• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.7-13
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• 2001

Arthritis may be broadly classified as degenerative - related to defects in cartilage and other joint constituents, often age-associated - or inflammatory disease. Inflammatory arthritis called as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory arthropathy and characterized by a destructive arthritis. RA encompasses infectious arthritis, arthritis caused by intra-articular deposits of crystalline material (gout), syndromes associated with genetic defects (familial Mediterranean fever), and the immune-mediated inflammatory arthropathy. Degenerative arthritis called as osteoarthritis (OA), which is most frequently occurring, causes degenerative figures of knee, waist and knuckle, and accompanies severe pain around the cartilage. Also, it may cause morning stiffness, gelling effect, tenderness, bone swelling, crepitus, and motion disorders.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.35-36
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• 2001

According to the recent epidemiological data, the numbers of patients of Reumatoid Arthritis(RA) in the world are reported to be 350mi11ion and 700,000 in the world and in Japan, respectively For the treatment of RA, NASIDs as the first choice drug have been widely used worldwide, and more than 50 NSAIDs have been in market up to today in Japan. Early 1990s, DMARDs as the new drug for RA treatment came into market, and the number of DMARDs has been increased every year. These drugs are recognized to have several advantages in treatment of RA, however, disadvantages are also reported, i.e., (1) high incidence of side effects, (2) high non-responder population, (3) decreased efficacy in chronic treatment, and (4) slow starting of the efficacy. For example, Methotrexate which has been widely used as the immunosuppressant has been recently used for treatment of Reumatoid. However, this drug has several disadvantages such as 60-70% improvement of the disease, 80% incidence of side effects, and 2-4 weeks to recognize the efficacy after treatment. In addition to these two.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.532-537
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• 1993

Angiogenesis refers to the formation of new capillary blood vessels, or neovascularization occurring under various physical conditions, such as development of the embryo, formation of corpus luteum, wound healing and pathological conditions including tumor growth and metastases, hemangiomas, diabetic retinopathy, rheumatoid arthritis. There are many evidences that angiogenesis is important for the progressive growth of solid tumors and also permits the shedding of metastatic tumors from the primary site. Thus, treatment of angiogenesis inhibitors might be a novel strategy for tumor growth inhibition. Normal vascular endothelial cells are in a state of differentiation and angiogenic endothelial cells migrate and proliferate, and they subsequently differentiate into vessel-forming quiescent phenotype cells, Therfore, it was speculated that a modifier of cell differentiation could also affect angiogenesis. In order to identify new antiangiogenic factors, the research was conducted to estimate the inhibitory activities of cell differentiation agents by means of chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane(CAM) assay. Hence, we have established the CAM assay for the screening of antiangiogenic agents. Using the CAM assay, we found that ursolic acid, a tumor cell differentiation-inducing agent, showed a markedly inhibitory effect on chick embryonic angiogenesis.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.141-148
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• 2011

Osteoclasts are bone-resorbing cells of monocyte/macrophage origin and are culprits of bone destruction associated with osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer bone metastasis. Recent advances in osteoclast biology revealed central roles of various cytokines in regulating osteoclastogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. However, exact underlying mechanisms including signaling pathways downstream of receptor ligation are still under pursuit. In the present review, the role of Jak/STAT proteins and their regulators will be discussed in connection with osteoclastogenesis, since growing evidence indicates that a number of cytokines and growth factors utilizing Jak/STAT signaling pathways affect osteoclastogenesis. A better understanding on the role of Jak/STAT pathways in osteoclast differentiation will not only strengthen our knowledge on osteoclast biology but also provide invaluable insights into the development of anti-resorptive strategies for treating bone-lytic diseases.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.173-178
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• 2007

In this study we manufactured mulberry fruit tea(MFT) to be used as an anti-inflammatory agent. Here, MFT was consumed by thirty middle-aged women with symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis for 4 weeks. The anthropometric measurements and serum inflammatory factors were measured before and after consumption of the MFT. For the anthropometric measurements, BMI and body fat decreased after 4 weeks of tea consumption although there were no significant differences. The serum inflammatory factors(uric acid and homocysteine) as well as serum amino transferase activity(aspartate trans-aminase and alanine transaminase) showed a decreasing trend. In addition, serum carbon reactive protein(CRP) decreased significantly decreased after MFT consumption 4 weeks. It's concluded that this MFT is helpful to for rheumatyroid arthritis patients in order to decrease serum inflammatory factors such as CRP.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.232-239
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• 2001

Objective & Method : To identify current state of bee venom therapy(BVT) research as a treatment of autoimmune diseases, we reviewed the PubMed electronic database. 9 articles with clinical implications were discussed. Results : BVT is reported as effective in the treatment of such autoimmune related diseases as rheumatoid arthritis and insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in animal experiment, The lack of evidence on BVT as a treatment of multiple sclerosis deters us from reaching any determination. There also lacks firm evidences of immune response regulative or anti inflammatory mechanism of BVT. No clinicla trial was found. Conculsion : This review raises the urgent need of study to provide scientific and clinical evidences.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.93.1-93.1
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• 2003

Bee Venom (BV) has been treated in inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Bee venom contains several biologically active non-peptide substances as well as two major known peptides; the hemolytic peptide melittin (50%) and the neurotoxic peptide apamin, and a number of minor peptides. Previous our study showed that BV blocked LPS and SNP-induced production of NO and PG through inactivation of NF-kB which regulates expression of COX-2 and iNOS. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.153.1-153.1
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• 2003

Oxidative stress induced by reactive oxygen intermediates (ROIs) has been implicated in a variety of human diseases including cancer, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and neurodegenerative disorders. Hydrogen peroxide ($H_2O_2$), a representative ROI which is produced during the cellular redox process, can cause cell death via apoptosis and/or necrosis depending on its concentrations. l5-Deoxy-$D^{12, 14}$ prostaglandin $J_2$ (15d-$PGJ_2$), a dehydration product of prostaglandin $D_2$, has been reportd to possess a number of biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, anticarcinogenic, and antioxidative properties. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
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• 2003.10b
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• pp.173.1-173.1
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• 2003

One of attractive target for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) therapy is the cytokine, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-$\alpha$), which has been shown to be overproduced in the joint of RA patients. The clinical success of anti- TNFR biologics has validated TNF-$\alpha$ as a drug discovery target. Thus, inhibiting of formation of TNF-$\alpha$ has been emerged to an intriguing approach for RA therapy. TNF-$\alpha$ is processed from its membrane bound precursor by the metalloprotease TNF-$\alpha$ converting enzyme (TACE), Here, biological evaluation, mode of action of natural TACE inhibitor, Gelastatin hydroxamate, are addressed. (omitted)

• Genomics & Informatics
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 2008

Human leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) was first identified as a trace protein in human serum. The primary sequence of LRG1 includes repeated leucine residues and putative membrane-binding domains. But, there is no published information on the genetic variation of this gene. In this study, LRG1 was identified as one of several upregulated genes in RA patients. We examined the expression levels of LRG1 between an RA patient and a healthy control by RT-PCR and validated that LRG1 was highly expressed in RA patients compared with controls. We identified the possible variation sites and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the human LRG1 gene by direct sequencing and analyzed the association of genotype and allele frequencies between RA patients and a control group without RA. We further investigated the relationship between these polymorphisms and the level of RF or anti-CCP in RA patients. We identified a total of three SNPs(g.-678A>G, g.-404C>T and g.1427T>C) and two variation sites (g.-1198delA and g.-893delA) in the LRG1 gene. Our results suggest that polymorphisms of the LRG1 gene are not associated with the susceptibility of RA in the Korean population.