Ethyl acetate fraction of Amomum xanthioides improves bile duct ligation-induced liver fibrosis of rat model via modulation of pro-fibrogenic cytokines.

We investigated anti-hepatofibrotic effects of ethyl acetate fraction of Ammomum xanthoides (EFAX) using bile duct ligation (BDL)-induced hepatic fibrosis in a rat model. Male SD rats (6 weeks old) underwent BDL followed by 15 days of orall administration of EFAX (12.5, 25 or 50 mg/kg) or ursodeoxycholic acid (25 mg/kg).

The quality of clinical practice guidelines in traditional medicine in Korea: appraisal using the AGREE II instrument.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the quality of the current clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in traditional medicine (TM) in South Korea using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument to further enhance the CPG development.

Methods: A search was performed for guidelines in Korea from inception until March 2014 in the major Korean guideline websites [the Korean Medical Guideline Information Centre (KoMGI), the Korean Guideline Clearing House (KGC)], PubMed and seven Korean electronic databases; the Association of Korean Oriental Medicine (AKOM) was also consulted. Five independent assessors rated the quality of each CPG using the AGREE II instrument and calculated the mean score of each AGREE item.

Acupuncture for chronic fatigue syndrome and idiopathic chronic fatigue: a multicenter, nonblinded, randomized controlled trial.

Background: The causes of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and idiopathic chronic fatigue (ICF) are not clearly known, and there are no definitive treatments for them. Therefore, patients with CFS and ICF are interested in Oriental medicine or complementary and alternative medicine. For this reason, the effectiveness of complementary and alternative treatments should be verified.

Systematic review on herb-induced liver injury in Korea.

Herbal drugs are generally regarded as safe due to their extensive clinical use especially in East Asian countries. However, the potential toxicity of herbal drugs has become an important medical issue recently, resulting in numerous reports of drug-induced liver injury (DILI). Here, we performed a systematic review of herbal medicines with the potential to cause hepatotoxicity in Korea.

Urinary MicroRNAs of Prostate Cancer: Virus-Encoded hsv1-miRH18 and hsv2-miR-H9-5p Could Be Valuable Diagnostic Markers.

Purpose: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) in biological fluids are potential biomarkers for the diagnosis and assessment of urological diseases such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer (PCa). The aim of the study was to identify and validate urinary cell-free miRNAs that can segregate patients with PCa from those with BPH.

Methods: In total, 1,052 urine, 150 serum, and 150 prostate tissue samples from patients with PCa or BPH were used in the study.

Comparison of TGF-β, PDGF, and CTGF in hepatic fibrosis models using DMN, CCl4, and TAA.

Three chemotoxins including dimethylnitrosamine (DMN), carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), and thioacetamide (TAA) are commonly used in hepatofibrotic models. We aimed to draw characteristics of histopathology and pro-fibrogenic cytokines including TGF-β, PDGF and CTGF among three models. Rats were divided into six groups and intra-peritoneally injected with DMN (10 mg/kg, for three weeks, three consecutive days weekly), CCl4 (1.

Sasang constitution affects the prevalence of functional dyspepsia.

Background: Functional dyspepsia (FD), which is a very common disorder worldwide, is known to be caused by multiple factors including environmental and genetic factors. Sasang constitutional medicine (SCM) is a component of traditional Korean medicine that emphasizes inherited characteristics of the physical and psychological patterns of a patient. This study investigated whether the prevalence of FD differs depending on Sasang classification.

The traditional drug Gongjin-Dan ameliorates chronic fatigue in a forced-stress mouse exercise model.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Gongjin-Dan is a representative traditional Oriental medicine herbal drug that has been used to treat chronic fatigue symptoms for several hundred years. We evaluated the anti-fatigue effects of Gongjin-Dan and the underlying mechanisms in a chronic forced exercise mouse model.

Methods And Materials: Balb/C male mice underwent an extreme treadmill-based running stress (1-h, 5 days/week), and daily oral administration of distilled water, Gongjin-Dan (100, 200, or 400 mg/kg), or ascorbic acid (100 mg/kg) for 28 days.

Hepatoprotective Effect of Terminalia chebula against t-BHP-Induced Acute Liver Injury in C57/BL6 Mice.

We aimed to identify the hepatoprotective effects of Terminalia chebula water extract (TCW) and its corresponding pharmacological actions using C57/BL6 mice model of tert-butylhydroperoxide-(t-BHP-) induced acute liver injury. Mice were orally administered with TCW (0, 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg) or gallic acid (100 mg/kg) for 5 days before t-BHP (2.5 mM/kg) injection.

An Appropriate Cutoff Value for Determining the Colonization of Helicobacter pylori by the Pyrosequencing Method: Comparison with Conventional Methods.

Background: Sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene has improved the characterization of microbial communities. It enabled the detection of low abundance gastric Helicobacter pylori sequences even in subjects that were found to be H. pylori negative with conventional methods.

Characterizing the human equivalent dose of herbal medicines in animal toxicity studies.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Herbal medicines have been generally believed to be safe. With the increasing use of herbal medicine worldwide, however, the safety of traditional herbal drugs frequently becomes a medical issue.

Aim Of The Study: This study was aimed to characterize the safe dose of herbal medicines through the systematic review for "human equivalent dose (HED)" from animal-based toxicity studies.

