Meta-analysis: acupuncture for osteoarthritis of the knee.

Background: Knee osteoarthritis is a major cause of pain and functional limitation.

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of acupuncture for treating knee osteoarthritis.

Data Sources: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, MEDLINE, and EMBASE databases to January 2007.

Interleukin-1ra inhibits Fos expression and hyperalgesia in rats.

It is known that interleukin-1beta facilitates pain, but the mechanisms of this are not understood. This study investigated the role of interleukin-1beta in the expression of Fos, a marker of neuronal activation, and hyperalgesia caused by injecting complete Freund's adjuvant into one hind paw of the rat. Interleukin-receptor antagonist (interleukin-1ra, 0.

Acupuncture for knee osteoarthritis--a randomised trial using a novel sham.

Background: Evidence on the efficacy of acupuncture for reducing the pain and dysfunction of osteoarthritis is equivocal.

Objective: To determine whether acupuncture provides greater pain relief and improved function compared with sham acupuncture or education in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.

Design: Randomised, controlled trial.

Effects of neonatal maternal separation on neurochemical and sensory response to colonic distension in a rat model of irritable bowel syndrome.

Early life stress has been implicated as a risk factor for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). We studied the effect of neonatal maternal separation on the visceromotor response and the expression of c-fos, 5-HT, and its receptors/transporters along the brain-gut axis in an animal model of IBS. Male neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a 3-h daily maternal separation (MS) or nonhandling (NH) on postnatal days 2-21.

Anti-hyperalgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of the modified Chinese herbal formula Huo Luo Xiao Ling Dan (HLXL) in rats.

Chinese herbal medicine has been used for thousands of years in China and other Asian countries to treat a variety of inflammatory diseases. The classic Chinese herbal formula, Huo Luo Xiao Ling Dan (HLXL) is commonly used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of joint pain and other symptoms of arthritis. The present study is an investigation of the effects of a modified HLXL extract on persistent hyperalgesia and edema in rats with peripheral inflammation.

An infrared radiation study of the biophysical characteristics of traditional moxibustion.

Objectives: Moxibustion has been a part of acupuncture practice for thousands of years. Traditionally, it includes direct moxibustion, in which moxa sticks are burned at acupuncture points on the skin, and indirect moxibustion, in which monkshood cakes or ginger or garlic slices are used to insulate the skin from burning moxa cones. Recently randomised clinical trials and clinical observations suggest that moxibustion can enhance physiological and immune functions, but there has been little investigation of the scientific basis of these traditional techniques.

Involvement of peripheral opioid mechanisms in electroacupuncture analgesia.

The involvement of the peripheral opioid system in modulating inflammatory pain has been well documented. This study aimed to investigate the possibility of electroacupuncture (EA)-mediated peripheral opioid release. Rats were injected with complete Freund's adjuvant in one of the hind paws to induce localized inflammatory pain.

Acupuncture practice, past and present: is it safe and effective?

Acupuncture is a widely used complementary therapy. In cancer treatment its primary use is in treating cancer-related symptoms and side effects induced by conventional therapy. However, the safety of acupuncture practice is often a concern among patients and physicians.

A novel sham moxibustion device: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Objectives: (1) Develop a sham moxibustion device; (2) determine whether volunteer participants and practitioners can distinguish the sham procedure from real moxibustion during treatment for prevention of the common cold; and (3) assess the feasibility of conducting a larger clinical trial of the device.

Design: Double-blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Setting: A community outpatient health station in Chaoyang district, Beijing, China, from early November through late December 2003.

[Evaluating the effects of acupuncture on knee osteoarthritis: a stepwise approach to research, University of Maryland experience].

Conventional treatments for osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis, are associated with unpleasant adverse effects and often ineffective. Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) have been used for thousands of years to treat pain and other dysfunctions. However, the scientific evidence on the efficacy of acupuncture and TCM is equivocal, and adapting the Western biomedical model to assess them is a great challenge.

Acupuncture-point stimulation for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.

Purpose: Assess the effectiveness of acupuncture-point stimulation on acute and delayed chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in cancer patients.

Materials And Methods: Randomized trials of acupuncture-point stimulation by needles, electrical stimulation, magnets, or acupressure were retrieved. Data were provided by investigators of the original trials and pooled using a fixed-effects model.

Spinal glial activation in a new rat model of bone cancer pain produced by prostate cancer cell inoculation of the tibia.

Studies suggest that astrocytes and microglia in the spinal cord are involved in the development of persistent pain induced by tissue inflammation and nerve injury. However, the role of glial cells in bone cancer pain is not well understood. The present study evaluated the spinal glial activation in a novel rat model of bone cancer pain produced by injecting AT-3.

Variability in the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) diagnoses and herbal prescriptions provided by three TCM practitioners for 40 patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Objective: To ascertain if previous findings of low levels of agreement of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) pattern diagnoses made by TCM practitioners in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were a function of practitioner differences or would be replicated with a different sample of clinicians, and to examine the relationship between TCM diagnosis and herbal treatment plans.

Design: A prospective survey.

Setting: General clinical research center, University of Maryland Hospital System, Baltimore, MD.

