• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.15-19
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• 2006

The anti-angiogenic activity of ethanol extract of Bojungbangam-tang, a new herbal prescription composed of nine crude drugs, was evaluated in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). HPLC profile revealed that five major compunds such as apioliquiritin, narirutin, hesperidin, liquiritin and glycyrrhizin. Ethanol extract of Bojungbangam-tang (EBJT) did not showed any significant cytotoxicity against HUVECs up to 200 ug/ml. EBJT significantly inhibited basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)-induced HUVECs proliferation to 69% at 200 ${\mu}g/ml$. Migration using window scraping method and tube formation in bFGF stimulated HUVECs were also significantly suppressed by EBJT in a dose-dependent manner. Taken together, these results suggest that Bojungbangam-tang can be a potent prescription for angiogenesis related disease.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.168-174
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• 2012

Gal (1-3) receptors are members of GPCR superfamily with seven transmembrane helices. The neuropeptide galanin mediates its effects through the receptor subtypes Gal1, Gal2, and Gal3 and has been implicated in anxiety and depression related behaviors. Galanin receptors are considered to be important targets for the development of novel antidepressant drugs. Owing to the importance of these receptors, a short communication about the sequential and structural studies about the functional Galanin (1-3) receptors has been reported. Structural studies have been hampered due to the lack of X-ray crystal structures. However with the availability of templates with close homologs comparative modeling could be encouraging. Sequence analysis was done for each receptors and homology modeling of each receptors were done with recently reported templates. Comparative analyses were done between these receptors to identify the relationships between them sequentially. Phylogram was generated between these receptors to identify the close homologue between this receptor and found that Gal2 and Gal3 receptors are closer. Our results could be useful for further structure based drug design targeting Gal1, Gal2 and Gal3 receptors.

• Journal of the Korean Medical Association
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• v.61 no.11
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• pp.670-677
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• 2018

Many of the patients visit the doctors because of itching sensation. Itching is an unpleasant sensation. In the epidermal keratinocytes, various neurotransmitters and receptors are related itching. The itch signal is mainly transmitted through the lateral spinal ganglion-derived nerve fibers extending to the lower epidermis. Many mediators such as histamine are involved in the itching pathway. It can be helpful in the treatment of patients having itching sensation with a lot of new therapies from the basic medication such as antihistamines. Also, many drugs are currently under study.

• Journal of the Korean Magnetic Resonance Society
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.82-90
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• 2018

The term "hangover" refers to symptoms such as headache, heartburn, nausea, and dizziness caused by acetaldehyde created through alcohol decomposition in the body after alcohol intake. Many scientists have conducted research on diverse drugs, foods, and medicinal herbs aimed at eliminating hangovers. However, research on metabolism to objectively verify or measure their effects on hangover symptoms has been lacking. Accordingly, in this study, deep sea water minerals were administered orally at varying concentrations to rats that consumed alcohol, and changes in the levels of amino acids in their bodies were measured using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to gauge the minerals' effects on hangover symptoms. Thus far, biochemical research on hangover cures has been confined to basic research measuring changes in the levels of alcohol dehydrogenase and acetaldehyde dehydrogenase as well as in the concentrations of ethanol, acetaldehyde, and acetate using spectroscopes such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits or gas chromatography-mass spectrometers. In comparison, this study presents pharmacokinetic research that simultaneously tracked biomaterials including amino acids and organic acids, metabolites associated with hangover, to clarify hangover mechanisms more specifically. In addition, this study examined hangover mechanisms without an external supply of tracked materials not overlapping with alcohol metabolism-related materials, such as external amino acids and sugars.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.148-156
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• 2019

Esophagogastric junction (EGJ) cancer is a solid tumor entity with rapidly increasing incidence in the Western countries. Given the high proportion of advanced cancers in the West, treatment strategies routinely employed include surgery and chemotherapy perioperatively, and chemoradiation in neoadjuvant settings. Neoadjuvant chemoradiation and perioperative chemotherapy are mostly performed in esophageal cancer that extends to the EGJ and gastric as well as EGJ cancers, respectively. Recent trials have tried to combine both strategies in a perioperative context, which might have beneficial outcomes, especially in patients with EGJ cancer. However, it is difficult to recruit patients for trials, exclusively for EGJ cancers; therefore, the results have to be carefully reviewed before establishing a standard protocol. Trastuzumab was the first drug for targeted therapy that was positively evaluated for this tumor entity, and there are several ongoing trials investigating more targeted drugs in order to customize effective therapies based on tissue characteristics. The current study reviews the multimodal treatment concept for EGJ cancers in the West and summarizes the latest reports.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.1-10
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• 2020

