• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.35-48
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• 2002

Objective : The study was performed to evaluate the effect of treatment for thoracolumbar compression fracture by using Bee Venom Acupuncture that is well known for anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect. Methods : We investigated 39 cases of patient with thoracolumbar compression fracture. The patients with thoracolumbar compression fracture were treated at the department of acupuncture & moxibustion of Kyung-Won University Oriental Hospital from 1st January 2001 to 30th August 2002. We selected for two groups. One group was treated by Bee Venom Acupuncture therapy(Bee Venom Acupuncture Group : BAG), the other group was treated by Filiform Acupuncture therapy(None Bee Venom Acupuncture Group : NBAG). Results : 1. The distribution showed female predominance in sex and 70's predominance in age. The largest group was "accidental fall" and the next was "lifting heavy objects" in causes, and within 2 weeks in the duration of disease 2. In the duration of admission, the largest group was within 4 weeks. In regard to level of injury, T12 was found to be most predominant, followed in turn by L1, L2, L5. In regard to grade of clinical symptoms, Grade III was most predominant, followed by Grade II, Grade IV. 3. In the results of treatment, 87.5% were above "Good" in BAG and 47.8% in NBAG. 4. In the result of treatment due to the grade of clinical symptoms, BAG was more excellent than NBAG on the whols grade. 5. In the result of treatment due to duration of admission, the duration of admission was not in proportion to the results of treatment. 6. In the change of lumber flexion, the improvement above $80^{\circ}$ was 50% in BAG and 21.7% in NBAG 7. In the stability of treatment, the BAG and NBAG did't show any detrimental change in GOT, GPT, r-GTP, BUN, creatinine. Conclusions : In the treatment of thoracolumbar compression fracture, the Bee Venom Acupuncture can be regarded as more effective treatment than Filiform Acupuncture in the clinical practice. This is expected to be available for clinical use.

• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.53-61
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• 2012

Objectives : The Purpose of this study is to compare the effect of ShinBaro Pharmacopuncture Treatment and Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture Treatment of low back pain and radicular pain caused by spondylolisthesis. Methods : From January 1st,2012 to September 30th, 2012, 30 Low back pain and radicular pain patients with spondylolisthesis who were admitted to Bu-Cheon Jaseng Hospital of Oriental Medicine were divided into two groups. ShinBaro group was treated by ShinBaro Pharmacopuncture Treatment and Bee Venom group was treated by Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture Treatment. We evaluated the treatment effect of each group with numerical rating scale(NRS) and Oswestry disability index(ODI). The evaluations performed at admission day and 14th day after admission. Results : In both ShinBaro group and Bee Venom group, NRS and ODI decreased significantly in ststistics as treatment was perfomed. Though ShinBaro group showed a decreasing ODI score compared to BV group and BV group showed a decreasing NRS score compared to Shinbaro group, There is no statistical significance on NRS and ODI score after the treatment in both groups. Conclusions : The result sugguest that both ShinBaro pharmacopuncture treatment and Bee Venom pharmacopuncture treatment is considered to be effective and useful on low back pain and radicular pain caused by spondylolisthesis, although further study is needed.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.65-77
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• 2002

Objective : This study was undertaken to determine which compound of Bee Venom for herb-acupuncture has cytotoxicity on mouse mast cell line. Methods : We compared crude bee venom and its compounds such as melittin, mast cell degranulating peptide (MCD peptide), apamin with control groups on cytotoxicity by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results & Conclusion : 1. Crude bee venom showed significant cytotoxic effect(p<0.01) in 1 hour treatment with $1{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ in comparison with control group in 1 hour treatment with low concentration of $10-4{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, $10-3{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, $10-2{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, $10-1{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ and $1{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, but it showed no significant cytotoxic effect in 6 hours treatment. 2. Melittin group showed no significant cytotoxic effect in comparison with control group in 1 and 6 hours treatment with low concentration of $10-4{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, $10-3{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, $10-2{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, $10-1{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ and $1{\mu}g/m{\ell}$. 3. MCD peptide and Apamin group showed no significant cytotoxic effect in comparison with control group in 1 and 6 hours treatment with low concentration of $10-4{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ $10-3{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, $10-2{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, $10-1{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ and $1{\mu}g/m{\ell}$. 4. Crude bee venom showed significant cytotoxic effect(p<0.01) in 1 and 6 hours treatment in comparison with control group in 1 and 6 hours treatment with high concentration of $10{\mu}g/m{\ell}$, $20{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ and $102{\mu}g/m{\ell}$. 5. Melittin group showed significant cytotoxic effect(p<0.01) in 1 hour treatment in comparison with control group in 1 hour treatment with high concentration of $10{\mu}g/m{\ell}$ but it showed no significant cytotoxic effect in 6 hours treatment. 6. Crude bee venom and its compounds have more cytotoxic effect in 1 hour treatment than in 6 hours treatment. It means cytotoxicity tends to decrease according to the treatment time.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.127-133
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• 2015

