scholarly journals A Disturbance Rejection Framework for the Study of Traditional Chinese Medicine

2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Zhang ◽  
Yan Sun ◽  
Zhiqiang Gao ◽  
Yueqi Wang

The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is explained in the language of engineering cybernetics (EC), an engineering science with the tradition of rigor and long history of practice. The inherent connection is articulated between EC, as a science of interrelations, and the Chinese conception of Wuxing. The combined cybernetic model of Wuxing seems to have significant explaining power for the TCM and could potentially facilitate better communications of the insights of the TCM to the West. In disturbance rejection, an engineering concept, a great metaphor, is found to show how the TCM is practiced, using the liver cancer pathogenesis and treatment as a case study. The results from a series of experimental studies seem to lend support to the cybernetic model of Wuxing and the principles of disturbance rejection.

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (9) ◽  
pp. 030006052093128
Author(s):  
Qiuwei Li ◽  
Liying Guo ◽  
Li Wang ◽  
Jing Miao ◽  
Huantian Cui ◽  
...  

Objective To identify potentially effective bacterial components of gold juice, a traditional Chinese medicine treatment used for fecal microbiota transplantation. Methods Fecal samples were collected from five healthy children (two boys and three girls; mean age, 7.52 ± 2.31 years). The children had no history of antibiotic use or intestinal microecological preparation in the preceding 3 months. Fresh fecal samples were collected from children to prepare gold juice in mid-to-late November, in accordance with traditional Chinese medicine methods, then used within 7 days. Finally, 16S rDNA sequence analysis was used to identify potentially effective bacterial components of gold juice. QIIME software was used for comparisons of microbial species among gold juice, diluent, filtrate, and loess samples. Results Microflora of gold juice exhibited considerable changes following “ancient method” processing. Microbial components significantly differed between gold juice and filtrate samples. The gold juice analyzed in our study consisted of microbes that synthesize carbohydrates and amino acids by degrading substances, whereas the filtrate contained probiotic flora, Bacteroides, and Prevotella 9. Conclusions This study of microbial components in gold juice and filtrate provided evidence regarding effective bacterial components in gold juice, which may aid in clinical decisions concerning fecal microbiota transplantation.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chin Ee Ho ◽  
You Li Goh ◽  
Chang Zhang

Rhizoma Coptidis (RC), commonly known ashuanglian, is a herb frequently used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) prescriptions. Known to have “clearing damp-heat, quenching fire and counteracting poison” properties, it was widely used in the Chinese community in Singapore. Berberine, an alkaloid isolated from RC, is known to have a wide array of therapeutic effects including antimicrobial, antineoplastic, and hepatoprotective effects. In 1978, RC was implicated in causing neonatal jaundice (NNJ) and kernicterus in neonates suffering from glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, leading to the banning of RC and berberine in Singapore. More than three decades later, accumulating evidence-based studies pointing to the safety of RC for general public and better understanding of G6PD deficiency, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) in Singapore reviewed and lifted the prohibition on RC and berberine, turning a brand new chapter in the history of TCM in Singapore. This paper aims to review the safety of RC and berberine, using the prohibition of use and subsequent lifting of ban on RC and berberine in Singapore as an illustration to highlight the importance of evidence-based studies in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Songwei Yang ◽  
Yantao Yang ◽  
Cong Chen ◽  
Huiqin Wang ◽  
Qidi Ai ◽  
...  

The Chinese herb couple Fuzi and Ganjiang (FG) has been a classic combination of traditional Chinese medicine that is commonly used clinically in China for nearly 2000 years. Traditional Chinese medicine suggests that FG can treat various ailments, including heart failure, fatigue, gastrointestinal upset, and depression. Neuroinflammation is one of the main pathogenesis of many neurodegenerative diseases in which microglia cells play a critical role in the occurrence and development of neuroinflammation. FG has been clinically proven to have an efficient therapeutic effect on depression and other neurological disorders, but its mechanism remains unknown. Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is a serious threat to the quality of life of cancer patients and is characterized by both physical and psychological fatigue. Recent studies have found that neuroinflammation is a key inducement leading to the occurrence and development of CRF. Traditional Chinese medicine theory believes that extreme fatigue and depressive symptoms of CRF are related to Yang deficiency, and the application of Yang tonic drugs such as Fuzi and Ganjiang can relieve CRF symptoms, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. In order to define whether FG can inhibit CRF depression-like behavior by suppressing neuroinflammation, we conducted a series of experimental studies in vitro and in vivo. According to the UPLC-Q-TOF/MSE results, we speculated that there were 49 compounds in the FG extraction, among which 30 compounds were derived from Fuzi and 19 compounds were derived from Ganjiang. Our research data showed that FG can effectively reduce the production of pro-inflammatory mediators IL-6, TNF-α, ROS, NO, and PGE2 and suppress the expression of iNOS and COX2, which were related to the inhibition of NF-κB/activation of Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathways. In addition, our research results revealed that FG can improve the depression-like behavior performance of CRF model mice in the tail suspension test, open field test, elevated plus maze test, and forced swimming test, which were associated with the inhibition of the expression of inflammatory mediators iNOS and COX2 in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of CRF model mice. Those research results suggested that FG has a satisfactory effect on depression-like behavior of CRF, which was related to the inhibition of neuroinflammation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Bo Hu

Few concepts in the medical history of China have been more entangled with modernization and nation-building than weisheng. Originally a concept inextricably bound up with traditional Chinese medicine, it underwent drastic changes and became a near equivalent of modern hygiene. Drawing on the notion of traveling concepts, this article traces the travel and transformation it experienced in journal articles between 1880 and 1930, focusing on how the new concept gradually took shape and became established in public discourse, the enabling and resisting agents, as well as their agendas.


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