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the composition, bibliographic characteristics, and contents of the book, Dongeuisasangjinryoeuijeon(東醫四象診療醫典). Method The images of this book published in 1941 at Haenglim publishing company, stored in the National Library of Korea were acquired and used as basic data, and books related to Sasang constitutional medicine such as Dongeuisasangshinpyun (東醫四象新編), Dongmuyugo(東武遺稿), and Sasanggeumgyebibang(四象金匱秘方) were compared. Result Many of the data were based on the Dongeuisasangshinpyun(東醫四象新編), and were made with reference to Dongmuyugo(東武遺稿) and Sasanggeumgyebibang(四象金匱秘方) partly. This book is thought to be made to be used conveniently for clinicians at the time when data on Sasang Constitutional Medicine was insufficient. In particular, it can be said that the mention of well-established diagnostic method, drugs that cause adverse reactions when a patient of a different constitution takes them and the quatrains of prescriptions using seven Chinese characters in each line are very unique. Conclusion Although most of the books, including Dongeuisasangshinpyun(東醫四象新編), were cited, it is thought that the book was well-organized in order to provide good information to the clinicians practicing Sasang Constitutional Medicine at the time. For the original part of this book, further research should be conducted.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.181-214
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• 2022

Pediatric epilepsy, a chronic, recurrent brain disorder, is the most common neurological disorder in children. Its prevalence is increasing. Early management is very important since 30~40% of cases persist into adulthood. To provide basic data for future clinical research on pediatric epilepsy using Korean medicine treatment and cooperation between Western medicine doctors and Korean medicine doctors, we reviewed recent clinical research in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) using herbal medicine for pediatric epilepsy. A total of 23 articles (1 clinical practice guideline, 3 systematic reviews, 15 randomized controlled trials (RCTs), and 4 non-RCTs) were reviewed in this study. The authors summarized characteristics of included studies regarding study subjects, diagnostic tools, pattern identification tools, treatment period, evaluation tools, detail of herbal medicines, treatment effects, and adverse events. Combination therapy using both herbal medicine (HM) and anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs) was performed more frequently than herbal medicine alone. Liver-pacifying medicinal, water-draining medicine, and orifice-opening medicine were frequently used. The main single HMs were Cheonma, Boglyeong, Jogudeung, and Seogchangpo. Combined therapy using HM and AEDs had significant benefits in improving total effective rate. It also appeared to be safer than AEDs. However, since the quality of clinical trials was poor and only studies in the last 10 years were included, the clinical evidence was uncertain. Finally, the authors provided limitations of this study and several suggestions for future research based on our analysis results.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.145-152
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• 2022

Colon rectal cancer is one of the frequently diagnosed cancers worldwide. In recent times the drug discovery for colon cancer is challenging because of their speedy metastasis and morality of these patients. C-jun N-terminal kinase signaling pathway controls the cell cycle survival and apoptosis. Evidence has shown that JNK1 promotes the tumor progression in various types of cancers like colon cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer. Recent study has shown that inhibiting, JNK1 pathway is identified as one of the important cascades in drug discovery. One of the recent approaches in the field of drug discovery is drug repurposing. In drug repurposing approach we have virtually screened ChEMBL dataset against JNK1 protein and their interactions have been studied through Molecular docking. Cross docking was performed with the top compounds to be more specific with JNK1 comparing the affinity with JNK2 and JNK3.The drugs which exhibited higher binding were subjected to Conceptual - Density functional theory. The results showed mainly Entrectinib and Exatecan showed better binding to the target.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.179-186
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• 2022

The c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK3) play major role in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, cerebral ischemia and other Central Nervous System disorders. Since JNK3 is primarily stated in the brain and stimulated by stress-stimuli, this situation is conceivable that inhibiting JNK3 could be a possible treatment for the mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases. In this study drugs from Zinc15 database were screened to identify the JNK3 inhibitors by Molecular docking and Density functional theory approach. Molecular docking was done by Autodock vina and the ligands were selected based on the binding affinity. Our results identified top ten novel ligands as potential inhibitors against JNK3. Molecular docking revealed that Venetoclax, Fosaprepitant and Avapritinib exhibited better binding affinity and interacting with proposed binding site residues of JNK3. Density functional theory was used to compute the values for energy gap, lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), and highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO). The results of Density functional theory study showed that Venetoclax, Fosaprepitant and Avapritinib serves as a lead compound for the development of JNK3 small molecule inhibitors.

• Korean Journal of Exercise Nutrition
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.19-24
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• 2020

[Purpose] Although physical activity is required to prevent or ameliorate osteoporosis, medicine prescription should precede it, since it may be limited in severe osteoporosis patients. Furthermore, osteoporosis has a great effect on physical activity disorders that accompany fractures and pain, and therefore, research on treatment or prevention to decrease the number of patients is required. The purpose of this study was to discover candidate substances from natural products with an effective pharmacological action and to prepare basic data to help patients. [Methods] To prepare the osteoporosis model, ovariectomy (OVX) was performed using surgical methods. The prepared prescription [Shinkiwhan (SKH), a Korean medicine] was administered orally at a dose of 210 mg/kg/day for 8 weeks. After completion of the animal experiment, the bone mineral density (BMD) was analyzed using double-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The analysis of the effect of drugs on bones was performed using histological analysis and immunostaining. [Results] SKH increased the BMD in the OVX rats. Furthermore, SKH significantly increased the expression of osteoprotegerin and downregulated receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa B ligand and phosphorylation of c-jun N-terminal kinases in the bones of the OVX model. [Conclusion] Our findings suggest a protective effect of SKH against BMD loss in the OVX model.