• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.189-198
• /
• 2002

Objective : To research the trend of the study related to rheumatoid arthritis(RA) and to establish the hereafter direction of the study on RA. Methods : We have selected 12 medical report about RA in Arthritis & Rheumatism and Journal of Rheumatology recently, reviewed them, and investigated their methods. Results & Conclusions : The pattern of study was as follows: physical & serologic research in 2 articles, immunologic research in 7 articles, and genetic research in 3 articles. There is now evidence of the benefit of treatment early in the disease course and evidence of the impact of treatment on outcomes. New classes of therapeutic agents have also been introduced. Wherever possible, these revised guidelines are evidence-based. By the above results, it would be needed further research on RA mechanism related immunologic and genetic process.

• Korean Journal of Medicinal Crop Science
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.38-44
• /
• 2019

Background: Taraxacum platycarpum has been used in traditional medicine in Korea to treat intoxication and edema and as a diuretic. According to previous reports, it has anti-cancer, anti-gastritis, and anti-inflammation effects. However, the improvement effect of T. platycarpum on rheumatoid arthritis has not been investigated. The anti-oxidative and anti-inflammation effects of the aerial parts of T. platycarpum are different from those of its subterranean parts. Thus, we evaluated the effect of the water extracts of Taraxaci radix (WTR) on type II collagen-induced rheumatoid arthritis (CIA) in animal models. Methods and Results: Rheumatoid arthritis was induced by type II collagen. WTR (100 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg) was administered to the animal models. Methotrexate was used as the positive control. The levels of interleukin-6, TNF-alpha, and type II collagen IgG in the animals were measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Treatment with 500 mg/kg WTR decreased the serum levels of interleukin-6, TNF-alpha, and collagen IgG in the CIA models. Moreover, treatment with WTR diminished the arthritisinduced swelling of the hind legs and monocyte infiltration in the bloodvessels of the animal models. Conclusions: These results indicate that WTR has the potential to improve rheumatoid arthritis by reducing the levels of inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-6 and TNF-alpha. However, further experiments are required to elucidate the influence of WTR on signal transduction in vitro and in vivo.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.228-241
• /
• 2019

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension, diabetes, and dyslipidemia among women with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: This cross-sectional study of 288 women with rheumatoid arthritis was conducted in a university-affiliated hospital. Data were collected by reviewing the women's medical charts and self-report questionnaires. Results: The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia was 27.8%, 5.9% and 48.3%, respectively. Despite the high prevalence of dyslipidemia, the subjects'awareness of it and its treatment rates were the lowest, which resulted in a low control rate. Of the 288 subjects, 158 (55%) had at least one of the three conditions. The prevalence of the combination of cardiovascular risk factors increased with age, and 32.7% of those aged 60 or older had two or three of the cardiovascular risk factors. Combinations of cardiovascular risk factors were significantly related with severe pain and fatigue. Conclusion: Cardiovascular risk factors were highly prevalent among the women with rheumatoid arthritis, but the rates of awareness, treatment, and control were suboptimal. There is a pressing need to facilitate the prevention, early detection and appropriate management of hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia among patients with rheumatoid arthritis in order to prevent cardiovascular disease.

• IMMUNE NETWORK
• /
• v.15 no.4
• /
• pp.177-185
• /
• 2015

Although rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease, diagnosis of RA is currently based on clinical manifestations, and there is no simple, practical assessment tool in the clinical field to assess disease activity and severity. Recently, there has been increasing interest in the discovery of new diagnostic RA biomarkers that can assist in evaluating disease activity, severity, and treatment response. Proteomics, the large-scale study of the proteome, has emerged as a powerful technique for protein identification and characterization. For the past 10 years, proteomic techniques have been applied to different biological samples (synovial tissue/fluid, blood, and urine) from RA patients and experimental animal models. In this review, we summarize the current state of the application of proteomics in RA and its importance in identifying biomarkers and treatment targets.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.23 no.6
• /
• pp.103-115
• /
• 2006

