• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.80-89
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• 2022

The targeting of DNA methylation in cancer using DNA hypomethylating drugs has been well known to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy and immunotherapy by affecting multiple pathways. Herein, we investigated the combinational effects of DNA hypomethylating drugs and ionizing radiation (IR) in human sarcoma cell lines both in vitro and in vivo. Clonogenic assays were performed to determine the radiosensitizing properties of two DNA hypomethylating drugs on sarcoma cell lines we tested in this study with multiple doses of IR. We analyzed the effects of 5-aza-dC or SGI-110, as DNA hypomethylating drugs, in combination with IR in vitro on the proliferation, apoptosis, caspase-3/7 activity, migration/invasion, and Western blotting using apoptosis- or autophagy-related factors. To confirm the combined effect of DNA hypomethylating drugs and IR in our in vitro experiment, we generated the sarcoma cells in nude mouse xenograft models. Here, we found that the combination of DNA hypomethylating drugs and IR improved anticancer effects by inhibiting cell proliferation and by promoting synergistic cell death that is associated with both apoptosis and autophagy in vitro and in vivo. Our data demonstrated that the combination effects of DNA hypomethylating drugs with radiation exhibited greater cellular effects than the use of a single agent treatment, thus suggesting that the combination of DNA hypomethylating drugs and radiation may become a new radiotherapy to improve therapeutic efficacy for cancer treatment.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.157-175
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• 2004

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Hangamdan(抗癌丹). The clinical study was carried out 320 cases of patients with cancer treated by Hangamdan(抗癌丹) from May 1st 1998 to September 1st 1999. The results were summarized as follows; 1. The effects of improvement in the symptoms with traditional oriental cancer therapy(47.6%) were higher than combined treatment of western and oriental therapy(37.4%). 2. In the analysis of hematology, maintenance and increasing of WBC(86.2%), Hgb(87.2%), P1atelet(97.6%) RBC(81.1%) were observed. In the analyses of tumor marker, maintenance and decreasing of CEA(76%), CA19-9(88.8%), AFP(69.2%) were observed. 3. In the analysis of safety, maintenance and decreasing of AST(93.1%), ALT(95%), BUN(92.2%), Creatinine(93.6%) were observed. 4. In the analysis of QOL attached by cancer, combined treatment of western and oriental therapy(maintenance and improvement; 91.8%) was higher than traditional oriental cancer therapy(maintenance and improvement; 79.3%) 5. In the analysis of survival in patients with terminal cancer, above 6 months(46.3%), 12 months(19.2%). 6. In the analysis of antitumor effects, combined treatment of western and oriental therapy(maintenance 71.6% improvement 12.8%) was higher than traditional oriental therapy (maintenance 66.7% improvement 9.5%). 7. In the analysis of curative evaluation, combined treatment of western and oriental therapy(maintenance 40.4% improvement 41.8%) was higher than traditional oriental therapy (maintenance 23.8% improvement 46.1%). 8. In the analysis of IL-12 and IFN-$\gamma$ attached by cancer, increasing of IL-12(32.3%), IFN-$\gamma$(41.5%) were observed. From the above results, it is suggested that Hangamdan has significant effects of antitumor and immune activity, also could be usefully applied for cancer patients by combination with western therapy or alone.

• Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.121-131
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• 2001

Clinical studies were carried out 62 cases of patients with lung cancer treated by Hangamdan(抗癌丹) from January 1th 1998 to September 30th 2000. The results were summarized as follows; 1. Distribution of those attached by lung cancer, by sex, showed that Male is more then Female, by age, showed that the number of sixties is majority. 2. Distribution of diagnostic stage, in descending order; stage IV(43.6%,top), stage III(35.5%), stage II(17.7%), stage I(3.2%). 3. The effects of maintenance and improvement in the symptoms with traditional oriental therapy(83.3%) and combined treatment of western and oriental therapy(84.0%) were observed. The effects of the symptoms were as follows; cough(50.0%), anorexia(48.4%), chest discomfort(31.0%), sputum(24.2%), general body weakness(11.3%), hemoptysis(9.7%) and etc. in orders. 4. Analysis of hematology attached by lung cancer, maintenance and increasing of WBC(98.4%), RBC(74.2%), Hgb(71.0%), Platelet(96.7%) were observed. After taken Hangamdan, the safety of the liver and kidney were as follows; maintenance and decreasing of AST(91.5%), ALT(93.2%), ${\gamma}-GTP$(95.0%), BUN(82.7%), Creatinine(93.3%) were observed. 5. Analysis of IL-12 and $IFN-{\gamma}$ attached by lung cancer, increasing of IL-12(31.3%), $IFN-{\gamma}$(72.7%) were observed. 6. Analysis of QOL attached by lung cancer, maintenance and improvement of combined treatment of western and oriental therapy(94.0%), traditional oriental therapy(91.7%) were observed. 7. Analysis of survival in patients with IV stage of lung cancer, above 7 months(22.2%), 12 months(70.4%). 8. Analysis of antitumor effects, maintenance of traditional oriental therapy(50.0%) and maintenance and improvement of combined treatment of western and oriental therapy(80.0%) were observed. 9. Analysis of curative valuation, maintenance and improvement of traditional oriental therapy(50.0%), combined treatment of western and oriental therapy(60.0%) were observed. From the above results, it is suggested that Hangamdan has significant effects of antitumor and immune activity, also could be usefully applied for lung cancer patients by combination with western therapy or alone.

