Action Of Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Articles

The study on the material basis and the mechanism for anti-renal interstitial fibrosis efficacy of rhubarb through integration of metabonomics and network pharmacology.

The cooperative material basis of the multi-component and multi-target mechanism of action of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is difficult to elucidate because of the current lack of appropriate techniques and strategies. In this paper, we focus on rhubarb treatment of renal fibrosis. Molecular docking, metabolic pathway enrichment, and network pharmacology methods were used to theoretically determine the interaction between the components of the rhubarb and disease targets related to renal fibrosis. Moreover, the methods of metabolomics, serum pharmacochemistry, histopathology and immunohistochemistry were used for the model group, the sham-operated group and the rhubarb administration group to reveal the active components and mechanisms of rhubarb. Finally, the experimental and theoretical results were integrated and comprehensively analyzed. Results indicated that anthraquinones and flavanols, such as rhein, emodin, catechin, and epicatechin, were the main active components of rhubarb. These active components play synergistic therapeutic efficacies through regulating the abnormal accumulation of the extracellular matrix, controlling the release of inflammatory factors and maintaining the balance of coagulation and fibrinolysis. Our study showed that the integration of metabolomics and network pharmacology is a powerful strategy for discovering active components of TCMs and for elucidating their mechanisms.

Mechanism Study of Traditional Medicine Using Proteomics Alone or Integrated with Other Systems Biology Technologies.

The efficacy of traditional medicine such as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) had been confirmed by many years of clinical use. However, the mechanisms of traditional medicine remained obscure. Since the development of systems biology in 2000, systems biology technologies have been popularly used in the mechanism study of traditional medicine. In this special issue, we particularly picked reviews and research papers related to mechanism study of TCM, TCM diagnosis, or TCM therapy methods using proteomics as well as other systems biology technologies. There are 10 papers collected in this special issue, in which 3 papers are reviews and 7 papers are original research papers. The 3 reviews in the present issue introduce the advancements in applications of proteomics technologies in the study of TCM and the achievements in the mechanism study of TCM. Q. Ji et al. summarized the applications of proteomics technologies in TCM syndrome research as well as the mechanistic study of TCM treatments, including Chinese herbal medicine, Chinese herbal formula, and acupuncture. Furthermore, they introduced the combined analyses of proteomics with other “-omics” technologies in the study of TCM. Y. A. Sulistio and K. Heese discussed the utility of comparative proteomics for a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in TCM activities and its potential application as complementary therapy for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Additionally, they reviewed the data from comparative proteomics studies of AD patients and established the relevance of the data with available AD hypotheses and potential TCM-based treatments, most notably regarding the ubiquitin proteasome system. Y. Yang et al. focused on discussing various results of proteomics studies of mechanisms of anticancer TCM, including terpenes, flavonoids, and glycosides. And they suggested future research strategies such as integrating translating mRNA analysis with proteomics in the study of the mechanisms of anticancer TCM. Four of the research papers reported results of mechanism studies of TCM. J.-Y. Shiau et al. studied the mechanism of 2-β-D-glucopyranosyloxy-1-hydroxytrideca-5,7,9,11-tetrayne, an active component of Bidens pilosa, in human T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia cells by using combined differential proteomics and bioinformatics approaches. M.-N. Shi et al. reported the protective effects of scutellarin, a flavone isolated from Erigeron breviscapus (Vant.) Hand.-Mazz, on human cardiac microvascular endothelial cells against hypoxia-reoxygenation injury. Possible target-related proteins of scutellarin were searched using proteomics analysis and a possible interaction network was predicted using bioinformatics analysis. C.-C. Guo et al. studied the antiosteoporotic effects and possible target-related proteins of Huangqi Sanxian decoction, a traditional Chinese formula composed of Radix astragali, Epimedii folium, Cistanche herba, Radix notoginseng, Radix Salviae Miltiorrhiae, Corydalis rhizoma, Radix Angelicae sinensis, and Radix Clematidis, in cultured rat osteoblasts. Z. Bo et al. investigated the molecular mechanism of fibroblast regulation and the treatment of recurrent oral ulcer by Shuizhongcao granule-containing serum. Shuizhongcao granule is a TCM formula composed of buffalo horn, urine sediment, callicarpa, and so forth, and it exhibited great efficacy in the clinical treatment of recurrent oral ulcer. In the present issue, there are also 3 research papers reporting about the mechanisms of TCM used for the diagnosis of diseases or specialized TCM therapy methods such as moxibustion. In the TCM system, tongue diagnosis has been an important diagnostic method. X. Liu et al. used the GC/MS technology to determine the potential changes of metabolites and identify special metabolic biomarkers in the tongue coating of H. pylori infected chronic gastritis patients. W.-T. Dang et al. studied the expression of caspase-1 gene transcript variant mRNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients with primary gout in different TCM syndromes. X.-L. Shi et al. investigated the effects of moxibustion, a traditional Chinese practice that involves heated Artemisia vulgaris (mugwort) stimulation, on hormonal imbalance and ovarian granulosa cell apoptosis in a rat model of perimenopause. In summary, this special issue provides a snapshot of the current status of mechanism studies of traditional medicine, especially TCM, using proteomics and other systems biology technologies. Authors of the present issue highlight both the achievements and challenges faced in the field of the mechanism study of traditional medicine. Hopefully, this publication will help readers to follow mechanism studies of traditional medicine and will contribute to improved applications of proteomics or other systems biology technologies in research of traditional medicine.

