In Vitro Assays for the Assessment of Safety and Toxicity in Pharmacopuncture Derived from Animal

Objectives

Among the various treatment methods involving the use of natural substances, pharmacopuncture using animal venom is a relatively new form of acupuncture that has been developed in South Korea and is gaining popularity worldwide. Pharmacopuncture with animal venom is widely used in clinical practice; therefore, ensuring its procedural safety is crucial. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and toxicity of pharmacopuncture using animal venom.

Methods

In October 2021, nine samples of animal venom-derived pharmacopuncture products were randomly collected from four External Herbal Dispensaries (EHDs). These samples underwent sterility and microbial limit testing to ensure they were free from microbial contamination. Toxicity tests were conducted using three different cell lines to evaluate cytotoxic effects.

Results

The sterility and microbial limit tests showed no microbial growth in any of the pharmacopuncture samples. However, the toxicity tests revealed that bee venom exhibited strong cytotoxicity. Furthermore, samples containing Bovis Calculus, Fel Ursi, and Moschus also demonstrated varying degrees of cytotoxic effects.

Conclusion

This study is the first to analyze the safety and toxicity of animal venom-derived pharmacopuncture products, providing evidence for its procedural safety. Although the samples analyzed were limited to four EHDs, these findings highlight the importance of further research on the safety and toxicity of pharmacopuncture to ensure its clinical application is both effective and safe.

Study of Single-dose Toxicity of Guseonwangdo-go Glucose Intramuscular Injection in Sprague-Dawley Rats

OBJECTIVES

This study was performed to analyze single-dose intramuscular toxicity of Guseonwangdo-go glucose pharmacopuncture.

METHODS

Eighty six-week-old Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into two large groups of forty rats; Guseonwangdo-go glucose 5% and Guseonwangdo-go glucose 20% groups. Each group was sub-divided into four smaller groups of five males and five females, with the following dosages of pharmacopuncture being administered by intramuscular (IM) injection in each group: group 1 (G1, control group): 1.0 mL of normal saline solution, group 2 (G2, low-dose group): 0.1 mL, group 3 (G3, mid-dose group): 0.5 mL, and group 4 (G4, high-dose group): 1.0 mL.

RESULTS

No mortalities or clinical signs were observed in any group. Also, no significant changes in body weights or in hematological/biochemical analyses were observed between the control and the experimental groups during necropsy or histopathology.

CONCLUSION

The above findings suggest that the lethal dose of Guseonwangdo-go glucose 5% and 20% pharmacopuncture administered via IM injection is more than 1.0 mL per animal in both male and female rats. Further studies on the repeated-dose toxicity of Guseonwangdo-go glucose should be conducted to yield more concrete data.

Effect of Scolopendrid Calculus Bovis-Fel Uris-Moschus Bee Venom and Sweet Bee Venom on Regional Cerebral Blood Flow after Pharmacopuncture to GV16 Pungbu and GB20 Pungji in Rat

Objectives:

This study was designed to investigate the effect of four pharmacopuncture drugs (scolopendrid, Calculus Bovis-Fel Uris-Moschus (BUM), bee venom 25%, and sweet bee venom 10%) on the cerebral hemodynamics, including changes in the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and in the mean arterial blood pressure (MABP).

Methods:

The changes in the rCBF and the MABP were determined by using a laser-Doppler flowmeter and a pressure transducer, respectively.

Results:

Scolopendrid (0.3 ml, 1 ml/kg) caused no significant changes in the rCBF and the MABP, whereas BUM (0.3 ml, 1 ml/kg) decreased the rCBF and the MABP, bee venom 25% (0.3 ml, 1 ml/kg) increased the rCBF and lowered the MABP, and sweet bee venom 10% (0.3 ml, 1 ml/kg) increased the rCBF and had no significant effect on the MABP.

Conclusions:

The rCBF and the MABP were influenced differently by the administration of various pharmacopunctures. Further studies are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanism.