Endogenous Opiates in the Nucleus Tractus Solitarius Mediate Electroacupuncture-Induced Sleep Activities in Rats

Electroacupuncture (EA) possesses various therapeutic effects, including alleviation of pain, reduction of inflammation and improvement of sleep disturbance. The mechanisms of EA on sleep improvement, however, remain to be determined. It has been stated in ancient Chinese literature that the Anmian (EX17) acupoint is one of the trigger points that alleviates insomnia. We previously demonstrated that EA stimulation of Anmian acupoints in rats during the dark period enhances non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, which involves the induction of cholinergic activity in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS). In addition to cholinergic activation of the NTS, activation of the endogenous opioidergic system may also be a mechanism by which acupuncture affects sleep. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the involvement of the NTS opioidergic system in EA-induced alterations in sleep. Our present results indicate that EA of Anmian acupoints increased NREM sleep, but not rapid eye movement sleep, during the dark period in rats. This enhancement in NREM sleep was dose-dependently blocked by microinjection of opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone, and the μ-opioid receptor antagonist, naloxonazine, into the NTS; administrations of δ-receptor antagonist, natrindole, and the κ-receptor antagonist, nor-binaltrophimine, however, did not affect EA-induced alterations in sleep. Furthermore, β-endorphin was significantly increased in both the brainstem and hippocampus after the EA stimuli, an effect blocked by administration of the muscarinic antagonist scopolamine into the NTS. Our findings suggest that mechanisms of EA-induced NREM sleep enhancement may be mediated, in part, by cholinergic activation, stimulation of the opiodergic neurons to increase the concentrations of β-endorphin and the involvement of the μ-opioid receptors

Kappa-Opioid Receptors in the Caudal Nucleus Tractus Solitarius Mediate 100 Hz Electroacupuncture-Induced Sleep Activities in Rats

Previous results demonstrated that 10 Hz electroacupuncture (EA) of Anmian acupoints in rats during the dark period enhances slow wave sleep (SWS), which involves the induction of cholinergic activity in the caudal nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) and subsequent activation of opioidergic neurons and μ-receptors. Studies have shown that different kinds of endogenous opiate peptides and receptors may mediate the consequences of EA with different frequencies. Herein, we further elucidated that high-frequency (100 Hz)-EA of Anmian enhanced SWS during the dark period but exhibited no direct effect on rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. High-frequency EA-induced SWS enhancement was dose-dependently blocked by microinjection of naloxone or κ-receptor antagonist (nor-binaltorphimine) into the caudal NTS, but was affected neither by μ- (naloxonazine) nor δ-receptor antagonists (natatrindole), suggesting the role of NTS κ-receptors in the high-frequency EA-induced SWS enhancement. Current and previous results depict the opioid mechanisms of EA-induced sleep

Peripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumor of the ovary with torsion

AbstractPeripheral primitive neuroectodermal tumors (pPNETs) of the ovary are rare monophasic teratomas, and fewer than 100 cases have been reported in the literature. pPNETs mainly involve young women during their reproductive age, therefore, accurate diagnosis followed by multimodal treatment should be taken into consideration for fertility preservation. We report a patient with stage IA pPNET of the ovary presenting with acute abdominal pain secondary to torsion that was successfully managed by fertility-sparing surgery and six courses of combination chemotherapy with vincristine, Adriamycin, and cyclophosphamide. She has had a disease-free survival of >3 years. This brief review demonstrates the clinical course of pPNET and summarizes the literature to show that clinical stage at the time of diagnosis is the most important prognostic factor and that the vast majority of recurrences are observed within 10 years

A Potential Solution to Minimally Invasive Device for Oral Surgery: Evaluation of Surgical Outcomes in Rat

The objective of the present research was to investigate the thermal injury in the brain after minimally invasive electrosurgery using instruments with copper-doped diamond-like carbon (DLC-Cu) surface coating. The surface morphologies of DLC-Cu thin films were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Three-dimensional brain models were reconstructed using magnetic resonance imaging to simulate the electrosurgical operation. In adult rats, a monopolar electrosurgical instrument coated with the DLC-Cu thin film was used to generate lesions in the brain. Animals were sacrificed for evaluations on postoperative days 0, 2, 7, and 28. Data indicated that the temperature decreased significantly when minimally invasive electrosurgical instruments with nanostructure DLC-Cu thin films were used and continued to decrease with increasing film thickness. On the other hand, the DLC-Cu-treated device created a relatively small thermal injury area and lateral thermal effect in the brain tissues. These results indicated that the DLC-Cu thin film minimized excessive thermal injury and uniformly distributed the temperature in the brain. Taken together, our study results suggest that the DLC-Cu film on copper electrode substrates is an effective means for improving the performance of electrosurgical instruments

Plastidial Starch Phosphorylase in Sweet Potato Roots Is Proteolytically Modified by Protein-Protein Interaction with the 20S Proteasome

