In vitro fungistatic activity of 36 traditional oriental medicines and their synergistic effect against Trichophyton rubrume

Objective: To investigate the fungistatic activity and synergistic effects of natural products and their constituents, including traditional oriental medicines(TOMs).Methods: Fungistatic activities of TOMs prepared by hot-water(115 ℃) or ethanol(70%; 40 ℃) extraction were determined by their minimum inhibitory concentration.To assess possible synergistic effects, minimum inhibitory concentrations of various combinations were evaluated.Results: By evaluating antifungal susceptibility of Trichophyton rubrum, which is a major causative fungus for several types of dermatophytosis, we confirmed that ethanol extracts were more active than hot-water extracts in 25 of the 36 TOMs, suggesting that the constituents with high hydrophobicity tend to contribute significantly to fungistatic activity.We selected four TOMs with high fungistatic activity, including Aucklandiae radix, Gentianae macrophyllae radix, Scutellariae radix, and Galla rhois, and their synergistic effects were investigated through the combination studies between TOMs or TOM-conventional drug terbinafine.In combinations between four TOMs, partial synergistic effects were observed in Aucklandiae radix–Galla rhois and Gentianae macrophyllae radix–Galla rhois combinations, as supported by the lowest fractional inhibitory concentration index value of 0.66 for both combinations.Furthermore, Galla rhois showed the strongest synergistic effect on growth inhibition of Trichophyton rubrumwith a fractional inhibitory concentration index value of 0.50 in combination with terbinafine.Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the combination of TOMs and TOM-terbinafine may be effective on treatment for chronic and recurrent dermatophytosis by improving fungistatic activity and led to decrease systemic toxicity in clinical practice.

A case study: acupuncture combined with oriental medicine for lower gastro-intestinal bleeding

Objective To report the clinical approach and effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine in the complementary treatment and symptom management of lower gastro-intestinal bleeding （LGIB） due to neoplasms. Methods A single case report of a 54-year-old female with a chronic case of LGIB due to neoplasms was observed. Acupuncture, moxibustion, and Chinese herbal medicine were administered in the patient＇s treatment plan. Results After 16 treatments over the course of 26 weeks, the patient had a significant drop in the amount of hematochezia, positive outcomes in the patient＇s vitality and quality of life. Conclusion Acupuncture, oriental medicine and moxibustion （AOM） may provide new options for effective management and improvement for LGIB for the patient＇s quality of life with less invasive modalities that could help to reduce healthcare costs, patient morbidit as well as mortality rates.

The Status of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in the United States

Since its first mention in U.S. media in the early 1970s, the practiceof acupuncture and Oriental medicine （AOM） has grown in stature from a fringe,counter-culture movement to a valid, evidenced-based treatment option for patients.In the last 40 years, AOM schools and colleges have been accredited by the U.S.Department of Education, offering both masters and doctoral degree programs. Todate, forty-seven states and the District of Columbia license or certify acupuncturistsbased on competency proven through state examination or professional certificationby the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine（NCCAOM）. As acceptance of AOM in the U.S. has increased through both theassurance of psychometrically sound certification and the education of the Americanpublic on this topic, many challenges have emerged. Problems such as theunderemployment of AOM clinicians, methodological hurdles for the investigation of mechanisms, and efficacyof acupuncture and other AOM treatment techniques have been observed. Investigative challenges also includegaps in research training as well as a dearth of the basic resources needed to conduct randomized controlledtrials （RCTs）. As AOM research has sought integration into the Western research model, problems have beenidentified in the design of AOMRCTs, and strategies for their resolution through methods such as translationalresearch have been examined. Incorporating these strategies as well as efficacy, effectiveness, and qualitativemeasures will strengthen the evidence base and thus provide clinical decision makers with more tools that canbe used to design patient treatment regimens.

On the Establishment of Modern Medical System of Assimilating Advantages of Oriental Medicine and Western Medicine—A Speech by the Vice-Chairperson of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China,President of Chinese Medical Associatio

It is known to all that traditional Chinese medicine and pharmacy, as the summary of Chinese people fighting against various kinds of disease for thousands of years, has a summate theoretical system possessing the essence of Chinese classical philosophy, intensively reflects deep thinking and pondering of Chinese culture on the human being himself and dialectical relation between human and culture, making indelible contribution to the offspring reproduction and prosperity.

An Overview of Current Oriental Medicine Herbal Cancer Research in Korea

Cancer is the number one cause of death in Korea with annual mortalities of 69 780.Research suggests one in every four Koreans will end up getting cancer at some point in their life time.With these persistent threats,strive for cancer cure is continued. Ten years of Korea＇s oriental medicine herbal research on cancer have been reviewed. Researches between the years of 2000 and 2010 are analyzed in terms of their published year,study types,tested subjects,testing measures,cancer types,and institutions.In the past ten years,cancer researches have blossomed from null to full in Korean peninsula, and further development is much anticipated in the next ten years to come.

