Publications by authors named "Ikuro Wakayama"

Background: The quality of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) should be extensively evaluated. This study aimed to evaluate Japanese CPGs that include recommendations for acupuncture.

Methods: In a literature search, CPGs including recommendations for acupuncture published in Japan until October 2021 were sought.

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Objective Lifestyle changes may play an important role in the incidence reduction and delay of onset age of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in the Koza/Kozagawa/Kushimoto (K) area. The aim of this study was to evaluate recent lifestyle changes in the K area and to investigate the relationships between lifestyle and oxidative stress among the residents. Methods We conducted a medical checkup for elderly residents in the K area and the control area and evaluated the urinary 8-OHdG levels, cognitive function test scores and metal contents in serum and scalp hair, coupled with a lifestyle questionnaire survey between 2010 and 2015.

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The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) with different frequencies on muscle oxygenation in humans. The subjects were 8 healthy male volunteers. Muscle oxygenation was measured using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS).

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The aim of this study was to evaluate the accumulation of transition metals in the scalp hair of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients in the Koza/Kozagawa/Kushimoto (K) area (K-ALS) in the Kii Peninsula, Japan. Metal contents were measured in the unpermed, undyed hair samples of 88 K-residents, 20 controls, 7 K-ALS patients, and 10 sporadic ALS patients using neutron activation analysis at the Research Reactor Institute, Kyoto University. A human hair standard and elemental standards were used as comparative standards.

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Objectives: The aim of the present study was to elucidate the mechanism of cutaneous vasodilation following acupuncture stimulation by investigating the roles of nitric oxide (NO) and axon reflex vasodilation.

Methods: The subjects were 17 healthy male volunteers. The role of NO was investigated by administering N(G)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME, 20 mM), an NO synthase inhibitor or Ringer's solution (control site), via intradermal microdialysis (protocol 1; n=7).

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Objectives: This study investigated if nitric oxide (NO) and/or prostaglandin (PG) are responsible for cutaneous vasodilation during warm moxibustion-like thermal stimulation (WMTS).

Design: For two protocols, two microdialysis membranes were placed in the medial forearm skin. In the first protocol (n=8), the sites were randomly assigned and perfused with N(G)-nitro-l-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (l-NAME), an NO synthase inhibitor or Ringer's solution (control site).

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Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) is a potent survival factor for motor neurons in animals, and glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK-3beta) is suspected to play roles in apoptosis and tau phosphorylation. Here we report the immunological expression of IGF-I, GSK-3beta, phosphorylated-GSK-3alpha/beta (p-GSK-3alpha/beta) and phosphorylated-tau in the spinal cord and hippocampus of Kii and Guam amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients. Sixteen ALS patients (10 Japanese sporadic, 3 Kii and 3 Guam ALS) and 14 neurological controls (10 Japanese and 4 Guamanian) were examined.

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To determine the effects of manual acupuncture stimulation (MAS) on skin sympathetic nerve activity (SSNA), SSNA and skin blood flow (SBF) were measured during a resting period and during MAS. Twelve healthy male subjects were divided into an acupuncture group (n = 7) and a control group (n = 5). SSNA was recorded from the left median nerve at the elbow using microneurography, while SBF was recorded using laser Doppler flowmeter.

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