Mu opioid receptor-containing neurons mediate electroacupuncture-produced anti-hyperalgesia in rats with hind paw inflammation.

Previous studies showed that electroacupuncture (EA) significantly attenuates inflammatory hyperalgesia in a complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced inflammatory pain rat model. The present study demonstrates that pretreatment with Derm-sap, a selective toxin for neurons that contain mu opioid receptor (MOR), specifically decreases MOR and blocks EA anti-hyperalgesia. These data suggest that spinal MOR-containing neurons are involved in the processes by which EA produces anti-hyperalgesia.

Electroacupuncture suppresses spinal expression of neurokinin-1 receptors induced by persistent inflammation in rats.

It has been demonstrated that electroacupuncture (EA) significantly suppresses behavioral hyperalgesia in a rat model of persistent inflammatory pain and that neurokinin-1 (NK-1)/substance P (SP) receptors play important roles in nociception and hyperalgesia at the spinal cord level. The present study investigated spinal NK-1 receptor involvement in EA-produced suppression of hyperalgesia in a rat model of persistent inflammatory pain. The results showed that hind paw inflammation induced a significant increase of NK-1 receptor expression in the spinal dorsal horn and that this effect was significantly suppressed by EA.

Electroacupuncture combined with MK-801 prolongs anti-hyperalgesia in rats with peripheral inflammation.

Our previous study showed that electroacupuncture (EA), an adjuvant to conventional medicine, significantly attenuated hyperalgesia in a rat model of inflammatory pain. In the present study, we evaluated the potential additive and/or synergism of EA and a sub-effective dose of dizocilpine maleate (MK-801), a non-competitive N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, on hyperalgesia in the same rat model of inflammatory pain. Hyperalgesia, manifesting as decreased paw withdrawal latency (PWL) to a noxious stimulus, was induced by injecting complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) into the plantar surface of one hind paw of each rat.

Effects of an acetone extract of Boswellia carterii Birdw. (Burseraceae) gum resin on rats with persistent inflammation.

Objective: Ruxiang, or Gummi olibanum, an herbal medicine derived from the gum resin of Boswellia carterii Birdw. (BC) of the family Burseraceae, has been used traditionally in China to alleviate pain and reduce inflammation. The present study is an investigation of the effects of a BC extract on persistent hyperalgesia and edema in rats with peripheral inflammation.

Effects of pertussis toxin on electroacupuncture-produced anti-hyperalgesia in inflamed rats.

Our previous study showed that electroacupuncture (EA) significantly attenuated hyperalgesia in an animal model of persistent inflammatory pain. The present study was designed to show if Gi/o protein is involved in EA-produced anti-hyperalgesia. Spinal Gi/o-protein function was destroyed by intrathecal pretreatment with pertussis toxin (PTX).

Acupuncture and dry-needling for low back pain: an updated systematic review within the framework of the cochrane collaboration.

Objectives: To assess the effects of acupuncture and dry-needling for the treatment of nonspecific low back pain.

Background: Low back pain is usually a self-limiting condition that tends to improve spontaneously over time. However, for many people, back pain becomes a chronic or recurrent problem for which a large variety of therapeutic interventions are employed.

Spinal preprodynorphin mRNA expression in neonatal rats following peripheral inflammation.

Spinal nociceptive neural circuits undergo considerable changes during the postnatal period. This study showed that neonatal rats exhibited earlier upregulation and faster recovery of spinal preprodynorphin (PPD) mRNA than did the adults during complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA)-induced peripheral inflammation. These data suggest that the central nervous systems of neonates and adults respond differently to peripheral noxious inputs, a fact that should be considered when selecting pain treatment strategies for neonate populations.

Electroacupuncture attenuates inflammation in a rat model.

Background: Acupuncture has traditionally been used in China and is being increasingly applied in Western countries to treat a variety of conditions, including inflammatory disease. However, clinical trials investigating the effectiveness of the anti-inflammatory effects of acupuncture have yielded inconsistent results, and the underlying mechanisms of acupuncture-produced anti-inflammation are unclear.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of electroacupuncture (EA) on inflammation in a rat model.

Is acupuncture analgesia an expectancy effect? Preliminary evidence based on participants' perceived assignments in two placebo-controlled trials.

This purpose of this article is to contrast the analgesic efficacy of acupuncture following dental surgery with the analgesic effects based on the expectation of benefit in two independently conducted placebo-controlled trials evaluating acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy for dental surgery. Both trials used pain following dental surgery as the outcome variable, and both included a blinding check to ascertain patients' beliefs regarding which treatment they were receiving. Although no statistically significant analgesic effect was observed between the acupuncture and placebo groups, participants in both experiments who believed they received real acupuncture reported significantly less pain than patients who believed that they received a placebo.

Effectiveness of acupuncture as adjunctive therapy in osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, controlled trial.

Background: Evidence on the efficacy of acupuncture for reducing the pain and dysfunction of osteoarthritis is equivocal.

Objective: To determine whether acupuncture provides greater pain relief and improved function compared with sham acupuncture or education in patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.

Design: Randomized, controlled trial.