• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.15
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• pp.6237-6241
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• 2015

Usage of traditional, complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) has gained popularity over the past few years. However, very little is known about TCAM use among Malaysian cancer patients. This study aimed to identify the determinants of TCAM usage among cancer patients with determination of relationships between demographic factors, patient satisfaction with conventional treatment, knowledge on TCAM and healthcare professional influence. Patient's perceptions towards TCAM were also determined. A simple random convenient sampling method was used to recruit 354 patients from Hospital Kuala Lumpur between February to April 2013. All were directly interviewed with a structured questionnaire. In this study, 172 respondents were TCAM users. There was no significant differences between demographic background of respondents in the usage of TCAM. Minimal correlation was found between patient satisfaction with the conventional treatment and usage of TCAM (r=0.091). A poor correlation was found between healthcare professional's influence and TCAM usage (r=-0.213) but the results suggested that increase in influence would decrease TCAM usage. Patient TCAM knowledge correlated negatively with the TCAM usage (r=-0.555) indicated that cancer patients are less likely to use TCAM when they have more TCAM knowledge. Healthcare professionals should be fully equipped with the necessary TCAM knowledge while maintaining patient satisfaction with the conventional treatment. They should also intervene on patient TCAM usage where a potential drug interaction or a harmful adverse event can occur.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.97-106
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• 2018

Objectives: The combined use of herbal and Western medicine is increasing. However, herbal medicine is highly likely to interact with Western medicine making it important to understand the effects of co-administration. This study investigates the ratio of patients who take Western medicine with herbal medicine, the types of medicines commonly prescribed together, and the results of hospital examinations. Methods: We investigated patients who were hospitalized at Kyung Hee University Korean Medical Hospital for at least one day from January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2017. There were some inclusion criteria. First, we chose patients aged 19 and over. Second, we chose patients who were diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA) with diagnosis codes M13, M15, M17 according to KCD-7. Third, patients had liver function tests, renal function tests, and general hematology tests performed at least two times during hospitalization. Results: Among a total of 131 OA patients, 32 (24.4%) patients were treated with herbal-Western medicine combination therapy. The most commonly prescribed herbal medicine was Daegalwhal-tang, and the most commonly prescribed Western medicine was celecoxib. In the laboratory findings, all liver function tests, renal function tests, and general hematology tests showed no difference compared to admission day. There were also no differences between herbal medicine single treatment and herbal-Western medicine combination treatment. Conclusions: From these results, we suggest that herbal medicine single treatment and herbal-Western medicine combination treatment for OA patients does not cause adverse effects.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.223-233
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• 2018

Topical anesthetics are commonly used in oral & maxillofacial surgery to control pain in the oral cavity mucosa before local anesthetic injection. These anesthetic agents come in many forms, developed for different usages, to minimize adverse reactions, and for optimal anesthetic efficiency. Earlier studies have revealed that these agents may also limit the growth of microorganisms in the area of anesthetic application. Many topical anesthetic agents show different levels of antimicrobial activity against various bacterial strains and Candida. The dosage of local anesthetic agent used in some clinical preparations is too low to show a significant effect on microbial activity. Efficiency of antimicrobial activity depends on the local anesthetic agent's properties of diffusion within the bloodstream and binding efficiency with cytoplasmic membrane, which is followed by disruption of the bacterial cell membrane. The antimicrobial properties of these agents may extend their usage in patients to both control pain and infection. To develop the topical local anesthetic optimal usage and antimicrobial effect, a collaborating antiseptic agent may be used to benefit the local anesthetic. However, more research is required regarding minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of topical local anesthetic agents with drug interaction between anesthetics and antiseptic agents.

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.19-27
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• 2017

Understanding complex relationships among heterogeneous biological data is one of the fundamental goals in biology. In most cases, diverse biological data are stored in relational databases, such as MySQL and Oracle, which store data in multiple tables and then infer relationships by multiple-join statements. Recently, a new type of database, called the graph-based database, was developed to natively represent various kinds of complex relationships, and it is widely used among computer science communities and IT industries. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of using a graph-based database for complex biological relationships by comparing the performance between MySQL and Neo4j, one of the most widely used graph databases. We collected various biological data (protein-protein interaction, drug-target, gene-disease, etc.) from several existing sources, removed duplicate and redundant data, and finally constructed a graph database containing 114,550 nodes and 82,674,321 relationships. When we tested the query execution performance of MySQL versus Neo4j, we found that Neo4j outperformed MySQL in all cases. While Neo4j exhibited a very fast response for various queries, MySQL exhibited latent or unfinished responses for complex queries with multiple-join statements. These results show that using graph-based databases, such as Neo4j, is an efficient way to store complex biological relationships. Moreover, querying a graph database in diverse ways has the potential to reveal novel relationships among heterogeneous biological data.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.91-115
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• 2020

