Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of electroacupuncture (EA), diclofenac and their combination in symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.

Background: Duhuo Jisheng Wan (DJW) is perhaps the best known and most widely used Chinese herbal recipe for arthralgia, but the clinical study to verify its efficacy is lacking. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of DJW versus diclofenac in symptomatic treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee.

A large interindividual variation in the activity of cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) raises concern about therapeutic failure or toxicity when medical professionals prescribe drugs extensively metabolized by CYP1A2. To date, a number of studies have assessed the association between genetic polymorphisms and CYP1A2 activity; however, there are controversies as to the functional importance of CYP1A2 polymorphisms on the metabolism of CYP1A2 substrates. This systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the effects of genetic polymorphisms on CYP1A2 activity, as measured by caffeine metabolism, in a total of 3570 individual subjects. Higher enzyme activity was observed among those who were homozygous or heterozygous for the -163C>A polymorphism (rs762551), when compared to the wild-type individuals (SMD = 0.40, 95%CI = 0.12-0.68, p = 0.005; SMD = 0.32, 95%CI = 0.11-0.54, p = 0.003, respectively) and this was more pronounced among smokers (SMD = 0.92, 95%CI = 0.27-1.57, p = 0.005; SMD = 0.56, 95%CI = 0.22-0.90, p = 0.001, respectively). For other CYP1A2 polymorphisms, altered caffeine metabolic ratios were not seen. Our results indicate the functional importance of -163C>A polymorphism on CYP1A2 inducibility in humans.

The objective of this study was to determine the pharmacokinetics of caffeine after single administration of a coffee enema versus coffee consumed orally in healthy male subjects. The study design was an open-label, randomized two-phase crossover study. Eleven healthy subjects were randomly assigned either to receive 500 mL of coffee enema for 10 minutes or to consume 180 mL of ready-to-drink coffee beverage. After a washout period of at least 10 days, all the subjects were switched to receive the alternate coffee procedure. Blood samples were collected immediately before and at specific time points until 12 hours after coffee administration in each phase. The mean caffeine content in both the coffee solution prepared for the coffee enema and the ready-to-drink coffee beverage was not statistically different. The C max and AUC of caffeine obtained from the coffee enema were about 3.5 times significantly less than those of the coffee consumed orally, despite having slightly but statistically faster T max. The t 1/2 of caffeine obtained following both coffee procedures did not statistically differ. In summary, the relative bioavailability of caffeine obtained from the coffee enema was about 3.5 times significantly less than those of the coffee consumed orally.

CS epitopes WF6 and 3B3 (+) are raised in serum of patients with both OA and RA and were thus distinct from serum HA. The results suggest that OA may be detected systemically as well as RA. The range of levels of CS epitopes detected in OA and RA was wide and correlation with any aspect of disease activity is yet to be determined.

This open-label randomized controlled trial was designed to compare the efficacy of acupuncture and combined oral contraceptive (COC) pill in treating moderate-to-severe primary dysmenorrhea. Fifty-two participants were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture (n = 27) or COC (n = 25) for three menstrual cycles. Mefenamic acid was prescribed as a recue analgesic drug with both groups. The statistical approach used for efficacy and safety assessments was intention-to-treat analysis. By the end of the study, both treatments had resulted in significant improvement over baselines in all outcomes, that is, maximal dysmenorrhea pain scores, days suffering from dysmenorrhea, amount of rescue analgesic used, and quality of life assessed by SF-36 questionnaire. Over the three treatment cycles, COC caused greater reduction in maximal pain scores than acupuncture, while improvements in the remaining outcomes were comparable. Responders were defined as participants whose maximal dysmenorrhea pain scores decreased at least 33% below their baseline. Response rates following both interventions at the end of the study were not statistically different. Acupuncture commonly caused minimal local side effects but did not cause any hormone-related side effects as did COC. In conclusion, acupuncture is an alternative option for relieving dysmenorrhea, especially when COC is not a favorable choice.

Background: Isoflavones from soybeans may provide some beneficial impacts on postmenopausal health. The purpose of this study was to compare the pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of plasma isoflavones (daidzein and genistein) after a single dose of orally administered soy beverage and soy extract capsules in postmenopausal Thai women.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.