Bee Venom Acupuncture for Arthritis

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This is just the abstract - full article is available at

http://ecam.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/full/2/1/79 under open access model.

 

An Overview of Bee Venom Acupuncture in the Treatment of Arthritis

Jae-Dong Lee1,*, Hi-Joon Park2,*, Younbyoung Chae2 and Sabina Lim

 

1Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Seoul College of Korean

Medicine, Kyung Hee University Seoul, South Korea, and 2Department of

Meridian and Acupuncture, Seoul College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee

University Seoul, South Korea

 

Bee venom acupuncture (BVA), as a kind of herbal acupuncture, exerts not

only pharmacological actions from the bioactive compounds isolated from

bee venom but also a mechanical function from acupuncture stimulation.

BVA is growing in popularity, especially in Korea, and is used primarily

for pain relief in many kinds of diseases. We aimed to summarize and

evaluate the available evidence of BVA for rheumatoid arthritis and

osteoarthritis. Computerized literature searches for experimental

studies and clinical trials of BVA for arthritis were performed on the

databases from PUBMED, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library. In addition, two

leading Korean journals (The Journal of Korean Society for Acupuncture

and Moxibustion and The Journal of Korean Oriental Medicine) were

searched for relevant studies. The search revealed 67 studies, 15 of

which met our criteria. The anti-inflammation and analgesic actions of

BVA were proved in various kinds of animal arthritic models. Two

randomized controlled trials and three uncontrolled clinical trials

showed that BVA was effective in the treatment of arthritis. It is

highly likely that the effectiveness of BVA for arthritis is a promising

area of future research. However, there is limited evidence

demonstrating the efficacy of BVA in arthritis. Rigorous trials with

large sample size and adequate design are needed to define the role of

BVA for these indications. In addition, studies on the optimal dosage

and concentration of BVA are recommended for future trials.

 

Keywords: acupuncture – analgesia – anti-inflammation – bee venom –

osteoarthritis – rheumatoid arthritis

 

For reprints and all correspondence: Sabina Lim, Department of Meridian

and Acupuncture, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung-Hee University, 1

Hoegidong, Dongdaemungu, Seoul 130–701, South Korea. Tel: +822 961 0324.

Fax: +822 961 7831; E-mail: lims

 

*The first two authors contributed equally to this article.