Objectives : Previous studies have shown that the amount of melittin, the main active ingredient in bee venom pharmacopuncture, tends to decrease substantially with time during pharmacopuncture manufacture. This study aimed to assess whether the stability of bee venom pharmacopuncture improved with pharmacopuncture additives. Methods : Components were measured using high performance liquid chromatography. Acute toxicity and antigenicity tests by subcutaneous and venous routes were conducted at Korea Pharmaceutical Test & Research Institute and mortality, adverse reactions, and body weight changes were assessed. Results : Stability tests using additives revealed that bee venom without additives was most stable. Bee venom pharmacopuncture without additives was further tested for toxicity in subcutaneous and venous administration in mice and no changes pertaining to toxicity were found over the testing period. Conclusions : Bee venom pharmacopuncture without additives was found to be most stable, and further, it did not show toxicity or antigenicity in subcutaneous and venous administration in mice.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.79-87
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• 2010

Objectives : The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of Hominis Placenta pharmacopuncture therapy and sweet bee venom therapy on peripheral facial paralysis. Methods : Clinical studies were done 36 patients who were treated peripheral facial paralysis to Dept. of Acupuncture and Moxibusition, of Oriental Medicine Dong-Eui University from June 15, 2009 to January 5, 2010. Subjects were randomly divided into 2 groups. : Hominis Placenta Pharmacopuncture treated group (group A, n=18), sweet bee venom treated group (group B, n=18). In group A, we treated patients with dry needle acupuncture and Hominis Placenta pharmacopuncture therapy. In group B, we treated patients with dry needle acupuncture and sweet bee venom therapy. All process of treatment were performed by double blinding method. To investigate the effectiveness of treatment applied for two groups, we used Yanagihara's unweighed grading system at before treatment, after 1week, 2weeks, 3weeks and 4weeks of treatment. Results : The Yanagihara's scores of group B were higher than those of group A, but not statistically significant. The improvement indexs of group A and group B were different, but not statistically significant. Conclusions : There were no significant differences statistically between Hominis Placenta pharmacopuncture therapy and sweet bee venom therapy on peripheral facial paralysis.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.254-263
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• 2010

Objectives : The neuroprotective effects of bee venom (BV) have been demonstrated in many studies, but bee venom has many side effects. So we used sweet bee venom (SBV), which has high molecular elements removed to reduce the side effects. I examined the neuroprotective effect of sweet bee venom in 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridine ($MPP^+$)-induced human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. Methods : To observe the possible toxicity of SBV itself, SH-SY5Y cells were treated with SBV in various concentrations for 3 h and $MPP^+$ in concentrations (1 and 5mM) for 24h. To investigate the protective effect of SBV against $MPP^+$ toxicity, SH-SY5Y cells were pretreated with vehicle or nontoxic concentrations of SBV for 3h and the cells were not washed, followed by incubation with respective concentrations of SBV and 1 mM $MPP^+$ for 24h. To investigate the protective effect of SBV against $MPP^+$ toxicity, SH-SY5Y cells were pretreated with vehicle or nontoxic concentrations of SBV for 3h and the cells were not washed, followed by incubation with respective of SBV(0.5%), 1 mM $MPP^+$, 5uM AKT inhibitor(LY984002) and 10uM ERK inhibitor(PD98059) for 24 h. The protective effect was measured by cell viability assay. To investigate the degree of apoptosis, caspase-3 enzyme activity was measured in control, $MPP^+$, SBV+$MPP^+$. Results : SBV (0.5%) pretreatment protected the SH-SY5Y cells against $MPP^+$-induced apoptotic cell death. The cell viability was higher in the SH-SY5Y cells that were pretreated with vehicle or nontoxic concentrations of SBV than those not pretreated. The caspase-3 activity was lower in the pretreated groups than these not pretreated. ERK and AKT enzymes have a role in the neuroprotective effects of the sweet bee venom. Conclusions : The results demonstrate that SBV has a protective effect on dopaminergic neurons against $MPP^+$ toxicity. This data suggest that SBV could be a potential therapeutic tool for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease(PD).

