• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.119-138
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• 2000

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of the bee venom(BV) aqua-acupuncture on the neuronal activities of serotonergic(5-HT) system in the brainstem. After the BV aqua-acupuncture was applied on Chok-Samni(ST36) and the gluteal part(Blank locus) in rats, the number of Fos immunoreactive neurons was counted by using computerized image analyzing system. Also, the number of colocalization between 5-HT containing neurons Fos immunoreactive neurons were analyzed by using the double immunohistochemical technique. The results of the experiments were summarized as follows : 1. In almost every neucli, the Chok-Samni group and Blank locus group showed more increase in the number of Fos immunoreactive neurons than the control group. Especially, in Arc, DR, LC, RMg, Gi, PAG Rost and PAG LV, the Chok-Samni group showed more significant increase than the control group. Also, in PAG LV Mid and Arc, Chok-Samni group showed more significant increase than the Blank locus group. 2. In DR and PAG LV Mid, Chok-Samni group and the Blank locus group showed more significant increase in the number of colocalization between 5-HT containing neurons and Fos immunoreactive neurons than the control group after the BV aqua- acupuncture. Also, the Chok-Samni group showed more significant increase than the Blank locus group. Consequently, the BV aqua-acupuncture increased more potent the number of Fos immunoreactive neurons and the activity of serotonergic neurons. Furthermore, the BV aqua-acupuncture was more effective on Chok-Samni than Blank locus group. These results indicate that the BV aqua-acupuncture is very effective therapy to control pain. The therapeutic effect of BV aqua-acupunture may associated with the endogenous modulatory system such as serotonin Those data from the study can be applied to establish the effective treatment of the BV for pain control in the clinical field.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.111-119
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• 2014

Objectives : I investigated whether Bee Venom can synergistically strengthen the cytotoxic effects of NK-92 cells, enhancing the inhibition of the growth of Lung Cancer Cells including A549 and NCI-H460 through induction of death receptor dependent extrinsic apoptosis and NO generation in the Nitro-oxide pathway. Methods : Bee Venom inhibited cell proliferation of A549 or NCI-H460 Human Lung Cancer Cells as well as NK-92 Cells. Moreover, when they were co-punctured with NK cells and concomitantly treated by 3 ${\mu}g/ml$ of Bee Venom, more influence was exerted on inhibition of proliferation of A549 or NCI-H460 Human Lung Cancer Cells than BV or NK cell co-culture alone. Results : The expression of Fas, TNFR2, DR3, DR6 in A549 Lung Cancer Cells was significantly increased by co-culture of NK-92 cells and treatment of 3 ${\mu}g/ml$ of Bee Venom, compared to co-culture of NK-92 cells alone, whereas the expression of Fas, TNFR2, DR6 in NCI-H460 Lung Cancer Cells was significantly increased by co-culture of NK-92 cells, representing no synergistic effects in the co-culture of NK-92 cell and concomitant treatment of 3 ${\mu}g/ml$ of Bee Venom. Coincidently, caspase-8, a expression of pro-apoptotic proteins in the extrinsic apoptosis pathway demonstrated same results as the above. Meanwhile, In NO generation, there is little change of NO generation in co-culture of NK-92 cells with A549 cells as well as the co-culture of NK-92 cell with them and concomitant treatment of 3 ${\mu}g/ml$ of Bee Venom, whereas increase of NO generation was shown in co-culture of NK-92 cells with NCI-H460 cells as well as the co-culture of NK-92 cell with them and concomitant treatment of 3 ${\mu}g/ml$ of Bee Venom, although synergistic effects by Bee Venom was not found. Conclusions : These present data provide that Bee Venom could be useful candidate compounds to enhance lung cancer growth inhibiting ability of NK-92 cells through DR expression and the related apoptosis.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.11-18
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• 2000

