Hypertension possess a significant risk factor for a variety of diseases and affects millions of people all around the world. Recent studies suggest that NO plays a role in pathogenesis of hypertension while some investigators find a close relationship between acupuncture treatment and NO levels. We therefore aimed to investigate the effect of acupuncture on the levels of blood pressure and nitric oxide (NO) in hypertensive patients. After obtaining institutional ethics committee approval and patients' informed consent, 32 essential hypertensive patients aged between 32-65 and taking antihypertensive drugs were included to the study. A total of 10 sessions of manual acupuncture were applied on body acupoints (EX-HN3 (Yintang), KI 3, LIV 3, SP 9, LI 4, HT 7, ST 36, SP 6) in 10 weeks. Systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) levels and blood NO levels were measured for 3 times (i.e. before & after the first session, and after the 10 th session). Main outcome measures of our study were the changes in SBP and DBP as well as nitric oxide levels between 3 measurements were compared. Our study showed that SBP and DBP values decreased both after the 1st and 10th sessions of acupuncture treatments (p<0.05). The NO concentration also increased both after the 1st (71.5%) and 10th sessions (184.6%) (p<0.05).

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The purpose of this study is to contribute to efforts to understand the pathophysiology of migraine and create an alternative perspective for prophylaxis and treatment of migraine attacks. Acupuncture treatment was applied to the 22 volunteer migraine patients. The acupuncture treatment consists of 5 sessions with 2 sessions per week. Blood samples have been collected before performing acupuncture, after the 1st session and after the 5th session of the acupuncture. And for the control group blood samples were collected only once. In our study the mean serum NO levels in healthy people were (3,58±0,53) while patients with migraine group were (5,55±0,70) respectively. Serum NO levels were 55% higher in migraine group compared to the control group The NO concentration also decreased after 5th session (30%) (p<0.05). After the 1st sessions NO level decreased 4,86% in the migraine group. After the 5th session NO level decreased 30,63% in the migraine group. After the 5th session NO level decreased 27,08% compared to 1st session in the migraine group. After the 1st session of acupuncture treatment, level of NO in migraine group were 4,86% and it is reduced but statistically not significant. After the 5th acupuncture treatment serum NO levels were reduced to (3,85±0.62) 30,63% in migraine group and were statistically lower (p<0.05). After the 5th session NO level decreased 27,08% compared to 1st session in the migraine group. In this study, acupuncture treatment is appeared to be effective by lowering the levels of serum NO and acupuncture has cumulative effects. Although there are earlier studies showing the effect of NO in migraine, this has been the 1st study in this field, which shows the effect of acupuncture on NO in migraine patients.

Exhaustive exercise can cause subclinical inflammation to heart, since it is an oxidative tissue that works continuously. The effect of exhaustive exercise on left and right ventricles (LVs, RVs) may be different. It is claimed that paraoxonase-1 (PON1), an antioxidant enzyme, has a cardioprotective effect on oxidative stress. Rats were separated as; non-exercised controls (Con), those euthanized immediately after (E-0) and 24 hours after exhaustive exercise (E-24). Cardiac troponin-I (cTnI), total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), PON1 activities and histological findings in LV and RV of the exhausted rats were evaluated. TAS and PON1 levels were lower in LVs compared to RVs of all groups. TOS levels were high in LVs compared to RVs of all groups. In LVs, TAS levels decreased significantly in E-0 group while PON1 activity decreased in E-0 and E-24 groups compared to controls. In LVs, TOS levels decreased significantly in E-0 and E-24 groups, but in RVs decrease was seen only in E-0 group. cTnI levels increased significantly in E-0 group, and decreased to control levels in E-24 group. Considering the histological and biochemical findings, exhaustive exercise affected the heart to the maximum during/just after exhaustion, and LV was influenced more than RV.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of acupuncture on dynamic thiol–disulphide homeostasis and ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) levels as a novel oxidative stress parameter in migraine patients. Acupuncture treatment was applied to the 22 volunteer migraine patients. The acupuncture treatment consists of 5 sessions with 2 sessions per week. Blood samples have been collected before performing acupuncture, after the 1st session and after the 5th session of the acupuncture. And for the control group blood samples were collected only once. A total of 44 participants were included in the study, and 24 of whom were diagnosed with migraine. The total thiol, native thiol and ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) levels in the serum were measured in all patients and healthy individuals. The dynamic disulphide bond and ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) levels were calculated from these values. The total and native thiol levels of migraine patients participating in the study were found to be significantly higher than the total and native thiol levels of healthy individuals. The total thiol, native thiol, and dynamic disulphide bond levels, and ischemia-modified albumin (IMA) were correlated with attack frequency, pain intensity, or migraine type. Thiol-disülfide homeostasis can play roles in the etiology and severity of Migraine.