Previous studies suggest that superoxide anions are possibly traveling along acupuncture meridians. The electrical potential difference (EPD) between acupoints may be related to the movement. To test the above hypothesis, we conducted a study investigating the effects of acupoint antioxidant interventions on the meridian EPD. Firstly, ST39 (L) and ST44 (L) were screened out for the EPD detection along the stomach meridian, and ST36 (L) was selected for interventions including acumassage with the control cream, as well as the TAT-SOD cream for 30 minutes, or injection with reduced glutathione sodium. The EPD between ST39 and ST44 was recorded for 80 minutes and measured again 48 h later. While the EPD increased during the acumassage, the acumassage with TAT-SOD cream and the glutathione injection generated waves of EPD increased, indicating the migration or removal from the visceral organ of a greater quantity of superoxide. Remarkably lower EPD readings 48 h later with both antioxidant acupoint interventions than the mere acumassage imply a more complete superoxide flushing out due to the restored superoxide pathway at the acupoint after interventions. The results confirm superoxide transportation along the meridians and demonstrate a possibility of acupoint EPD measurement as a tool to monitor changes in the meridians and acupoints.

Our previous study demonstrates that different antioxidant interventions at Zusanli (ST36) resulted in different patterns of electrical potential difference (EPD) between acupoints, providing the evidence that EPD between acupoints may reflect the conduction of superoxide anion's along the meridian. This study aimed to validate the discovery by investigating the effect on essential hypertension of the topical application of TAT-SOD at left acupoint Zusanli (ST36) and observe whether the change of EPD can be related to the change of blood pressure. Methods: The study design called for at least 16 evaluable essential hypertension and 16 healthy subjects. Firstly, EPD between the left acupoints of Yanglingquan (GB34) and Qiuxu (GB40) was screened out for the EPD detection. An intracellular superoxide quenching enzyme, TAT-SOD was topically applied to the acupoint of Zusanli (ST36) within an area of 1 cm 2 once a day, and the influence on EPD was investigated. The dosage applied to TAT-SOD group (n=8) was 0.2 ml of 3000 U/ml TAT-SOD cream prepared by adding purified TAT-SOD to a vehicle cream, while placebo group (n=8) used the vehicle cream instead. The left acupoints of Yanglingquan (GB34) and Qiuxu (GB40) were selected for EPD measurement after comparing EPD readings between 5 acupoints on each of all 12 meridians. Results: EPDs between the left acupoints of Yanglingquan (GB34) and Qiuxu (GB40) for 16 patients of evaluable essential hypertension and 16 healthy subjects were 44.9±6.4 mV and 5.6±0.9mV, respectively. Daily application of TAT-SOD for 15 days at Zusanli (ST36) of essential hypertension patients significantly decreased SBP and DBP of 179.6 mmHg and 81.5 mmHg to 153.1 mmHg and 74.1 mmHg, respectively. Responding to the change in blood pressure, EPD between the left acupoints of Yanglingquan (GB34) and Qiuxu (GB40) also declined from 44.4 mV to 22.8 mV with the same trend. No change was observed with SBP, DBP and EPD between the left acupoints of Yanglingquan (GB34)-Qiuxu (GB40) with the daily application of the placebo cream. Conclusions: Enzymatic scavenging of the intracellular superoxide at Zusanli (ST36) proved to be effective in decreasing SBP and DBP. Results reconfirm the involvement of superoxide anions and its transportation along the meridians, and demonstrate that EPD between acupoints may be an indicator to reflect its functioning status. Moreover, preliminary results suggest a close correlation between EPD readings and blood pressure readings, implying a possibility of using EPD as a sensitive parameter to determine blood pressure and to monitor the treatment.

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Reactive oxygen species are products of cellular metabolism and assigned important roles in biomedical science as deleterious factors in pathologies. In fact, some studies have shown that the therapeutic benefits of taking antioxidants were limited and the potential for therapeutic intervention remains unclear. New evidences showed that ROS have some ability of intercellular transportation. For treating allergic rhinitis, as a novel intracellular superoxide quencher, TAT-SOD applied to acupoints LI 20 instead of directly to nasal cavity can be used to test that. TTA group apply TAT-SOD cream prepared by adding purified TAT-SOD to the vehicle cream to acupoints LI 20, while placebo group used the vehicle cream instead. TTN group applied the same TAT-SOD cream directly to nasal cavity three times daily. Symptom scores were recorded at baseline and days 8 and 15. For the overall efficacy rate, TTA group was 81.0%, while placebo group was 5.9% and TTN was 0%. Malondialdehyde levels decreased observably in TTA group, and superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase levels remained basically unaffected. Enzymatic scavenging of the intracellular superoxide at acupoints LI 20 proved to be effective in treating allergic rhinitis, while no improvement was observed with the placebo group and TTN group.

The corn starch was grafted by microwave irradiation with rheological phase reaction, to meet the sizing requirements of polyester/cotton blended yarn and avoid the disadvantages of corn starch size including brittle, hard, and size shedding. On the basis of the damping characteristics of corn starch film and the polarity of grafting monomer, the grafting effect of grafted corn starch was researched by using infrared spectroscopy, SEM, rotary viscometer, and thermomechanical analyzer. The results showed that both hydrophilic groups and hydrophobic groups were introduced in the molecular chains of grafted corn starch. The storage modulus of grafted corn starch film reached 285-315 MPa, being four times higher than that of nongrafted corn starch film. Compared with corn starch sizing, the viscosity of grafted corn starch sizing decreased 62.5%. Furthermore, through analyzing grafting law and establishing regression equation, it was indicated that the irradiation time and initiator content influenced the grafting ratio of grafted starch significantly. The grafting ratio could reach 19.57%, when the irradiation time and initiator content were selected with 3.5 min and 4.55%, respectively.