The cortex of Eucommia ulmoides Oliver is widely used to treat kidney deficiency in traditional Chinese medicine. Its leaves have recently been reported to have anti-obesity properties in metabolic syndrome-like rat models. Due to a sharp decline in estrogen production, obesity, together with osteoporosis, are common problems in postmenopausal women. In this study, we examined the potential effect of Eucommia leaf extract (ELE) in preventing osteoporosis and obesity induced by ovariectomy (OVX). Forty-six female Wistar rats were divided into six groups: Sham-Cont, OVX-Cont, and four OVX groups administered estradiol and different concentrations of ELE 1.25%, ELE 2.5%, and ELE 5%. Treatments were administered after ovariectomy at six weeks of age and continued for 12 weeks. OVX induced a significant decrease in the bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar, femora, and tibiae, together with a marked increase in body mass index (BMI). The administration of 5% ELE led to a significant increase in tibial and femoral BMD, as well as significantly increased bone-strength parameters when compared with OVX-Cont rats. According to the suppressed Dpd and increased osteocalcin concentrations in ELE 5% rats, we suggest that varying proportions of bone formation and bone absorption contributed to the enhanced BMD in the femora and tibiae. In addition, significant decreases in body weight, BMI and fat tissue in 5% ELE rats were also observed. These results suggest that ELE may have curative properties for BMD and BMI in OVX rats, and could provide an alternative therapy for the prevention of both postmenopausal osteoporosis and obesity.

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Background. Hypertension is regarded as a major and independent risk factor of cardiovascular diseases, and numerous studies observed an inverse correlation between vitamin C intake and blood pressure. Aim. Our aim is to investigate the relationship between serum vitamin C and blood pressure, including the concentration differences and the correlation strength. Method. Two independent researchers searched and screened articles from the National Library of Medicine, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, VIP databases, and WANFANG databases. A total of 18 eligible studies were analyzed in the Reviewer Manager 5.3 software, including 14 English articles and 4 Chinese articles. Results. In the evaluation of serum vitamin C levels, the concentration in hypertensive subjects is 15.13 μmol/L lower than the normotensive ones (mean difference=−15.13, 95% CI [-24.19, -6.06], and P=0.001). Serum vitamin C has a significant inverse relation with both systolic blood pressure (Fisher’s Z=−0.17, 95% CI [-0.20, -0.15], P<0.00001) and diastolic blood pressure (Fisher’s Z=−0.15, 95% CI [-0.20, -0.10], P<0.00001). Conclusions. People with hypertension have a relatively low serum vitamin C, and vitamin C is inversely associated with both systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure.

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A previous study on rats showed that simultaneous acupuncture stimulation at the "Bai-Hui" (GV 20) and the "Yintáng" (Ex-HN3) acupoints alleviated the state of depression to an extent similar to that achieved by pharmacotherapy. This study investigated whether the alleviation of the depressed state required simultaneous acupuncture at these two acupuncture points. For the purposes of testing the effect of acupuncture on depressive symptoms, we treated a depression model rat, where depression had been induced by using a mild water-immersion stress technique, with either acupuncture stimulation at only one acupuncture point (GV 20 or Ex-HN3) or an antidepressant, and we measured the immobile time for evaluating the state of depression. Anxiety, as a symptom commonly associated with depression, was also evaluated by measuring the number of head dips. Neither the immobile time nor the number of head dips decreased upon acupuncture stimulation. From this study, single acupuncture stimulation at either "GV 20" or "Ex-HN3" alleviated neither the state of depression nor the anxiety. The water-immersion stress used to make the depression model rats was shown not to induce anxiety; however, the stress induced by immobilizing the rats for acupuncture stimulation did lead to anxiety.