• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.988-999
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• 2008

Objectives : The study was conducted to evaluate antioxidative, anti-atherosclerotic and anti-hypertensive effects of natural remedies. Alisma Rhizome (AR) has been used for a long time in Asia in folk remedies for treatment of hypertension and stroke and has been used in Korean traditional medicine for the treatment of glycosuria, gonorrhea, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, and jaundice and its diuretic effect. These pharmacological effects of AR might come from antioxidant properties of phytochemicals in these materials. Methods : In this study, the antioxidant activity of extract from AR was studied with in vitro methods by measuring the antioxidant activity by TEAC, measuring the scavenging effects on reactive oxygen species (ROS) [superoxide anion, hydroxyl radical] and on reactive nitrogen species (RNS) [nitric oxide and peroxynitrite] as well as measuring the inhibitory effect on $Cu^{2+}$ induced human LDL oxidation and on ACE. Results : The AR extracts were found to have a potent scavenging activity, as well as an inhibitory effect on LDL oxidation and on ACE against all of the reactive species tested, with the water extract showing particularly strong antioxidant activities. Conculsions : The AR extracts have antioxidative, anti-atherosclerotic and anti-hypertensive effects in an in vitro system, which can be used for developing pharmaceutical drugs against oxidative stress and atherosclerosis.

• Journal of Korean Medicine for Obesity Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.86-97
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• 2023

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to review clinical studies related to the effect of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on moderate to severe obese patients with hypertension. Methods: Clinical studies from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were searched by specific keywords and criteria. Total of 7 randomized controlled trials were selected and analyzed. Results: Various evaluation methods were used to see the effect of TCM compared to conventional western medicine. Most of the studies used herbal medicine combined with conventional anti-hypertensive western medicine. The effective rate of anti-hypertension was higher when TCM was added to conventional anti-hypertensive medicine. Traditional medicine treatment showed significant effect on lowering blood pressure and body mass index. Conclusions: Based on the results of the clinical studies from China, TCM can be a valuable option for moderate to severe obese patients with hypertension. Applying Traditional medicine has a significant effect on lowering blood pressure and weight loss. Combining herbal medicine can be worthy of clinical promotion and application for moderate and severe obese patients with hypertension.

• Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.155-164
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• 2002

Hypertension is the most frequent disease of chronic circulatory diseases and major intermediate cause or risk of the cerebrovascular disease which is a leading cause of death in Korea. Therefore, management of hypertension is an important issue in Korean healthcare. Especially, therapeutic compliance of hypertensives is very important because the hypertensive patients should receive anti-hypertensive treatment as long as the condition exists. However, many patients drop out of treatment, which is a major problem that needs to be solved through a hypertension control program. This study was carried out to provide basic data and counter measule for the hypertension control program in the community which aimed to keep the patients receiving treatment continuously. In order to investigate compliance of hypertensive patients during three months follow-up and the rate of control of hypertension, the data were collected during February, 2001, by reviewing medical records of 295 hypertensive patients who had been registered to Gunnam-myeon health subcenter before November, 2000. The author also study the dropout reasons by interviewing 58 patients among 68 dropout patients. The results were as follows: 1. Among the 295 subjects, 108(36.6%) were male and 187(63.4%) were female. Statistically, female hypertensives had a higher mean age than male(64.6 vs 66.3, p<0.05). 2. The 54.9% of the patients took anti-hypertensive medicine continuously for the past three months. And 19.3% had drug intermittently, and 25.8% dropped out of treatment. 3. Among several variables, such as sex, age, health insurance, the time taken from a patient's village to the health subcenter, only the last one was found to be significantly related to therapeutic compliance in the contingency table analysis. 4. The dropout reasons by multiple response were as follows, 'no symptom or no problem' (23.9%), 'change to other hospitals'(19.4%), 'geographical barrier'(17.9%), 'change to a neighborhood drugstore' (14.9%), 'immobility'(7.5%), 'economic barrier'(6.0%), 'unsatisfactory services of the health subcenter'(4.4%). 5. The mean blood pressure of 295 subjects was $144.9{\pm}12.9/86.88{\pm}8.6mmHg$. 6. The 32.5% of the subjects were controlled below 140/90mmHg. Conclusions: In order to improve the low rates of treatment and control of hypertension in rural hypertensives, a more active and systematic hypertension control program, including out-reaching follow-up management, is required in rural area. Especially, for health education of hypertensive patients, emphasis should placed on correcting wrong attitude toward hypertension.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.55-67
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• 2019

