• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
• /
• v.24 no.1
• /
• pp.23-28
• /
• 2022

The centipede is predatory arthropod that form head and numerous segments. It is known that there are about 3,000 species worldwide and 44 species (four species and seven families) in Korea. Among them, Scolopendra subspinipes called "Wang-ji-ne" has been known as an important medicinal resource and its value is expected to increase in the future. In this study, the Scolopendra subspinipes in Korea was classified as Chilopoda through morphological analysis of forcipule and venom gland, and a method for sex determination was established. These results are expected to be used as basic data for artificial breeding of Scolopendra subspinipes in the future, and through this, it is expected that it will greatly contribute to the expansion of the Scolopendra subspinipes market as medicinal resources.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.42 no.6
• /
• pp.1356-1365
• /
• 2021

This study examined the effectiveness of Korean medical treatment in a patient with persistent drug-induced parkinsonism after drug discontinuation. The changes in symptoms were assessed using the unified parkinson's disease rating scale (UPDRS), postural instability-gait disturbance (PIGD) score, and the 20 m gait time and steps. After 22 days of hospitalization, the UPDRS, PIGD score, and 20 m gait time and steps showed clinically significant improvement. The improvement persisted after discharge. This study indicated that Korean medical treatment could be an effective alternative therapy for treating persistent drug-induced parkinsonism after drug discontinuation.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.45-50
• /
• 2022

Purpose: This study utilizes the NEDIS (National Emergency Department Information System) database to suggest a predictive model for snakebite and envenomation in Korea by analyzing the geographical distribution and seasonal variation of snakebite patients visiting the ER. Methods: This was a retrospective study on snakebite patients visiting the ER using the NEDIS database from January 2014 to December 2019. The subjects include patients with the KCD (Korea Standard Classification of Disease) disease code T63.0 (Toxic effect of contact with snake venom). Geographical location, patient gender, patient age, date of ER visit, treatment during the ER stay, and disposition were recorded to analyze the geographical distribution and seasonal variation of snakebite patients in Korea. Results: A total of 12,521 patients were evaluated in this study (7,170 males, 54.9%; 5,351 females, 40.9%). The average age was 58.5±17.5 years. In all, 7,644 patients were admitted with an average admission time of 5.04±4.7 days, and 2 patients expired while admitted. The geographical distribution was Gyeongsang 3,370 (26.9%), Cheonra 2,692 (21.5%), Chungcheong 2,667 (21.3%), Seoul Capital area 1,999 (16.0%), Kangwon 1,457 (11.6%), and Jeju 336 (2.7%). The seasonal variation showed insignificant incidences in winter and higher severity in spring and summer than in fall: winter 27 (0.2%), spring 2,268 (18.1%), summer 6,847 (54.7%), and fall 3,380 (27.0%). Conclusion: Patients presenting with snakebites and envenomation in the emergency room were most common in the Gyeongsang area and during summer. The simple seasonal model predicted that 436 snakebites and 438 envenomation cases occurred in July and August. The results of this study can be applied to suitably distribute and stock antivenom. Appropriate policies can be formed to care for snakebite patients in Korea.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.227-237
• /
• 2023

Objectives: Pharmacopuncture is considered a unique new type of acupuncture in Korean medicine (KM). This study was performed to investigate the research trends regarding pharmacopuncture through a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer. Methods: The Web of Science Core Collection was searched for this study. The search terms were pharmacopuncture and pharmaco-puncture. The search was conducted on May 23, 2023, and 185 studies retrieved up to this date were included. Software VOSviewer version 1.6.19 was used to perform the bibliometric analysis. After data clearing, keyword co-occurrence and cooperation pattern analyses were performed. Results: The number of studies on pharmacopuncture have gradually increased since the mid-2000s, with the most published in 2020 (46 studies). The quality of the studies has also steadily increased, and recently, several randomized controlled trials of pharmacopuncture have been conducted. Moreover, this treatment has been investigated in the context of KM clinical practice guideline development in Korea. The scope of pharmacopuncture studies to date seems to be limited to musculoskeletal pain and bee venom pharmacopuncture. The researchers from Jaseng Medical Foundation have been the core researchers in the field of pharmacopuncture in Korea. They collaborated with researchers from universities or government-funded research institutes. However, small-scale research teams from KM clinics and university researchers were also identified as independent clusters. Conclusion: Pharmacopuncture research has grown both quantitatively and qualitatively, but the scope needs to be further expanded. There is also a gap between the use of pharmacopuncture by KM doctors in clinical settings and pharmacopuncture research. Based on these findings, some suggestions for future studies in this field are discussed. Furthermore, these findings may be used as data to expand and globalize pharmacopuncture research in the future.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.43 no.4
• /
• pp.33-51
• /
• 2022