Objective : This study's purpose was to review the clinical studies of Galgeun-tang. Method : We searched papers about Galgeun-tang using KISS, RISS, OASIS, PUBMED and J-stage. The key words we used were "Galgeuntang", "Kakkonto", "Ge gen tang", and "Pueraria Decoction". Papers not matched with inclusion criteria were excluded. Results : Until today, there have been 223 studies on Galgeun-tang. Of these, 25 studies were classified as clinical research papers. There were 4 cases of fever, 5 cases of inflammation on respiratory system, 3 cases of head, neck and shoulder disorder, 2 cases of diarrhea, 6 cases of pharmacokinetics and interaction, 5 cases of side effect. Conclusion : It can be seen that Galgeun-tang has established the basis for application to the purpose of treating fever (common cold, influenza), inflammation on respiratory system (nasal obstruction, maxillary sinus retention cyst, mucoid pseudomonas aeruginosa chronic lower respiratory tract infection), head, neck and shoulder disorder (temporomandibular disorders, shoulder stiffness, tetanus), and diarrhea. On the other hand, considering 4 cases of side effect on drug eruption, caution should be exercised when observing the progress of the patient taking Galgeun-tang.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2006

Biodevices composed of biomolecular layer by mimicking the natural functions of cells and the interaction mechanisms of the constituted biomolecules have been developed in various industrial fields such as medical diagnosis, drug screening, electronic device, bioprocess, and environmental pollution detection. To construct biodevices such as bioelectronic devices (biomolecular diode, bio-information storage device and bioelectroluminescence device), protein chip, DNA chip, and cell chip, biomolecules including DNA, protein, and cells have been used. Fusion technology consisting of immobilization technology of biomolecules, micro/nano-scale patterning, detection technology, and MEMs technology has been used to construct the biodevices. Recently, nanotechnology has been applied to construct nano-biodevices. In this paper, the current technology status of biodevice including its fabrication technology and applications is described and the future development direction is proposed.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.1-24
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• 2011

Backgrounds: Danggui, one of the major herbs in Korean traditional medicine consists of three species: Angelica gigas of Korea, Angelica sinensis of China, and Angelica acutiloba of Japan. Despite its importance in Korean traditional medicine, recognition of the clinical differences between its three species is insufficient. Objectives: The purpose of the present review is to suggest evidence in using Angelica gigas, Angelica sinensis, and Angelica acutiloba distinctively in clinic, by comparing their pharmacological effects and bioactive compounds. Methods: We searched articles published from 2000 to 2009 in Pubmed, EMbase, and RISS. The search keywords were "Angelica gigas", "Angelica sinensis", "Angelica acutiloba", "dongquei", "toki", "Angelicae Radix", "Archangelica officinalis Hoffm.", "Garden Angelica", "Chinese angelica root", "tangkuei", and "danggui". 861 articles were searched. Among them, we selected 143 articles which met our inclusion criteria. Results: This review summarizes active constituents, experimental studies, clinical studies, pharmacokinetics, side effects and toxicity, drug interaction, and industrial use of Angelica gigas, Angelica sinensis, and Angelica acutiloba. Conclusions: While Angelica sinensis and Angelica acutiloba are relatively similar, Angelica gigas is quite different from the others in main active constituents and genetic form. The main experimental studies of Danggui are cardiovascular studies, central nervous system studies and anti-cancer activity. Even though there were cases in which the three species show similar pharmacological effects, the mechanism was not always shared. Therefore, distinguished use of Angelica gigas, Angelica sinensis and Angelica acutiloba is needed.

