Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify physical and psychological effects of life-oriented forest healing program (LOFH) using urban forests in adults over 40 years of age. Methods: A non-equivalent control group pre-posttest design was used. There were 50 participants in the experimental group and 52 in the control group (a total of 102 individuals). The LOFH was conducted twice a week (3 hours per week) for a total of four weeks. Body composition, psychological states (such as depression and anxiety), and quality of life (QOL) were measured before and after the program. Results: Depression was significantly reduced in the group to which the forest healing program was applied. There was no significant difference in body composition (body mass index, body fat percentage, muscle mass, lean mass), other psychological states (anxiety, mood), or QOL. Conclusion The LOFH was useful for improving depression in adults over 40 years of age. It is necessary to develop other LOFHs to improve body composition and quality of life.

Objective: To observe the clinical efficacy of herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion for ulcerative colitis (UC) and elucidate its mechanism by targeting the vitamin D receptor (VDR) signaling pathway. Methods: A total of 63 patients with UC were randomly divided into an observation group (30 cases, treated with herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion) and a control group (33 cases, treated with sham herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion). Moxibustion treatment was performed at Qihai (CV6) and bilateral Tianshu (ST25) and Shangjuxu (ST37), 3 times per week for 12 weeks. The total effective rate, visual analog scale (VAS) score for abdominal bloating and pain, and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) score were compared between the two groups. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to detect the concentrations of serum C-reactive protein (CRP), 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D], and interleukin-12 (IL-12)/interleukin-23 (IL-23) p40. Immunohistochemistry was used to observe the expression levels of VDR and regenerating gene Ⅳ (Reg Ⅳ) proteins in colonic mucosa. The expression levels of VDR, cytochrome p45027B1 (CYP27B1), and Reg Ⅳ mRNAs were detected by real-time fluorescence quantitive polymerase chain reaction. Results: After treatment, the total effective rate in the observation group was 86.7％, which was significantly higher than 51.5％ in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the VAS scores for abdominal bloating and pain in the observation group were significantly decreased (P<0.01), as well as the HADS-depression subscale (HADS-D) and HADS-anxiety subscale (HADS) scores (P<0.05), while only the VAS score for abdominal pain in the control group was reduced (P<0.05), and the improvements of the scores in the observation group were more significant than those in the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the serum CRP concentrations in both groups and the IL-12/IL-23 p40 concentration in the observation group were significantly decreased (P<0.05), and the concentrations in the observation group were lower than those in the control group (P<0.05). The expression levels of VDR protein and mRNA in the colon in both groups were all increased (P<0.01), and the expression levels of Reg Ⅳ protein and mRNA and CYP27B1 mRNA were all decreased in the two groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01); the improvements in the observation group were more notable than those in the control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Conclusion: Herbal cake-partitioned moxibustion can effectively alleviate abdominal pain and diarrhea in patients with UC, improve depression and anxiety disorders, and regulate the expression of related proteins in the VDR signaling pathway. The mechanism may be related to inhibiting intestinal inflammation by reducing the release of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-12/IL-23 p40.