Post-translational regulation plays an important role in cellular metabolism. Earlier studies showed that the activity of plastidial starch phosphorylase (Pho1) may be regulated by proteolytic modification. During the purification of Pho1 from sweet potato roots, we observed an unknown high molecular weight complex (HX) showing Pho1 activity. The two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, and reverse immunoprecipitation analyses showed that HX is composed of Pho1 and the 20S proteasome. Incubating sweet potato roots at 45°C triggers a stepwise degradation of Pho1; however, the degradation process can be partially inhibited by specific proteasome inhibitor MG132. The proteolytically modified Pho1 displays a lower binding affinity toward glucose 1-phosphate and a reduced starch-synthesizing activity. This study suggests that the 20S proteasome interacts with Pho1 and is involved in the regulation of the catalytic activity of Pho1 in sweet potato roots under heat stress conditions

The Role of Caudal Nucleus Tractus Solitarius (NTS) In Electroacupuncture-induced Sleep Activities

電針刺激可以有許多治療功用，例如止痛、消炎、治療睡眠障礙。電針刺激改善睡眠的機制目前還不明瞭。在中醫理論裡：安眠穴，是一個可以改善失眠的穴道。之前發現10Hz電針刺激安眠穴可以使孤獨徑核 (nucleus tractus solitaries, NTS) 的乙醯膽鹼性神經活化，造成大鼠在暗期的非快速動眼睡眠(non-rapid eye movement sleep; NREM sleep) 上升。我們假設除了乙醯膽鹼類神經外，內生性嗎啡也可能是影響電針在睡眠的作用。本研究結果顯示，10Hz電刺激安眠穴增加了暗期的非快速動眼睡眠但是不影響快速動眼睡眠 (rapid eye movement sleep; REM sleep)，且這些增加的NREM可以被注射到NTS的naloxone (opioid receptor antagonist) 和naloxonazine (μ-opioid receptor antagonist拮抗) 抑制。而注射natrindole (σ-opioid receptor) 和 nor-binaltrophimine (κ-opioid receptor) 則沒有作用。除此之外β-endorphin的表現量在10Hz電針刺激後於腦幹和海馬迴都有上升且會被注射到NTS的muscarinic antagonist: scopolamine拮抗。我們的結果顯示10Hz電刺激安眠穴增加的非快速動眼可能是藉由乙醯膽鹼活化後使opiodergic 神經分泌β-endorphin增高，作用在μ-opioid receptor。 解剖上，從 NTS 來的神經投射到 parabrachial nuclei (PBN)，再投射到視丘的腹內側神經核 (ventromedial nucleus of the thalamus; VM)；或直接由 NTS 投射到視丘的腹內側神經核。清醒時腦中皮質的神經突觸活性較強，但在睡眠時的神經活動基本上會減少這些突觸的活性。從 NTS 到 PBN 以及 VM 的嗎啡類神經藉由嗎啡類受體過極化了PBN 以及 VM 中的神經。因此我們假設 10 Hz 電針刺激增加 NTS 的突觸活性，造成PBN 以及 VM 的過極化，導致增加睡眠的現象。我們接著研究10 Hz 電針刺激安眠穴後，NTS 和 VM 的突觸密度和長度的改變。我們發現 10 Hz 電針刺激安眠穴後 NTS 和 VM 的突觸密度都有增加，但是突觸總長度只有在 NTS 部位有顯著改變。這實驗結果可能代表了電針刺激會增加興奮性突觸的長度以及密度來增強 NTS 的突觸強度，並且在 VM 增加抑制性突觸的密度來減低 VM 的突觸強度，並藉此達到電針安眠穴增加睡眠的作用。 有報告指出不同頻率的電針刺激可以增加不同種的內源性嗎啡，且作用在不同的類嗎啡受體上。因此我們接著使用100 Hz的電針刺激安眠穴發現也增加非快速動眼睡眠，但不會影響快速動眼睡眠。100Hz電刺激增加的非快速動眼睡眠會因為注射naloxone (opioid receptor antagonist)和nor-binaltrophimine (κ-opioid receptor)到NTS而抑制，但注射naloxonazine (μ-opioid receptor antagonist拮抗) 和natrindole (σ-opioid receptor) 不會影響非快速動眼睡眠。我們的結果顯示高頻率100 Hz的電針刺激可能會藉由NTS的κ-opioid receptor增加非快速動眼睡眠。這些結果顯示低頻率 (10Hz) 以及高頻率 (100Hz) 電刺激安眠穴均會增加非快速動眼睡眠，其機轉和電針止痛在脊髓的機制類似，低頻刺激增加β-endorphin在NTS釋放，作用在μ-receptor；而高頻刺激則是藉由κ-receptor。Electroacupuncture (EA) possesses various therapeutic effects, including alleviation of pain, reduction of inflammation and improvement of sleep disturbance. The mechanisms of EA on sleep improvement, however, remain to be determined. It has been stated in ancient Chinese literature that the Anmian (EX17) acupoint is one of the trigger points that alleviates insomnia. We previously demonstrated that EA stimulation of Anmian acupoints in rats during the dark period enhanced non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, which involves the induction of cholinergic activity in the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS). In addition to cholinergic activation of the NTS, activation of the endogenous opioidergic system may also be a mechanism by which acupuncture affects sleep. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the involvement of the NTS opioidergic system in EA-induced alterations in sleep. Our present results indicate that EA of Anmian acupoints increased NREM sleep, but not rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, during the dark period in rats. This enhancement in NREM sleep was dose-dependently blocked by microinjection of opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone, and the μ-opioid receptor antagonist, naloxonazine, into the NTS; administrations of δ-receptor antagonist, natrindole, and the κ-receptor antagonist, nor-binaltrophimine, however, did not affect EA-induced alterations in sleep. Furthermore, β-endorphin was significantly increased in both the brainstem and hippocampus after the EA stimuli, an effect blocked by administration of the muscarinic antagonist scopolamine into the NTS. Our findings suggest that mechanisms of EA-induced NREM sleep enhancement may be mediated, in part, by cholinergic activation, stimulation of the opiodergic neurons to increase the concentrations of β-endorphin and the involvement of the μ-opioid receptors. One ascending projection is from NTS to the ventromedial nucleus (VM) of the thalamus (the NTS-VM pathway). Wakefulness is accompanied by synaptic potentiation in the cortical circuits, whereas slow wave activity (SWA) during slow wave sleep (SWS) promotes a generalized depression or downscaling of synaptic strength. The VM receives opioidergic inputs from NTS and the activation of opioid receptors hyperpolarize neurons of VM. Accordingly, 10 Hz EA may increase synaptic activity of NTS and subsequently hyperpolarize and downscale the synaptic strength in the VM of thalamus by inhibitory afferents, which lead to the enhancement of SWS. Enhancement of excitatory synapses in NTS and inhibitory synapses in VM may respectively contribute to the up-regulation of synaptic strength in NTS and downscaling of synaptic strength in the VM after 10 Hz EA. Our results demonstrated that the synaptic density was increased in both NTS and VM after rats received 10 Hz EA stimuli, while the enhanced synaptic length was only observed in the NTS, suggesting that 10 Hz EA altered excitatory synaptic strength of NTS and inhibitory synaptic strength of VM by changing the synaptic morphology. Studies have shown that different kinds of endogenous opiate peptides and receptors may mediate the consequences of EA with different frequencies. Herein we further elucidated that high frequency (100 Hz) EA of Anmian enhanced NREM sleep during the dark period, but exhibited no direct effect on REM sleep. High frequency EA-induced NREM sleep enhancement was dose-dependently blocked by microinjection of naloxone or κ-receptor antagonist (nor-binaltrophimine) into the caudal NTS, but was affected neither by μ-(naloxonazine) nor δ-receptor antagonists (natrindole), suggesting the role of NTS κ-receptors in the enhancement of high frequency EA-induced NREM sleep. Current and previous results have combined to depict the opioid mechanisms of EA-induced sleep