The incidences of cancer are continuously increasing worldwide, affecting life of millions of people. Several factors associated with the internal and external environment are responsible for this deadly disease. The key internal determinants like abnormal hormonal regulation, genetic mutations and external determinants such as lifestyle and occupational factors enhances onset of cancer. From the ancient time, plants were remained as the most trusted source of medicine for the treatment of diverse disease conditions. Extensive studies have been performed for the discovery of effective anticancer agent from the plant and still it is going on. Pentacyclic triterpenoids are biologically active phytochemicals having a different range of activities such as anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, anti-hypertensive, antiulcerogenic and anti-tumor. These compounds generally contain ursane, oleanane, lupane and friedelane as a chief skeleton of pentacyclic triterpenoids which are generally present in higher plants. Isoprene unit, phytochemical, with good antitumor/anticancer activity is required for the biosynthesis of pentacyclic triterpenoids. Mechanisms such as cytotoxicity, DNA polymerase inhibition, regulation of apoptosis, change in signal transductions, interfere with angiogenesis and dedifferentiation, antiproliferative activity and metastasis inhibition are might be responsible for their anticancer effect. Present review spotlights diverse targets, mechanisms and pathways of pentacyclic triterpenoids responsible for anticancer effect.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.55-70
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• 2005

In oriental medicine, Gamibangpungtongsungsan (KBTS) has been used as a therapeutic agent for the treatments of acute stage of cerebrovascular diseases and hypertension. In the present study, underlying mechanism on KBTS effects was investigated using spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) by determining related parameters such as blood pressure, heart-beat rates, and hormones and plasma constituents. The major finding are summarized as follows. 1. KBTS treatment at concentrations lower than $125\;{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ did not show any cytotoxicity on cultured human fibroblast cells. 2. KBTS treatment in SHR significantly decreased blood pressure and heart-beat rate compared with untreated control. 3. KBTS treatment in SHR decreased aldosterone levels in the blood compared with untreated control, but the difference was not statistically significant. 4. KBTS treatment in SHR significantly decreased dopamine, norepinephrine and epinephrine levels in the blood compared with untreated control. 5. KBTS treatment in SHR decreased plasma ion concentrations such as Na+, K+, Ca2+, Cl- compared with untreated control; decreases in Na+ and Cl- were statistically significant. 6. KBTS treatment in SHR significantly decreased TNF-$\alpha$, IL-6, and IL-10 levels in the blood compared with untreated control. Thus, the present data show evidence on anti-hypertension activity of KBTS in an experimental animal system, which can provide further insights into the development of anti-hypertension therapeutic agents.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2022

Sparassis crispa is an edible mushroom that has been widely utilized in Japan and Korea. It has various biological activities, such as anti-hypertensive, anti-allergic, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, and anti-cancer effects. In this study, we investigated the anticancer activity and underlying molecular mechanism of chloroform fraction of methanol extract of S. crispa (CESP) against cervical cancer stem cells (CSCs), which contribute to tumor initiation, recurrence, and resistance to therapy of human cervical cancer. CESP effectively inhibited the proliferation, tumorsphere formation, and migration of HeLa-derived cervical CSCs by promoting apoptosis. In addition, CESP significantly downregulated the expression of key cancer stemness markers, including integrin α6, CD133, CD44, ALDH1A1, Nanog, Oct-4, and Sox-2, in HeLa-derived cervical CSCs. Furthermore, CESP remarkably suppressed in vivo tumor growth of HeLa-derived cervical CSCs in a chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) model. Therefore, our findings suggest that CESP has potential as a natural medicine for the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer by targeting CSCs.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.111-119
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• 2004

The renoprotective effects of Korean Red Ginseng were examined in STZ-induced diabetic spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). After 3 day administration of streptozotocin (STZ), animals were divided into four groups : Group 1, hypertensive rats (H); Group 2, hypertensive rats with diabetes (HD); Group 3, hypertensive rats with diabetes administered with 100 mg/kg of ginseng total saponin(GTS); Group 4, hypertensive rats with diabetes administered with 600 mg/kg of ginseng non-saponin (GNS). After 2 weeks oral administraions of GTS and GNS, body weight, kidney weight, plasma glucose, urinary albumin excretion, serum creatinine, urea nitrogen and blood pressure were examined. After 3,7 and 21 day of STZ administration, expressions of TGF-${\beta}$1 and fibronectin in kidney were analyzed by immunoblotting and/or immunohistochemistry. GTS and GNS treatments slightly decreased blood pressure when compared to H and HD groups. Also, GTS and GNS treatments ameliorated kidney hypertrophy without affecting plasma glucose levels. Meanwhile, GNS treatment increased Cu/Zn-SOD activity in kidney and generally showed more efficient renoprotective effects than GTS. We suggest that the renoprotective effects of ginseng partially result from downregulations of TGF-${\beta}$1, fibronectin expressions and anti-oxidative activity of ginseng non-saponin.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.330-339
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• 2012

