Laser stimulation of the acupoint 'Zusanli' (ST.36) on the radiopharmaceutical biodistribution in Wistar rats

The Application of Laser Acupuncture in Animal Experiments: A Narrative Review of Biological Aspects

Experimental studies on animals are conducted in almost all areas of medical research. The experiments offer insights into diseases and expand biomedical knowledge. Animal experiments are also imperative for studying acupuncture treatment mechanisms and the exploration of innovative acupuncture techniques. Laser acupuncture (LA), as a promising alternative to traditional manual acupuncture (MA), has the characteristics of painless and controllable stimulation. Today, society is more aware of animal welfare than previous generations. The use of noninvasive LA as a substitute for invasive MA in basic experimental research of acupuncture should be encouraged. Thus, we conducted an overview of animal experiments in the research field of LA from January 1978 to April 2020. After careful research, 52 studies were included in the work. Among these studies, both single-point and multipoint LA studies have been reported. To make noninvasive LA better in replacing invasive MA in experimental animal research of acupuncture, further experiments should focus on exploring uniform criteria for selecting laser parameters and revealing the extent to which the curative effect of LA depends on the property of acupuncture points rather than the characteristics of photobiomodulation.

Whole body vibration exercise combined with an extract of Coriandrum sativum modify some biochemical/physiological parameters in rats

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effect of the association of whole body vibration (WBV) exercise with an aqueous extract of coriander on the biodistribution of the radiopharmaceutical sodium pertechnetate, on the concentration of some plasma biomarker, on the feed intake, on the body mass, and on the stool consistency in rats. Rats were divided in four groups and submitted to different treatments for 40 days. The control group (CON) received deionized water. The group treated with coriander (COR) received the extract of coriander. The rats that were exposed to WBV exercises (WBV-E) also received deionized water. A group of animals received coriander and was exposed to WBV (COR + WBV-E). We found in testis a decrease (0.13 ± 0.01 to 0.06 ± 0.03) of the percentages of injected radioactivity per gram (%ATI/g) in the WBV-E in comparison with the COR. There is no significant alteration on the concentrations of the plasma biomarkers. The feed intake showed a statistically significant increase in WBV-E. No significant difference on the body mass was found. The stool analysis showed a statistical difference on the consistency between COR (hard and dry, darker) and all the other groups (normal). In conclusion, it was verified that possible modifications in some biochemical/physiological parameters of the rats submitted to WBV exercise would be capable to increase the feed intake without changing the body mass, and normalizing the stool consistency altered by the coriander supplementation. Further studies are needed to try to understand better the biological effects involving the association of WBV exercise and coriander.