Rh2-enriched Korean ginseng (Ginseng Rh2+) inhibits tumor growth and development of metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer.

Background And Objective: While there are multiple studies on the anti-tumoral effects of Panax ginseng as active ingredients (one or more ginsenosides derived from the extract) or as a whole plant extract, there is a lack of studies to assess the effects Panax ginseng's of active ingredients combined with the whole plant extract. Our aim was to study the effect of whole ginseng, enriched in the anti-tumoral Rh2 component and other ginsenosides (Ginseng Rh2+), on the metastatic capacity of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Methods: We evaluated the effects of Ginseng Rh2+ on survival, migration and motility, induction of apoptosis, and expression of its apoptosis-related proteins in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells in vitro and on primary tumor growth and metastatic capacity in a syngeneic mouse lung cancer model in vivo.

Study of Intravenous Single-Dose Toxicity Test of Bufonis venonum Pharmacopuncture in Sprague-Dawley Rats.

Objectives: Bufonis venonum (BV) is toad venom and is the dried, white secretions of the auricular and the skin glands of toads. This study was performed to evaluate the toxicity of intravenous injection of Bufonis venonum pharmacopuncture (BVP) through a single- dose test with sprague-dawley (SD) rats.

Methods: Twenty male and 20 female 6-week-old SD rats were injected intravenously in the caudal vein with BVP or normal saline.

Intramuscular Single-dose Toxicity Test of Bufonis venonum Pharmacopuncture in Sprague-Dawley Rats.

Objectives: Bufonis venonum (BV) is the dried white secretions of the auricular and skin glands of the toads Bufo bufo gargarizans or Bufo melanosticus Schneider. This study was performed to evaluate the toxicity of intramuscularly- administered Bufonis venonum pharmacopuncture (BVP) and to calculate its approximate lethality through a single-dose test with Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats.

Methods: Twenty male and 20 female 6-week-old SD rats were injected intramuscularly with BVP or normal saline.

Intravenous Toxicity Study of Water-soluble Ginseng Pharmacopuncture in SD Rats.

Objectives: Radix Ginseng has been used for thousands of years to treat a wide variety of diseases. Radix ginseng has also been used as a traditional medicine for boosting Qi energy and tonifying the spleen and lungs. Traditionally, its effect could be obtained orally.

Intravenous Single Dose Toxicity of Sweet Bee Venom in Sprague-Dawley Rats.

Objectives: Anaphylactic shock can be fatal to people who become hypersensitive when bee venom pharmacopuncture (BVP) is used. Thus, sweet bee venom (SBV) was developed to reduce these allergic responses. SBV is almost pure melittin, and SBV has been reported to have fewer allergic responses than BVP.

Single-dose Intravenous Toxicology Testing of Daebohwalryeok Pharmcopuncture in Sprague-Dawley Rats.

Objectives: The aims of the study were to test the single-dose intravenous toxicity of Daebohwalryeok pharmacopuncture (DHRP) in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and to estimate the crude lethal dose.

Methods: The experiments were conducted at Biotoxtech Co., a Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) laboratory, according to the GLP regulation and were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of Biotoxtech Co.

Bee venom suppresses testosterone-induced benign prostatic hyperplasia by regulating the inflammatory response and apoptosis.

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which is a common disorder in aging men, involves inflammation that is associated with an imbalance between cell proliferation and cell death. Because current BPH drug treatments have undesirable side effects, the development of well-tolerated and effective alternative medicines to treat BPH is of interest. Bee venom (BV) has been used in traditional medicine to treat conditions, such as arthritis and rheumatism, and pain.

Single-dose Intramuscular Injection Toxicology of Danggui Pharmacopuncture (DGP) in Sprague-Dawley Rats.

Objectives: The purpose of the study is to assess both the approximate lethal dose and the single dose intramuscular injection toxicity of Danggui (Angelica gigantis radix) pharmacopuncture (DGP) in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats.

Methods: The experiments were conducted at the good laboratory practice (GLP) laboratory, Biotoxtech Co., which is a laboratory approved by the ministry of food and drug safety (MFDS).

Study of a 13-weeks, Repeated, Intramuscular Dose, Toxicity Test of Sweet Bee Venom in Sprague-Dawley Rats.

Objectives: This study was performed to analyze a 13-week repeated dose toxicity test of Sweet Bee Venom (SBV) extracted from bee venom and administered in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats.

Methods: Male and female 5-week-old SD rats were treated once daily with SBV (high-dosage group: 0.28 mg/kg; medium-dosage group: 0.

Effects of Sumsu (Bufonis venenum) Pharmacopuncture Treatment on Depression in Mice.

Objectives: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the anti-depressant effects of pharmacopuncture using sumsu (Bufonis venenum).

Methods: Animals were divided into three groups (control, sham, and experimental), with eight mice per group. The sham and the experimental groups were exposed to 2 hours of immobilization stress daily for 14 days.

Isolation and Characterization of a 32-kDa Fibrinolytic Enzyme (FE-32kDa) from Gloydius blomhoffii siniticus Venom: Fibrinolytic Enzyme from Gloydius blomhoffii siniticus Venom.