Bee-venom Acupucture has good effect on pain control but We may be anxious about the problem of Liver and Kidneys on many times treated patients. Therefore, In order to analysis the clinical form, We have observed the LFT, RFT of 37 patients who visited Won-Kwang University Kunpo Oriental Medical Hospital and treated Bee Venom therapy over 20 times from March 1999 to February 2000. The results were summarized as follows 1. The distribution of sex was 25 females, 12 males, and the average of patients age was 42.3 years 2. The distribution of disease was degenerative arthritis, HIVD of L-spine, HIVD of C-spine, spinal stenosis, RA, etc. 3. The total treated times is 1464 and the average of treated times is 39.6 times 4. The results of the LFT(AST, ALT) of 37 patients showed that normal impression is occupied 91.9% and abnormal impression is occupied 8.1%. 5. The results of the RFT(BLTN, Creatinine) of 37 patients showed that normal impression is occupied 100%. 6. The results of treatment using BV-acupunture showed that 81.1% achieved above excelent recovery 13.5% achieved above good recovery, 5.4% achieved fair recovery.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.22-26
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• 2014

Objectives: This study was performed to estimate the effectiveness of burning acupuncture therapy (Hwachim) and sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture (S-BV pharmacopuncture) in treating lateral epicondylitis of elbow. Methods: We selected 33 patients at first, but 13 patients were excluded due to unclear medical records. Finally, a total of 20 patients who had received treatment from January 2012 to December 2013 were included in this study; all 20 patients had undergone Hwachim for the treatment of lateral epicondylitis of elbow, and 19 of the 20 had been treated with S-BV pharmacopuncture (Korea Pharmacopuncture Institute, KPI) and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) as an ancillary treatment method. The degrees of pain of the 20 patients were evaluated by using the visual analogue scale (VAS) score at their first and final visits. The Wilcoxon signed rank test and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used to compare the VAS scores statistically. Results: The VAS score had decreased significantly from $10.00{\pm}0.00$ to $4.00{\pm}2.47$ (P = 0.000) by the end of the treatment. No significant changes were observed based on the number of treatments (P = 0.246), the age of the patients (P = 0.810), the duration of the illness (P = 0.705), and the location of the lesion (P = 0.076). Conclusion: This study suggests Hwachim and S-BV pharmacopuncture are very effective for treating lateral epicondylitis of the elbow.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.85-92
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• 2010

Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare the effects of Sweet Bee Venom(Sweet BV) Therapy between the hand paresthesia patients with Osteoporosis and without Osteoporosis. Methods: This study was carried out to established the clinical criteria of hand parethesia. The patients who had past history of diabeics, neuropathy induced by alcohol or drug and was positive on Myofacial Pain Syndrome Theory were excluded. 32 patients who had hand paresthesia related with unknown-reason was selected by the interview process. And the effects of treatment were analyzed using VAS score before treatment, after treatment, after 1 month and after 3 months. Results and conclusion: After treatment, While Osteoporosis group decrease from $64.81{\pm}7.81$ to $27.21{\pm}7.32$, Non-Osteoporosis group decrease from $58.76{\pm}1.43$ to $24.74{\pm}3.81$ by VAS scores. and After 3 months, While Osteoporosis group increase from $27.21{\pm}7.32$ to $54.96{\pm}9.40$, Non Osteoporosis group increase from $24.74{\pm}3.81$ to $32.43{\pm}5.57$. Non-Osteoporosis group was accordingly more effective than Osteoporosis group after 3 months. So Sweet BV therapy for hand numbness patients without Osteoporosis was e effective than patients with Osteoporosis.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.1251-1255
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• 2005

Articular cartilage is an important factor for studying the arthritic diseases. The chondrocyte isolated from cartilage has the characieristic of differentiation and rf-differentiation when cultured in monolayer The bee venom (BV) acupuncture was investigated to examine their abilities on chondrocyte re-differentiation via rabbit chondrocyte primary culture. And the expression profiles of type II collagen (COL2) was analyzed using RT-PCR and western hybridization at third passage chondrocyte. In general, the mRNA expression of type II collagen was reduced step by step with the subculture of the chondrocyte. However, after the BV treatment for 48hr at third passage, the expressions of type II collagen were found to be significantly up-regulated, the same result was confirmed by western blotting. These results suggested that the diluted solution of BV for herb-acupuncture was very effective on the recovery of articular chondrocyte phenotype.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.229-240
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• 2015

