• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.5 no.1 s.8
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• pp.181-188
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• 2002

Objective: Through the literatures on the effects of Buthus martensii Karsch, we are finding out the clinical possibility and revealing the more effctive to intractable diseases. Method: We investigated the literatures of Oriental Medicine and experimental reports about Buthus martensii Karsch. Results: 1. The taste of Buthus martensii Karsch is salty, hot and toxic, and the effect of this is tetanus, headache, facial palsy and convulsion. 2. The venom of Buthus martensii Karsch is anaesthetic and toxic protein, composed of buthotoxin, lecithin, trimethylamine, betaine, taurine, cholesterol, stearic acid and palmitic acid and similar to the snake venom. 3. The pharmacological effects ofButhus martensii Karsch are anti-convulsion, depressor, anesthesia, anti-thrombosis and anti-cancer. 4. Symptoms of Buthotoxin poisoning are local pain, vomiting, fever, hypertension and palpitaion, and critical condition to Dyspnea, coma and death.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.208-218
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• 1998

To clarify the activating effects of Buthus martensi Karsch on immunological function, its effect on primary and secondary antibodies production in mice of various ages was investigated. Buthus martensi Karsch increased the number of both antibody producing cells(anti-IgM and anti-IgG producing plaque forming cells, PFC) and phagocytic activity of peritoneal macrophage. Futhermore, these phenomena were significantly increased with aging in mice. Buthus martensi Karsch also increased natural killer cell activity concerning to cancer immunology. These results suggest that Buthus martensi Karsch markedly increases the reduced activity in the elderly and activates the immune response in senescence mice.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.177-188
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• 2002

Objective : The purpose of this study is to investigate the immunohistological effect of Buthus martensi Karsch Herbal-acupuncture in treating the arthritis, performed several experimental items : those are paw edema, $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6, IL-8, $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $PGE_2$. Methods : All the male Sprague Dawley rats used in this study were bred and maintaned in our pathogen-free rat colony and were 8 weeks of age at the start of to experiment. The experimental model of arthritis was induced by injection of $50{\mu}g/{\mu}{\ell}$ adjuvant(mineral oil mixed Mycobacterium butyricum). Buthus martensi Karsch Herbal-acupuncture was injected into ST36(足三里) of rats daily for 21 days. Immunohistological analysis was carried out to assess paw edema, $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6, IL-8, $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $PGE_2$ expression in synovial membrane and sera Buthus martensi Karsch Herbal-acupuncture injected. Results : Buthus martensi Karsch Herbal-acupuncture group showed a decrease with statistical significance, in paw edema, $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6, IL-8, $TNF-{\alpha}$ and $PGE_2$ in synovial membrane and sera compared with control group. Conclusion : Buthus martensi Karsch Herbal-acupuncture stimulation inhibited the development of immunity to adjuvant induced arthritis in rats. Thus, Buthus martensi Karsch Herbal-acupuncture may have preventive effects on autoimmune inflammatory joint diseases as arthritis. The effect of Buthus martensi Karsch Herbal-acupuncture on the immune function and the disease activity in patients with arthritis warrants further investigation.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.199-213
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• 1997

In convulsion state by PTZ in rat, anticonvulsive effect and some of ${\gamma}-aminobutyric$ acid(GABA)-related mechanisms of Buthus extract in brain was experimented. It was inhibited GABA-T activity, lipid peroxide generation and xanthine oxidase activity as scheduled administration in vitro and vivo. And the content of brain glutathione was increased as scheduled administration in rat. In convulsion state by PTZ of previously managed rat by Buthus extract, onset time and duration were non-specific changes but recovery time and severity was remarkably reduced. In conclusion speculated that Buthus extract inhibits convulsion by control of GABA content In brain.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.431-441
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• 1998

This study was undertaken to determine whether Buthus exract(BTE) affects Na^+-K^+-ATPase$ activity of nervous tissues. The enzym activity was measured in synaptosomal fraction prepared from rabbit brain cortex. Na^+-K^+-ATPase$ activity was inhibited by BTE over concentration range of 0.05-0.5% in a dose-dependent manner. The enzyme activity was increased by an increase in $Na^+$ concentration from 5 to 100mM, $K^+$ concentration from 0.5 to 10mM, and $Mg^{2+}$ concentration from 0.2 to 5mM. These changes in ion concentrations did not produce any effect on the inhibitory effect of BTE on $Na^+-K^+-ATPase$ activity. An increase in ATP concentration from 0.1 to 3mM caused an increase in the enzyme activity. The inhibition of the enzyme activity by BTE were not different between two ATP concentrations. A sulfhydryl group protector DTT prevented PCMB-induced inhibition of $Na^+-K^+-ATPase$ activity, but the BTE-induced inhibition was not altered by DTT. The inhibition of enzyme activity by combination of ouabain and BTE was not different from that by Buthus alone. These results suggest that Buthus exerts inhibitory effect on $Na^+-K^+-ATPase$ activity in cerebral synaptosomes, and the action mechansim is similar to that of ouabain.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.251-257
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• 2000