Exploring the ligand-protein networks in traditional chinese medicine: current databases, methods and applications.

While the concept of “single component–single target” in drug discovery seems to have come to an end, “Multi-component–multi-target” is considered to be another promising way out in this field. The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which has thousands of years’ clinical application among China and other Asian countries, is the pioneer of the “Multi-component–multi-target” and network pharmacology. Hundreds of different components in a TCM prescription can cure the diseases or relieve the patients by modulating the network of potential therapeutic targets. Although there is no doubt of the efficacy, it is difficult to elucidate convincing underlying mechanism of TCM due to its complex composition and unclear pharmacology. Without thorough investigation of its potential targets and side effects, TCM is not able to generate large-scale medicinal benefits, especially in the days when scientific reductionism and quantification are dominant. The use of ligand-protein networks has been gaining significant value in the history of drug discovery while its application in TCM is still in its early stage. This article firstly surveys TCM databases for virtual screening that have been greatly expanded in size and data diversity in recent years. On that basis, different screening methods and strategies for identifying active ingredients and targets of TCM are outlined based on the amount of network information available, both on sides of ligand bioactivity and the protein structures. Furthermore, applications of successful in silico target identification attempts are discussed in details along with experiments in exploring the ligand-protein networks of TCM. Finally, it will be concluded that the prospective application of ligand-protein networks can be used not only to predict protein targets of a small molecule, but also to explore the mode of action of TCM.

Metabolomics research on the hepatoprotective effect of Angelica sinensis polysaccharides through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Angelica sinensis polysaccharides (ASP) have an established hepatoprotective effect, but the mechanism for this effect remains unclear. A novel approach using biochemical parameters coupled with metabolomics based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and chemometrics was established in this study to explain the hepatoprotective effect mechanism of ASP. The superoxide dismutase activity, malonaldehyde content, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase in plasma were measured. Pathological changes in the liver were observed. Plasma and liver homogenate obtained from mice were analyzed using GC-MS. Distinct changes in metabolite patterns in the plasma and liver homogenate after being induced by carbon tetrachloride and drug intervention were observed using principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares-discriminate analysis (PLS-DA). Potential biomarkers were found using PLS-DA and T-test. The results of the pathological changes observed in the liver, the biochemical parameters in plasma, and the metabolomics of the plasma and liver homogenate all showed that liver injury was successfully reproduced, ASP exhibited hepatoprotective effect, and the medium dose of ASP exhibited the best. Nine endogenous metabolites in the liver homogenate and ten endogenous metabolites in the plasma were all considered as potential biomarkers. They were considered to be in response to hepatoprotective effects of ASP involved in the amino acids metabolism, energy metabolism, and lipids metabolism. Therefore metabolomics is a valuable tool in measuring the efficacy and mechanisms of action of traditional Chinese medicines.

Deciphering the differentiations of traditional Chinese medicine analogous formulae by parallel liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry coupled with microplate-based assays

For traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), its most common application form is TCM formulae that assemble herbs and other materials together to treat diseases. According to the shared herbs or similar indications, most TCM formulae (Fangji or FJ in Chinese) can be grouped into several categories, namely analogous TCM formulae. Similarities/dissimilarities between these analogous TCM formulae provide a unique opportunity to understand mechanisms of action of TCM and discover biologically active compounds or components, as well as rationalize clinical use of TCM formulae. In this work, high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) coupled with microplate-based rapid screening assays was used to carry out systematic chemical analysis of the Wu-Ling-San (WLS) formula group. A total of thirty-seven compounds were identified in WLS and their MS fragmentation pathways were clarified. Seven potential anti-inflammatory components were discovered in WLS and other three analogous formulae by nitric oxide assay-based screening. The differences in chemical profiles and related mechanisms of action of the WLS group were discussed, which were reported for the first time and would be helpful for further pharmacological studies. Our results showed that this method is very effective and powerful for the research into TCM analogous formulae.

