• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.652-659
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• 2005

A 69 year-old female patient with Bronchiectasis was treated. She was suffering from cough, sputum, fever, sweating, chills and general weakness. Her symptoms were diagnosed as Pe-Ong(肺癰), and she was administered Wikyung-Tang(葦莖湯). After taking Wikyung-Tang(葦莖湯) her symptoms improved. Results suggest that Wikyung-Tang(葦莖湯) is an effective treatment fer Bronchiectasis. Though, results support a role for oriental medical treatment for lung disease, further research into the effectiveness of oriental medical treatments for various lung disease is needed.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.553-560
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• 2004

In the present study, we investigated the anti-proliferative effects of aqueous extract of Wikyung-tang(WKT) on the growth of human lung carcinoma cell line A549. WKT treatment declined the cell viability and proliferation of A549 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The anti-proliferative effects by WKT treatment in A549 cells was associated with morphological changes such as membrane shrinking and cell rounding up. WKT treatment induced an inhibition and/or degradation of apoptotic target proteins such poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and phospholipase C-γ1 (PLC-γ1). WKT treatment did not affect the levels of other Bcl-2 family gene products, such as Bcl-2, Bax and Bad. Western blot analysis and RT-PCT data revealed that the levels of tumor suppressor p53 and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21 were induced by WKT treatment in A549 cells. Additionally, WKT treatment induced the down-regulation of telomerase reverse transcriptase mRNA (hTERT) expression of A549 cells, however, the levels of other telomere-regulatory gene products were not affected. Taken together, these findings suggest that WKT-induced inhibition of human lung cancer cell proliferation is associated with the induction of apoptotic cell death via regulation of several major growth regulatory gene products and WKT may have therapeutic potential in human lung cancer.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.843-847
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• 2010

Wikyung-Tang(WKT) is herbal medication used in abcess-causing respiratory disease. Previous in vitro study demonstrates that WKY presents anti-proliferative effects in A549 cells. Here we show that WKY protects mice against lipopolysaccharide(LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI). We pretreated mice orally with WKY(2.34 and 5.85 g/kg body weight) 1, 24 and 48 hours before intratracheal administration of LPS. For same condition, control group was pretaken orally distilled water before LPS administration. 24 hours after LPS intratracheal instillation, bronchoalveolar lavege fluids(BALF) was obtained to measure protein and proinflammatory cytokines(TNF-${\alpha}$, IL-$1{\beta}$, IL-6). Protein and proinflammatory cytokines in BALF of WKT treated groups were totally decreased. Statistically, Protein, TNF-${\alpha}$ and IL-$1{\beta}$ of high concentrate WKT treated group decreased significantly compared with control group. In conclusion, WKY had some anti-inflammatory effect in a clinically relevant model of ALI. these results indicated that WKY was effective in inhibiting ALI and might act as a potential therapeutic reagent for treating ALI in the future.