Morinda citrifolia (Noni): a literature review and recent advances in Noni research.
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Morinda citrifolia L (Noni) has been used in folk remedies by Polynesians for over 2000 years, and is reported to have a broad range of therapeutic effects, including antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, antitumor, antihelmin, analgesic, hypotensive, anti-inflammatory, and immune enhancing effects. In order to reveal the nutritional and medicinal value of the Noni plant, and to summarize scientific evidence that supports the Polynesians' claim, a literature review and recent advances in Noni research is given below. (+info)
Genomewide distribution of high-frequency, completely mismatching SNP haplotype pairs observed to be common across human populations.
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Knowledge of human haplotype structure has important implications for strategies of disease-gene mapping and for understanding human evolutionary history. Many attributes of SNPs and haplotypes appear to exhibit highly nonrandom behavior, suggesting past operation of selection or other nonneutral forces. We report the exceptional abundance of a particular haplotype pattern in which two high-frequency haplotypes have different alleles at every SNP site (hence the name "yin yang haplotypes"). Analysis of common haplotypes in 62 random genomic loci and 85 gene coding regions in humans shows that the proportion of the genome spanned by yin yang haplotypes is 75%-85%. Population data of 28 genomic loci in Drosophila melanogaster reveal a similar pattern. The high recurrence (>/=85%) of these haplotype patterns in four distinct human populations suggests that the yin yang haplotypes are likely to predate the African diaspora. The pattern initially appeared to suggest deep population splitting or maintenance of ancient lineages by selection; however, coalescent simulation reveals that the yin yang phenomenon can be explained by strictly neutral evolution in a well-mixed population. (+info)
An attempt to integrate Western and Chinese medicine: rationale for applying Chinese medicine as chronotherapy against cancer.
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Current Western medical treatment lays its main emphasis on evidence-based medicine (EBM) and cure is assessed by quantifying the effects of treatment statistically. In contrast, in Chinese medicine, cure is generally assessed by evaluating the patient's "pattern" (Zheng) [cf. Glossary] and medicines are prescribed according to this. We believe that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) cannot be evaluated precisely according to Western principles, in which a constant amount of the same medicine is given to a group of patients to be evaluated. When assessing cure using TCM, Zheng is more important than the determination of medical effects. This means that quantitative evaluation of TCM treatment can be very difficult. In this paper, we focused on the Yin-Yang [cf. Glossary]balance to determine Zheng, and at the same time attempted to determine the treatment effects by applying the concept of regulation of Yin-Yang according to chronotherapeutic principles. According to Zheng, advanced cancer patients generally lack both Yin and Yang. Chinese medical treatment therefore seeks to supplement both Yin and Yang. However, we divided patients into two groups and compared them with respect to survival. One group was administered a predominantly Yang (Qi) [cf. Glossary] tonic herbal treatment during the daytime, while the other group was administered Yin (Blood) [cf. Glossary] tonics during night time. A comparison of the results of treatment showed that the patients in the group receiving Yang (Qi) replenishment during the daytime lived longer than patients receiving Yin (Blood) nourishment during the night. Moreover, the patients in the daytime Yang (Qi) replenishment group also fared significantly better than patients treated solely by Western methods. (+info)
Coronary artery disease, nitric oxide and oxidative stress: the "Yin-Yang" effect--a Chinese concept for a worldwide pandemic.
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Prevention of coronary artery disease (CAD) and reduction of its mortality and morbidity remains a major public health challenge throughout the "Western world". Recent evidence supports the concept that the impairment of endothelial function, a hallmark of insulin resistance states, is an upstream event in the pathophysiology of insulin resistance and its main corollaries: atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction. Atherosclerosis is currently thought to be the consequence of a subtle imbalance between pro- and anti-oxidants that produces favourable conditions for lesion progression towards acute thrombotic complications and clinical events. Over the last decade, a remarkable burst of evidence has accumulated, offering the new perspective that bioavailable nitric oxide (NO) plays a pivotal role throughout the CAD-spectrum, from its genesis to the outcome after acute events. Vascular NO is a critical modulator of coronary blood flow by inhibiting smooth muscle contraction and platelet aggregation. It also acts in angiogenesis and cytoprotection. Defective endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) driven NO synthesis causes development of major cardiovascular risk factors (insulin resistance, arterial hypertension and dyslipidaemia) in mice, and characterises CAD-prone insulin-resistant humans. On the other hand, stimulation of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and NO overproduction causes metabolic insulin resistance and characterises atherosclerosis, heart failure and cardiogenic shock in humans, suggesting a "Yin-Yang" effect of NO in the cardiovascular homeostasis. Here, we will present a concise overview of the evidence for this novel concept, providing the conceptual framework for developing a potential therapeutic strategy to prevent and treat CAD. (+info)
Validation of a mathematical model for determining the Yin-Yang nature of fruits.