Objectives: This study aimed to understand the current status of clinical practice patterns of Korean medicine in the treatment of degenerative arthritis of the hip and finger joints using web-based survey. Methods: An e-mail questionnaire survey was conducted with the Korean Medicine Doctor(K.M.D) registered in the Korean Medicine Association. The survey data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Results: Although the response rate of the survey was low, the characteristics of the respondents generally reflected the characteristics of the study population. A total of 35.2% of the respondents had heard of the guidelines; however, they did not use them for medical treatment. The reason as answered by 32.8% of the respondents was "not enough treatment time to check the manual and apply it." More than half (78.80%) answered that they were treating patients with both degenerative hip and finger arthritis; however, the average monthly number of first-time patients was ≤5. A total of 379 (60.9%) respondents answered that "acupuncture is very important," which was the only one that exceeded the majority compared to other treatments. As a result of the safety investigation, "Acupuncture, herbal medicine, cupping" were considered high in safety, while "Pharmacopuncture and Bee venom acupuncture" were considered low in safety. Conclusions: This survey helped to determine the current clinical practice patterns of Korean medicine treatments, further providing basic data for CPGs for degenerative arthritis of the hip and finger joints.

• The Journal of the Society of Stroke on Korean Medicine
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.81-88
• /
• 2015

■ Objectives The purpose of this clinical study is to evaluate the effect of Traditional Korean Medicine(KM) on a patient with Tolosa-Hunt syndrome. ■ Methods We treated a 58 years old male patien t with Tolosa-Hunt syndrome who had several clinical symptoms such as ocular pain, limitaion of ocular movement and unilateral ptosis. We used herbal medication, acupuncture, electro-acupuncture(EA), cupping, moxibustion, bee-venom injection. Then we evaluated the improvement by Numerical Rating scale(NRS), Distance of eye opening and ratio of pupil movement. ■ Results We demonstrated the decrease of pain score and improvement of equal ocular movement(EOM) and ptosis after the KM treatment. ■ Conclusion This study proved the effect of KM treatment on Tolosa-Hunt syndrome. It could cooperative treatment would be more effective than mono treatment of western medicine.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.210-222
• /
• 2024

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Chronic renal failure (CRF) is a complex pathological condition that lacks a cure. Certain Chinese medicines, such as melittin, a major component in bee venom, have shown efficacy in treating CRF patients. On the other hand, the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic effects of melittin are unclear. MATERIALS/METHODS: A 5/6 nephrectomy model (5/6 Nx) of renal failure was established on rats for in vivo assays, and mouse podocyte clone 5 (MPC5) mouse podocyte cells were treated with angiotensin II (AngII) to establish an in vitro podocyte damage model. The 24-h urine protein, serum creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen levels were evaluated after one, 2, and 4 weeks. Hematoxylin and eosin staining, Masson staining, and periodic acid-Schiff staining were used to examine the pathological changes in kidney tissues. A cell counting kit 8 assay was used to assess the cell viability. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and Western blot were used to assess the mRNA and protein levels in the cells, respectively. RESULTS: In the rat 5/6 Nx, melittin reduced the 24-h urinary protein excretion and the serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels. Furthermore, the renal pathology was improved in the melittin-treated 5/6 Nx rats. Melittin promoted podocin, nephrin, Beclin 1, and the LC3II/LC3I ratio and inhibited phosphorylated mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR)/mTOR in 5/6 Nx-induced rats and AngII-induced MPC5 mouse podocyte cells. Moreover, inhibiting autophagy with 3-MA weakened the effects of melittin on podocin, nephrin, and the LC3II/LC3I ratio in podocytes. CONCLUSION: Melittin may offer protection against kidney injury, probably by regulating podocyte autophagy. These results provide the theoretical basis for applying melittin in CRF therapy.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.45 no.3
• /
• pp.429-443
• /
• 2024

