Institute of Biotechnology, Fuzhou University, 523 Gongye Road, Fuzhou, Fujian, China.
Free Radic Biol Med. 2011 Dec 15;51(12):2185-9. doi: 10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2011.09.036. Epub 2011 Oct 6.
TAT-SOD is a recombinant protein of superoxide dismutase fused with TAT peptide. By pure accident, we discovered that topical application of TAT-SOD to acupoints could result in acupuncture-like action. This study aimed to validate the accidental discovery by investigating the effect on simple obesity of the topical application of TAT-SOD to acupoints in comparison with acupuncture. 90 subjects were divided into 3 groups for 12-week treatments. Regular hospital acupuncture treatment was given to Acupuncture Group 3 times a week. TAT-SOD Group were instructed first to locate acupoints and apply 0.1ml of 5000u SOD/ml TAT-SOD cream in an area of 1cm(2) to each of the same set of acupoints, which they then conducted at home three times daily. Placebo Group applied the vehicle cream the same manner as TAT-SOD Group. Both TAT-SOD and acupuncture treatments decreased adiposity with overall clinical effective rates of 60.0% and 76.7%, respectively. The placebo group showed no improvement. The results validate that the enzymatic removal of the intracellular superoxide at acupoints could generate acupuncture-like effects, and indicate a possibility of the new method as a simple substitute to acupuncture and an insight of superoxide modulation along meridians for acupuncture mechanism.
TAT-SOD 是一种超氧化物歧化酶与 TAT 肽融合的重组蛋白。纯属偶然，我们发现 TAT-SOD 经皮穴位给药可产生类似针刺的作用。本研究旨在通过比较 TAT-SOD 经皮穴位给药与针刺对单纯性肥胖的作用，验证这一偶然发现。90 例受试者分为 3 组，进行为期 12 周的治疗。针刺组每周接受 3 次常规医院针刺治疗。TAT-SOD 组先指导患者定位穴位，并在每对相同穴位的 1cm(2)区域涂抹 0.1ml 浓度为 5000u/ml 的 TAT-SOD 乳膏，然后在家中每天进行 3 次。安慰剂组以与 TAT-SOD 组相同的方式涂抹赋形剂乳膏。TAT-SOD 和针刺治疗均能减轻肥胖，总有效率分别为 60.0%和 76.7%。安慰剂组没有改善。结果验证了在穴位处酶促清除细胞内超氧阴离子可以产生类似针刺的效果，并提示了一种新方法作为针刺的简单替代方法的可能性，以及沿经络调节超氧化物对于针刺机制的见解。