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.169-186
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• 2000

To study anti-cancer effect and molecular biological mechanism of bee venom for aqua-acupuncture, the effects of bee venom on cell viability, apoptosis, and cell cycle were analyzed using MTT assay, tryphan blue assay, [3H]thymidine release assay, flow cytometric analysis, activity of caspase-3 protease activity assay, and immunocytometric analysis of PCNA. To explore whether anti-cancer effects of bee venom are associated with the transcriptional control of gene expression, quantitative RT-PCR analysis of apoptosis- and cell cycle-related genes was performed. The obtained results are summarized as follows: 1. The MTT assay demonstrated that cell viability was decreased by bee venom in a dose-dependant manner. 2. Significant induction of apoptosis was identified using tryphan blue assay, [$^3H$]thymidine release assay, and flow cytometric analysis of sub $G_1$ fraction. 3. In analysis of caspase-3 protease activity, the activity had increased significantly, in a dose-dependant manner. 4. Quantitative RT-PCR analysis of the apoptosis-related genes showed that Bcl-2 and $Bcl-X_L$ were down-regulated whereas Bax was up-regulated by bee venom treatment. 5. In flow cytometric analysis of cell cycle and immunocytometric analysis of PCNA expression, cell numbers of $G_1$ phase was increased by a dose-dependant manner. 6. In quantitative RT-PCR analysis of the cell cycle-related genes, p21, p27, and p57 were increased, while Cyclin D1, CDK4, c-Myc, c-Fos, and Histone H3 were decreased. In contrast, there were no remarkable changes in expression levels of CDC2 and c-Jun.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.75-85
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• 2014

Objectives : We investigated whether bee venom(BV) inhibit cell growth through enhancement of death receptor expressions in the human cervix cancer C33A cells. Methods : BV($1{\sim}5{\mu}g/ml$) inhibited the growth of cervix cancer C33A cells by the induction of apoptotic cell death in a dose dependent manner. Results : Consistent with apoptotic cell death, expression of Fas, death receptor(DR) 3, 4, 5 and 6 was increased concentration dependently in the cells. Moreover, Fas, DR3 and DR6 revealed more sensitivity to BV. Thus, We reconfirmed whether they actually play a critical role in anti-proliferation of cervix cancer C33A cells. Consecutively, expression of DR downstream pro-apoptotic proteins including caspase-8, -3, -9 was upregulated and Bax was concomitantly overwhelmed the expression of Bcl-2. NF-${\kappa}B$ were also inhibited by treatment with BV in C33A cells. Conclusions : These results suggest that BV could exert anti-tumor effect through induction of apoptotic cell death in human cervix cancer C33A cells via enhancement of death receptor expression, and that BV could be a promising agent for preventing and treating cervix cancer.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.241-249
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• 2009

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to report the patients with compressive neuropathy of the radial nerve(Saturday Night Palsy), who was improved by acupuncture and Sweet Bee Venom(SBV) treatment. Methods & Results : The patients were hospitalized or outpatient in Dept. of Acupuncture & Moxibustion, traditional korean medical hospital, Sangji University from 1st, Dec. 2008 to 30th June 2009, and treated with acupuncture, SBV, electrical stimulation therapy and herbal medication therapy. To evaluate the wrist drop and numbness of fingers, coding result(Arbitrary values used to evaluate result) and digital infrared thermal image, which was well defined diagnostic tool estimating skin surface temperature difference, were used. As a result, patient symptoms were improved remarkably. Conclusions : Patients were treated during 6 weeks in average. 2 cases were excellent and 1 case was evaluated good result by the acupuncture, Sweet Bee Venom, electrical stimulation therapy.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.155-165
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• 2006

Objectives : This study was conducted to carry out quantitative evaluation and safety of Bee Venom Acupuncture. Methods : Content analysis was done using HPLC, measurement of $LD_{50}$, and histological observations were made on the skin and muscles. Results : 1. According to HPLC analysis, each BVA-1 contained approximately $0.36{\mu}g$, and BVA-2 contained approximately $0.54{\mu}g$. But the volume of coating was so minute, slight difference exists between each needle. 2. LD50 of mouse with BVA-1 was 16 counts and this is equivalent to 640 needles/kg, making Bee Venom Acupuncture safe treatment apparatus. 3. Regardless of the number of needles, there was no sign of blood stasis or inflammation detected on the skin and muscle tissues. Conclusion : Above results indicate that the Bee Venom Acupuncture can complement shortcomings of syringe usage as a part of Oriental medicine treatment, but extensive researches should be done for further verification.