Vagal control of the heart in the turtle, Ocadia sinensis

The purpose of the present study was to identify the cardiac vagal nerve (CVN) of the turtle, to characterize its fiber composition, and to correlate this composition with cardioinhibitory functions. Turtles (Ocadia sinensis) were anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital. The CVN was identified anatomically as a thoracic vagal branch going to the heart. Transection or reversal block of this branch completely abolished the negative chronotropic and inotropic effects produced by ipsilateral cervical vagal stimulation. Electron microscopic examination of the CVN revealed that it is comprised of 500 to 1800 axon fibers. Among these, 86% were unmyelinated and 14% were myelinated fibers. Compound action potentials of the CVN consisted of A, B, and C groups. A decrease in the heart rate or a reduction of ventricular contractility was observed with electrical stimulation of the cervical vagus at an intensity which activates the B-fiber group. When the stimulus intensity increased to recruit both the B- and C-fiber groups, maximal cardioinhibitory effects were observed. The negative chronotropic effect of the right vagus was greater than that of the left vagus with low-frequency stimulation. In contrast, stimulation of the left vagus produced greater negative inotropic effect. These data indicate that the turtle heart is innervated by a single pair of CVN. The cardioinhibitory functions are subserved by small myelinated and large unmyelinated fibers. Functionally distinct vagal neurons may be distributed unevenly in the turtle brain, such that the right vagal nerve contains more chronotropic while the left more inotropic motor fibers

An Innovative Designed Velocimeter Application for Set Net Fishery

This article is aimed at the problems encountered by the fishing ground of set nets in Taiwan when the set net operators need to work when the weather is bad at sea. We developed a velocimeter that can be placed in the ocean for a long time and change sensing directions with the flow direction. The self-designed velocimeter has advantages, such as simple operation, low cost, and easy maintenance. With wireless monitoring and an early warning system, it can monitor current velocity, flow direction, sea temperature, and displacement. The data is transmitted back to the operator through the radio transmission module as a basis for dispatching personnel to go out to sea for fishing. To prevent the set net from drifting into the open sea due to bad weather, a GPS module is used to monitor the current location of the set net. If the waves wash away the set net, the warning signal can be received the first time to prevent the floating set net from endangering the safety of ship navigation and the survival of marine life. This innovative technology aligns with SDG 14, which aims to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development”