To clarifiy the activating effects of Buthus martensi Karsch(BMK) on tumor promotion in two-stage carcinogenesis in mice was investigated. In vivo system, BMK was seen to gave an inhibitory activity on TPA-induced mouse ear edema. In addition, the BMK was proved to have antitumor-promoting activity in two-stage mouse skin carcinogenesis induced by DMBA and two-stage mouse lung carcinogenesis induced by 4-NQO as a initiator plus TPA and glycerol as a promoter. Moreover, BMK significantly exhibited an cytolytic effect in HepG2 cells and showed significant antitumor activity against Sarcoma-180 bearing mice by oral administration. These results suggest that BMK could be effective in adjuvant chemotherapy for human cancer.

• International Journal of Industrial Entomology and Biomaterials
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.161-164
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• 2007

While searching for ${\alpha}$-glucosidase inhibitors, the active compound was found in a methanol extract of Burthus martensi Kirsch. The separation of the active compound was performed using various chromatography methods and the physico-chemical properties of the purified compound were characterized. The compound showed very potent inhibitory activity against ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ with an $IC_{50}$ value of $5.3\;{\mu}g/ml$. Lineweaver-Burk plot indicated that its inhibition of ${\alpha}-glucosidase$ was competitive.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.293-299
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• 1998

The effects of Buthus martensi Karsch (BMK) on natural killer (NK) cell activity in mouse spleen were studied. Water extracted solution of BMK was orally administrated to Balb/c mice for 2 weeks. Among splenic cells, T cell fractions were separated by Nylon wool column. Furthermore, NK cell purification was performed 4.5% percoll gradients methods. The cytotoxcity of NK cell to K562 cell was determined by lactic acid dehydrogenase and $[^3H]-thymidine $ incorporation methods. And the cytotoxicity of effector cell was most effectively induced in a ration of 50:1 (effector/target cell). As a result, cytotoxicity of NK cells was significantly increased compared with control group both in vivo and in vitro systems. The similar cytotoxic effect was shown in $[^3H]-thymidine $ incorporation methods. This suggests that when BMK is administrated to mice with malignant tumors, an increase in NK cell activity may occur and affect K562 tumor cells.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.33-40
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• 2013

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the amino-acid compositions of pharmacopuncture extracts taken from the body and from the tail of Buthus martensii Karsch, which are frequently prescribed in Oriental medicine. Methods: Amino acids in hot water and 70% ethanol extracts taken from the scorpion's whole body and from its tail were screened by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The experiments were performed with linearity, precision and accuracy. Results: The results of the amino-acid-composition analysis showed that the Buthus martensii Karsch extracts contained various amino acids such as aspartic acid, histidine, alanine, tyrosine, and cystine. The amino-acid analysis showed that the hot water extract was more beneficial than the ethanol extract, except for histidine. The amino acids from the tail and the body of the scorpion were compared, and the concentration of aspartic acid in the extract from the scorpion's tail was two times that found in the extract from its body. The results of validation experiments were all satisfactory. Conclusion: Studies on the ingredients in extracts from a scorpion other than buthotoxin may demonstrate that the antiepileptic efficacy, anticancer activity, anti-thrombotic action and analgesic effect are enhanced. Using only the tail of the scorpion when pharmacopuncture is dispensed may be beneficial because the extracts from the tail of the scorpion have higher potency than those from the whole body.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.61-72
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• 2006

Objectives : Human chondrocytes co-treated with Buthus martensi Karsch herbal acupuncture solution(BMK-HAS) extract produced significantly less NO compared with chondrocytes stimulated with $IL-1{\beta}$ alone Methods : Activation and translocation of and NF-kB DNA binding activity were determined by Western blotting and specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results : The inhibition of NO production correlated with the suppression of induction and expression of nuclear factor-kB (NF-kB) and activation protein-1 (AP-1)-dependent gene. BMK-HAS inhibited the activation and translocation of NF-kB to the nucleus, indicating that BMK-HAS inhibits the $IL-1{\beta}-induced$ production of NO in human chondrocytes by interfering with the activation of NF-kB through a novel mechanism. In addition, BMK-HAS reduced prostaglandin E2 (PGE2)production in mouse peritoneal macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide, whereas no influence on the activity of inducible NO synthase (iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) or cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) was observed. My data, therefore, suggest that BMK-HAS may be a therapeutically effective inhibitor of $IL-1{\beta}-induced$ inflammatory effects that are dependent on NF-kB activation in human OA chondrocytes. Conclusion : The results indicate that BMK-HAS exerts anti-inflammatory effects related to the inhibition of neutrophil functions and of NO and PGE2 production, which could be due to a decreased expression of iNOS and COX-2 through the transcription factors NF-kB and AP-1.