Effects of Physical Activity on Ageism and Aging Anxiety Among Chinese and Korean Adults Aged 55 to 64 Years.

: China and the Republic of Korea, two countries facing rapid population aging, are actively promoting healthy aging. Physical activity (PA), aging, anxiety, depression, and discrimination determine the health and quality of life of older adults. This study compared the levels of PA, ageism, and aging anxiety among Chinese and Korean adults aged 55-64 years.

Invasive laser acupuncture targeting muscle: a novel approach to protect dopaminergic neurons and reduce neuroinflammation in a brain of Parkinson's disease model.

Parkinson's disease (PD) affects 1-2% of the global population and presents significant therapeutic challenges. Due to the limitations of existing treatments, there is a pressing need for alternative approaches. This study investigated the effects of invasive laser acupuncture (ILA), which combines acupuncture and photobiomodulation.

Gut Microbiota Regulation by Acupuncture and Moxibustion: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

There have been numerous studies investigating the impact of acupuncture and/or moxibustion on the gut microbiota, but the results have been inconclusive. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis that included both preclinical and clinical studies to assess the current evidence regarding the effects of acupuncture on gut microbiota changes. We collected relevant studies from EMBASE and PubMed, collected outcomes including diversity and relative abundance measures of the gut microbiome, and the summarized effect estimates were calculated using the ratio of means (ROM) with 95% confidence intervals.

Acupuncture ameliorates atopic dermatitis by modulating gut barrier function in a gut microbiota-dependent manner in mice.

Objective: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that may be linked to changes in the gut microbiome. Acupuncture has been proven to be effective in reducing AD symptoms without serious adverse events, but its underlying mechanism is not completely understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the potential effect of acupuncture on AD is gut microbiota-dependent.

Central Role of Hypothalamic Circuits for Acupuncture's Anti-Parkinsonian Effects.

Despite clinical data stretching over millennia, the neurobiological basis of the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating diseases of the central nervous system has remained elusive. Here, using an established model of acupuncture treatment in Parkinson's disease (PD) model mice, we show that peripheral acupuncture stimulation activates hypothalamic melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons via nerve conduction. We further identify two separate neural pathways originating from anatomically and electrophysiologically distinct MCH neuronal subpopulations, projecting to the substantia nigra and hippocampus, respectively.

Peripheral mast cells derive the effects of acupuncture in Parkinson's disease.

This research investigates the peripheral mechanisms of acupuncture in treating Parkinson's disease (PD), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder marked by motor impairments. While the central mechanisms of acupuncture have been extensively studied, our focus lies in the peripheral mechanisms at the acupoints, the sites of acupuncture signal initiation. Employing a PD model, we analyzed the local responses to acupuncture stimulation at these points.

Comparison of pharmacogenomic information for drug approvals provided by the national regulatory agencies in Korea, Europe, Japan, and the United States.

Pharmacogenomics, which is defined as the study of changes in the properties of DNA and RNA associated with drug response, enables the prediction of the efficacy and adverse effects of drugs based on patients' specific genetic mutations. For the safe and effective use of drugs, it is important that pharmacogenomic information is easily accessible to clinical experts and patients. Therefore, we examined the pharmacogenomic information provided on drug labels in Korea, Europe, Japan, and the United States (US).

Potential role of acupuncture in the treatment of Parkinson's disease: A narrative review.

Background: The prevalence of Parkinson's disease (PD) has grown rapidly compared to that of other neurological disorders. Acupuncture has been used to address the complex symptoms of PD. Recently, similarities in the mechanisms of action between acupuncture and neuromodulation have received considerable attention.

Acupuncture Regulates Symptoms of Parkinson's Disease Brain Neural Activity and Functional Connectivity in Mice.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a multilayered progressive brain disease characterized by motor dysfunction and a variety of other symptoms. Although acupuncture has been used to ameliorate various symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders, including PD, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we investigated the mechanism of acupuncture by revealing the effects of acupuncture treatment on brain neural responses and its functional connectivity in an animal model of PD.

The Role of Skin Mast Cells in Acupuncture Induced Analgesia in Animals: A Preclinical Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

While mast cells (MCs) are previously well-known as a pathological indicator of pain, their role in alleviating pain is recently emerged in acupuncture research. Thus, this study systematically reviews the role of MC in acupuncture analgesia. Animal studies on MC changes associated with the acupuncture analgesia were searched in PubMed and EMBASE.

Intranasal Administration of Melanin-Concentrating Hormone Reduces Stress-Induced Anxiety- and Depressive-Like Behaviors in Rodents.

Major depressive disorder is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder with few treatment options. Non-targeted antidepressants have low efficacy and can induce series of side effects. While a neuropeptide, melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), is known to exhibit regulator of affective state, no study to date has assessed the anti-depressive effects of MCH in a stress-induced depression model.

Acupuncture inhibits neuroinflammation and gut microbial dysbiosis in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease.

Growing evidences show that gut microbiota is associated with the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) and the gut-brain axis can be promising target for the development of the therapeutic strategies for PD. Acupuncture has been used to improve brain functions and inflammation in neurological disorders such as PD, and to recover the gastrointestinal dysfunctions in various gastrointestinal disorders. Thus, we investigated whether acupuncture could improve Parkinsonism and gut microbial dysbiosis induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine.