Objectives : The purpose of this report is to show the effect of complex traditional Korean medical care focused on warm needling(WN) and bee venom(BV) injection for a patient suffering from traumatic brachial plexus injury(BPI). Methods : A 51-year-old female patient with BPI was suffering from paresis and hypoesthesia with upper-extremity impairment. The patient had been treated once a day from 4 Feb to 11 Apr of 2015 mainly with WN and BV injection on the acupoints near the distribution of the brachial plexus. Improvement of the symptoms was measured by range of motion(ROM), manual muscle test(MMT) grip strength, and with the numeric rating scale(NRS) of tactile and pain sensitivity. Results : After 67 days of treatment, all obtained results showed remarkable improvement. The patient's satisfaction declaration was recorded through an interview at the end of the treatment. Conclusions : The results suggest that anatomically concerned WN and BV treatment can be a valuable option in reducing or normalizing pains from traumatic BPI.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.239-246
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• 2018

Objective : This case study reports the therapeutic effect of Korean Medicine (KM) treatments including CS(care special pain) and BV(bee venom) pharmacopuncture on herniated intervertebral disc(HIVD) of lumbar spine(L-spine). Methods : Two patients diagnosed with HIVD of L-spine were treated with CS and BV pharmacopuncture on GV3 and EX-B2, acupuncture, cupping, and herbal medicine. The Numeric Rating Scale(NRS), the Oswestry low back pain Disablility Index(ODI) and the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire(RMDQ) scores were evaluated before and after treatment for comparison. Results : Low back pain(LBP) and radiating pain was improved with a decrease in patients' NRS, ODI and RMDQ scores. Conclusion : These results suggest that KM treatments including combined CS and BV pharmacopuncture could be an effective treatment on patients with HIVD of L-Spine.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.245-250
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• 2019

Background: This study was designed to evaluate the clinical safety of Bee Venom (BV) pharmacopuncture at craniofacial acupuncture points. Methods: This was a retrospective study of 108 patients diagnosed with peripheral facial paralysis, trigeminal neuralgia, or facial spasm who were admitted to Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital at Gangdong, from April 1st, 2017 to August 30th, 2017. Patients were allocated into either, Group 1 (the non-allergy group of patients who did not have an allergic reaction to BV) or Group 2, the group who had allergic reactions to BV. To evaluate the clinical safety of BV pharmacopuncture after each treatment, several criteria were used to measure any side effects: outcome, Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events scale, Mueller HL scale, treatment decision after adverse reaction, causality, measures performed for patients with adverse reactions, and efficacy assessment. Results: BV pharmacopuncture delivered in 0.1-0.2 mL at a concentration of 1:30,000 at the craniofacial acupuncture points, showed no statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics between non-allergy Group 1 and allergy Group 2. Amongst the 108 patients, 11 reported side effects after BV pharmacopuncture treatment. These adverse events included rash (n = 7), pruritus (n = 5), swelling (n = 1), vesicles (n = 1), erythema (n = 1), and hives (n = 1). All side effects resolved without sequelae. Conclusion: In this study, BV pharmacopuncture delivered at low doses at the craniofacial acupuncture points, resulted in 10% of patients experiencing non serious side effects suggesting that BV pharmacopuncture was clinically well tolerated.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.33-46
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• 2006

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of neurodegenerative disease associated with aging in the human population. This disease is characterized by the extracellular deposition of beta-amyloid peptide $(A{\beta})$ in cerebral plaques. $A{\beta}$ is derived from the ${\beta}-amyloid$ precursor protein (APP) by the enzymes, ${\beta}-$ and ${\eta}o-secretase$. Compounds that ${\beta}-$ or ${\eta}o-secretase$ inhibit activity, can reduce the production of $A{\beta}$ peptides, and thus have therapeutic potential in the treatment of AD. Increasing body of evidence has been demonstrated that Bee Venom(BV) Acupuncture could compete with complex protein involving in multiple step of $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation and exert the anti-inflammatory potential of combined inhibition of the prostanoid and nitric oxide synthesis systems by inhibition of IKK and $NF-{\kappa}B$. In this study, I investigated possible effects of BV on memory dysfunction caused by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and $A{\beta}$ through inhibition of secretases activities and $A{\beta}$ aggregation. I examined the improving effect of BV on the LPS (2.5 mg/Kg, i.p.)-induced memory dysfunction using passive avoidance response and water maze tests in the mice. BV (0.84, $1.67\;{\mu}g/ml$) reversed the LPS-induced memorial dysfunction in dose dependent manner. BV also dose-dependently attenuated LPS-induced ${\beta}$ and ${\eta}o-secretase$ activities in cerebral cortex and hippocampus of the mice brain. This study therefore suggests that BV acupuncture method may be useful for prevention of development or progression of AD.