• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.250-257
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• 2022

Objectives: Bee venom (BV) therapy is performed by a bee sting or subcutaneous injection of BV. However, there is not much information on the effect of BV on blood parameters after entering the body. This project aimed to assess the side effects of subcutaneous BV injections in healthy rats by measuring the hematological and biochemical parameters. Methods: Various amounts of BV, including 100, 200, and 500 (㎍/day), were subcutaneously injected into rats for 30 days. The results showed that BV affected the metabolism of the liver, kidney, and glands. Results: An increase in blood sugar and a decrease in other biochemical parameters, including cholesterol, triglyceride, urea, creatinine AST, ALT, ALP, and phosphorous, were observed. Results also showed increased counts of white blood cells, neutrophils (%), and platelets and decreased levels of red cells, hemoglobin, and hematocrit. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that BV therapy in medical clinics requires routine care and testing to prevent eventual metabolic and anemia side effects.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.73-86
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• 2001

Objective : These case study were made to evaluate and observe the treatment for the Herpes-Zoster through the korean oriental medicine. Method : Clinical observation and analysis about 4 cases of Herpes-zoster including the Ramsay's-hunt syndrome had been done the patients of the Sang-Ji Oriental Medicine Hospital. These cases were mainly treated with oriental medicine using the Herb medication, Korean Bee-Venom therapy, Acupuncture and Electro-acupuncture therapy. Acupuncture technic was mainly used Sa-Am acupuncture(Four needle technique). Result : After treatment, all of cases were completely cured without any complication. Conclusion : Based on the clinical results, Korean Oriental Medicine is believed to be effective for treating Herpes-zoster, and further studies should be conducted to provide more valuable information.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.5-15
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• 2001

This study was carried out for production of neutral antibody to bee venom $(anti-phospholipase\;A_2IgY)$. Hen layings were injected repeatedly with bee venom and phospholipase $A_2$ with Freund's adjuvant. Specific antibody in egg yolk from immunized hen laying was separated, and purified, also immunological characteristics of anti phospholipase $A_2\;IgY$ was invested. The results were summarized as follows: 1. Phospholipase $A_2$ was showed single band at molecular weight 17,000 in SDS-PAGE and bee venom was showed two band at molecular weight 17,000 and under molecular weight 6,500 in SDS-PAGE. 2. During 70 days after hen immunized with bee venom and phospholipase $A_2$, antibodies(anti-bee venom IgY) to bee venom were showed poor ELISA value in egg yolk, but antibodies$(anti-Phospholipase\;A_2IgY)$ to phospholipase $A_2$ in egg yolk were increased ELISA value from 8 days or 15 days and found maximum ELISA value at 42 days. Also after booster at 49 days, ELISA value of anti Phospholipase $A_2\;IgY$ in egg yolk was supported at optical density(O.D) 1.0 level, continuously. 3. Titer of phospholipase $A_2\;IgY$ was showed 1: 32,000. 4. In double immunodiffusion test to phospholipase $A_2$ after double dilution of anti-phospholipase $A_2\;IgY$, only precipitation line was made in 1:1 dilution well of anti-Phospholipase $A_2\;IgY$. But In immunodiffusion test to anti-phospholipase $A_2\;IgY$ after double dilution of phospholipase $A_2$, Precipitation line to 250ul/ml well of phospholipase $A_2$ was showed. In double immunodiffusion test to bee venom(1mg/ml) after double dilution anti-phospholipase $A_2\;IgY$, all well without 1:32 dilution well were showed strong precipitation line. 5. In dot bloting test to anti-phospholipase $A_2\;IgY$ after diluting bee venom(0.5mg/ml), dot bloting color was showed clearly to $1/100(5{\mu}g/ml)$ in bee venom.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.157-175
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• 2000

In order to study Bee venom and Pain, We searched Journals and Internet. The results were as follows: 1. The domestic papers were total 13. 4 papers were published at The journal of korean acupuncture & moxibustion society, 3 papers were published at The journal of korean oriental medical society, Each The journal of KyoungHee University Oriental Medicine and The journal of korean sports oriental medical society published 1 papers and Unpublished desertations were 3. The clinical studies were 4 and the experimental studies were 9. 2. The domestic clinical studies reported that Bee venom Herbal Acupuncture therapy was effective on HIVD, Subacute arthritis of Knee Joint and Sequale of sprain. In the domestic experimental studies, 5 were related to analgesic effect of Bee vnom and 4 were related to mechanism of analgesia. 3. The journals searched by PubMed were total 18. 5 papers were published at Pain, Each 2 papers were published at Neurosci Lett. and Br J Pharmacol, and Each Eur J Pain, J Rheumatol, Brain Res, Neuroscience, Nature and Toxicon et al published 1 paper. 4. In the journals searched by PubMed, Only the experimental studies were existed. 8 papers used Bee Venom as pain induction substance and 1 paper was related to analgesic effects of Bee venom. 5. 15 webpage were searched by internet related to Bee Venom and pain. 11 were the introduction related to arthritis, 1 was the advertisement, 1 was the patient's experience, 1 was the case report on RA, 1 was review article.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.44-53
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• 2020

