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Objectives: Verbenalin is a compound found in herbs such as Cornus officinalis and Verbena officinalis. This study investigated whether verbenalin is safe by analyzing its mutagenicity. Methods: To examine the mutagenic potential of verbenalin, a bacterial reverse mutation test (Ames test) was conducted with Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli strains. Experiments with and without metabolic activity were performed.Results: The mean colony number was less than double that of the control. Growth inhibition and precipitation of verbenalin were not apparent in all strains at different concentrations regardless of metabolic activity.Conclusion: Verbenalin did not show any signs of mutagenicity in this study. Additional toxicity studies including repeated oral toxicity, reproductive toxicity, and carcinogenicity tests are needed.

The risk of stress fractures is associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), which can aggravate bone loss. We report the case of a patient who was on long-term medication for RA presenting with lower extremity pain on the left and swelling without trauma. Magnetic resonance imaging and plain radiographs at the previous hospital showed no signs of fracture, but radiographs performed later, revealed a stress fracture of the left distal tibia. The stress fracture may have occurred due to multiple reasons such as long-term use of methotrexate and glucocorticoids, active RA, postmenopausal state, and immobility. Suspicion of a stress fracture should not be ruled out especially in RA patients with persistent pain, even if the radiographical findings are normal. Additional imaging and follow-ups are essential. The patient’s pain was relieved with Korean medicine treatments, which suggests their potential application for stress fractures in RA patients.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture treatment for the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). There were 11 databases searched for randomized controlled trials using acupuncture treatment for AD. The risk-of-bias assessment tool of the Cochrane Library was used to evaluate the quality of each study. Using the Review Manager (RevMan), a meta-analysis was performed using risk ratio, mean difference, 95% confidence interval, and random effect model. There were 32 studies selected, all of which were conducted in China. There were 16 studies where acupuncture was used as the intervention, and 23 studies used Donepezil as the control group. Acupoint GV20 was most frequently selected during the treatment. The Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) was the most frequently used outcome variable. A period of 12 weeks was the most common treatment duration. As a result of meta-analysis (n = 25), acupuncture improved the MMSE and activities of daily living scores. Electroacupuncture improved the Alzheimer Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale, and scalp acupuncture improved the MMSE score for AD. Acupuncture alleviates the symptoms of AD. However, further research is necessary to provide a better level of evidence.

This study was performed to evaluate research studies utilizing ultrasound diagnostic units, the practitioners who performed the ultrasound assessments, and how they had been used primarily in tandem with the Korean Medicine Advanced Searching Integrated System. This study identified 46 studies following a literature search, and discovered that a Korean medicine doctor led the ultrasonography in 13 studies, a medical technician was responsible in 6 studies, a roentgenologist carried it out in 5, and 19 of the studies did not specify who had conducted it. Ultrasonography had been actively used in the course of the clinical practice of Korean medicine, and it may serve as a useful and reliable diagnostic tool for evaluating the effectiveness of Korean medicine. The results of this study will help to promote more ultrasound studies in the future.

The pearl-spot damsel, Chromis notata, is one of the important fishery species in Korea. While C. notata has been commonly harvested in southern Korea, the increasing number of C. notata in higher latitudes has crucial ecological, economic and evolutionary implications under conditions where the climate is rapidly changing. Here we examined the morphological and genetic characteristics of C. notata to assess patterns of geographical variations among the groups from three different sites. The groups were clearly distinguishable in the analysis of morphological characteristics. On the other hand, the groups were genetically indistinguishable. All individuals fell within a single clade in the neighbor-joining tree but appeared scattered in the haplotype network. Several haplotypes are shared among the sampling sites (Jejudo-Ulleungdo; Hap 9, Wangdolcho-Ulleungdo; Hap 28, Hap 33, Hap 34). Although control region markers did not elucidate the spatial patterns in genetic characteristics, Wangdolcho and Ulleungdo groups appear to exhibit a more robust gene flow between the two groups than with Jejudo group. Integrative approaches such as those combining morphological and genetic analyses minimize potential errors caused by limited perspectives of each analysis and can provide useful information for discovering functional DNA regions attributable to morphological characteristics expressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]