• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.443-454
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• 2017

Objectives: This study assessed the application of Oryung-san (Wuling-san or Gorei-san), a common diuretic in traditional medicine, as an antihypertensive agent. Methods: Experimental studies of the pharmacological properties of Oryung-san, including diuretic action and lowering effects on blood pressure, and toxicology and clinical trials were reviewed. Results: In pharmacology, various, relatively safe diuretics are used to lower blood pressure and are the oldest and most studied antihypertensive agents. Despite many new drug approvals, antihypertensive diuretics are frequently used in Korea and Japan where high levels of sodium uptake are common. Oryung-san has been demonstrated to have diuretic, antihypertensive, and nephroprotective effects. Conclusions: Oryung-san might be effective for lowering blood pressure based on the results of this literature review. Further evaluations and large-scale clinical trials of Oryung-san to treat primary hypertension are warranted.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.367-375
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• 2012

The goal of current study is to make a standard pattern identification for post stroke depression using a delphi method. Finally, ten experts of oriental medicine, especially of stroke or depression, participated in Dephi examination. At the first meeting, experts conducted free discussion and determined to use the previous published questionnaires of Deficiency-Excess identification and Cold-Heat identification. From the second round, experts participated in evaluating and correcting the questionnaire by email. New seven questions were added to the questionnaire of Deficiency-Excess identification through the second round. Finally, the standard pattern identification of Cold-Heat or Deficiency-Excess is composed 20 questions and 11 questions, respectively. These pattern identifications for post stroke depression will contribute to research and treatment of oriental medicine.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.1132-1138
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• 2009

Vascular inflammation is an important event in the development of vascular diseases such as tumor progression and atherosclerosis. This study was to investigate the inhibitory effects of WK-38, a new herbal prescription for the treatment of atherosclerosis, on vascular inflammation in human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). WK-38 is composed of Rhei Rhizoma, Magonoliae Cortex, Moutan Cortez Radicis. Pretreatment with WK-38 was significantly blocked TNF-$\alpha$-induced expression level of cell adhesion molecules such as vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1), intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1), and endothelial cell selectin (E-selectin) in a dose-dependent manner. TNF-$\alpha$-induced cell adhesion in co-cultured U937 and HUVEC was also blocked by pretreatment with WK-38. Moreover, WK-38 significantly suppressed p65 NF-${\kappa}B$ translocation into the nucleus by TNF-$\alpha$ as well as the phosphorylation and degradation of $I{\kappa}B-{\alpha}$. In conclusion, the present data suggested that WK-38 could suppress TNF-$\alpha$-induced vascular inflammatory process, though inhibition of NF-${\kappa}B$ activation in HUVEC.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.145-151
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• 2011

Backgrounds: Multidisciplinary approaches including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy are currently being performed to target various cancers in Western Medicine. However, some cancers still remain difficult to battle, which has long attracted many scientists for the discovery of new agents to fight cancers. Ginseng is one of the herbs used in Oriental Medicine including Korea, China and Japan. We have further investigated ginseng for its anticancer effect. Objective: This is a comprehensive review summary of anticancer effect of ginseng and ginsenoids as a possible agent for future cancer treatment. Methods: Data were retrieved from two web sites; www.pubmed.com and www.riss.kr, and authorized texts concerning anticancer effects of ginseng. From collected data, information on anticancer effect of ginseng was thoroughly sorted, restructured, then assessed. Results: Panax Ginseng C.A. Meyer belongs to Araliaceae Panax family, a perennial prairie plant with its root known as Ginseng Radix. Ginseng induces anticancer effect through cell cycle arrest, acceleration of apoptosis, anti-angiogenesis, and suppression of metastasis. Anticancer effect of ginseng may be due to single compound or multi-compound actions. Many studies report involvement of immune mechanisms of cytokines, Natural Killer (NK) cells, macrophages and some antibodies in enhancing anticancer effect of ginseng. In near future, possibility of applying these mechanisms into clinical trials is convinced. There were some important findings on saponin in ginsenoids in reviewing for this article; First, eradication of metastatic tumors were influenced by macrophage activation. Second, suppression of malignant melanoma cell metastasis to lung were induced by macrophage and NK cell activation in spleen with red ginseng acidic polysaccharide (RGAP). Third, final metabolites of M1, M4 had exerted anticancer effect of ginseng. Conclusion: Unknown anticancer mechanisms of ginseng have been studied for many years up until now. Ginseng is comprised of multiple bio-chemical compounds that create complex pharmaceutical interactions. Therefore, for its proper usage and safe prescription, studies on different types of ginseng and patients' susceptibility to ginseng according to their constitution and stages of the disease should be further pursued. More efforts are needed to understand the anticancer mechanisms of ginseng as well.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.899-905
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• 2015