Systematic review of the incidence of herbal drug-induced liver injury in Korea.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Herbal drugs have been generally believed to be safe, based on the natural sources and long clinical experience. With the increasing use of herbal medicine worldwide, the potential toxicity of herbal drugs, especially drug-induced liver injury (DILI), frequently becomes a medical issue. This study was aimed to estimate the incidence of DILI following herbal drug consumption in Korea

Methods And Materials: A literature search for herbal DILI in eight databases, including PubMed, Medline, the Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and four Korean electronic databases.

Integrated mRNA-microRNA profiling of human NK cell differentiation identifies MiR-583 as a negative regulator of IL2Rγ expression.

Natural killer (NK) cells are innate immune effector cells that protect against cancer and some viral infections. Until recently, most studies have investigated the molecular signatures of human or mouse NK cells to identify genes that are specifically expressed during NK cell development. However, the mechanism regulating NK cell development remains unclear.

Different microRNA expression levels in gastric cancer depending on Helicobacter pylori infection.

Background/aims: This study was conducted to identify microRNAs (miRNAs) that are differentially expressed in Helicobacter pylori-infected patients with an intestinal type of gastric cancer using miRNA microarray and to confirm the candidate miRNA expression levels.

Methods: Total RNA was extracted from the cancerous and noncancerous regions of formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues of H. pylori-positive (n=8) or H.

Herbal medicines for treating tic disorders: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials.

Background: It was reported that 64% of tic disorder patients used complementary and alternative medicine. This review aims to evaluate the efficacy of herbal medicines in treating tic disorders.

Methods: We searched eight databases including MEDLINE and CINAHL from their respective inceptions up to September 2013.

A traditional herbal formula, Hyangsa-Pyeongwi san (HPS), improves quality of life (QoL) of the patient with functional dyspepsia (FD): randomized double-blinded controlled trial.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Hyangaa-Pyeongwi san is the most well known description in Traditional Chinese Medicine for treating functional gastrointestinal disorders. Functional dyspepsia (FD) is a main concern of intimidating quality of life (QoL) in recent days. Although many medicines have been developed to improve FD symptoms as well as QoL, there are no potential drugs and treatments for FD.

The herbal formula CGX ameliorates the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in alcoholic liver fibrosis.

Ethnopharmacologic Relevance: The Chunggan extract (CGX) is a traditional herbal formula prescribed for patients suffering from various liver diseases, including alcoholic liver disease, in which the mechanism of CGX action remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the anti-hepatic fibrosis effects of CGX and its underlying mechanisms in alcohol-induced rat livers.

Materials And Methods: To elucidate the mechanism of action of CGX, we evaluated gene expression profiles in the livers of rats treated with 30% alcohol and anti-fibrotic doses of CGX of 100 and 200 mg/kg/day at 1 day, and 2 and 4 weeks using microarrays.

Cancer incidence varies significantly depending on sasang constitution of traditional Korean medicine.

Objective: Sasang constitutional medicine is a component of Traditional Korean Medicine that stresses the hereditary makeup of disease incidences or therapeutic responses. This study investigated the relationship between the incidence of cancer and Sasang constitution classification.

Methods: Five hundred and one cancer patients were classified as having one of the four types of Sasang constitutions (Taeumin, Soumin, Soyangin, Taeyangin) using Questionnaire for Sasang Constitution Classification II, then compared with data from 1423 healthy subjects.

Saponin and non-saponin fractions of red ginseng ameliorate cisplatin-induced pica in rats.

Context: Nausea and vomiting are considered as the foremost unpleasant side effects of chemotherapy experienced by 20-90% of cancer patients.

Objective: In the present study, the effects of Korean Panax ginseng C.A.

Antifatigue effects of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Unlabelled: The present study investigated the antifatigue effects of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer in 90 subjects (21 men and 69 women) with idiopathic chronic fatigue (ICF) in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled and parallel designed trial.

A case of chronic fatigue syndrome improved by traditional Korean medicine.

The etiology of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is unknown and no conventional medicine therapies are available. This report presents a clinical case of a patient suffering from CFS who was cured by traditional Korean medicine. A 33-year-old female patient had to take time off work because of terrible fatigue symptoms that did not respond to conventional treatments.

Fatigue severity of patients with idiopathic chronic fatigue compared to healthy subjects.

Objective: To analyze the fatigue severity of patients with idiopathic chronic fatigue (ICF) and to compare the severity of this group with that of healthy subjects.

Methods: one hundred and nine ICF patients and 98 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. Fatigue severity was measured using the Korean-translated Chalder fatigue severity questionnaire.

A prospective study on the safety of herbal medicines, used alone or with conventional medicines.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Along with increase of herbal medicine use worldwide, the safety of traditional herbal medicines frequently becomes a medical issue.

Aim Of The Study: This study aimed to investigate the incidence of herbal medicine-induced adverse effects on liver functions.

Subjects And Methods: A prospective study was performed with 313 inpatients (87 male and 226 female) receiving herbal prescriptions during hospitalization.

Ginsenoside rich fraction of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer improve feeding behavior following radiation-induced pica in rats.

Panax ginseng is an indigenous medicinal herb and has traditionally been used among Asian population for relief of many human ailments. We investigated the prophylactic role of Korean P. ginseng extract (KG) against X-ray irradiation-induced emesis in an acute rat pica model.