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A mathematical model for determining the Yin Yang nature of fruits was established in our previous study. The objective of this study was to validate the mathematical model using animal experiments. One hundred and twenty Wistar II female rats were randomly divided into five diet groups: A, B, C, D and E that were administered with saline solution, hot Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) tonic, cold TCM tonic, hot (Yang) formulated mineral solution and cold (Yin) formulated mineral solution, respectively. The consumption of drinking water of rats in each group was determined during a feeding period of 21 days. On the last day of the experiment, the lingual superficial structure of the rats was examined, which is a practice in traditional Chinese medicine to diagnose Yin-yang symptoms, and blood samples were collected from the rats to determine serum thrombocytin (5-HT) and thyrotrophic hormone (TSH) and plasma noradrenaline (NE). The diet D group, administered with the Yang mineral solutions demonstrated the same trend as the diet B group fed with hot TCM tonic (hot control), while the diet E group administered with the Yin mineral solutions has the similar trend as diet C group fed with cold TCM tonic (cold control). It was concluded that the diet D had Yang nature, whereas the diet E had Yin nature. The results from current study confirmed the findings from the previous study that the Yin-Yang nature of the fruits could be determined by the ratio of copper, iron and magnesium content using the mathematical model. (+info)
Yin and yang interplay of IFN-gamma in inflammation and autoimmune disease.
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IFN-gamma has long been recognized as a signature proinflammatory cytokine that plays a central role in inflammation and autoimmune disease. There is now emerging evidence indicating that IFN-gamma possesses unexpected properties as a master regulator of immune responses and inflammation. In this issue of the JCI, Guillonneau et al. show that indefinite allograft survival induced by CD40Ig treatment is mediated by CD8(+)CD45RC(low) T cells through the production of IFN-gamma (see the related article beginning on page 1096), supporting the emerging view that IFN-gamma is critical in the self-regulation of inflammation. These contradictory roles of IFN-gamma, perhaps best understood by the principle of yin and yang, represent one of nature's paradoxes, whereby the same cytokine functions as an inducer as well as a regulator for inflammation. Understanding this complex process of IFN-gamma signaling is essential, as it has therapeutic implications. (+info)
Frailty as a dysruption of steroid "syncrinology" in elderly man.
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In the background of the endocrinological hypothesis of aging, frailty in man can be seen as a dysruption of syncrinology, a term with which we could define the harmonized activity of steroid hormones (DHEAS, cortisol, testosterone). Such endocrine age-related modifications might promote the activation of sarcopenia, which exerts a core position in the progression of frailty in the elderly. Consequently, the use of replacement treatment in order to delay the beginning of such steroid derangement might be a suitable strategy to improve the quality of life of man, whose life length has been significantly extended. (+info)
Effect of Xiaobailing decoction on melanocytes in vitro.
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OBJECTIVE: To observe the effect of xiaobailing decoction ([Chinese characters: see text) on murine melanocytes in vitro and to explore the mechanism of xiaobailing Decoction in the treatment of vitiligo. METHODS: B-16F10 murine melanoma cells were cultured in 1640 medium and treated respectively with different concentrations (1 mg/ml, 2 mg/ml, 3 mg/ml) of the Chinese drug xiaobailing Decoction and its main components, the drugs for replenishing the kidney-yang, and the drugs for nourishing blood and activating blood circulation, etc. for 7 days. MMT assay was used to determine the proliferation of B-16F10 murine melanoma cells. NaOH cleavage assay was adopted to measure the melanogenesis of melanocytes. RESULTS: xiaobailing Decoction, the drugs for replenishing the kidney-yang and the drugs for nourishing blood and activating blood circulation at different concentrations significantly improved the proliferation of B-16F10 murine melanoma cells from the 3rd day to the 5th day (P < 0.05), with xiaobailing Decoction at the concentrations of 1 mg/ml having the most distinct action on promoting the proliferation of melanocytes on the 3rd day (P < 0.001); And the drugs for replenishing the kidney-yang at the concentrations of 2 mg/ml and 3 mg/ml and the drugs for nourishing blood and activating blood circulation at 3 mg/ml significantly increased melanogenesis of melanocytes (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Xiaobailing Decoction can promote melanocytic proliferation and melanogenesis in vitro, and it is indicated that the drugs for replenishing the kidney-yang and the drugs for nourishing blood and activating blood circulation play an important role in treating vitiligo. (+info)