Objectives : Rheumatoid arthritis(RA) is a systemic & a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease . A chronic , locally destructive inflammmatory reaction in human is examplified by the synovitis present in some connective tissue disorder. The presence of a number of cytokines, $TNF-{\alpha}$, iNOS & expression of nitric oxide, NF-kB p65 activation implies an important role of cellular immune response in RA inflammatory reaction. This study was designed to evaluate on the effects of the Homnis Placenta herbal acupuncture on EX-LE201 & ST 35 reducing expression of LPS-induced arthritis model in mice. Materials and Methods : Homnis Placenta herbal acupuncture was inserted into 10 rats induced rheumatoid arthritis. The acupunctures were injected into the EX-LE201 and ST35 points. Such indexes were measured the inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS) expression, nitric oxide(NO) production in vitro experiment and Tumor Necrosis $Factor-{\alpha}(TNF-{\alpha})$ & Nuclear Factor kappa $B(NF-{\kappa}B)$ p65 activation, synovial hyperplasia, angiogenesis and fibrosis in synovial membrane of knee joint of mice in vivo experiment. Results : 1.Homnis Placenta Herbal acupuncture inhibited iNOS mRNA and NO in RAW 264.7 cell of LPS-induced rheumatoid arthritis in a dose dependent manner. 2.Homnis Placenta Herbal acupuncture also showed significant inhibition of $TNF-{\alpha}$ & $NF-{\kappa}B$ p65, activation, synovial hyperplasia, angiogenesis and fibrosis in synovial membrane of knee joint of mice. Conclusion : These results suggest that Homnis Placenta Herbal acupuncture has an therapeutic effects on LPS induced-rheumatoid arthritis by inhibiting $TNF-{\alpha}$ activation.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.1095-1105
• /
• 2009

This study was carried out to know the immunological effect of GDGT on CIA(collagen induced arthritis) mice, a model of rheumatoid arthritis. For this purpose, GDGT was orally administerd to mice with arthritis induced by collagen II and then value of cytotoxicity on hFLSs and liver, the arthritis index, immunocyte in paw joint and DNL, rheumatoid factor (IgG and IgM), collagen II specific antibody in the serum were measured. The cytotoxicity were not shown on hFLSs and liver. The arthritis index decreased significantly after 3 week. In total cell counts of DLN and paw joint, there was a significant increase in DLN and significant decrease in paw joint. In DNL, $CD19^+$, $CD3^+$, $CD4^+$, $CD3^+/CD69^+$, $CD8^+$, $CD4^+/CD25^+$, $ CD3^+/CD49b^+$ cells increased significantly. In Paw joints, $CD3^+$, $ CD4^+$, $CD4^+/CD25^+$ cells decreased significantly. The level of serum IgG and IgM decreased significantly. The level of collagen II in the serum was decreased significantly. Marginal erosion, necrotic chodrocytes, cartilage and bone degradation were improved in histological section of paw joints. The results present significant immunological effect of GDGT on rats with arthritis induced by collgen II. So we expect that GDGT should be used as a effective drugs for not only rheumatoid arthritis but also another auto-immune disease.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.186-191
• /
• 2015

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is associated with an excess mortality from cardiovascular disease which is likely attributed to an atherogenic lipid profile. Among nutritional factors vitamin K has been recently focused as a pivotal nutrient in improvement of lipid related markers. Thus, this study was designed to determine the effects of vitamin K on lipid profile in this disease. SUBJECTS/METHODS: Fifty eight patients with definitive RA were participated in the present double blind placebo controlled study. They were randomly allocated into two groups to receive vitamin $K_1$ as phylloquinone [10 mg/day] (n = 30) or placebo pills (n = 28), for eight weeks. In order to control the effects of probable confounders dietary intakes, anthropometric measurements including weight and height, clinical status using disease activity score-28 (DAS-28), physical activity and anxiety status were evaluated at baseline. Moreover, serum levels of lipid related markers including total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) were measured at baseline and at the end of intervention. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the two groups regarding any of the baseline characteristics. After adjusting for some relevant confounders, in comparison between two groups, we observed no significant changes in lipid related markers at the end of intervention. Also, there was no significant difference between before and after intervention values within groups (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Function of vitamin $K_1$ in lipid profile modification remains still controversial. This study showed that vitamin $K_1$ has no effect on lipid profile in women with rheumatoid arthritis. Further studies with a longer follow-up are required to determine the effects of vitamin K on atherogenic lipid profile.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 1998