• The Journal of Churna Manual Medicine for Spine and Nerves
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.65-74
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• 2016

Objectives : This study was designed to assess the general distribution, clinical effectiveness of Korean medical treatment on knee pain and the correlation between Korean medical therapy on knee pain and BMI. Methods : This is an observational study. 65 patients admitted to Daejeon Jaseng Hospital of Korean Medicine with musculoskeletal disorders were observed from July, 2014 to July, 2015. They were analyzed according to sex, age, pain lesion, body mass index(BMI) and treatment efficacy. All patients received a combination of treatments during hospitalization, including acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, herbal medicines and physical therapy. A zero to ten numerating rating scale (NRS) assessing pain, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index(WOMAC) index and Range of Motion(ROM) was used before and after treatments. Statistical correlations among assessment measurements were evaluated by examining the paired t-test and the Pearson's correlation coefficients. Results : The average BMI of all patients was $24.03{\pm}2.95kg/m^2$. According to clinical definition of obesity by Korean Society for the Study of Obesity, 33.8% of all patients was within normal weight, 1.5% was underweight, 33.8% was overweight, 24.6% was obesity and 6.2% was morbid obesity. For knee pain patients, NRS (Numeric Rating Scale) decreased from $6.28{\pm}1.63$ to $3.94{\pm}2.03$(p<0.001). WOMAC index decreased from $48.14{\pm}17.63$ to $40.37{\pm}18.28$(p<0.001). But, there were no significant correlations in statistics among BMI, knee pain index and knee pain index improvement. Conclusions : Korean medical combination treatment might be effective in reducing pain and improving functional disorders for patients with knee pain. This study further confirmed the efficacy of Korean medical treatment on knee pain. But, more studies on correlation between knee pain and obesity and development of assessment measurement are needed.

• Herbal Formula Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.167-182
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• 2010

Cervi parvum cornu (Deer Antler) and Carthami tinctorii fructus (Also known as Carthami seed) are widely used for treating osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis. In this study, We found out that the water extract of Cervi parvum cornu(WECPC), Carthami tinctorii fructus(WECTF) and their combination have effects of suppressing the RANKL-induced osteoclast differentiation. We assayed mRNA expression levels of NFATc1, c-Fos, TRAP and GAPDHS from bone marrow macrophages(BMMs) by means of RT-PCR. Similarly, the protein expression levels of NFATc1, c-Fos, MAPKs and $\beta$-actin in cell lysates were analyzed by means of Western blotting. then we determined the anti-osteoporotic effects of WECPC, WECTF and their combination using Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced bone-loss mouse. WECPC, WECTF and their combination showed remarkable inhibition on RANKL-treated osteoclast differentiation without cytotoxicity. WECPC suppressed degradation of I-${\kappa}B$. WECPC, WECTF and their combination down-regulated the induction of c-Fos and NFATc1 by RANKL. Lastly, in vivo data showed that WECPC, WECTF and their combination rescued the bone erosion by LPS treatment. Thus, these results demonstrate that WECPC, WECTF and their combination can be efficacious remedies for bone-loss diseases such as osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.95-113
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• 2023