Investigation of the Test–Retest Reliability and Inter-Rater Agreement of Traditional Chinese Medicine-Based Pulse Practitioners

Objective:The objective of this study was to assess the test–retest reliability and inter-rater agreement between the traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)pulse diagnosis between two Indian TCM practitioners.Methods:A total of 300 participants were evaluated for their bilateral pulse based on TCM independently by two investigators with similar years of experience but who graduated from different medical schools.The investigators who were blinded diagnosed the participants as per TCM based on the depth,rate,and strength of their pulse.Cronbachαand weighted kappa were used for assessing the reliability and repeatability.Results:The data of all the 300 participants were included in the analysis.The test–retest reliability computed using Cronbach's alpha indicated high reliability between the investigators(α=0.963).There were a total of 37 different types of diagnoses identified by both investigators.The investigators diagnoses matched for 116 participants out of 300 participants;whereas 184 cases were not matched between the investigators.The inter-rater agreement for the TCM diagnosis tested by weighted Kappa did not returned any significant agreement(Kappa=0.370).Discussion:The present study shows higher reliability between the pulse diagnoses between the investigators.However,the inter-rater agreement for TCM diagnosis based on pulse diagnosis was not significant probably due to the variation in subjective assessments.This calls for the standardization of training in TCM diagnostic methods among practitioners.Future studies should include the differences in training,medical education,and experience among the practitioners while determining the reliability of pulse diagnosis.

Distribution of licensed acupuncturists and educational institutions in the United States at the start of 2023,during the late stage of the COVID-19 pandemic

This study was conducted to identify the number and density of active licensed acupuncturists(LAcs),as well as the number of accredited schools in acupuncture and Oriental medicine(AOM),as of January 1,2023,in the United States(U.S.).The number of active LAcs as of January 1,2023 was 34,524,potentially33,364 after removing license duplication in multiple states,among which the largest three states were California(with 7317 LAcs[21.19%of the total]),New York(5024[14.55%])and Florida(2644[7.66%]).The total number of LAcs decreased by 8.87%from 2018,and fell short of our projected number of LAcs in 2023 by 9037,or 20.75%.The overall LAc density in the U.S.Dmeasured as the number of LAcs per 100,000 populationDwas 10.36,less than in 2018.There were 56 active,accredited AOM schools which offered a total of 147 programs(121 at the level necessary for licensing[entry-level],12 for an advanced practicing degree[advanced-level],and 14 for certifications).Broken down further,offerings included 50 master's degrees in acupuncture,40 master's degrees in Oriental medicine,31 entry-level doctorate degrees(10 in acupuncture and 21 in acupuncture plus Chinese herbal medicine),and 12advanced-level doctorate degrees in AOM.The certification programs included one in East-Asian Medical Bodywork and 13 in CHM.Among these schools in 2023,institutions in the West and East Coast states comprised 67.86%(decreased from 77.42%in 2018)of the national total.California,Florida and Illinois represented 39.29%.There were 48 jurisdictions with acupuncture practice laws in place.The data suggests that the acupuncture profession in the U.S.has been significantly impacted during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Anti-inflammatory effects of traditional mixed extract of medicinal herbs(MEMH)on monosodium urate crystal-induced gouty arthritis

Korean oriental medicine prescription is widely used for the treatment of gouty diseases. In the present study, we investigated anti-inflammatory effects of modified Korean herbal formulation, mixed extract of medicinal herbs(MEMH), and its modulatory effects on inflammatory mediators associated with gouty arthritis. Both in vitro and in vivo studies were carried out to assess the anti-inflammatory efficacy of MEMH on monosodium urate(MSU) crystals-induced gouty inflammation. MSU crystals stimulated human chondrosarcoma cell line, SW1353, and human primary chondrocytes were treated with MEMH in vitro. The expression levels of pro-inflammatory mediators and metalloproteases were analyzed. The effect of MEMH on NFκB signaling pathway in SW1353 cells was examined. Effect of MEMH on the mR NA expression level of pro-inflammatory mediators and chemotactic factor from human monocytic cell line, THP-1, was also analyzed. The probable role of MEMH in the differentiation process of osteoblast like cells, SaO S-2, after MSU treatment was also observed. To investigate the effects of MEMH in vivo, MSU crystals-induced ankle arthritic model was established. Histopathological changes in affected joints and plasma levels of pro-inflammatory mediators(IL-1β and TNFα) were recorded. MEMH inhibited NFκB signaling pathway and COX-2 protein expression in chondrocytes. MSU-induced mR NA expressions of pro-inflammatory mediators and chemotactic cytokines were suppressed by MEMH. In MSU crystals-induced ankle arthritic mouse model, administration of MEMH relieved inflammatory symptoms and decreased the plasma levels of IL-1β and TNFα. The results indicated that MEMH can effectively inhibit the expression of inflammatory mediators in gouty arthritis, demonstrating its potential for treating gouty arthritis.

