scholarly journals Unraveling the Molecular Mechanism of Traditional Chinese Medicine: Formulas Against Acute Airway Viral Infections as Examples

Molecules ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (19) ◽  
pp. 3505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi Shin Eng ◽  
Chien Hsing Lee ◽  
Wei Chang Lee ◽  
Ching Chun Huang ◽  
Jung San Chang

Herbal medicine, including traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), is widely used worldwide. Herbs and TCM formulas contain numerous active molecules. Basically, they are a kind of cocktail therapy. Herb-drug, herb-food, herb-herb, herb-microbiome, and herb-disease interactions are complex. There is potential for both benefit and harm, so only after understanding more of their mechanisms and clinical effects can herbal medicine and TCM be helpful to users. Many pharmacologic studies have been performed to unravel the molecular mechanisms; however, basic and clinical studies of good validity are still not enough to translate experimental results into clinical understanding and to provide tough evidence for better use of herbal medicines. There are still issues regarding the conflicting pharmacologic effects, pharmacokinetics, drug interactions, adverse and clinical effects of herbal medicine and TCM. Understanding study validation, pharmacologic effects, drug interactions, indications and clinical effects, adverse effects and limitations, can all help clinicians in providing adequate suggestions to patients. At present, it would be better to use herbs and TCM formulas according to their traditional indications matching the disease pathophysiology and their molecular mechanisms. To unravel the molecular mechanisms and understand the benefits and harms of herbal medicine and TCM, there is still much work to be done.

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beom-Joon Lee ◽  
Kyungjin Lee

Polygoni Multiflori Radix (PMR), Cynanchi Wilfordii Radix (CWR), and Cynanchi Auriculati Radix (CAR) are very popular herbal medicines in Traditional Korean Medicine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Kampo Medicine. However, the plant origins, efficacies, and traditional uses of these herbal medicines differ. In Korea, PMR is calledHa Su O(He Shou Wuin China), and CWR is calledBaek Ha Su OorBaek Su O(Bai Shou Wuin China).Baek Su Orefers to CWR in Korea and CAR in China. CAR has not been used as a traditional herbal medicine, and it cannot be legally used as a food or food ingredient in Korea. However, CAR is cultivated in Korea and imported from China. Because the morphology of CWR and CAR is very similar, they are often confused and misused in Korea. This review discusses the reasons for the confusion and misuse of these substances in Korea and provides the exact plant origins, efficacies, uses, components, and toxicities of PMR, CWR, and CAR so that they can be correctly understood and used.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Zhang ◽  
Mingqi Wang ◽  
Wen Wang ◽  
Ling Li ◽  
Xin Sun

AbstractPrevious studies showed that traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) may be effective for patients with critical conditions. However, the extent to which TCM is used in intensive care units (ICUs) remains less investigated. This study aimed to investigate the utilization of TCM among ICU patients. Using a cross-sectional study design, we examined the use of TCMs among ICU patients. The data were from a well-established ICU registry from a large teaching hospital in west China. Our study found that TCM was widely used among ICU, in particular TCM injections and oral liquids. The use of TCM often differed by ICUs, and TCM injections and oral liquids were mostly used in neurological ICU, while Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) were often used in general ICU. The use of TCM was also highly associated with patient characteristics. Patients with pancreatitis were administered with most TCM, patients with cerebrovascular disease with most TCM injections and those with chronic renal failure with most oral liquids. Future efforts should include generation of high-quality evidence guidelines about clinical effects of TCM interventions among ICU patients.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 161-167
Author(s):  
Xin-hui Wang ◽  
Rui Lang ◽  
Ying Liang ◽  
Qin Zeng ◽  
Nan Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is a major cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease worldwide. Currently, clinical interventions for IgAN are limited, and many patients seek out alternative therapies such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). In the last several years, TCM has accumulated ample application experiences and achieved favorable clinical effects. This article summarizes high-quality research from basic science to clinical applications aimed to provide more evidence-based medicine proof for the clinical treatment of IgAN. In summary, qi and yin deficiency accounted for the largest proportion in IgAN patients, and the treatment of IgAN should be based on supplementing qi and nourishing yin. Further, for patients with severe IgAN, the treatment combination of Chinese and Western medicines is better than pure Chinese medicine or hormone therapy. In addition, the pharmacological mechanism of Chinese herbal medicines is mostly based on restoring the immune function, relieving the inflammation damage, and inhibiting proliferation of the glomerular mesangial cells.


2011 ◽  
Vol 271-273 ◽  
pp. 1688-1693
Author(s):  
Ou Tao ◽  
Yan Ling Zhang ◽  
Yun Wang ◽  
Yan Jiang Qiao

Virtual simulation technology plays an important role in educational engineering. The limitation of enough Chinese herbal medicines and instrument obscured the better understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In this paper, the concept of virtual simulation technology and its application was outlined in the teaching of TCM theory and experiments. The superiority and insufficiency of this technology was also approached. The basic idea on building a virtual teaching and simulation platform for TCM was discussed, which may provide referred methods in the innovation of Chinese medicine teaching.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (13) ◽  
pp. e372101321331
Author(s):  
Daniella Jordão Valmiro ◽  
Lucas Moyses Pinto ◽  
Lucas Nascimento Barbosa ◽  
Luiza Beatriz Carvalho de Araújo ◽  
Rodrigo Vieira Gonzaga

