scholarly journals Current Status and Major Challenges to the Safety and Efficacy Presented by Chinese Herbal Medicine

Medicines ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xian Zhou ◽  
Chun-Guang Li ◽  
Dennis Chang ◽  
Alan Bensoussan
Keyword(s):  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽  
Chinese Herbs ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Evidence Based Practices ◽  
Safety And Efficacy ◽  
Chinese Herbal ◽  
The Status ◽  
Chemical Profiles ◽  
Standards And Regulations

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is not only used prevalently in Asian countries but has also gained a stable market globally. As a principal form of TCM, Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is comprised of treatments using multiple Chinese herbs which have complex chemical profiles. Due to a lack of understanding of its modality and a lack of standardization, there are significant challenges associated with regulating CHM’s safety for practice and understanding its mechanisms of efficacy. Currently, there are many issues that need to be overcome in regard to the safety and efficacy of CHM for the further development of evidence-based practices. There is a need to better understand the mechanisms behind the efficacy of CHM, and develop proper quality standards and regulations to ensure a similar safety standard as Western drugs. This paper outlines the status of CHM in terms of its safety and efficacy and attempts to provide approaches to address these issues.

scholarly journals Knowledge discovery in Chinese herbal medicine: a machine learning perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 336 ◽  
pp. 06024
Author(s):  
Nan Liang ◽  
Qing Liang ◽  
Fenglei Ji
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Knowledge Discovery ◽  
Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽  
Learning Algorithms ◽  
Machine Learning Algorithms ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Network Pharmacology ◽  
Valuable Insight ◽  
Chinese Herbal

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has attracted more and more attention due to its remarkable effects on treating diseases, and Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) is an important partition of TCM, rich in natural active ingredients. Researchers are trying multiple analytical methods to dig out more valuable information about CHM and reveal the principle of TCM. Machine learning is playing an important role in the studies. Knowledge discovery of CHM using machine learning mainly includes quality control of CHM, network pharmacology in CHM, and medical prescriptions composed by CHM, aiming to understand TCM better, provide more efficiency methods in the production of CHM and find novel treatment of disease not curable nowadays. In this paper, we summarized the basic idea of frequently used classification and clustering machine learning algorithms, introduced pre-processing algorithms commonly used to simplify and accelerate machine learning procedure, presented current status of machine learning algorithms’ applications in knowledge discovery of CHM, discussed challenges and future trends of machine learning’s application in CHM. It is believed that the paper provides a valuable insight for the starters trying to apply machine learning in the study of CHM and catch up the recent status of related researches.

scholarly journals Chinese Herbal Medicine Hepatotoxicity: The Evaluation and Recognization Based on Large-scale Evidence Database

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhi Liu ◽  
Xin He ◽  
Lili Wang ◽  
Yunhua Zhang ◽  
Yue Hai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Liver Injury ◽  
Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Liver Toxicity ◽  
Assessment Method ◽  
Chinese Herbs ◽  
Data Resource ◽  
Chinese Herbal

Background:Due to the special nature of Chinese Herbal medicine and the complexity of its clinical use, it is difficult to identify and evaluate its toxicity and resulting herb induced liver injury (HILI).Methods:First, the database would provide full profile of HILI from the basic ingredients to clinical outcomes by the most advanced algorithms of artificial intelligence, and it is also possible that we can predict possibilities of HILI after patients taking Chinese herbs by individual patient evaluation and prediction. Second, the database would solve the chaos and lack of the relevant data faced by the current basic research and clinical practice of Chinese Herbal Medicine. Third, we can also screen the susceptible patients from the database and thus prevent the accidents of HILI from the very beginning.Results:The Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment Method (RUCAM) is the most accepted method to evaluate DILI, but at present before using the RUCAM evaluation method, data resource collection and analysis are yet to be perfected. Based on existing research on drug-metabolizing enzymes mediating reactive metabolites (RMs), the aim of this study is to explore the possibilities and methods of building multidimensional hierarchical database composing of RMs evidence library, Chinese herbal evidence library, and individualized reports evidence library of herb induced liver injury HILI.Conclusion:The potential benefits lie in its ability to organize, use vast amounts of evidence and use big data mining techniques at the center for Chinese herbal medicine liver toxicity research, which is the most difficult key point of scientific research to be investigated in the next few years.

scholarly journals Chinese Herbal Medicine Qi Ju Di Huang Wan for the Treatment of Essential Hypertension: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Wang ◽  
Xingjiang Xiong ◽  
Guoyan Yang ◽  
Yuqing Zhang ◽  
Yongmei Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Essential Hypertension ◽  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Randomized Controlled Trials ◽  
Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽  
Antihypertensive Drugs ◽  
Chinese Herbs ◽  
Controlled Trials ◽  
Randomized Controlled ◽  
Chinese Herbal