Distribution of licensed acupuncturists and educational institutions in the United States in early 2015

In recent decades, acupuncture has been used more widely and extensively in the United States （U.S.）. However, there have been no national surveys or analyses reported in academic journals on the number of practicing or licensed acupuncturists, This study was conducted to identify the approximate number of licensed acupuncturists active in 2015. The Board of Acupuncture or Board of Medicine in each state or U.S. territory was contacted to collect data, Online license information searching was also performed in order to get accurate numbers of licensed acupuncturists for those states in which a board was unable to be contacted. The study found that the number of licensed acupuncturists in 2015 in the U,S, was 34,481. Of this, more than 50% were licensed in three states alone： California （32.39%）, New York （11,89%） and Florida （7.06%）. The number of licensed acupuncturists increased 23.30% and 52.09%, compared to the year 2009 （n = 27,965） and 2004 （n = 22,671）, respectively; increasing about 1,266 per year. There were 62 and 10 accredited acupuncture institutions providing master and doctoral degrees, respectively. The West Coast comprised 51.39% of degree granting programs, while the East Coast comprised 29.17%; together the coastal states housed more than 80% of all programs, with the remainder sprinkled across the southern （9.72%）, northern （8.33%）, and the middle/central states （1.39%）. Forty-four states and the District of Columbia regulated acupuncture practice by law at the time of data collection. Acupuncture continues to be a quickly growing profession in the U.S,

Survival Analysis of Stage Ⅳ Metastatic Gastric Cancer Patients Treated with HangAm-Plus

Objective：To evaluate the efficacy of HangAm-Plus（HAP）on stageⅣmetastatic gastric cancer by analyzing the treated patients’overall survival outcome.Methods：Following the study eligibility,overall survival and one year survival rate of 44 stageⅣmetastatic gastric cancer patients who visited EastWest Cancer Center（EWCC）were analyzed.The study consisted of two arms：HAP treatment only（n=18）and combined treatment of concurrent conventional chemotherapy and HAP（n=26）.Patient characteristics by gender,age,surgical intervention,Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group（ECOG）score,treatment duration（〈4 weeks or≥4 weeks）,and lines of the chemotherapy received were assessed.Treatment related side effects were also assessed.Results：The median survival of combined group was longer（10.0 months）than that of HAP group（5.1 months）.One-year survival rate of combined treatment group and HAP group was 38.5%±9.5%and 33.3%±11.1%,respectively（P〉0.05）.One-year survival rate of those received more and less than 4-week treatment was 57.1%±18.7%and 8.3%±8.0%,respectively（P=0.001）.Conclusions：The study supports the safety and potential efficacy of HAP treatment in prevention of chemo-related side effects for stageⅣmetastatic gastric cancer treated with conventional chemotherapy.Further studies are needed to investigate and confirm the results before applying the treatment in clinical settings.

Relationships between Pathological Patterns and Vocal Qualities Estimated by Acoustic Parameters

Objective： To examine whether vocal characteristics estimated by acoustic parameters were associated with phlegm, yin deficiency, or cold-heat patterns. Methods： A total of 75 college students （males：females = 53：22） aged 19-24 years were enrolled in this study. Each subject was asked to complete the phlegm pattern questionnaire （PPQ）, yin deficiency questionnaire （YDQ） and cold-heat questionnaire （CHQ）. For the acoustic analysis, each subject was asked to produce a sustained vowel sound （/a/） for 3 s to be used to calculate acoustic parameters. Then, habitual fundamental frequency （F0）, jitter, shimmer, F0 tremor, mean F0, standard deviation of F0, maximum F0, minimum F0, normalized noise energy, harmonic-to-noise ratio, signal-to-noise ratio, amplitude tremor, and power ratio were calculated using the Dr. Speech software. Finally, four hierarchical regression models with pattern questionnaire scores as dependent variables were formed to examine which factors among acoustic parameters, sex, and age were predictive of those pattern scores. Results： PPQ, YDQ, heat, and cold pattern scores all formed significant regression model equations and the adjusted R2 values were 0.281, 0.164, 0.156, and 0.170, respectively. There were aging effects in the PPQ and YDQ models （standardized β =0.199, 0.271, respectively）. Vocal tremor-related Fo tremor and vocal ringing-related power ratio parameters were associated with PPQ and YDQ scores. Gender was directly predictive of PPQ and indirectly moderated the relationship between power ratio and YDQ score. Vocal pitch- related habitual F0 and mean F0 were associated with heat and cold scores. These results indicate that the vocal qualities of phlegm- and yin deficiency-susceptible subjects tend to be ringing and less tremorous, and those of heat- and cold-susceptible subjects tend to be high-pitched. Conclusion： Our study results suggest that vocal characteristics estimated by acoustic parameters are partially predictive of phlegm, yin deficiency, heat, and cold patterns. In terms of phlegm and yin deficiency patterns, there were direct or moderating effects of sex and age.

Pharmacological effects and active phytoconstituents of Swietenia mahagoni: a review

The usage of Swietenia mahagoni, a popular medicinal plant in India and some African countries, dates back to ancient times for its curative properties in diseases like malaria, diabetes, and diarrhea. It is also used as an anti-pyretic, bitter tonic and astringent. Its pharmacological activities are being widely explored. Although many important groups of phytochemicals have been identified and isolated from various parts of the plant, most of these researches have been focused on seeds. Toxicological studies have established the safety of many of these plant extracts, and found insignificant side effects. Here we present a comprehensive review of all the pharmacological effects and constituent phytochemicals of the plant.