The use of herbal medicines has grown considerably in recent years, due to the erroneous thought that products of plant origin are harmless, and therefore do not cause adverse effects or have drug interactions. The use of these drugs with oral contraceptives can bring risks to patients. The potential negative clinical effects that can be caused by these drug interactions must be emphasized to prevent risks and ensure the effectiveness of this contraceptive method that is one of the most used by women seeking to prevent pregnancy. The users of herbal medicines usually believe that herbal medicine is a therapeutic alternative free of adverse effects and/or incapable of causing drug interactions, but herbal medicines are composed of several chemical compounds, which, in turn, may be responsible for antagonistic and/or synergistic effects with other drugs. The main interactions that can occur with contraceptives are with popularly used herbal medicines such as licorice, alfalfa, cannabis, cimicifuga, St. John's wort, ginseng, kava-kava, saw palmetto, sene, and soy. The herbal medicines have several chemical compounds, among which we highlight the secondary metabolites, responsible for the pharmacological actions and mechanism of action of drug interactions, which are often similar in plants that have in their composition the same metabolites, as in the case of saponins and isoflavones that reduce the speed of biotransformation of oral contraceptives.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhao Chen ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Ning Hou ◽  
Yanling Zhang ◽  
Yanjiang Qiao

AbstractThe traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) genome project aims to reveal the genetic information and regulatory network of herbal medicines, and to clarify their molecular mechanisms in the prevention and treatment of human diseases. Moreover, the TCM genome could provide the basis for the discovery of the functional genes of active ingredients in TCM, and for the breeding and improvement of TCM. The traditional Chinese Medicine Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (TCM-Blast) is a web interface for TCM protein and DNA sequence similarity searches. It contains approximately 40G of genome data on TCMs, including protein and DNA sequence for 36 TCMs with high medical value.The development of a publicly accessible TCM genome alignment database hosted on the TCM-Blast website (http://viroblast.pungentdb.org.cn/TCM-Blast/viroblast.php) has expanded to query multiple sequence databases to obtain TCM genome data, and provide user-friendly output for easy analysis and browsing of BLAST results. The genome sequencing of TCMs helps to elucidate the biosynthetic pathways of important secondary metabolites and provides an essential resource for gene discovery studies and molecular breeding. The TCMs genome provides a valuable resource for the investigation of novel bioactive compounds and drugs from these TCMs under the guidance of TCM clinical practice. Our database could be expanded to other TCMs after the determination of their genome data.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (9) ◽  
pp. 701-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiajia Li ◽  
Qing Liang ◽  
GuangChun Sun

Background: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used for medical purposes since the ancient time and has gradually gained recognition worldwide. Nowadays, patients with thrombus presiding to anticoagulant/ antiplatelet drugs prefer taking TCM. However, an increasing number of studies on herb–drug interactions have been shown. Nevertheless, findings are frequently conflicting and vague. In this review, we discuss the herb–drug interactions between TCM and anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs to provide guidance on concomitant ingestion with anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs. Methods: We undertook a structured search of medicine and drug databases for peer-reviewed literature using focused review questions. Results: Danshen, Ginkgo, Ginger, H. Perforatum, SMY and Puerarin injection had directional regulation effects on the efficacy of anticoagulant drugs by altering the CYPs, pharmacokinetic indexs and hemorheological parameters. H. Perforatum inhibited the efficacy of Clopidogrel by enhancing the CYP3A4 activity and Ginkgo increased the efficacy of Ticlopidine. Additionally, Renshen, the formulae except SMY and injections except Puerarin injection could increase or decrease the efficacy of anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs via regulating the CYPs, platelet aggregation, hemorheological parameters and others. Conclusion: Some cases have reported that TCMs may increase the bleeding risk or has no effect on coagulation when anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs are concurrently used. However, pharmacokinetic studies have presented either consistent or slightly varying results. So it is difficult to ascertain whether the concurrent use of TCM may increase or reduce the pharmacologic effects of anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs with adverse reactions. Therefore, herb–drug interactions of TCM and anticoagulant/antiplatelet drugs should be further explored and defined.


2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 80-93
Author(s):  
Jieyu Zuo ◽  
Qin Zheng ◽  
Hui Jian ◽  
Tasha Porttin ◽  
Chanelle Willson ◽  
...  

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 251
Author(s):  
Behdad Jahromi ◽  
Iulia Pirvulescu ◽  
Kenneth D. Candido ◽  
Nebojsa Nick Knezevic

Complementary and alternative medicines such as herbal medicines are not currently part of the conventional medical system. As the popularity of and global market for herbal medicine grows among all age groups, with supporting scientific data and clinical trials, specific alternative treatments such as herbal medicine can be reclassified as a practice of conventional medicine. One of the most common conditions for which adults use herbal medicine is pain. However, herbal medicines carry safety concerns and may impact the efficacy of conventional therapies. Unfortunately, mechanisms of action are poorly understood, and their use is unregulated and often underreported to medical professionals. This review aims to compile common and available herbal medicines which can be used as an alternative to or in combination with conventional pain management approaches. Efficacy and safety are assessed through clinical studies on pain relief. Ensuing herb–drug interactions such as cytochrome modulation, additive and synergistic effects, and contraindications are discussed. While self-management has been recognized as part of the overall treatment strategy for patients suffering from chronic pain, it is important for practitioners to be able to also optimize and integrate herbal medicine and, if warranted, other complementary and alternative medicines into their care.


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