Primary dysmenorrhea, which is menstrual pain without pelvic pathology, is the most common gynecologic condition in women. Heat therapy has been used as a treatment. We assessed the evidence on heat therapy as a treatment for primary dysmenorrhea. We searched 11 databases for studies published through July 2018. All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that addressed heat therapy for patients with primary dysmenorrhea were included. Data extraction and risk-of-bias assessments were performed by two independent reviewers. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool. Six RCTs met our inclusion criteria. Two RCTs found favorable effects of heat therapy on menstrual pain compared with unheated placebo therapy. Three RCTs found favorable effects of heating pads on menstrual pain compared with analgesic medication (n = 274; SMD −0.72; 95% confidence interval −0.97 to −0.48; P < 0.001; two studies). One RCT showed beneficial effects of heat therapy on menstrual pain compared with no treatment (n = 132; MD −4.04 VAS; 95% CI −4.88 to −3.20; P < 0.001). However, these results are based on relatively few trials with small sample sizes. Our review provided suggestive evidence of the effectiveness of heat therapy for primary dysmenorrhea, but rigorous high-quality trials are still needed to provide robust evidence.

Approximately 45-50% of the cases of infertility result from deficiencies associated with male factors, and 30-45% of these deficiencies are idiopathic. A standardized approach for the treatment of idiopathic male infertility remains elusive. In Korea, male infertility has been treated with either acupuncture, herbal remedies, or pharmacopuncture. We report a case of male idiopathic infertility in which the patient's semen quality improved through traditional Korean medicine (TKM) therapies, which was evaluated according to the 2010 World Health Organization (WHO) standards. A 35-year-old infertile man visited the Conmaul Hospital from August 2013 to December 2013. He was diagnosed with asthenoteratozoospermia. The patient received 3 TKM therapies-acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, and herbal remedies-for 3 months. After 3 months of treatment, a second semen analysis of the patient was conducted. The sperm motility increased by 13%, and the normal sperm morphology increased by 4% over 3 months. In addition, the total motile sperm count was 2.5 times higher than that before treatment. The results of the present study support the clinical potency of treatment with acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, and herbal remedies in idiopathic infertile men, especially for the improvement of sperm motility and morphology. Further large-scale randomized controlled trials with elaborate designs should be performed to verify the clinical effect of TKM therapies.

Objective To summarize and evaluate the efficacy and safety of herbal medicines used for the treatment of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children. Methods Thirteen electronic databases were searched from their inception to November 2016. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that assessed the efficacy of herbal medicines alone or in combination with other Traditional Chinese Medicine treatments for ASD in children were included. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool was used and other data analyses were performed using RevMan (Version 5.3). Results Ten RCTs involving 567 patients with ASD were included for qualitative synthesis. In conjunction with conventional therapy, herbal medicines significantly improved the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) score, but the results of effects on total effective rate (TER) were different between the included studies. The use of herbal medicines with integrative therapy improved the CARS score and TER. In the studies that documented adverse events, no serious events were associated with herbal medicines. Conclusions The efficacy of herbal medicines for the treatment of ASD appears to be encouraging but was inconclusive owing to low methodological quality, herbal medicine diversity, and small sample size of the examined studies.

The present study was to evaluate the effects of Huang Bai, Zhi Mu, Mai Ya, and Xia Ku Cao on hormone using the GT1–7 and GH3 cells. The GT1–7 and GH3 cell lines were incubated with DW; DMSO; and 30, 100, or 300 μg/mL of one of the four extract solutions in serum-free media for 24 hours. The MTT assay was performed to determine the cytotoxicity of the four herbs. The GT1–7 and GH3 cells were incubated in DW, estradiol (GT1–7 only), or noncytotoxic herb solutions in serum-free medium for 24 hours. A quantitative RT-PCR and western blot were performed to measure the GnRH expression in GT1–7 cells and GH expression in GH3 cells. Huang Bai, Zhi Mu, Xia Ku Cao, and Mai Ya inhibited the GnRH mRNA expression in GT1–7 cells, whereas Huang Bai enhanced GH mRNA expression in GH3 cells. Additionally, Xia Ku Cao inhibited GnRH protein expression in GT1–7 cells and Huang Bai promoted GH protein expression in GH3 cells. The findings suggest that Huang Bai can delay puberty by inhibiting GnRH synthesis in the hypothalamus while also accelerating growth by promoting GH synthesis and secretion in the pituitary.