Applications of platelets in studies on traditional Chinese medicines promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis

Thrombotic diseases in different forms become a great threat to human health. Such anti-platelet aggregation drugs as aspirin and clopidogrel are common drugs in clinic. However, along with the appearance of resistance and side effects of western anti-platelet aggregation drugs, anti-platelet aggregation traditional Chinese medicines promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis have gradually become an important study orientation. Platelet is one of major participant in thrombosis, and plays an important role as a bioactive material in studies on traditional Chinese medicines promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis, mainly involving two aspects--the evaluation for the anti-platelet aggregation activity of traditional Chinese medicines and the screening of their active components. This paper summarized the applications of platelets in studies on traditional Chinese medicines promoting blood circulation to remove blood stasis, so as to provide basis for further studies.

Anti-epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase activities of traditional Chinese medicine for cancer treatment

IntroductionThe epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a validated target for different human malignancies. EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors considerably extend progression-free survival in EGFR-mutant non-small cell lung cancer. Monoclonal antibodies targeting EGFR also improve the efficacy outcomes in KRAS wild-type colorectal cancer. At present, gefitinib and erlotinib are considered the most representative of these types of drugs approved by the FDA for cancer treatment. However, only a few studies have screened the active compounds of traditional Chinese medicines. MethodsIn this study, the EGFR inhibitory activities of Chinese medicinal herb extracts traditionally prescribed to treat cancer were determined in a 384-well plate-based assay using the homogeneous time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay method. Petroleum ether, ethanol, ethyl acetate, and aqueous extracts of 49 traditional Chinese medicinal herbs (183 extracts total) were tested. The inhibitory effects were expressed as percentage of inhibition. Dose-dependent inhibitory assays were also performed for the herbal extracts that exhibited significant inhibition. ResultsThe ethyl acetate extracts of Artemisia argyi, Lonicera macranthoides, Spatholobus suberectus, Curcuma longa, and Galla chinensis, as well as the ethanol extract of Eriobotrya japonica exhibited significant EGFR inhibitory activities at a concentration of 50μg/ml. The IC50 values were 8.848, 2.027, 2.277, 3.621, 4.339 and 5.528μg/mL, respectively. The EA extracts of L. macranthoides, S. suberectus had the best activities. ConclusionOur results indicate that screening traditional Chinese herbs for EGFR inhibitory activity may identify a large number of potential lead compounds for the development of new drugs to treat cancer.

Rapid Resolution Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Quadrupole Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry-Based Metabolomics Approach to Study the Effects of Jieduquyuziyin Prescription on Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Jieduquyuziyin prescription (JP), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescription, has been widely used for the clinical treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, the complex chemical constituents of JP and the multifactorial pathogenesis of SLE make research on the therapeutic mechanism of JP in SLE challenging. In this paper, a serum metabolomics approach based on rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (RRLC-Q-TOF/MS) was employed to acquire the metabolic characteristics of serum samples obtained from mice in the SLE model group, JP-treated group, prednisone acetate (PA)-treated group and control group. The orthogonal partial least squares (OPLS) was applied to recognize metabolic patterns, and an obvious separation of groups was obtained. Thirteen metabolites, namely, phosphatidylethanolamine (PE 20:3), hepoxilin B3, lyso- phosphatidylethanolamine (lyso-PE 22:6), 12S-hydroxypentaenoic acid (12S-HEPE), traumatic acid, serotonin, platelet-activating factor (PAF), phosphatidylcholine (PC 20:5),eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), 12(S)-hydroxyei- cosatetraenoic acid (12S-HETE), 14-hydroxy docosahexaenoic acid (14-HDOHE), lyso-phosphatidylcholine (lyso-PC 20:4), and indole acetaldehyde, were identified and characterized as differential metabolites involved in the pathogenesis of SLE. After treatment with JP, the relative content of 12(S)-HETE, PAF, 12(S)-HEPE, EPA, PE (20:3), Lyso-PE(22:6), and 14-HDOHE were effectively regulated, which suggested that the therapeutic effects of JP on SLE may involve regulating disturbances to the metabolism of unsaturated fatty acid, tryptophan and phospholipid. This research also demonstrated that metabolomics is a powerful tool for researching complex disease mechanisms and evaluating the mechanism of action of TCM.

Pharmacokinetics, brain distribution, release and blood–brain barrier transport of Shunaoxin pills