Acupuncture alleviates chronic pain and comorbid conditions in a mouse model of neuropathic pain: the involvement of DNA methylation in the prefrontal cortex.

Chronic pain reduces life quality and is an important clinical problem associated with emotional and cognitive dysfunction. Epigenetic regulation of DNA methylation is involved in the induction of abnormal behaviors and pathological gene expression. We examined whether acupuncture can restore epigenetic changes caused by chronic pain, and identified the underlying mechanisms in neuropathic pain mice.

Muscovite nanoparticles mitigate neuropathic pain by modulating the inflammatory response and neuroglial activation in the spinal cord.

Despite numerous efforts to overcome neuropathic pain, various pharmacological drugs often fail to meet the needs and have many side effects. Muscovite is an aluminosilicate mineral that has been reported to have an anti-inflammatory effect, but the efficacy of muscovite for neuropathic pain has not been investigated. Here, we assessed whether muscovite nanoparticles can reduce the symptoms of pain by controlling the inflammatory process observed in neuropathic pain.

Effects of Combined Treatment with Acupuncture and Chunggan Formula in a Mouse Model of Parkinson's Disease.

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. Patients with Parkinson's disease can be treated with a combination of acupuncture and herbal medicine, but studies on the synergistic effects of the combined treatment have not yet been conducted. Thus, we subjected an MPTP-induced Parkinson's disease mouse model to the combined treatment.

Atopic dermatitis induces anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors with concomitant neuronal adaptations in brain reward circuits in mice.

Clinically, it has been reported that atopic dermatitis (AD) has been linked with negative emotional problems such as depression and anxiety, thereby reducing the quality of life, but little is known about the molecular mechanism that underlies AD-associated emotional impairments. We sought to determine whether AD could induce anxiety- and depressive-like symptoms in mice and to identify pertinent signaling changes in brain reward circuitry. AD-like lesions were induced by the repeated intradermal application of MC903 into the cheek of the mouse.

Acupuncture Improves Comorbid Cognitive Impairments Induced by Neuropathic Pain in Mice.

Growing evidence indicates that neuropathic pain is frequently accompanied by cognitive impairments, which aggravate the quality of life of chronic pain patients. Here, we investigated whether acupuncture treatments can improve cognitive dysfunction as well as allodynia induced by neuropathic pain in mice. One week after the left partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSNL), acupuncture treatments on the acupoints GB30-GB34 (AP1), HT7-GV20 (AP2), or control points (CP) were performed for 4 weeks.

Augmented Mechanical Forces of the Surface-Modified Nanoporous Acupuncture Needles Elicit Enhanced Analgesic Effects.

Over the past several decades, clinical studies have shown significant analgesic effects of acupuncture. The efficacy of acupuncture treatment has improved with the recent development of nanoporous needles (PN), which are produced by modifying the needle surface using nanotechnology. Herein, we showed that PN at acupoint ST36 produces prolonged analgesic effects in an inflammatory pain model; the analgesic effects of PN acupuncture were sustained over 2 h, while those using a conventional needle (CN) lasted only 30 min.

Acupuncture modulates stress response by the mTOR signaling pathway in a rat post-traumatic stress disorder model.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disease that can form following exposure to a traumatic event. Acupuncture has been proposed as a beneficial treatment for PTSD, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The present study investigated whether acupuncture improves depression- and anxiety-like behaviors induced using a single prolonged stress (SPS) as a PTSD rat model.

Novel analgesic effects of melanin-concentrating hormone on persistent neuropathic and inflammatory pain in mice.

The melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a peptidergic neuromodulator synthesized by neurons in the lateral hypothalamus and zona incerta. MCHergic neurons project throughout the central nervous system, indicating the involvements of many physiological functions, but the role in pain has yet to be determined. In this study, we found that pMCH mice showed lower baseline pain thresholds to mechanical and thermal stimuli than did pMCH mice, and the time to reach the maximum hyperalgesic response was also significantly earlier in both inflammatory and neuropathic pain.

What intrinsic factors influence responsiveness to acupuncture in pain?: a review of pre-clinical studies that used responder analysis.

Background: Not many studies have investigated individual sensitivity to acupuncture. To explore the intrinsic factors related to individual responses to acupuncture, we reviewed published pre-clinical studies using responder analysis on pain.

Methods: We searched the PubMed and EMBASE databases to June 2015.

Novel Neuroprotective Effects of Melanin-Concentrating Hormone in Parkinson's Disease.

Acupuncture has shown the therapeutic effect on various neurodegenerative disorders including Parkinson's disease (PD). While investigating the neuroprotective mechanism of acupuncture, we firstly found the novel function of melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) as a potent neuroprotective candidate. Here, we explored whether hypothalamic MCH mediates the neuroprotective action of acupuncture.

A Selective Encryption Algorithm Based on AES for Medical Information.

Objectives: The transmission of medical information is currently a daily routine. Medical information needs efficient, robust and secure encryption modes, but cryptography is primarily a computationally intensive process. Towards this direction, we design a selective encryption scheme for critical data transmission.