Background : Hypertension is treated with both lifestyle modification and pharmacotherapy. The Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC-7), published in 2003, provides a streamlined management approach to hypertension for the primary care physician. The JNC-7 is the gold standard also in Korea. According to the JNC-7, special therapeutic considerations are recommended for high-risk individuals with compelling indications. The presence of compelling indications in any given patient should be considered when selecting specific pharmacotherapy to treat hypertension. However, in patients with compelling indications, it is unknown that hepatotoxicity is caused by Calcium Channel Blocker (CCB), one of 1st anti-hypertensive drugs. Now, the CCB is the most used 1st anti-hypertensive drug in Korea Therefore, we evaluated the changes in blood liver function parameters (ALT, AST, Total bilirubin, serum albumin) for the study group. Methods : We randomly collected and retrospectively analyzed Electronic Medical Record data (n=28,788) of patients, and who took calcium channel blockers(non-dihydropyridines; diltiazem, verapamil, dihydropyridines; amlodipine, barnidipine, benidipine, clinidipine, efonidipine, felodipine, isradipine, lacidipine, lercanidipine, nicardipine, nifedipine, nimodipine), with having liver function tests (LFTs) from July 1st 2009 to June 30th 2010 at the Seoul National University Hospital in Korea. Control groups are two antihypertensive agents: RAS blockade (ARB; candesartan, irbesartan, losartan, olmesartan, telmisartan, valsartan, ACE-I; cilazapril, enalapril, fosinopril, imidapril, perindopril, ramipril) and, Diuretics (loop; furosemide, torsemide, thiazide; hydrochlorothiazide[HCTZ], indapamide). Patients not having LFT results at these three standard points of time(baseline, during, medication, and after finishing medication) were excluded. The collected data were analyzed by using the SPSS (Version12.0) and Microsoft Excel (Version2007). Results : 711 patients who were treated CCB (297), RAS blockade (232) or Diuretics (182) monotherapy were selected for the study. In selected patients, liver damage degree(changes of each LFTs value) was higher in diuretics group than other groups, followed by RAS blockade and CCB. In diuretics group's was loop-diuretics group was higher than thiazide-diuretics group. In CCB group, Nondihydropyridine-CCB's damage degree was higher than Dihydropyrine-CCB's that. Conclusions : Despite the limitations due to the retrospective study, among patients with abnormal LFTs, the use of CCBs led to a less liver damage than other 1st anti-hypertensive agents. It can be recommended CCBs as one of the initial treatments of hypertension in patients with liver disease.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.554-568
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• 2010

Objective : This study was examined to investigate the effect of Gamitongseong-san(GTS) extract on spontaneous hypertension. Methods : After administering GTS extract to SHR for 4 weeks, we measured anti-oxygen effects, weight of body, heart and kidney, blood pressure, heart rate, aldosterone, catecholamine, electrolyte, uric acid, and BUN. Results : 1. GTS increased 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl(DPPH) scavenging activity and superoxide dismutase(SOD) similar activity depending on the concentration. 2. GTS significantly decreased heart weight in spontaneously hypertensive rat. 3. GTS significantly decreased blood pressure and heart rate in SHR. 4. GTS significantly decreased aldosterone. 5. GTS significantly decreased norepinephrine and epinephrine. 6. GTS significantly decreased $K^+$. 7. GTS significantly decreased BUN. Conclusions : These results suggest that GTS may be usefully applied for the treatment of hypertension.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.487-493
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• 1999

Effects of Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761) on the anti-pulmonary hypertensive action of enalapril were evaluated in rats. Pulmonary hypertension was induced by monocrotaline treatment (60mg/kg, i.p.) in normotensive rats. In the systolic pulmonary artery pressure, the control group was 33$\pm$2 mmHg, comparing to the normal group of 19$\pm$1 mmHg. That of enalapril group(20mg/kg/day, p.o.) was 26$\pm$2 mmHg. In the isolated lung preparation, acetylcholine, which was endothelium dependent vasodilator, induced the decrease of pulmonary artery perfusion pressure(-2.0$\pm$0.7 mmHg) in normal group, but the increase of that of 3.4$\pm$0.6 and 3.0$\pm$0.9 mmHg in control and enalapril group, respectively. And that of the combined group was -0.5$\pm$0.2 mmHg. In the isolated pulmonary artery, acetylcholine(10-5M) induced the relaxation of 65$\pm$6% in normal group, but 15 and 8% in control and enalapril group, respectively. And that of the combined group was resulted 55$\pm$2%. These results suggested that co-administration of Ginkgo biloba extract(EGb 761) potentiated the anti-pulmonary hypertensive effects of enalapril through the increase of pulmonary vasodilation due to the protection of endothelial cell by antioxidant action of Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761).