• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.46-54
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• 2020

Introduction This study aims to report a significant improvement of Sjögren's syndrome patient with irritable bladder, diagnosed as 'Soyangin chest-binding symptomatology' based on Sasang medicine. Methods The patient had treatment with 'Dojeokganggi-tang' and western medications. We evaluated the treatment outcome of Sjögren's syndrome symptoms by using a numerical score of 0 to 10, based on the patient's subjective discomfort of dry eye and dry mouth, and irritable bladder symptoms by recording the number of night urination every month. Results Sjögren's syndrome symptoms were significantly improved, and the number of night urination was decreased. After 41 weeks of treatment, the patient didn't have dry mouth any more and had only a little dry eye. The number of night urination was decreased from 3-4 times to once a night. Discussion The patient diagnosed with Sjögren's syndrome, treated with Dojeokganggi-tang and western medications for 41 weeks, showed a significant improvement in dry eye, dry mouth, and night urination compared to the first visit.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-15
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• 2018

Inflammasomes are intracellular multiprotein complexes that coordinate anti-pathogenic host defense during inflammatory responses in myeloid cells, especially macrophages. Inflammasome activation leads to activation of caspase-1, resulting in the induction of pyroptosis and the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines including interleukin $(IL)-1{\beta}$ and IL-18. Although the inflammatory response is an innate host defense mechanism, chronic inflammation is the main cause of rheumatic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and $Sj{\ddot{o}}gren^{\prime}s$ syndrome (SS). Since rheumatic diseases are inflammatory/autoimmune disorders, it is reasonable to hypothesize that inflammasomes activated during the inflammatory response play a pivotal role in development and progression of these diseases. Indeed, previous studies have provided important observations that inflammasomes are actively involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory/autoimmune rheumatic diseases. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge on several types of inflammasomes during macrophage-mediated inflammatory responses and discuss recent research regarding the role of inflammasomes in the pathogenesis of inflammatory/autoimmune rheumatic diseases. This avenue of research could provide new insights for the development of promising therapeutics to treat inflammatory/autoimmune rheumatic diseases.