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a common systemic inflammatory disease which DMARDS have been widely used as a treatment modality both as monotherapy and combination therapy Bucillamine, one of newer DMARDS, has recently proven its efficacy as monotherapy in the treatment of RA. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy and the safety of bucillamine monotherapy and bucillamine plus methotrexate combination therapy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Forty-nine mild RA patients were enrolled in this prospective, open-trial and were assigned to receive bucillamine 200 mg/day (n=18) or bucillamine 200 mg/day and methotrexate 7.5-15 mg/week (n=31) orally for 16 weeks. Concomitant use of NSAID and prednisolone <5 mg/day or equivalent dose of steroid were allowed. Both monotherapy group and combination therapy group have shown significant improvement in disease activities (Ritchie index, painful joints, swollen joints, morning stiffness, grip strength, ESR, RF, CRP, patient's self assessment of pain, physician's global assessment of disease activity) from the baseline. However, there was no statistically significant difference between two groups. The adverse effects were more frequently shown in combination therapy group than monotherapy group. In conclusion, in patients with mild RA monotherapy has shown to be equally efficacious as combination therapy with less side effects.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.59 no.6
• /
• pp.590-596
• /
• 2016

Objective : Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic disease that can affect the cervical spine, especially the atlantoaxial region. The present study evaluated the risk factors for atlantoaxial subluxation (AAS) development and progression in patients who have undergone surgical treatment. Methods : We retrospectively analyzed the data of 62 patients with RA and surgically treated AAS between 2002 and 2015. Additionally, we identified 62 patients as controls using propensity score matching of sex and age among 12667 RA patients from a rheumatology registry between 2007 and 2015. We extracted patient data, including sex, age at diagnosis, age at surgery, disease duration, radiographic hand joint changes, and history of methotrexate use, and laboratory data, including presence of rheumatoid factor and the C-reactive protein (CRP) level. Results : The mean patient age at diagnosis was 38.0 years. The mean time interval between RA diagnosis and AAS surgery was $13.6{\pm}7.0$ years. The risk factors for surgically treated AAS development were the serum CRP level (p=0.005) and radiographic hand joint erosion (p=0.009). The risk factors for AAS progression were a short time interval between RA diagnosis and radiographic hand joint erosion (p<0.001) and young age at RA diagnosis (p=0.04). Conclusion : The CRP level at RA diagnosis and a short time interval between RA diagnosis and radiographic hand joint erosion might be risk factors for surgically treated AAS development in RA patients. Additionally, a short time interval between RA diagnosis and radiographic hand joint erosion and young age at RA diagnosis might be risk factors for AAS progression.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.1323-1329
• /
• 2005

This study was carried out to know the immunity responses of Sogyughwalhyel-tanggami(SGHHT) to on Rheumatoid Arthritis in Collagen-induced Arthritis(CIA) Mice. Various experimental were peformed to analyse the immunity effects of SGHHT. The cytotoxicity against mLFCs was not measured. The production of pro-inflammatory cytokines $IL-1{\beta}$, IL-6, $TNF-\alpha$ were reduced in hFLSs. The production of pro-inflammatory cytokines $IFN-\gamma$, IgG3, IgG2b, IgM were reduced. Comparison of the results for this study showed that SGHHT had immunomodulatory effects of suppressing or enhancing. So we expect that SGHHT should be used as a effective drugs for not only rheumatoid arthritis but also another auto-immune disease. Therefore we have to survey continuously in looking for the effective substance and mechanism in the future.