Background. Chinese herbs are potentially effective for hypertension. Qi Ju Di Huang Wan (QJDHW) is a commonly used Chinese herbal medicine as a monotherapy or in combination with other antihypertensive agents for the treatment of essential hypertension (EH). However, there is no critically appraised evidence such as systematic reviews or meta-analyses on the effectiveness and safety of QJDHW for EH.Methods and Findings. CENTRAL, PubMed, CBM, CNKI, VIP, and online clinical trial registry websites were searched for published and unpublished randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of QJDHW for essential hypertension up to January 2013 with no language restrictions. A total of 10 randomized trials involving 1024 patients were included. Meta-analysis showed that QJDHW combined with antihypertensive drugs was more effective in lowering blood pressure and improving TCM syndrome for the treatment of essential hypertension than antihypertensive drugs used alone. No trials reported severe adverse events related to QJDHW.Conclusions. Our review suggests that QJDHW combined with antihypertensive drugs might be an effective treatment for lowering blood pressure and improving symptoms in patients with essential hypertension. However, the finding should be interpreted with caution because of the poor methodological quality of included trials. There is an urgent need for well-designed, long-term studies to assess the effectiveness of QJDHW in the treatment of essential hypertension.

scholarly journals Effect of a Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine Formulation on Cell Survival and Apoptosis of MPP+-Treated MES 23.5 Dopaminergic Cells

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuifen Ye ◽  
Ho Kee Koon ◽  
Wen Fan ◽  
Yihui Xu ◽  
Wei Wei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Neurodegenerative Diseases ◽  
Cell Survival ◽  
Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽  
Chinese Herbs ◽  
Expression Ratio ◽  
Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽  
Dopaminergic Cells ◽  
Chinese Herbal ◽  
Bax Protein

Progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) is implicated in Parkinson’s disease (PD). The efficacy of these currently used drugs is limited while traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used in the management of neurodegenerative diseases for many years. This study was designed to evaluate the effect of a modified traditional Chinese herbal medicine decoction, Cong Rong Jing (CRJ), on cell survival and apoptosis of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium- (MPP+-) treated MES23.5 dopaminergic cells. CRJ was prepared as a decoction from three Chinese herbs, namely,Herba Cistanches,Herba Epimedii, andRhizoma Polygonati. We reported here that CRJ significantly enhanced the cell survival of MES23.5 cells after the exposure of MPP+and inhibited the production of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) induced by MPP+. CRJ also prevented the MPP+-treated MES23.5 cells from apoptosis by reducing the externalization of phosphatidylserine and enhancing the Bcl-2/Bax protein expression ratio. Signaling proteins such as JAK2, STAT3, and ERK1/2 were also involved in the action of CRJ. Taken together, these results provide a preliminary mechanism to support clinical application of the TCM formulation in PD and possibly other neurodegenerative diseases associated with ROS injury and apoptosis.

scholarly journals Biomedical Applications of Chinese Herb-Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles by Phytonanotechnology

Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2757
Author(s):  
Rehmat Islam ◽  
Leming Sun ◽  
Lianbing Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Silver Nanoparticles ◽  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽  
Biomedical Applications ◽  
Synergistic Effects ◽  
Chinese Herb ◽  
Chinese Herbs ◽  
Bioactive Components ◽  
Promising Alternative ◽  
Chinese Herbal

Recent advances in nanotechnology have opened up new avenues for the controlled synthesis of nanoparticles for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Chinese herbal medicine is a natural gift to humanity, and it has long been used as an antibacterial and anticancer agent. This study will highlight recent developments in the phytonanotechnological synthesis of Chinese herbal medicines to utilize their bioactive components in biomedical and therapeutic applications. Biologically synthesized silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have emerged as a promising alternative to chemical and physical approaches for various biomedical applications. The comprehensive rationale of combinational or synergistic effects of Chinese herb-based AgNPs synthesis was investigated with superior physicochemical and biological properties, and their biomedical applications, including antimicrobial and anticancer activity and wound healing properties. AgNPs can damage the cell ultrastructure by triggering apoptosis, which includes the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), DNA disintegration, protein inactivation, and the regulation of various signaling pathways. However, the anticancer mechanism of Chinese herbal medicine-based AgNPs is more complicated due to the potential toxicity of AgNPs. Further in-depth studies are required to address Chinese herbs’ various bioactive components and AgNPs as a synergistic approach to combat antimicrobial resistance, therapeutic efficiency of drug delivery, and control and prevention of newly emerged diseases.

scholarly journals Prediction Methods of Herbal Compounds in Chinese Medicinal Herbs

