Weight Control Registry Using Korean Medicine: A Protocol for a Prospective Registry Study.

Lifestyle and physical characteristics affect body weight, and understanding these factors improves the precision of weight loss treatment. Many obese patients in Korea are receiving Korean medicine (KM) treatment, including herbal medicine and acupuncture, for weight loss. However, the real-world data (RWD) are insufficient in terms of being longitudinal and diverse. Weight Control Registry using KM is a prospective registry study that enrolls patients receiving KM treatment for weight loss and collects RWD from multiple clinics. The patients who are eligible for this study are aged 19-65 years, receive KM weight loss treatment, understand the study objectives, and consent voluntarily. Clinical data of patient characteristics and KM treatment patterns will be regularly collected until 2026. The longitudinal accumulation of various RWD will establish a high-quality study database for KM weight loss treatment. With this study, we expect to contribute to understanding the current trend of weight loss treatment with KM and solve further questions regarding this treatment.

Effects of Acupuncture on Lowering Blood Pressure in Postmenopausal Women with Prehypertension or Stage 1 Hypertension: A Propensity Score-Matched Analysis.

Postmenopausal women have a higher prevalence of hypertension compared to premenopausal women. Hypertension is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, the prevalence of which is ever increasing. This study investigated the effects of long-term acupuncture on lowering the blood pressure of postmenopausal women with prehypertension and stage 1 hypertension. Participants were 122 postmenopausal women aged less than 65 years, diagnosed with prehypertension or stage 1 hypertension (systolic blood pressure 120-159 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure 80-99 mmHg). We used a propensity score-matched design. The experimental group (n = 61) received acupuncture for four weeks every six months over a period of two years. The control group (n = 61) received no intervention. An Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was performed for the primary efficacy analysis. Relative risk ratios were used to compare group differences in treatment effects. Acupuncture significantly reduced the participants' diastolic blood pressure (-9.92 mmHg; p < 0.001) and systolic blood pressure (-10.34 mmHg; p < 0.001) from baseline to follow-up. The results indicate that acupuncture alleviates hypertension in postmenopausal women, reducing their risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and improving their health and quality of life.

Chaenomelis fructus inhibits osteoclast differentiation by suppressing NFATc1 expression and prevents ovariectomy-induced osteoporosis.

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is related to the number and activity of osteoclasts. The goal of the present study was to demonstrate the effect of Chaenomelis Fructus (CF) on osteoclastogenesis and its mechanism of bone loss prevention in an OVX-induced osteoporosis model. METHODS: Osteoclasts were induced by RANKL in RAW 264.7 cells. TRAP assay was performed to measure the inhibitory effect of CF on osteoclast differentiation. Then, Expression of nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFATc1), c-Fos which are essential transcription factors in osteoclastogenesis were detected using western blot and RT-PCR. The osteoclast-related markers were measured by RT-PCR. Moreover, the ability of CF to inhibit bone loss was researched by ovariectomized (OVX)-induced osteoporosis. RESULTS: Cell experiments showed that CF inhibited osteoclast differentiation and its function. Immunoblot analyses demonstrated that CF suppressed osteoclastogenesis through the NFATc1 and c-Fos signaling pathways. RT-PCR determined that CF inhibited osteoclast-related markers, such as tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), cathepsin K (CTK), osteoclast-associated immunoglobulin-like receptor (OSCAR), ATPase H+ Transporting V0 Subunit D2 (ATP6v0d2) and carbonic anhydrase II (CA2). In animal experiments, CF showed an inhibitory effect on bone density reduction through OVX. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining analysis data showed that CF inhibited OVX-induced trabecular area loss. TRAP staining and immunohistochemical staining analysis data showed that CF displayed an inhibitory effect on osteoclast differentiation through NFATc1 inhibition in femoral tissue. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of in vivo and in vitro experiments, CF inhibited the RANKL-induced osteoclasts differentiation and its function and effectively ameliorated OVX-induced osteoporosis rats.

Constitutional multicenter bank linked to Sasang constitutional phenotypic data.

BACKGROUND: Biobanks are more important in medical area because they can give researchers data for demonstrating and validating their research. In this study, we developed a biobank called the Korea Constitutional Multicenter Bank (KCMB) based on Sasang Constitutional Medicine (SCM). The aim of the KCMB was a foundation to providing the scientific basis of SCM. METHODS: The KCMB has been constructed since 2006 in 24 Korean medical clinics with collection of questionnaire data, physical measurements and biological information comprised the results from blood test and DNA analyses. All participants were prescribed Sasang Constitution (SC)-specific herbal remedies for the treatment, and showed improvement of original symptoms as confirmed by Korean medicine doctor. Collected data went through de-identification process using the electronic case report form system. For calculation of several SC type specific tendencies, we used the direct standardization and Chi-square tests. RESULTS: The KCMB collected clinical information from 3,711 study participants (1,353 men and 2,358 women) aged more than 10 years. The mean age (± standard deviation) was 47.1 (±16.6) and 47.7 (±15.8) years for men and women respectively. After applying the direct standardization, the estimated constitutional distributions for the SC types were as follows: 39.2% for Tae-eumin(TE), 27.1% for Soeumin(SE), 33.7% for Soyangyin(SY), and non-zero but below 0.1% for Taeyangyin(TY). The estimated distribution of TE was about 10% less, while that of SY and SE were slightly more than the distribution reported by Jema Lee established the SCM. Based on the participants' medical history within the KCMB, each SC type had notably different frequencies for some diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, stroke, and obesity (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The KCMB may serve to verify and validate SCM theories and practices. It may also provide new insights into SCM mechanisms. The results from many studies using the KCMB data are of great importance and value for making decisions in healthcare policy and developing novel therapies.