Electroacupuncture Inhibits Cartilage Degeneration in a Rat Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) Model by Suppressing ADAMTS5 Expression.

Background Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is characterized by cartilage degradation, osteophyte formation, and synovitis. Cartilage degradation in KOA begins with the loss of aggrecan, primarily due to A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase with Thrombospondin Motif 5 (ADAMTS5), which is produced by chondrocytes and synovial cells and a key target for therapeutic intervention. Current treatments for KOA primarily focus on pain relief, as disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs (DMOADs) remain unavailable.

Duration of the preemptive analgesic effects of low- and high-frequency transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in rats with acute inflammatory pain.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) activates various pathways to induce antinociceptive effects, based on the frequencies used. This study evaluates the preemptive analgesic effects and their duration of low- (LT: 4 Hz) and high-frequency TENS (HT: 100 Hz) using a rat model of acute inflammatory pain. Acute inflammation was induced by injecting 1% formalin into the hind paws of rats.

Shoseiryuto Ameliorated TDI-Induced Allergic Rhinitis by Suppressing IL-33 Release from Nasal Epithelial Cells.

Toluene diisocyanate (TDI) is a major cause of occupational asthma and rhinitis. Shoseiryuto (SST) is one of the traditional herbal medicines (Kampo medicine) and has long been used as a natural medicine for allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma. Recent studies have shown that the expression and release of IL-33, which regulates the T2 cytokine response in epithelial cells, is an important step in developing the inflammatory response of the nasal mucosa.

Kamikihito rescued depressive-like behaviors and hippocampus neurogenesis in chronic restraint stress rats.

Background And Aim: Substantial evidence suggests the effectiveness of plant-based medicine in stress-related diseases. Kamikihito (KKT), a Japanese traditional herbal medicine (Kampo), has been used for anemia, insomnia, and anxiety. Recent studies revealed its ameliorating effect on cognitive and memory dysfunction in several animal models.

Influences of Lavender Essential Oil Inhalation on Stress Responses during Short-Duration Sleep Cycles: A Pilot Study.

Lavender essential oil (LEO) was reported to improve sleep quality. We investigated the influence of aromatherapy by testing the effects of LEO on stress responses during a short-duration sleep in a single-blind, randomized, crossover trial. The subjects were twelve healthy adults who were nonsmokers without any known disease and who were not prescribed medications, and nine of these completed the study.

Analgesic Effect of Combined Therapy with the Japanese Herbal Medicine "" and Electroacupuncture in Rats with Acute Inflammatory Pain.

Japanese herbal medicine, called Kampo medicine, and acupuncture are mainly used in Japanese traditional medicine. In this experiment, the analgesic effect of (YKS) alone and a combination of YKS and electroacupuncture (EA) on inflammatory pain induced by formalin injection were examined. Animals were divided into four groups: a control group, formalin injection group (formalin), YKS-treated formalin group (YKS), and YKS- and EA-treated formalin group (YKS + EA).

Regulatory Role of Orexin in the Antistress Effect of "Press Tack Needle" Acupuncture Treatment.

The aim of this research was to investigate the antistress effect of press tack needle (PTN) acupuncture treatment using rats with social isolation stress (SIS). Rats were divided into non-stress group (Grouped+sham), stress group (SIS+sham), and PTN-treated SIS group (SIS+PTN). Rats in the SIS+PTN and SIS+sham groups were housed alone for eight days.

Behavioral and neurological improvement by Cydonia oblonga fruit extract in chronic immobilization stress rats.

It is known that chronic stress is a contributing factor to several physical and mental diseases. In this study, we examined the effect of hydroethanolic extract of Cydonia oblonga fruit (HECO, 300 mg/kg) in chronically immobilized rats on physiological and behavioral parameters by the open field test (OFT), sucrose preference test (SPT), and forced swimming test (FST) and on neurological alterations by analysis of the hippocampal neurogenesis. A daily 6 hr exposure to chronic immobilization stress (CIS) for 21 consecutive days induced anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors in rats' concomitant with decreased weight gain and increased plasma corticosterone (CORT) levels, rats also showed atrophy in the CA3 subregion of the hippocampus and a decreased number of Ki67 and DCX positive cells in the dentate gyrus (DG).

Synovial fibroblast-derived exosomal microRNA-106b suppresses chondrocyte proliferation and migration in rheumatoid arthritis via down-regulation of PDK4.

Fibroblast-derived exosomes have been reported to transfer microRNAs to recipient cells, where they regulate target gene expression, which is of interest for understanding the basic biology of inflammation, tissue homeostasis, and development of therapeutic approaches. Initial microarray-based analysis carried out in this study identified the rheumatoid arthritis (RA)-related differentially expressed gene pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 4 (PDK4). Subsequently, the upstream regulatory microRNA-106b (miR-106b) of PDK4 was predicted with bioinformatic analyses.

Kampo (Traditional Japanese Herbal) Formulae for Treatment of Stomatitis and Oral Mucositis.

Stomatitis is occasionally multiple, recurrent, and refractory. Currently, mucositis induced by chemotherapy and radiation therapy in patients with cancer has become a significant clinical problem. Effective treatments have not been established and the treatment of numerous cases remains a challenge for physicians.

