Forsch Komplementmed. 2009 Aug; 16(4): 251-5Déglon-Fischer A, Barth J, Ausfeld-Hafter BOBJECTIVE: This study investigated the current supply of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in Swiss primary care. Information was collected on physicians' qualifications in CAM, frequency of patients' demand for CAM, physicians' supply and temporal resources for CAM as well as physicians' referrals to CAM. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 750 (500 German-speaking and 250 French-speaking) randomly selected Swiss female and male primary care physicians were asked to complete a questionnaire (response rate 50.4%). Sociodemographic data on professional training, place of residence, and sex were used to calculate a weighting factor to correct the responders' data in the analysis accordingly. RESULTS: 14.2% of the physicians were qualified in at least one CAM discipline. Around 30% (95% confidence interval 25.4-34.6%) of the physicians were asked for CAM by their patients more than once a week. Homeopathy and phytotherapy were the most frequently offered therapies, followed by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)/acupuncture. 62.5% (57.6-67.4%) of the physicians refer their patients to CAM. Most patients were referred to TCM/acupuncture. Of the 37.2% (32.6-42.4%) of the physicians who do not refer their patients to CAM, around 40% (35.1-44.9%) offer it themselves. CONCLUSION: About three quarters of the physicians offer CAM themselves or refer their patients to CAM treatments. CAM is very important in primary medical care in Switzerland. Clear regulations for CAM are required in order to ensure a high quality in care.

J Ethnopharmacol. 2009 Sep 4; Zhang R, Hu Y, Yuan J, Wu DPuerariae radix, as an edible plant, has been used for centuries in China to treat alcohol-related problems, including alcoholic liver disease (ALD). However, the mechanisms of Puerariae radix on the liver protective effect have not been fully explored. Because an increased intestinal permeability is a major factor for ALD, the present study investigates whether Puerariae radix extract (PRE) inhibits ALD through prevention of alterations in intestinal permeability. Here, we used an animal model of chronic alcohol-induced liver injury that is associated with increased intestinal permeability. Male Wistar rats were given increasing alcohol doses from 2g/kg/d to 8g/kg/d and alcohol plus PRE via intragastric feeding for 10 weeks. Chronic alcohol exposure caused an elevation in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) as well as aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels and a decrease in superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and hepatic damages including steatosis, inflammation, and necrosis, determined by serum enzymatic analysis and morphological analysis, respectively. The damage to small intestine induced by chronic alcohol treatment was examined by intestinal histological, immunohistochemical analysis, and permeability assays. Alcohol-induced hepatic pathological changes, elevations in ALT and AST, and a decrease in SOD activity were significantly inhibited in PRE treated animals. The inhibitory effect of PRE on alcohol-induced liver injury was associated with suppression of alcohol-induced the increase of intestinal permeability. The results showed that this beneficial effect of PRE on ALD could be partly explained by improving intestinal barrier dysfunction induced by alcohol.

J Med Biogr. 2009 Aug; 17(3): 144-8Breathnach CSJonathan Osborne was born in Dublin and educated in Trinity College Dublin, where he became Professor of Materia Medica. As physician to Sir Patrick Dun's and Mercer Hospitals he reported extensively on those patients who came under his care. In his native city he is remembered for the instruments he devised, for his studies on dropsies (particularly albuminuric nephritis), and for his therapeutic approach to epilepsy and neuralgia. It is his thorough analysis of a patient with conduction aphasia in 1833, however, which has stood the test of time.

J Org Chem. 2009 Aug 7; 74(15): 5656-9Ding X, Ye D, Liu F, Deng G, Liu G, Luo X, Jiang H, Liu HWe described a synthesis method by first using chlorotrimethylsilane as the activator to brominate the Ni(II) complex of the beta-alanine Schiff's base [beta-AlaNi(II)PABA] 1 and developed it to prepare beta-amino acids 5. The procedure involves a Suzuki coupling reaction between boric acids and the bromoenone 2, followed by hydrogenation and hydrolysis. This is the first report of the application of the Ni (II) complex [beta-AlaNi(II)PABA], which represents an attractive route to afford alpha-aryl-/heteroaryl-substituted beta-amino acids.