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Objective. This study was a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, and controlled trial with two parallel arms: the GJBNH group and the placebo group. This trial recruited 100 women aging 18 to 35 years with primary dysmenorrhea caused by blood stagnation. The investigational drugs, GJBNH or placebo, were administered for two menstrual periods (8 weeks) to the participants three times per day. The participants were followed up for two menstrual cycles after the administration. Results. The results were analyzed by the intention-to-treat (ITT) dataset and the per-protocol (PP) dataset. In the ITT dataset, the change of the average menstrual pain VAS score in the GJBNH group was statistically significantly lower than that in the control group. Significant difference was not observed in the SF-MPQ score change between the GJBNH group and the placebo group. No significant difference was observed in the PP analyses. In the follow-up phase, the VAS scores of the average menstrual pain and the maximum menstrual pain continually decreased in the placebo group, but they increased in the GJBNH group. Conclusion. GJBNH treatment for eight weeks improved the pain of the dysmenorrhea caused by blood stagnation, but it should be successively administered for more than two menstrual cycles. Trial Registration. This trial is registered with Current Controlled Trials no. ISRCTN30426947.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to assess the safety of 'Gamitaeeumjowee-tang' by analyzing adverse events in weight loss program in combination with 'Gamitaeeumjoweetang' and low-calorie diet. Methods: A retrospective review of adverse events in weight loss program in combination with 'Gamitaeeumjowee-tang' and low-calorie diet from the electronic medical chart (n=124) between June 2015 and December 2016 was conducted. Three Korean Medicine Doctors (KMDs) reviewed adverse events for two times, during week 2 to 4 and at week 10, after starting weight loss program. Adverse events were evaluated in terms of causality, severity and system-organ classes. Also, agreement among the three KMDs was made through further discussion in case of disagreement after independent review. Results: The overall rate of adverse events was 37.1% during week 2 to 4 and 16.9% at week 10. For causality of adverse events using the World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Centre causality categories, 52.2% were evaluated 'possible' at week 2-4 and 57.1% were evaluated 'unlikely' at week 10. All symptoms were evaluated as 'mild' by LDS scale. Nausea (15, 12.1%) was the most frequent adverse event at week 2-4 and dizziness (6, 4.8%) was the most common at week 10. Conclusions: Adverse events decreased over time. There were no serious adverse events and none of the subjects were dropped due to adverse events. Continuous study is needed to prove the safety of 'Gamitaeeumjowee-tang' for treating obesity.

Amygdalin is known as vitamain B17, and it was called laetrile. Amygdalin is composed of two molecules of glucose, one molecule of benzaldehyde which induces an analgesic action, and one molecule of hydrocyanic acid which is an anti-neoplastic compound. Amygdalin had been used to treat cancers and relieve pain. In order to evaluate whether the analgesic action of amygdalin is related with descending pain control system, we performed patch clamp study. In the present study, the modulatory effects of amygdalin on glycine-and glutamate-induced ion currents in periaqueductal gray (PAG) neurons were investigated using the nystatin-perforated patch clamp method. Continuous application of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on PAG neurons resulted in increased glycine-induced ion current, and in decreased glutamate-induced ion current. In contrast, continuous application of amygdalin with LPS resulted in decreased glycine-induced ion current increased by LPS, and increased glutamateinduced ion current decreased by LPS in concentration-and time-dependent fashion. These results demonstrate that amygdalin modulates neuronal activity of PAG by modulation of glycine and glutamate. Based on the present results, it can be suggested that amygdalin participates in the regulation of the descending pain control system in the level of PAG neurons. The present study demonstrated that activation of the descending pain control system is one of the possible analgesic mechanisms of amygdalin.

Shenqi-wan, Oriental herbal medicine formulation, has been traditionally used for delayed mental and physical development in children, complications of diabetes, and glomerulonephritis. In the present study, the protective effect of the aqueous extract of Shenqi-wan against traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the rat hippocampal dentate gyrus was investigated. For this study, step-down avoidance task, terminal deoxynuclotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay, Bax immunohistochemistry, and 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) immunohistochemistry were conducted. In the present results, it was shown that apoptotic cell death and cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus were significantly increased following TBI in rats and that the aqueous extract of Shenqi-wan suppressed the TBI-induced increase in apoptosis and cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus. Based on the present results, it is possible that the aqueous extract of Shenqi-wan has a neuroprotective effect on TBI-induced neuronal cell death.