Molecules ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. 2303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ke Han ◽  
Lei Zhang ◽  
Miao Wang ◽  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Chunyu Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Virtual Screening ◽  
Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽  
Screening Method ◽  
Herbal Medicines ◽  
Chinese Herbs ◽  
Prediction Methods ◽  
Chinese Herbal Medicines ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Chinese Herbal

Chinese herbal medicine has recently gained worldwide attention. The curative mechanism of Chinese herbal medicine is compared with that of western medicine at the molecular level. The treatment mechanism of most Chinese herbal medicines is still not clear. How do we integrate Chinese herbal medicine compounds with modern medicine? Chinese herbal medicine drug-like prediction method is particularly important. A growing number of Chinese herbal source compounds are now widely used as drug-like compound candidates. An important way for pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs is to discover potentially active compounds from related herbs in Chinese herbs. The methods for predicting the drug-like properties of Chinese herbal compounds include the virtual screening method, pharmacophore model method and machine learning method. In this paper, we focus on the prediction methods for the medicinal properties of Chinese herbal medicines. We analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the above three methods, and then introduce the specific steps of the virtual screening method. Finally, we present the prospect of the joint application of various methods.

Successful Treatment of Complete Left Bundle Branch Block Complicating Acute Viral Myocarditis Employing Chinese Herbs

1986 ◽  
Vol 14 (03n04) ◽  
pp. 124-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constant Kuo
Keyword(s):  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽  
Left Bundle Branch Block ◽  
Viral Myocarditis ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Chinese Herbs ◽  
Bundle Branch Block ◽  
Chinese Herbal ◽  
Acute Viral Myocarditis

A case of complete left bundle branch block complicating acute viral myocarditis successfully treated by Chinese herbal medicine is reported. Complete left bundle branch block may be less commonly encountered in myocarditis. Treatment by Chinese herbal medicine for 49 days was successful in the management of this conduction disturbance. Follow-up studies, up to 3 months, produced normal electrocardiogram with good health.

scholarly journals Chinese Herbal Medicine in Ameliorating Diabetic Kidney Disease via Activating Autophagy

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yuyang Wang ◽  
Hailing Zhao ◽  
Qian Wang ◽  
Xuefeng Zhou ◽  
Xiaoguang Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Kidney Disease ◽  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽  
Diabetic Kidney Disease ◽  
Kidney Injury ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Diabetic Patients ◽  
Diabetic Kidney ◽  
Chinese Herbal

Diabetic kidney disease (DKD), a leading cause of end-stage renal disease (ESRD), has become a serious public health problem worldwide and lacks effective therapies due to its complex pathogenesis. Recent studies suggested defective autophagy involved in the pathogenesis and progression of DKD. Chinese herbal medicine, as an emerging option for the treatment of DKD, could improve diabetic kidney injury by activating autophagy. In this review, we briefly summarize underlying mechanisms of autophagy dysregulation in DKD, including AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR), and the sirtuin (Sirt) pathways, and we particularly concentrate on the current status of Chinese herbal medicine treating DKD by regulating autophagy. The advances in our understanding regarding the treatment of DKD via regulating autophagy with Chinese herbal medicine will enhance the clinical application of Chinese medicine as well as discovery of novel therapeutic agents for diabetic patients.

scholarly journals Chinese Herbal Medicine and Depression: The Research Evidence

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Butler ◽  
Karen Pilkington
Keyword(s):  
Herbal Medicine ◽  
Systematic Reviews ◽  
Chinese Herbal Medicine ◽  
Chinese Literature ◽  
Chinese Herbs ◽  
Current Evidence ◽  
Cochrane Library ◽  
Chinese Herbal ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Event Rates

Background. Alternative approaches for managing depression are often sought and herbal mixtures are widely used in China. The aim of this paper was to provide an overall picture of the current evidence by analysing published systematic reviews and presenting a supplementary systematic review of trials in Western databases.Methods. Searches were conducted using AMED, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, MEDLINE/PubMed, PsycINFO, and trial registers. Results were screened and selected trials were evaluated by two reviewers working independently. Systematic reviews were identified and assessed using key criteria.Results. Five systematic reviews were located addressing the Chinese literature, adjunctive use of Chinese herbs, and the formulae Chaihu-Shugan-San, Xiao Yao San, and Free and Easy Wanderer Plus. The supplementary review located 8 trials, 3 of which were not included in previous reviews. Positive results were reported: no significant differences from medication, greater effect than medication or placebo, reduced adverse event rates when combined or compared with antidepressants. However, limitations in methodology and reporting were revealed.Conclusions. Despite promising results, particularly for Xiao Yao San and its modifications, the effectiveness of Chinese herbal medicine in depression could not be fully substantiated based on current evidence. Further well-designed, well-reported trials that reflect practice may be worth pursuing.

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