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the regional difference of chronic periodontal care services in Korea by the analysis of 2010 raw data from Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. Methods: The subjects were the chronic periodontitis patients over 35 years old from dental care facilities in Korea. The study population was 278,319 including 264,994 claims made by dental clinics, 8,084 by dental hospitals, 3,509 by general hospitals, and 1,732 by tertiary hospitals. Results: There was a significant difference in medical care cost benefit between the provinces(p<0.0001). The age groups showed a clear difference in the patient charge, cost of insurance, and medical care cost benefit(p<0.0001). In consideration of the first visit or revisit, there were differences in the rate of prescription, dental examination, and surgical procedures of the chronic periodontal patients from dental facilities. The radiographic use rate in the tertiary hospitals was 2.6 times higher than that of the dental clinic in the treatment of the new chronic periodontal patients. Conclusions: The use of dental services in the periodontitis is influenced by the types of medical services facility, cost of medical insurance, and patient charge. In consideration of cost benefit analysis, prevention is the most important care for the periodontitis. Regional difference in peridontitis is cause by the use of medical services and quality of treatment.

• CELLMED
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.9.1-9.13
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• 2012

Jeechool-Whan (JW) is a prescription of Ponciri Fructus Immaturus and Atractylodis Rhizoma Alba and improves the functions of the stomach and the spleen. Although it is said in Korean Medicine that the spleen and the stomach are the roots of the body's resistance, the meaning of 'improving the spleen and the stomach' is very comprehensive. Moreover, there are lots of drugs that are said to improve the spleen and the stomach, and the number of prescriptions using these drugs is huge. In this study, we focused on the new effect and mechanism of the JW on the ovalbumin (OVA)-induced allergic rhinitis (AR) model. The increased number of rubs and the increased levels of IgE and histamine in the OVA-sensitized mice were inhibited by JW administration. The balance of Th1/Th2 cytokine level was regulated by JW administration. The levels inflammatory proteins were decreased by JW administration in the nasal mucosa of the OVA-sensitized mice. Eosinophils and mast cells infiltration increased by OVA-sensitization was also decreased in the JW-administered mice. In addition, JW inhibited caspase-1 activity in the same nasal mucosa tissue. In activated human mast cells, JW inhibited the receptor interacting protein-2, I${\kappa}$B kinase-${\beta}$, nuclear factor-${\kappa}$B/Rel A, and caspase-1 activation. In conclusion, this study will be support the clear understanding of the concept of the spleen and the stomach in traditional Korean medicine as well as for a possibility of finding a cure for this AR in traditional medical treatments.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.2329-2336
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• 2016

Background: Despite the existence of established guidelines advocating the use and value of chemotherapy order templates, chemotherapy orders are still handwritten in many hospitals in Lebanon. This manuscript describes the implementation of standardized chemotherapy order templates (COT) in a Lebanese tertiary teaching hospital through multiple steps. Initial Assessment: An initial assessment was conducted through a retrospective appraisal of completeness of handwritten chemotherapy orders for 100 adult patients to serve as a baseline for the project and identify parameters that might afford improvement. Choice of solution: Development of over 300 standardized pre-printed COTs based on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network templates and adapted to the practice culture and patient population. Implementation: The COTs were implemented, using Kotter's 8-step model for leading change, by engaging health care providers, and identifying and removing barriers. Evaluation: Assessment of physicians' compliance with the new practice (122 orders assessed) was completed through two phases and allowed for the identification of areas of improvement. Lessons Learned: Overall, COT implementation showed an average improvement in order completion from 49.5% (handwritten orders) to 77.6% (phase 1-COT) to 87.6% (phase 2-COT) reflecting an increase of 38.1% between baseline and phase 2 and demonstrating that chemotherapy orders completeness was improved by pre-printed COT. As many of the hospitals in Lebanon are moving towards standardized COTs and computerized physician order entry (CPOE) in the next few years, this study provides a prototype for the successful implementation of COT and demonstrates their role in promoting quality improvement of cancer care.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.65-82
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• 2012

