MethodsData SourcesComputerized literature searches for experimental studies and clinical trials of BVA for arthritis were performed on the data- bases 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 terms ‘bee venom’, ‘bee venom therapy’, ‘acupuncture’ and ‘anti-inflammation’, ‘rheumatic arthritis’ or ‘osteoarthritis’ were used. Further hand-searches were performed in the reference lists of all located articles.