Objectives: To review studies evaluating effects of acupuncture on pain and depressive symptoms in fibromyalgia. Methods: Quantitative evidences (RCTs) were systematically reviewed. Literature were searched for a combination of fibromyalgia and depression (The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), EMBASE, medline (via PubMed), Kmbase, KISS, ScienceON, OASIS, CiNii, CNKI). Quantitative research findings were critically appraised by Cochrane risk of bias (RoB) tool and pooled. Meta-analysis was then conducted using Review Manager (RevMan) 5.4. Results: Eighteen studies were selected. American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria for Fibromyalgia Syndrome was most frequently used as diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia. As for outcome measurement, Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD), Visual Analog Scale (VAS), and Total Effective Rate (TER) were used most commonly. Meta-analysis of ten studies revealed that both Depression and VAS scores of the Acupuncture+Western Medicine group were significantly lower than those of Western Medicine group (Depression: SMD, -0.94, 95% CI, -1.17 to -0.70; VAS: MD, -1.51, 95% CI, -1.83 to -1.19). Also, TERs of both Acupuncture group and Acupuncture+Western Acupuncture+Western Medicine group were significantly higher than those of the Western Medicine group (OR: 2.38, 95% CI: 1.29 to 4.41; and OR: 7.40, 95% CI: 3.41 to 16.07). There was no significant difference in Depression or VAS score between the Acupuncture Group and the Western Medicine Group. Conclusions: Acupuncture might be an effective option for pain and depressive symptoms of fibromyalgia when it is combined with Western Medicine treatment. For more accurate results, more types of Korean medicine treatment should be conducted.

• The Journal of Pediatrics of Korean Medicine
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 2015

Objectives The goal of this study is to investigate childhood epilepsy based on the recent literature of Eastern and Western medicine and look for better treatment. Methods This study reviewed definition, etiology and therapy method of childhood epilepsy based on 24 studies about the treatment of epilepsy in children Results and Conclusions Based on the comparison studies, not only herbal medication has shown better efficacy than anti-epileptics, but also as a monotherapy, or as combination therapies, herbal medications were superior in childhood epilepsy.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.49-53
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to report the effect of a combination of Sa-am five-element acupuncture and eight-principle pharmacopuncture (EPP) for the treatment of an essential tremor (ET). This study reviewed the medical records treated at OO Korean medical hospital for ET by using diverse types of acupuncture without herbal medicine, other types of physical therapy, and western medication related ET or Parkinson's disease and was performed after the approval of the institutional review board (IRB). The three cases that were finally selected were then extracted and reviewed. The three cases that were finally selected involved three women in their 70s to 80s. The evaluation of the progress was made by using the numeric rating scale. A combined treatment, the method of liver excess (肝乘格), from among Sa-am five-element acupuncture, and Hwangyeonhaedoktang EPP at CV23 and CV17, was applied to all cases. In all three cases, the ET was improved, and recurred ETs improved with the same treatment. The results suggest that the combined treatment of Sa-am five-element acupuncture and Hwangyeon-haedoktang EPP may be effective for treating an ET, even though this conclusion is based on only three cases.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.122-130
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• 2011

Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the effect of herbal extract medicines for inpatients with fever symptoms in an oriental medicine hospital. Methods: Medical records of inpatients who experienced over $38^{\circ}C$ of fever from July 2010 to August 2011 has been requested with deleted personal identifiable information. The requested data were analyzed by patients' general characteristics, administrated western/herbal medicines, and changes in the body temperature of four administration groups (group 1, herbal extract medicine only; group 2, western medication(antibiotics/antipyretics) only; group 3, combination of herbal extract medicine and western medication; group 4, no medication control). The SPSS 19.0 was used for statistical analysis and p-value of less than 0.05 was regarded significant. Results: The body temperature has significantly dropped over time in the herbal extract medicine only group (p<0.001) along with the antibiotics/antipyretics only group. When both treatments were combined, stronger antipyretic effect was shown compared to the sole treatment of herbal extract medicine or antibiotics/antipyretics. Conclusion: The use of herbal extract medicines may be effective in alleviation of fever.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.185-188
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• 2017

Primary liver tumor, especially hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is a common cause of cancer death worldwide. The incidence is generally higher in Asian countries than in western countries. Carcinogenesis of HCC is often associated with hepatitis viral infections. Current standard treatment of HCC is surgical resection or transplantation in patients with early stage disease. However, the patient with advanced stage disease, surgical resection is often limited. Sorafenib or other treatment modalities are not so effective as well. We report a case of unusual radiation super-sensitivity in advanced stage HCC, and review the literature.