treatment-related GWI research.All GWI clinical trial studies reviewed involved investigations of existing interventions that have shown efficacy in other diseases with analogous symptoms.After reviewing the published and ongoing registered clinical trials for cognitivebehavioral therapy,exercise therapy,acupuncture,coenzyme Q10(CoQ10),mifepristone,and carnosine in GWI patients,we identified only four treatments(cognitive-behavioral therapy,exercise therapy,CoQ10,and mifepristone)that have progressed beyond a phase II trial.We conclude that progress in the scientific study of therapies for GWI has not followed the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research model.Establishment of a standard case definition,prioritized GWI research funding for the characterization of the pathophysiology of the condition,and rapid replication and adaptation of early phase,single site clinical trials could substantially advance research progress and treatment discovery for this condition.
基金This is one of the key projects for Medicine and Hygiene of National Army in the 8th Five-Year PlanNo.925074
文摘In the paper,we review our preclinical and clinical studies on motilin (MTL) in recentyears.Our studies have demonstrated for the first time that MTL was widely distributed in hu-man body fluids,fetal cerebrospinal fluid and digestive tract and have revealed that both humanand rabbit Mo cells(MTL-secreting cells)did secret intracavitarily.The endogenous MTL hadan accelerating effect on small bowel transmit time.Wheaten food taking could inhibit the releaseof MTL into plasma,and acupuncturing in certain acupoints could promote its secretion.The ris-es of plasma MTL levels were found in patients with liver cirrhosis,pregnant hypertension syn-drome or in stress state.MTL levels in plasma and gastroduodenal juices of gastric cancer pa-tients were elevated significantly;MTL levels in plasma were decreased in patients with non-ul-cer dyspepsia,bile-regurgitational gastritis or leukemia.We also probed into the phys-iopathological significance of changes in MTL levels in other human body fluids.
