The Safety and Efficacy of Herbal Medicine for 107 Psoriasis Patients: A Retrospective Chart Review

Article information

J Korean Med. 2016;37(1):34-40

Publication date (electronic) : 2016 March 31

doi : https://doi.org/10.13048/jkm.16004

¹Nature Oriental Medical Clinic, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea

²Department of Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology and Dermatology of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul, Republic of Korea

Correspondence to: Eun-Ji Choi, Department of Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology and Dermatology of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University hospital at Gangdong, 892, Dongnam-ro, Gangdong-gu, Seoul, 134-825 Rep. of Korea, Tel: +82-10-8870-1153, Fax: +82-2-440-7143, E-mail: kkie87@hanmail.net

Received 2016 February 25; Revised 2016 March 18; Accepted 2016 March 20.

Abstract

Objectives:

To observe safety and efficacy of herbal medicine for psoriasis patients.

Methods:

We did retrospective chart review for 107 psoriasis patients who had been treated by herbal medicine for 2 months, and we analyzed the liver function test (LFT) results and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores of before and after the treatment.

Results:

The mean LFT and the number of patients with abnormal LFT decreased after the treatments. More than 95% of patients with normal LFT maintained normal results at after the treatment, and only 2.1% and 4.6% patients with normal LFT showed abnormal Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase (GOT) and Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase (GPT) results at after the treatment. Also, both mean PASI scores for all patients and patients with abnormal LFT before the treatment decreased significantly.

Conclusions:

This study suggest that herbal medicine may be safe and effective treatment for psoriasis.

Keywords: Psoriasis; Herbal medicine; Safety; Efficacy; Hepatotoxicity; Psoriasis Area and Severity Index

Table 1.

The Compositions of Gamibangpungtongseoung-san

Table 2.

Baseline Characteristics of Subjects

Table 3.

GOT, GPT Value and Number of Abnormal Patients

Table 4.

Distributions of the Patients by GOT Test

Table 5.

Distributions of the Patients by GPT Test

Table 6.

Change of PASI Score

References

1. Boyman O, Conrad C, Tonel G, Gilliet M, Nestle FO. The pathogenic role of tissueresident immune cells in psoriasis. Trends Immunol 2007;28(2):51–7.

2. Korean Dermatology Association. Dermatology 5th edth ed. Seoul: Ryo Moon GakPCo; 2008. p. 241.

3. Youn JL. Psoriasis Clinic Seoul: Designmeca; 2004. p. 102.

4. Youn JL. Etiology & Treatment of Psoriasis Update Seoul: Designmeca; 2006. p. 7–8.

5. Kim NK, Hwang CY, Lim GS. The Oriental and Occidental bibliographic Study of Psoriasis. The Journal of Oriental Medical Surgery, Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology 1999;12(1):154–76.

6. Hong SH. Reviewing Research on Korean medical treatment of Psoriasis. The Journal of Korean Medical Ophthalmology & Otolaryngology & Dermatology 2013;26(4):26–42.

7. Fredriksson T, Pettersson U. Severe psoriasis–oral therapy with a new retinoid. Dermatologica 1978;157:238–44.

8. Kimball AB, Jacobson C, Weiss S, Vreeland MG, Wu Y. The psychosocial burden of psoriasis. Am J Clin Dermatol 2005;6(6):383–92.

9. Weinstein GD, White GM. An approach to the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis with rotational therapy. J Am Acad Dermatol 1993;28(3):454–9.

10. Kim SY, Yun SJ, Lee JB, Kim SJ, Won YH, Lee SC. A comparison of efficacy and adverse reactions between Methotrexate and Cyclosporin A. Korean J Dermatol 2014;52(9):615–21.

11. Bangert CA, Costner MI. Methotrexate in dermatology. Dermatologic Therapy 2007;20:216–28.

12. Grossman RM, Chevert S, Abi-Rached J, Blanchet F, Dubertret L. Long-term safety of cyclosporine in the treatment of psoriasis. Arch Dermatol 1996;132(6):623–9.

13. Kalb RE, Fiorentino DF, Lebwohl MG, Toole J, Poulin Y, Cohen AD, et al. Risk of Serious Infection With Biologic and Systemic Treatment of Psoriasis: Results From the Psoriasis Longitudinal Assessment and Registry (PSOLAR). JAMA Dermatol 2015;151(9):961–69.