Background: The study reports the effect of Korean medicine treatment on a patient with left facial palsy caused by Wegener's granulomatosis. Case information: The patient was receiving steroid treatment for facial palsy and was hospitalized for 21 days. He received acupuncture, electroacupuncture, bee venom pharmacopuncture, and moxibustion treatment along with Ssanghwa-tang and Cheongansohabwon herbal medicine treatment. During hospitalization, the Sunnybrook facial grading scale, House-Brackmann scale and length of time for the eye to completely close were evaluated at 11/16, 11/21, 11/27, 12/1, and 12/6. Post treatment, the degree of the movement in the left eyelid was improved, it took less time for the eye to close completely, the movement of the forehead wrinkle muscles improved, but that of the facial muscles under the eyes and left orbicularis oculi muscle showed little improvement. Conclusion: Korean medicine treatment for facial palsy caused by Wegener's Granulomatosis helps restore mobility of the forehead and orbicularis oculi muscles.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.503-508
• /
• 2007

Although canine facial nerve paralysis(FNP) occurs similarly in humans, there is no properly recognized therapy using Western medicine for idiopathic causes. To elucidate therapeutic measures by acupuncture(AP) on canine FNP, we examined the therapeutic effect of injection-AP on the artificially induced canine FNP. Twelve dogs on artificially induced canine FNP were divided into a control group(4 dogs), an experimental dexamethasone-treated group(dexamethasone group, 4 dogs) and an experimental bee venom-treated group(apitoxin group, 4 dogs). Saline (1 ml) was intramuscularly injected into the head muscle after the induction of FNP in the control group. On the other hand, injection-AP with dexamethasone was performed on such acupoints as LI04, LI20, ST02, ST07, TH17, SI18, GB03 and GB34, twice per week after induction of FNP in the dexamethasone group. In addition, injection-AP with $100{\mu}g$ of apitoxin was performed on the same acupoints as the dexamethasone group twice per week after the induction of FNP in the apitoxin group, respectively. The changes of the clinical symptoms of FNP with each treatment during the experimental period were recorded by using clinical scores, respectively. The changes of serum creatine kinase(CK) activities along with each treatment were determined using an autoanalyzer. The significant differences of clinical scores were detected on day 14(p<0.05) in the apitoxin and dexamethasone groups, compared with those in the control group, respectively. However, significant difference was not detected between the apitoxin and dexamethasone groups. Significant differences of serum CK activities were detected on day 7(p<0.05) and day 14(p<0.05) in the dexamethasone and apitoxin groups, compared with those in the control group, respectively. However, significant difference was not detected between the dexamethasone and apitoxin groups. In condition, injection-APs with apitoxin and dexamethasone were all effective for treatment of canine FNP and the therapeutic effect by injection-AP with apitoxin was similar to that of injection-AP with dexamethasone.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.75-89
• /
• 1979

One strain of Penicillium sp. (175-66-B), isolated from soil, was able to produce a substance that has a strong inibition activity against the Agkistrodon and Trimeresurus venoms. In this experiment, the chemical and biological properties of the sample were investigated. As an inhibitory substance, it was effective to the proteinase, hemorrhagic and lethal factors of Agkistrodon and Trimeresurus venoms, and also effective to several fractions of the proteinases and hemorrhagic factors of Agkistrodon halys blomhoffi venom. Moreover, in the addition of prednisotone, it was more effective for the cure of the mouse envenomated with the venom amount of two fold of MLD$_{100}$. This substance was very stable to the acid, alkali and heat. Its melting point was high enough to sublime at 222$^{\circ}C$ without any decomposition. This sample was easily dissolved only in hot water, but not in several organic solvents except for a little dissolution in elate. It did not have the chelating activity. It had very strong specificity to the snake venoms. but its activity was depressed by the addition of zinc or cupric salts. This sample had no acute toxicity to the mouse. Its chemical formula was $C_{16}$ $H_{12}$$N_2$ $O_{10}$ with the molecular weight of about 392. It has two epoxy groups and four carboxyl radicals, but amino, nitrite and nitrate radicals, unsaturated bonds and aromatic ring were not detected. Theuchemical configuration of this sample was suggested to be;