A short guide to peer-reviewed, MEDLINE-indexed complementary and alternative medicine journals.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) comprises a multitude of disciplines, for example, acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine, biofeedback, herbal medicine, and homeopathic medicine. While research on CAM interventions has increased and the CAM literature has proliferated since the mid-1990s, a number of our colleagues have expressed difficulties in deciding where to publish CAM articles. In response, we created a short guide to peer-reviewed MEDLINE-indexed journals that publish CAM articles. We examined numerous English-language sources to identify titles that met our criteria, whether specific to or overlapping CAM. A few of the resources in which we found the journal titles that we included are Alternative Medicine Foundation, American Holistic Nurses Association, CINAHL/Nursing Database, Journal Citation Reports database, MEDLINE, PubMed, and Research Council for Complementary Medicine. We organized the 69 selected titles for easy use by creating 2 user-friendly tables, one listing titles in alphabetical order and one listing them in topical categories. A few examples of the topical categories are Acupuncture, CAM (general), Chinese Medicine, Herbal/Plant/Phytotherapy, Neuroscience/Psychology, Nursing/Clinical Care. Our study is the first to list general CAM journals, specialty CAM journals, and overlapping mainstream journals that are peer reviewed, in English, and indexed in MEDLINE. Our goal was to assist both authors seeking publication and mainstream journal editors who receive an overabundance of publishable articles but must recommend that authors seek publication elsewhere due to space and priority issues. Publishing in journals indexed by and included in MEDLINE (or PubMed) ensures that citations to articles will be found easily.

Weekly bryostatin-1 in metastatic renal cell carcinoma: a phase II study.

PURPOSE: We conducted a Phase II trial of bryostatin-1, an inhibitor of protein kinase C, in advanced renal cell carcinoma to measure toxicity, response rate, time to progression, and induction of cytokines. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: A total of 32 patients (26 male and 6 female) received bryostatin-1 at 35-40 microg/m(2) i.v. over 1 h on days 1, 8, and 15 of each 4-week cycle. Plasma interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and C-reactive protein levels were assayed pretreatment, 1 and 23 h after completion of bryostatin-1 infusion at weeks 1 and 5. RESULTS: Cycles (102) of bryostatin-1 were given (median 2, range 1-8). The most common grade 1 or 2 toxicities were myalgias (46.8%), fatigue (59.3%), and dyspnea (18.8%). Grade 3-4 toxicity included myalgias (40.6%), ataxia (9.3%), and dyspnea (15.6%). Four (12%) patients experienced cardiac events while on study (cardiac arrhythmias and congestive heart failure occurred in 2 patients, and 2 patients had fatal cardiac arrests). Of 32 patients evaluable for response, 2 (6.3%) had partial responses lasting 9 with 6 months. A total of 15 patients (46.8%) had stable disease, and 6 (18.8%) patients had stable disease for >or=6 months. Plasma interleukin-6 increased >or=2-fold over baseline measurements in 5 of 17 patients (29.4%) but did not correlate with response or toxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Although weekly bryostatin-1 at 35-40 microg/m(2) produced a low proportion of objective responses, prolonged (>6 months) stable disease or partial remission in 25% of patients suggests that this agent, or other inhibitors of protein kinase C, may have a role in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma, perhaps in combination with other agents.