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
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• v.40 no.2
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• pp.85-90
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• 2010

Docetaxel-loaded liposomes were prepared by emulsion-solvent evaporation method, then coated with chitosan at room temperature and lyophilized. This system was designed in order to improve solubility and stability of docetaxel in the GI tract for oral drug delivery. The solubilizing effect of some frequently used solubilizers and/or liposome was determined. Among the results docetaxel-loaded liposomes prepared with 0.5% TPGS as a solubilizer showed 100-fold higher solubility than docetaxel. In a stability test, mean particle size of different liposome formulations was measured by a particle size analyzer in simulated gastric fluid (SGF) and in simulated intestinal fluid (SIF). The particle size of uncoated liposomes was significantly increased compared with that of chitosan-coated liposomes in SGF, however, there was no significant difference between coated and uncoated liposome in SIF. It is evident that chitosan-coated liposomes were more stable in GI conditions. The release characteristics of docetaxel-loaded liposomes were also investigated in three buffer solutions (pH 1.2, 4.0, 6.8). Docetaxel release did not occur in pH 1.2 for 4 hrs. However, in pH 4.0 and 6.8 conditions, docetaxel was gradually released over 24 hrs as a sustained release. It seems that aggregation and precipitation of particles by electrostatic interaction might protect docetaxel from being released. In Conclusion, the results from this study show that the chitosan-coated liposomes may be useful in enhancing solubility and GI stability of docetaxel.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.200-230
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• 2012

Objectives: Ginseng, Panax ginseng C. A., white ginseng, has been used for thousands of years in Traditional Korean Medicine. Red ginseng can be made by a steaming process of white ginseng changing a variety of ginsenosides and ingredients such as dencichine. This article reviews red ginseng for mechanisms for pharmacodynamics and toxicity based on the content of ginseng's active ingredients, ginsenoside changed by steaming. Methods: The following electronic databases were searched: PubMed, Science Direct and Chinese Scientific Journals full text database (CQVIP), and KSI (Korean Studies Information) from their respective inceptions to June 2012. Results: Compared with unsteamed ginseng, the content of ginsenosides Rg2, Rg3, Rg5, Rh1, Rh2 and Rk1 called red ginseng-specific ginsenosides increased after the steaming process. Different ginsenosides have shown a wide variety of effects such as lowering or raising blood sugar and blood pressure or stimulating or sedating the nervous system. Especially, the levels of Rg2, Rg3, Rg5, Rh1, Rh2 and Rk1 were increased by the steaming process, showing a variety of pharmacodynamics in biological systems. Also, various processing methods such as puffing and fermentation have been developed in processing crude ginseng or red ginseng, affecting the content of ginseng's ingredients. The safety issue could be the most critical, specifically, on changed ginseng's ingredients such as dencichine. The level of dencichine was significantly reduced in red ginseng by the steaming process. In addition, the possible toxicity for red ginseng was affected by cytochrome P450, a herbal-drug interaction. Conclusions: The variety of pharmacological and toxicological properties should be changed by steaming process of Panax ginseng C. A., white ginseng. Even if it is not sure whether the steaming process of white ginseng would be better pharmacologically, it is sure that steaming reduces the level of dencichine causing a lower toxicity to the nervous system.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.647-655
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• 2008

Microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase (mPGES-1) is a potent target for pain and inflammation. Various QSAR (quantitative structure activity relationship) analyses used to understand the factors affecting inhibitory potency for a series of MK886 analogues. We derived four QSAR models utilizing various quantum mechanical (QM) descriptors. These QM models indicate that steric, electrostatic and hydrophobic interaction can be important factors. Common pharmacophore hypotheses (CPHs) also have studied. The QSAR model derived by best-fitted CPHs considering hydrophobic, negative group and ring effect gave a reasonable result (q2 = 0.77, r2 = 0.97 and Rtestset = 0.90). The pharmacophore-derived molecular alignment subsequently used for 3D-QSAR. The CoMFA (Comparative Molecular Field Analysis) and CoMSIA (Comparative Molecular Similarity Indices Analysis) techniques employed on same series of mPGES-1 inhibitors which gives a statistically reasonable result (CoMFA; q2 = 0.90, r2 = 0.99. CoMSIA; q2 = 0.93, r2 = 1.00). All modeling results (QM-based QSAR, pharmacophore modeling and 3D-QSAR) imply steric, electrostatic and hydrophobic contribution to the inhibitory activity. CoMFA and CoMSIA models suggest the introduction of bulky group around ring B may enhance the inhibitory activity.