Objectives : The aim of this study was verification of the anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects of Odukhwan(ODH) and Sasinhwan(SSH) in mouse macrophage, RAW264.7 cells. Methods : To investigate the anti-oxidative effect and scavenging activities of DPPH radical, superoxide anions, nitric oxide and peroxynitrite were measured. Cytotoxic activity of extract of ODH and SSH on RAW264.7 cells was measured using MTS assay. To proof the reductive activity of intracellular oxidation, DCFH-DA assay was performed. The nitric oxide(NO) production was measured and pro-inflammatory cytokines and $PGE_2$ were measured by ELISA kit. The levels of inducible nitric oxide synthase(iNOS), cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) and nuclear NF-${\kappa}B$ p65 expression were detected by western blot. Results : After those analyses, we bring to a conclusion as follows. Both herbal formulations scavenged DPPH radical and nitric oxide. But ODH had no scavenging activity of superoxide anions and SSH had low scavenging activity in peroxynitrite. And the results indicated that ODH and SSH inhibited the LPS-induced NO, $PGE_2$ production and iNOS, COX-2 expression accompanied by an attenuation of IL-$1{\beta}$ and IL-6 production in RAW264.7 cells. They also have suppression effects of LPS-induced NF-${\kappa}B$ activation. Conclusions : ODH and SSH have anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory effects and they may be a part of database for development of new anti-oxidative and anti-inflammatory drugs.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.208-219
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• 2001

The pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia exhibits wide inter-individual variabilities in clinical efficacy and adverse effects. Recently, human genetic diversity has been known as one of the essential factors to the variation in human drug response. This suggests that drug therapy should be tailored to the genetic characteristics of the individual. Pharmacogenetics is the field of investigation that attempts to elucidate genetic basis of an individual's responses to pharmacotherapy, considering drug effects divided into two categories as pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. The emerging field of pharmacogenomics, which focuses on genetic determinants of drug response at the level of the entire human genome, is important for development and prescription of safer and more effective individually tailored drugs and will aid in understanding how genetics influence drug response. In schizophrenia, pharmacogenetic studies have shown the role of genetic variants of the cytochrome P450 enzymes such as CYP2D6, CYP2C19, and CYP2A1 in the metabolism of antipsychotic drugs. At the level of drug targets, variants of the dopamine $D_2$, $D_3$ and $D_4$, and 5-$HT_{2A}$ and 5-$HT_{2C}$ receptors have been examined. The pharmacogenetic studies in schizophrenia presently shows controversial findings which may be related to the multiple involvement of genes with relatively small effects and to the lack of standardized phenotypes. For further development in the pharmacogenomics of schizophrenia, there would be required the extensive outcome measures and definitions, and the powerful new tools of genomics, proteomics and so on.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2006

Objective : As prevalence of atopic dermatitis(AD) rises and medicine of atopic dematitis develops, the methods of measurement for atopic dermatitis have developed. Therefore, we aimed to establish a new sconring system in oriental medicine for a childhood atopic dematitis, by comparison, analysis of various sconing systems. Method : We searched for the data related to severity sconing systems of atopic dermatitis in Entrez PubMed on abroad thesis and KISS(Korenstdued Information Service System) on domestic thesis from 1990 to 2005. Result : Severity sconing systems for atopic dermatitis satisfy validity, reliability, sensitivity of change and verification of this. The essential items of severity sconing systems are extent, intensity and subjective symptoms. The lesion is divided into 9 areas(head and neck, upper limbs, elbow, hands, trunk, hip and inguinal, lower limbs, knee, feet). The items of intensity are erythema, oedema and induration and papulation, oozing and weeping and erosion, excorition, scaling, lichenification. The subjective symptom is pruritis, evaluated according to sleep loss and obstruction of play and study. The extent and intensity is evaluated in combination. We suggested that extent and intensity occupied for 70% and subject symptoms accounted for 30% of total score.