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Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an inflammatory skin disease caused by an imbalance between Th1 and Th2 cells. AD patients suffer from pruritus, excessive dryness, red or inflamed skin, and complications such as sleep disturbances and depression. Although there are currently many AD treatments available there are insufficient data on their long-term stability and comparative effects. Moreover, they have limitations due to various side effects. Multipotent mesenchymal stem cells (M-MSCs) might have potential for next-generation AD therapies. MSCs are capable of immune function regulation and local inflammatory response inhibition. M-MSCs, derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC), additionally have a stable supply. In L507 antibody array, M-MSCs generally showed similar tendencies to bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs), although the immunoregulatory function of M-MSCs seemed to be superior to BM-MSCs. Based on the characteristics of M-MSCs on immunoregulatory functions, we tested a M-MSC conditioned media concentrate (MCMC) in mice with AD lesions on their dorsal skin. MCMC significantly decreased RNA expression levels of inflammatory cytokines in the mouse dorsal skin. It also suppressed serum IgE levels. In addition, significant histopathologic alleviation was identified. In conclusion, secretions of M-MSCs have the potential to effectively improve AD-related inflammatory lesions. M-MSCs showed potential for use in next-generation AD treatment.

Introduction: Bee-venom acupuncture (BVA) has been widely applied to various disorders including pain-related diseases; however, patients are often warned of adverse reactions such as anaphylaxis. This study aimed to estimate the risk of hypersensitivity reactions to BVA and to determine their clinical features. Methods: We retrospectively surveyed the medical records of patients treated by BVA between January 2010 and April 2019 in Dunsan Hospital of Daejeon University, and all cases of allergic reactions and their clinical symptoms were analyzed. Results: A total of 8,580 patients (males 4,081 and females 4,499) were treated with BVA which amounts to a total of 60,654 treatments (average 7.1 ± 14.8 times). A total of fifteen patients (7 males and 8 females) reported an allergic reaction (0.175%, 95% CI, 0.086-0.263) of type 1 hypersensitivity, indicating a rate of allergic reaction in 0.025% (95% CI, 0.012-0.037) of the total BVA treatments. The average number of BVA treatments in those patients was 6.9 ± 6.5 (males: 4.1 ± 3.4 and females: 9.3 ± 7.9). Among the cases of hypersensitivity reactions, 4 involved anaphylactic shock; therefore, the incidence rate of anaphylaxis was 0.047% (95% CI, 0.001-0.092) for the 8,580 subjects and 0.007% (95% CI, 0.000-0.013) for the 60,654 treatments. All grade 1 cases were recovered within 1 day, whereas others took up to 30 days for complete recovery. Conclusion: Our results may emphasize paying attention to unforeseeable risks of anaphylaxis after bee-venom acupuncture. This study could be essential reference data for the guidelines of appropriate use of bee-venom acupuncture and bee-venom-derived interventions in clinical applications.

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Aim Despite animal evidence of a role of calcium in the pathogenesis of spinal cord injury, several studies conducted in the past found calcium blockade ineffective. However, those studies involved oral or parenteral administration of Ca++ antagonists. We hypothesized that Ca++ blockade might be effective with local/immediate application (LIA) at the time of neural injury. Methods In this study, we assessed the effects of LIA of BAPTA (1,2‐bis (o‐aminophenoxy) ethane‐N, N, N′, N'‐tetraacetic acid), a cell‐permeable highly selective Ca++ chelator, after spinal cord transection (SCT) in mice over 4 weeks. Effects of BAPTA were assessed behaviorally and with immunohistochemistry. Concurrently, BAPTA was submitted for the first time to multimodality assessment in an in vitro model of neural damage as a possible spinal neuroprotectant. Results We demonstrate that BAPTA alleviates neuronal apoptosis caused by physical damage by inhibition of neuronal apoptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation. This translates to enhanced preservation of electrophysiological function and superior behavioral recovery. Conclusion This study shows for the first time that local/immediate application of Ca++ chelator BAPTA is strongly neuroprotective after severe spinal cord injury.

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Background: Bee venom acupuncture (BVA) is an effective treatment method for various diseases. Bee venom, however, can cause adverse effects, even rarely including life-threatening anaphylaxis, so safety-related evidence is required. In this study, we systematically estimated the incidence rate of anaphylaxis in response to BVA. Methods: We searched eight databases (MEDLINE (Pubmed), EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled, KISS, KMBASE, Koreamed, OASIS, and NDSL) and systematically reviewed the articles that met the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Results: Among 225 potentially relevant articles, 49 were selected for this study. The overall incidence rate of anaphylaxis in response to BVA was 0.045% (95% CI 0.028–0.062). Women (0.083%, 95% CI 0.010–0.157) showed a higher incidence rate than men (0.019%, 95% CI −0.018 to 0.055), while the incidence for patients who had a skin test conducted (0.041%, 95% CI 0.011–0.072) was not significantly different compared to that obtained for patients for which there was no information about a skin test (0.047%, 95% CI 0.026–0.067). The publication year affected the incidence rate: it was highest before 1999 (1.099%, 95% CI −1.043 to 3.241), lower between 2000 and 2009 (0.049%, 95% CI 0.025–0.073), and lowest between 2010 and 2021 (0.037% 95% CI 0.014–0.060). Conclusions: In this study, we provide reference data about risk size and factors of BVA-related anaphylaxis, which is essentially required for BVA application in clinics.