Objectives: Our review aimed to summarize and evaluate evidence on the effectiveness of bee venom acupuncture (BVA) in the treatment of shoulder pain. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the effectiveness of BVA on shoulder pain were searched up to October 2019 in 11 electronic databases (Medline, Embase, CENTRAL, CiNii, CNKI, VIP, Wanfang, Kmbase, NDSL, RISS, OASIS). The methodological quality of the included RCTs were evaluated using Cochrane Risk of Bias tool and a meta-analysis was performed. Results: Seven studies were included in the review, and four studies were included in the meta-analysis. Comparing BVA plus conventional therapy (CT) with saline injection plus CT, it showed an effect in favor of BVA plus CT in visual analog scale (VAS) and pain rating scale (PRS) (p = 0.02, p = 0.009, respectively). Comparing BVA plus physiotherapy (PT) with saline injection plus PT, it showed that there was no significant difference in VAS and verbal rating scale (VRS) between the two groups. Conclusion: This systematic review and meta-analysis suggest that BVA could be beneficial as an adjuvant treatment for shoulder pain.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.95-99
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• 2008

Objective Sjogren's Syndrome is a chronic inflamatory disorder characterized by lymphocytic infiltration of lacrimal and salivary gland. It may be associated with renal disease such as tubulonephritis or glomerulonephritis. Proteinuria is a kidney disorder resulting in an abnormally high amount of protein in the urine. When the glomeruli are damaged, proteins of various sizes pass through them and are excreted in the urine. This report is a case of proteinuria with Sjogren's Syndrome. Methods The patient was diagnosed as kidney yang deficiency syndrome and treated with Woogyu-eum, Sa-am acupuncture therapy and bee venom acupuncture therapy. Visual Analog Scale was used to estimate the clinical symptoms. Results Clinical symptoms and proteinuria were improved without steroid therapy. Conclusion Therefore, we concluded that oriental medical therapy may be useful to treat proteinuria with Sjogren's Syndrome.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.59-62
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• 2015

Objectives: A previous study showed that bee venom (BV) could cause anaphylaxis or other hypersensitivity reactions. Although hypersensitivity reactions due to sweet bee venom (SBV) have been reported, SBV has been reported to be associated with significantly reduced sensitization compared to BV. Although no systemic immediate hypersensitive response accompanied by abnormal vital signs has been reported with respect to SBV, we report a systemic immediate hypersensitive response that we experienced while trying to use SBV clinically. Methods: The patient had undergone BV treatment several times at other Oriental medicine clinics and had experienced no adverse reactions. She came to acupuncture & moxibustion department at Semyung university hospital of Oriental medicine (Je-cheon, Korea) complaining of facial hypoesthesia and was treated using SBV injections, her first SBV treatment. SBV, 0.05 cc, was injected at each of 8 acupoints, for a total of 0.40 cc: Jichang (ST4), Daeyeong (ST5), Hyeopgeo (ST6), Hagwan (ST7), Yepung (TE17), Imun (TE21), Cheonghoe (GB2), and Gwallyeo (SI18). Results: The patient showed systemic immediate hypersensitive reactions. The main symptoms were abdominal pain, nausea and perspiration, but common symptoms associated with hypersensitivity, such as edema, were mild. Abdominal pain was the most long-lasting symptom and was accompanied by nausea. Her body temperature decreased due to sweating. Her diastolic blood pressure could not be measured on three occasions. She remained alert, though the symptoms persisted. The following treatments were conducted in sequence; intramuscular epinephrine, 1 mg/mL, injection, intramuscular dexamethasone, 5 mg/mL, injection, intramuscular buscopan, 20 mg/mL, injection, oxygen ($O_2$) inhalation therapy, 1 L/minutes, via a nasal prong, and intravascular injection of normal saline, 1 L. After 12 hours of treatment, the symptoms had completely disappeared. Conclusion: This case shows that the use of SBV does not completely eliminate the possibility of hypersensitivity and that patients who received BV treatment before may also be sensitized to SBV. Thus, a skin test should be given prior to using SBV.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.213-232
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• 2000

Hemiplegic shoulder pain(HSP) is one of the most frequent and difficult problems affecting poststroke hemiplegic patients. Honeybee venom acupuncture therapy(BVAT) is known for its pain relieving effects in arthralgia. To evaluate the effectiveness of BVAT on HSP, 24 patients were sequential1y allocated into BVA T treatment group and control group and monitored for 4 weeks at time interval of initial(T0), 1 week(T1), 2 weeks(T2) and 4 weeks(T4). In treatment group, 1:10000 honeybee venom solution 0.2㎖ was injected into acupoint(s) following Deqi three times a week. Kyonu(LI15) was used in the first week. Thereafter Kyonu(LI15) and Nosu(SI10) were used. Visual analogue scale of pain severity showed significant decrease in treatment group compared to control group at T2 and T4 evaluation. Painless passive range of motion of shoulder external rotation showed significant increase in treatment group compared to control group at T4 evaluation. Fugl-Meyer Motor Assessment of upper limb motor function and Modified Ashworth scale of the spasticity of upper limb showed no difference between two groups. BVAT showed as an effective therapy in HSP and further extensive clinical studies are expected.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.7-14
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• 2012