14. Park YC, Park HM, Lee SD. Inducible Mechanisms for Hepatotoxicity caused by Traditional Korean medicines in a view of toxicology. J Korean Oriental Med 2011;32(4):48–67.

15. Lee E, Park BW, Hea GJ, Ko H. A study on the side effects and toxicity of herbal medicine. Korean J Orient Int Med 2002;23(2):222–7.

16. Lee SY, Cheong JO, Yang TK, Koo BH. The feasibility and safety of herbal medication on short strature. Korean J Orient Int Med 2001;22(4):513–7.

17. Park SU, Jung WS, Moon SK, Go CN, Cho KH, Kim YS, et al. Clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Tongxinluo in high risk group of cardiovascular diseases. The Korean Journal of Joongpoong 2005;6(1):25–32.

18. Bae SH, Park SU, Kang CW, Hong SH. Safety of korean herbal medicine used with western medicine on liver function: prospective observational study. Korean J Orient Int Med 2013;34(2):192–203.

19. Lee SY, Kang HJ, Jung MY. Case report of efficacy and safety of long term medication of Oncheongeum-gamibang. Korean J Oriental Physiology & Pathology 2013;27(2):268–72.

20. Lee JS, Lee SD. Effects of Liver Function on Blood of Drug Users(Herbal and Western) in Koreans. Kor. J. Oriental Preventive Medical Society 2004;8(1):59–74.

21. Yang JI, Lee KH, Kim YS, Shin MK, Yoo JH, Chang GT. A report on liver function tests of 82 psoriasis patients taking herbal medication over 3 months. J Korean Oriental Med 2012;33(3):95–104.

Article information Continued

Table 1.

The Compositions of Gamibangpungtongseoung-san

Scientific name of herbs	Dose(grams)
Talcum	6.8
Glycyrrhizae Radix	4.8
Gypsum Fibrosum	2.8
Scutellariae Radix	2.8
Platycodi Radix	2.8
Ledebouriellae Radix	1.8
Paeonia Radix Rubra	1.8
Cnidium officinale	1.8
Angelicae gigantis Radix	1.8
Rhei Rhizoma	1.8
Menthae Herba	1.8
Forsythiae Fructus	1.8
Natrii Sulfas	1.8
Schizonepetae Herba	1.4
Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma	1.4
Gardeniae Fructus	1.4
Astragalus membranaceus	12.0
Coptis chinensis	4.0

Table 2.

Baseline Characteristics of Subjects

N (Male/Female)	Age	Body weight (kg)	Treatment months
107 (59/48)	33.2±11.6	66.6±14.2	11.6±11.1

The values given are the mean±SD.

Table 3.

GOT, GPT Value and Number of Abnormal Patients

		Before treatment	After treatment
GOT	Mean±SD(IU/L)	32.73±30.25	25.92±10.21
GOT	Number of abnormal patients (% of total patients)	13(12.2)	7(6.5)

GPT	Mean±SD(IU/L)	29.01±30.96	21.08±14.12
GPT	Number of abnormal patients (% of total patients)	20(18.7)	8(7.5)

GOT: glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase; GPT: glutamic pyruvic transaminase; SD: standard deviation

Table 4.

Distributions of the Patients by GOT Test

		After treatment		Total

		Normal	Abnormal
Before treatment (n, %)	Normal	92(97.9)	2(2.1)	94(100)
Before treatment (n, %)	Abnormal	8(61.5)	5(38.5)	13(100)
Total (n)		100	7	107

GOT: glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase

Table 5.

Distributions of the Patients by GPT Test

		After treatment		Total

		Normal	Abnormal
Before treatment (n, %)	Normal	83(95.4)	4(4.6)	87(100)
Before treatment (n, %)	Abnormal	16(80.0)	4(20.0)	20(100)
Total (n)		99	8	107

GPT: glutamic pyruvic transaminase

Table 6.

Change of PASI Score

	Before treatment	After treatment	p-value
PASI (107 patients)	13.45±7.99	3.29±4.47	0.000^**
PASI (22 patients)	14.23±6.19	4.06±5.30	0.000^**

The values given are the mean±SD. Statistical significance was set at a P value < 0.05, using paired t-test for PASI score of all patients and Wilcoxon signed rank test for PASI score of 22 patients.

PASI: Psoriasis Area and Severity Index;

^**

p<0.01.