BackgroundYukmijihwangtang (YJT) is a traditional Korean medicine that has been used to treat kidney-yin deficiency symptoms such as dizziness and tinnitus. In addition, because it is also thought to nourish kidney-yin, it has been used to treat short stature from congenital deficiency. This study evaluated the effects of YJT on longitudinal bone growth in rats.MethodsFemale adolescent rats were randomly assigned to groups that received distilled water (per os [p.o.] twice a day; control), recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH; 20 μg/kg, subcutaneous [s.c.] once a day), or two different doses of YJT (100 or 300 mg/kg, p.o. twice a day). In each group, treatment was maintained for 4 days. Rats were injected intraperitoneally with 5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine (BrdU; 50 mg/kg) to label proliferating chondrocytes on days 2 – 4. Tetracycline hydrochloride (20 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally to form fluorescent bands on the growth plates on day 3 for measuring the longitudinal bone growth rate. Expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) in the growth plate was identified using immunohistochemistry.ResultsThere was a significant increase in the rate of bone growth in the 300 mg/kg YJT group (523.8 ± 23.7 μm/day; P < 0.05) compared to the control group (498.0 ± 23.8 μm/day), while the 100 mg/kg YJT group exhibited a non-significant increase. The number of BrdU-positive cells in the chondrocytes of the rhGH-treated group exhibited a significant increase (103.8 ± 34.2 cells/mm2) compared to that of the control group (70.3 ± 19.7 cells/mm2), while the 300 mg/kg YJT group had a non-significant increase. Additionally, IGF-1 and BMP-2 were highly expressed in the growth plate in the 300 mg/kg YJT and rhGH groups.ConclusionsYJT increased the longitudinal bone growth rate by stimulating chondrocyte proliferation with increasing increments of local IGF-1 and BMP-2 expression. Based on these findings, YJT may be a therapeutic candidate for the treatment of growth retardation during adolescence.

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HT042 is a standardized functional food ingredient approved by Korean Food and Drug Administration with a claim 'HT042 can help height growth of children'. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of HT042 on height growth in children with mild short stature. A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel study was performed on children aged 6-8 years with height ranked below the 25th percentile. In 129 children, height gain was significantly higher in HT042 group than placebo group after 24 weeks (mean difference, 0.29 cm; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.57 cm; p = 0.027). The difference was elevated when the efficacy analysis was restricted to children below the 10th percentile (mean difference, 0.45 cm; 95% CI, 0.04 to 0.87 cm; p = 0.031). Because bone age advancement was lower in HT042 group, height standard deviation score gain for bone age was higher in HT042 group and the difference was significant in children below the 10th percentile (mean difference, 0.20 score; 95% CI, 0.00 to 0.39 points; p = 0.045). Serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels were significantly increased compared with baseline within HT042 group, but group difference was not significant. HT042 supplementation helped to increase height growth in children without skeletal maturation and was more effective in much shorter children. The effects might be mediated by increases in serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The aim of this research is to evaluate the clinical evidence of an herbal medicine (HM) treatment on influenza and describe the potential benefits and adverse events by reviewing all relevant randomized controlled trials. All papers published from 2010 to 2019 in all languages in six databases were searched, including all randomized controlled trials on adults and children, testing herbal medicine for treatment of influenza, alone or in combination with conventional antiviral therapy. The main outcome parameters of interest were total effective rate, time to resolution of fever, adverse events, complications, and duration of viral shedding. 25 trials of 3044 patients were included. Herbal medicine compared to placebo significantly reduced time to fever resolution by 4.96[Formula: see text]h (mean difference, [Formula: see text]4.96; 95% CI, [Formula: see text]7.11 to [Formula: see text]2.80; [Formula: see text]), herbal medicine compared to oseltamivir showed no significant difference (mean difference, [Formula: see text]1.82; 95% CI, [Formula: see text]6.08 to 2.44; [Formula: see text]), and herbal medicine plus oseltamivir combined treatment significantly reduced duration of fever by 7.84[Formula: see text]h compared to a single treatment with oseltamivir (mean difference, [Formula: see text]7.84; 95% CI, [Formula: see text]12.51 to [Formula: see text]3.17; [Formula: see text]). Herbal medicine compared to placebo showed a significantly better total effective rate (risk ratio, 1.90; 95% CI, 1.18 to 3.07; [Formula: see text]), herbal medicine compared to oseltamivir indicated significantly better effective rate (risk ratio, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.29; [Formula: see text]), and combined treatment showed a significantly better total effective rate compared to a single treatment with oseltamivir (risk ratio, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.36; [Formula: see text]). Regarding safety, no serious adverse events were reported in HM treatment. HM presented fewer adverse events compared to oseltamivir, but the difference was not significant (risk difference, [Formula: see text]0.04; 95% CI, [Formula: see text]0.09 to 0.00; [Formula: see text]), and the combined treatment did not increase adverse events compared to oseltamivir (risk difference, [Formula: see text]0.02; 95% CI, [Formula: see text]0.06 to 0.02; [Formula: see text]). Research findings show that herbal medicine treatments have beneficial therapeutic effects on influenza and could decrease duration of fever and improve total effective rate. In addition, herbal medicine plus oseltamivir combined therapy could increase the therapeutic effect compared to a single treatment with oseltamivir.