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of bee venom pharmacopuncture (BVP) therapy according to the methods used to treat knee osteoarthritis (OA): intra-acupoint combined with intra-articular injection, intra-acupoint injection, and intra-articular injection. Methods: A total of 69 patients were recruited by the Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion at Dong-Eui Oriental University Hospital from February 1 to July 23, 2012. The patients were assigned to 3 groups: the first group with intra-acupoint combined with intra-articular BVP Injection (the experimental group), the 2nd group with intra-acupoint BVP injection (control group II), and the 3rd group with intra-articular BVP injection (control group II). The participants were assigned in the order in which they were recruited. Treatments were done twice a week, for a total of 9 times. The effectiveness was assessed by using the visual analouge scale (VAS) and the Korea Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (KWOMAC). Results: All three groups exhibited significant VAS and KWOMAC effects. Moreover, the 4 week follow-up after the final treatment showed a persistence of BVP effects. However, when the groups were compared, no statistically significant differences in VAS and KWOMAC were noted, but when improvement was considered, the results showed that intra-articular injection was more effective than intra-acupoint injection. Especially, intra-acupoint combined with intra-articular injection was the most effective among the three treatments. Conclusions: Combining intra-acupoint with intra-articular injection, depending on the patient's symptoms, may produce better results when conservatively treating knee OA.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.65-73
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• 2004

Objective : This study was to review on the prostate disease-related studies with Acupuncture therapy in renowned medical internet site of PubMed, and to make master plan of the study, especially, on Bee Venom Acupuncture(BVA) of Prostate disease and then to devise the idealistic therapeutic ways of it. Method : We made the internet search with the key words of bee venom(bee venom therapy, apitoxin, apitherapy, bee sting, bee sting therapy), acupuncture, prostate, prostatitis, prostrate cancer in Pubmed, from June 1st to July 1st,2004. Results : 1.25 papers were found in 19 publised jounals. of which two named'Urology'and Prostate' had three papars, two called 'JUrology' and 'Cancer Immunol Immunother' had two papers, and the others had a paper respectively. 2. In the classification by papers' types, Review papers were 8 and Original were 17 where there were 5 clinical trials, 11 experimental studies and 1 epidemiologic paper. Of 5 clinical trials, 2 belonged to Randomized Control Study, and of 11 experimental studies, 4 belonged to in vitro and 7 belonged to in vivo with in viro studies, and 1 epidemeologic belonged to meta-analysis. 3. In the classification by prostate diseases, 4 were about prostatitis, 3 were about prostate related symptoms, 16 were about prostate cancer, and two were about the others. 4. In the classification by applied treatment methods, 5 were related with Acupuncture, 10 were related with BVA(Bee Venom, Bee), and 10 were related with the others. Of 5 related with Acupuncture, 3 used general acupuncture, 1 used electrical acupuncture, and 1 used general acupuncture and electrical acupuncture at the same time. 5. In 2 RCTs of Clinical trials, Control group was set up to the group using different compatible treatment method or using meridians not related with treating prostate disease. Single or double blind methods couldn't be found. 6. In the clinical trials, IPSS, NIH, CPSI or subjective global assessment were used as the Index of Evaluation. 7. The Leg Greater Yang Bladder Meridian(B), The Leg Lesser Um Kidney Meridian(K) and Conception Vessel Meridian(CV) were used as major meridians, and B10(Taejo, Dazhu), B23(Shinsu, Shenshu), B28(Panggwangsu, Pangguangshu), B35(Hoeyang, Huiyang), B39(Wiyang, Weiyang), B40(Wijung, Weizhong), B54(chilbyon, Zhibian), K1(Yongchon, Yongquan), K10(Umgok, Yingu), CV3(Chungguk, Zhongji), CV4(Kwanwon, Guanyuan),S6(Hyopko, Jiache) were used as acupoints. Electrical acupuncture(EA) was considered to be more important and CV3(Chungguk, Zhongji), CV4(Kwanwon, Guanyuan) were mainly selected as EA applied acupoints. 8. It is mostly said that Acupuncture appeared to be a safe, effective, and durable treatment alternative in improving symptoms of patients with prostate diseases, refractory to conventional medicine. A larger controlled study was required to confirm these encouraging initial results. Conclusion : Papers about BVA of Prostate cancer or Prostatitis were not found, and low permeability of Prostate is concerned, BVA with the anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer effect can be adopted as a new alternatives of Prostate disease treatment, so it is thought that Study of how to make access to prostate, animal experiment including in vivo and in vitro and more clinical trials with using acupoints on related meridian should be followed.