An Animal Model of Liuzijue Based on Kinematic Features Exploration: A Pilot Study Conducting in COPD.

Background: Liuzijue is an essential nonpharmacological intervention within the comprehensive management strategies for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. However, the absence of an animal model for Liuzijue presents methodological limitations in its basic research. This study aimed to apply interventions with kinematic characteristics of Liuzijue to COPD mice, with the objective to explore an animal model of Liuzijue suitable for experimental studies.

Characteristic activation of respiratory muscles in Liuzijue practice: a preliminary study based on surface electromyography in healthy individuals.

Purpose: Liuzijue, a traditional Chinese Qigong, is effective for respiratory rehabilitation, yet its underlying mechanisms remain largely theoretical due to complex movement patterns. This study aimed to record respiratory muscle surface electromyography (EMG) during Liuzijue practice, analyze muscle activation characteristics, and provide a scientific basis for its clinical application.

Methods: Thirty-two proficient Liuzijue practitioners underwent calm breathing, deep breathing, and Liuzijue training with surface EMG recordings.

Oxidative stress in asthma pathogenesis: mechanistic insights and implications for airway smooth muscle dysfunction.

Airway smooth muscle (ASM) dysfunction is a key factor in the narrowing of airways in asthma patients, characterized by excessive secretion of inflammatory factors, increased mass, and amplified contractile responses. These pathological features are instrumental in the propagation of airway inflammation, structural remodeling, and the escalation of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR), which are also principal factors underlying the limitations of current therapeutic strategies. In asthmatic ASM, an imbalance between oxidant production and antioxidant defenses culminates in oxidative stress, which is involved in the excessive secretion of inflammatory factors, increased mass, and amplified contractile responses of ASM, and is a critical etiological factor implicated in the dysregulation of ASM function.

Mitochondrial Quality Control: A New Perspective in Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Skeletal muscle dysfunction (SMD), one of the extrapulmonary complications in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), considerably influences patient prognosis. Mitochondria regulates their dynamic networks through a mitochondria quality control (MQC) mechanism, involving mitochondrial biogenesis, mitochondrial dynamics, and mitophagy. The MQC is crucial for mitochondrial homeostasis and health, and disruption of it can lead to mitochondrial damage, which is a key factor in the structural and functional impairment of skeletal muscle in COPD.

Ultrashort wave diathermy inhibits pulmonary inflammation in mice with acute lung injury in a HSP70 independent way: a pilot study.

Background: Acute lung injury (ALI) is a clinical syndrome characterized by pulmonary inflammation. Ultrashort wave diathermy (USWD) has been shown to be effective at in inhibiting ALI inflammation, although the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Previous studies have demonstrated that USWD generates a therapeutic thermal environment that aligns with the temperature required for heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), an endogenous protective substance.