Yokukansan (Kampo medicinal formula) prevents the development of morphine tolerance by inhibiting the secretion of orexin A.

Background: Yokukansan (YKS), a traditional herbal (Kampo) medicine consisting of seven herbs, is effective in the treatment of pain disorders, such as headache, postherpetic neuralgia, fibromyalgia, and trigeminal neuralgia, and we have previously shown it to be effective against morphine analgesic tolerance in rats. It has been reported that orexin receptor antagonists prevent the development of morphine tolerance and that YKS inhibits the secretion of orexin A in the hypothalamus. This study examined whether the inhibition of the secretion of orexin A by YKS is one mechanism underlying its effect against morphine analgesic tolerance.

Inhibitory effect of the Kampo medicinal formula Yokukansan on acute stress-induced defecation in rats.

Objectives: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional gastrointestinal disorder with symptoms of abnormal defecation and abdominal discomfort. Psychological factors are well known to be involved in onset and exacerbation of IBS. A few studies have reported effectiveness of traditional herbal (Kampo) medicines in IBS treatment.

extracts induce cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in human esophageal squamous carcinoma ECA-109 cells via the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling pathway.

Recently, ethyl acetate extracts (COE) have been investigated for their anticancer effects on digestive tract tumors. However, the therapeutic effects of COE on esophageal squamous carcinoma cells (ESCC) have not been investigated. In the present study, the effects of COE on the cell cycle and apoptosis of ESCCs were assessed , and it was revealed that COE treatment triggered G/G cell cycle arrest, and induced DNA damage and apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner in ESCC.

Time-dependent role of prefrontal cortex and hippocampus on cognitive improvement by aripiprazole in olfactory bulbectomized mice.

Dopamine (DA) modulates cognitive functions in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus. Olfactory bulbectomy (OBX) in mice induces cognitive dysfunctions. Recently, we reported that aripiprazole (ARI) normalizes the behavioral hyper-responsivity to DA agonists in OBX mice.

COE inhibits vasculogenic mimicry in hepatocellular carcinoma via suppressing Notch1 signaling.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) has been suggested to be present in various malignant tumors and associated with tumor nutrition supply and metastasis, leading to poor prognosis of patients. Notch1 has been demonstrated to contribute to VM formation in hepathocellular carcinoma (HCC). Celastrus orbiculatus extract (COE), a mixture of 11 terpenoids isolated from the Chinese Herb Celastrus orbiculatus Vine, has been suggested to be effective in cancer treatment.

Anticancer efficacy of the ethyl acetate extract from the traditional Chinese medicine herb Celastrus orbiculatus against human gastric cancer.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herb Celastrus orbiculatus is an important folk medicinal plant in China that has been used as an anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and analgesic in various diseases. The ethyl acetate extract of C. orbiculatus (C.

Antistress effects of Kampo medicine "Yokukansan" via regulation of orexin secretion.

Objective: Various stressors induce stress responses through the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal and the sympathetic-adrenal-medullary axes, which are regulated, in part, by orexin. For example, secretion of orexin in the hypothalamus is increased in rats exposed to the stress of social isolation for 1 week. In this study, the antistress effects of Kampo medicine Yokukansan (YKS) via the regulation of orexin secretion were investigated using a rat model.

Efficacy of Juzentaihoto for Tumor Immunotherapy in B16 Melanoma Metastasis Model.

. Medical care for Japanese cancer patients includes Western and Kampo medicines, and treatments with juzentaihoto (JTT) reportedly prevent cancer metastasis and recurrence. In this study, we examined the effects of JTT on natural killer (NK) cell activity and metastasis in combined treatments with anti-PD-1 antibody in a mouse model of melanoma metastasis.

Influence of Mechanical Force on Bone Matrix Proteins in Ovariectomised Mice and Osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 Cells.

Aim: To investigate the effect of mechanical stress on periostin and semaphorin-3A expression in a murine model of postmenopausal osteoporosis and in osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells.

Materials And Methods: Female mice were divided into three groups and treated with a sham operation, ovariectomy (OVX) or OVX plus treadmill training (OVX+Run). After 10 weeks, tibias were used for histological analysis.

Influence of IL13 on Periostin Secretion by Synoviocytes in Osteoarthritis.

Background: Our previous research provided evidence of periostin increase in parallel with interleukin-13 (IL13) increase in the synovial fluid of patients with osteoarthritis (OA). The reaction cascade from IL13 to periostin, however, remains unidentified. We, therefore, tested the hypothesis that periostin secretion is affected downstream of IL13.

Influence of Periostin on Synoviocytes in Knee Osteoarthritis.

Background: Periostin (POSTN) is a protein that binds to integrins to support adhesion and migration of epithelial cells. Mice lacking this gene exhibit cardiac valve disease as well as skeletal and dental defects. Recent studies indicated that periostin is involved in the pathogenesis and progression of knee osteoarthritis (OA).

extract triggers apoptosis and autophagy via PI3K/Akt/mTOR inhibition in human colorectal cancer cells.

is used as a folk medicine in China for the treatment of numerous diseases. The ethyl acetate extract of (COE) also displays a wide range of anti-cancer activities in the laboratory. However, the effectiveness of COE-induced autophagy and its mechanism of action in colorectal cancer cells have not been investigated thus far.