Objectives: This study was undertaken to isolate a fibrinolytic enzyme from the snake venom of Gloydius blomhoffii siniticus and to investigate its enzymatic characteristics and hemorrhagic activity as a potential pharmacopuncture agent.

Methods: The fibrinolytic enzyme was isolated by using chromatography, sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, and fibrin plate assay. The characteristics of the enzyme were investigated using fibrin plate assay, protein hydrolysis analysis, and hemorrhage assay.

An enzymatically fortified ginseng extract inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis of KATO3 human gastric cancer cells via modulation of Bax, mTOR, PKB and IκBα.

Accumulative evidence suggests ginseng extract and/or its major components, ginsenosides and compound K, a metabolized ginseng saponin, have anti-cancer effects. In the present study, the effects of a ginseng butanolic extract (GBX) and an enzymatically fortified ginseng extract (FGX), with enriched ginsenosides and compound K, on the growth of KATO3 human gastric cancer cells were investigated using a cell viability assay. While treatment with GBX at 31.

Target genes involved in antiproliferative effect of modified ginseng extracts in lung cancer A549 cells.

Lung cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer-related deaths. Panax ginseng has long been used to treat cancer and other diseases worldwide. Most of the pharmacological actions of ginseng are attributed to a variety of ginsenosides, which are often metabolized by intestinal bacteria into more effective forms.

Identification and Analysis of the Novel pGAPDH-w Gene Differentially Expressed in Wild Ginseng.

Objective: Panax ginseng is one of the most medicinally used herbal medicines in the world. Wild ginseng is widely accepted to be more active than cultivated ginseng in chemoprevention. However, little has actually been reported on the differences between wild ginseng and cultivated ginseng.

Sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.

Introduction: Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) is sensory and motor nerve damage to the peripheral nervous system caused by chemotherapeutic agents. It often causes pain and other varying degrees of neuropathic symptoms accompanied by functional limitations and reduced quality of life. Currently, there is no standard treatment protocol for the treatment of CIPN.

Identification and Analysis of the Chloroplast rpoC1 Gene Differentially Expressed in Wild Ginseng.

Panax ginseng is a well-known herbal medicine in traditional Asian medicine, and wild ginseng is widely accepted to be more active than cultivated ginseng in chemoprevention. However, little has actually been reported on the difference between wild ginseng and cultivated ginseng. Thus, to identify and analyze those differences, we used suppressive subtraction hybridization (SSH) sequences with microarrays, realtime polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and reverse transcription PCRs (RT-PCRs).

Identification and Expression Analysis of Chloroplast p-psbB Gene Differentially Expressed in Wild Ginseng.

Panax ginseng is a well-known herbal medicine in traditional Asian medicine. Although wild ginseng is widely accepted to be more active than cultivated ginseng in chemoprevention, little has actually been reported on the difference between wild ginseng and cultivated ginseng. Using suppressive subtraction hybridization, we cloned the p-psbB gene as a candidate target gene for a wild ginseng-specific gene.

Mountain ginseng extract exhibits anti-lung cancer activity by inhibiting the nuclear translocation of NF-κB.

Administration of mountain ginseng (MG) extract can restore advanced cancer to a normal state. To elucidate the mechanism by which MG extract prevents the progression of lung cancer, the processes of proliferation and death of lung cancer cells (A549) were examined after treatment with MG extract. Butanol-extracted MG (BX-MG) showed a high inhibitory effect (IC(50) = 2 mg/ml) by attenuating proliferation and inducing apoptosis in lung cancer cells.

Effects of sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture treatment for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy: a case series.

Objective: This is a case series reporting safety and degree of response to 1 dose level of sweet bee venom pharmacopuncture (SBVP) or melittin as a symptom-control therapy for chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN).

Setting: All treatments were conducted at the East West Cancer Center (EWCC), Dunsan Oriental Hospital, Daejeon University, Republic of Korea, an institution that uses complementary therapies for cancer patients.

Methods: Five consecutive patients with CIPN were referred to the EWCC from March 20, 2010, to April 10, 2010.

Identification and analysis of differentially expressed genes in mountain cultivated ginseng and mountain wild ginseng.

Ginseng is one of the most widely used herbal medicines in the world. Wild ginseng is thought to be more effective than cultivated ginseng in chemoprevention; however, little has been reported on the differences between wild and cultivated ginseng. In the present study we used suppressive subtractive hybridization to identify wild ginseng-specific genes.

Case series of non-small cell lung cancer treated with mountain Ginseng pharmacopuncture.

This study aims to observe the efficacy of mountain Ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer) pharmacopuncture (MGP) on cancer patients using different delivery methods of acupoint injection and intravenous infusion.

Advanced cancer cases treated with cultivated wild ginseng phamacopuncture.

After administering cultivated wild ginseng pharmacopuncture (CWGP) to advanced cancer patients, the response and survival rate were evaluated. This prospective observational pilot study of CWGP was conducted at the East-West Cancer Center of Daejeon University, Dunsan Oriental Hospital from August 2007 to June 2008. Seven patients were recruited for this study.