Ethnopharmacological relevanceShunaoxin pills, a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) product, have been used to treat cerebrovascular diseases in China since 2005. The main active components of Shunaoxin pills are ferulic acid and ligustilide from Chuanxiong (Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort, Umbelliferae) and Danggui (Angelica sinensis radix, Umbelliferae). As Shunaoxin shows excellent activity in the central nervous system (CNS), the extent to which the major constituents of Shunaoxin reach the CNS should be investigated. Moreover, the in vivo–in vitro correlations (IVIVC) of the formulation should be studied to elucidate the mechanisms of action of TCM in the CNS. However, these data have not previously been available. Thus we intended to investigate what the extent when these constituents of Shunaoxin pills reach the CNS, and evaluate the IVIVC of release and pharmacokinetics. Materials and methodsIn this study, we evaluated the release of ferulic acid and ligustilide from Shunaoxin pills, and their transport across an in vitro model of the BBB. We also evaluated their pharmacokinetics and brain distribution in vivo. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to quantify both compounds simultaneously. Based on the release in vitro and absorption of ferulic acid and ligustilide in vivo, IVIVC permitted prediction of the pharmacokinetics of these compounds. ResultsThe release of ferulic acid and ligustilide reached a platform phase within 1h. Ferulic acid and ligustilide rapidly crossed the BBB in different patterns; the transport ratio increased over time. After intragastric (i.g.) administration of Shunaoxin pills, ferulic acid and ligustilide were rapidly absorbed and distributed into brain, which may result in a rapid onset of action. ConclusionsFerulic acid and ligustilide were transported across a model BBB. After i.g. administration of Shunaoxin pills, ferulic acid and ligustilide were rapidly absorbed and distributed in brain; this may lead to rapid pharmacological onset. The IVIVC can be used to predict in vivo pharmacokinetics from in vitro experimental results. These results provide support for the clinical use of Shunaoxin pills.

Study on preventive and therapeutic mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine based on analysis on key network nodes

To analyze the intersections among the western medicine action network for preventing and treating coronary heart disease (CHD), as well as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) action network for activating blood and dissolving stasis. In this article, 11 characteristic parameter values of network nodes, including connectivity, bottleneck, betweenness, were calculated. The target identification model was established based on key node characteristic parameters in the CHD-western medicine intersection network with support vector machine. Its C and y parameters were 5.14 and--1.11, respectively, with the predicted accuracies for positive and negative samples of 81.6% and 79.2%. The predicted sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of the test set samples were 81.5%, 78.3% and 79.6%, respectively. Besides, the model was applied to predict potential action targets of the CHD-activating blood and dissolving stasis TCM intersection network, and 180 positive nodes and 42 negative nodes were obtained. In this article, 9 positive nodes, including calnexin, interleukin-1, tumor necrosis factor, were taken as examples to analyze the action mechanism of TCM for preventing and treating CHD. The results showed that the network potential key target analysis method was helpful to explore the potential action targets of activating blood and dissolving stasis TCMs for preventing and treating CHD, methodologically supportive to reveal the action mechanism of TCMs at molecular and systematic levels, and significant in guiding the research and development of new drugs.

Exploring the Ligand-Protein Networks in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Current Databases, Methods, and Applications

The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which has thousands of years of clinical application among China and other Asian countries, is the pioneer of the “multicomponent-multitarget” and network pharmacology. Although there is no doubt of the efficacy, it is difficult to elucidate convincing underlying mechanism of TCM due to its complex composition and unclear pharmacology. The use of ligand-protein networks has been gaining significant value in the history of drug discovery while its application in TCM is still in its early stage. This paper firstly surveys TCM databases for virtual screening that have been greatly expanded in size and data diversity in recent years. On that basis, different screening methods and strategies for identifying active ingredients and targets of TCM are outlined based on the amount of network information available, both on sides of ligand bioactivity and the protein structures. Furthermore, applications of successful in silico target identification attempts are discussed in detail along with experiments in exploring the ligand-protein networks of TCM. Finally, it will be concluded that the prospective application of ligand-protein networks can be used not only to predict protein targets of a small molecule, but also to explore the mode of action of TCM.

UPLC Q-TOF/MS-Based Metabolic Profiling of Urine Reveals the Novel Antipyretic Mechanisms of Qingkailing Injection in a Rat Model of Yeast-Induced Pyrexia

Fever is one of the most common clinical symptoms of many diseases. Qingkailing (QKL) injection is widely used in China as a clinical emergency medicine due to its good antipyretic effects. It is a herbal formula which is composed by eight kinds of traditional Chinese medicines (TCM). As a kind of typical multiple constituents and multiple actions of TCM, it is very difficult to elaborate the antipyretic mechanism by conventional pharmacological method. Metabonomics technique provides beneficial tool for this challenge. In this study, an ultra performance liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC Q-TOF/MS) metabonomics method was developed to explore the changing process of biochemical substances in rats of yeast-induced pyrexia. Partial least squares discriminate analysis (PLS-DA) was used to distinguish the normal control group, the pyrexia model group, and the pyrexia model group treated by QKL injection. The potential biomarkers related to pyrexia were confirmed and identified. MetPA was used to find the possible metabolic pathways. The results indicated that the antipyretic effect of QKL injection on yeast-induced pyrexia rats was performed by repairing the perturbed metabolism of amino acids.

Pathway Pattern-based prediction of active drug components and gene targets from H1N1 influenza's treatment with maxingshigan-yinqiaosan formula

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) remedies are composed of different chemical compounds. To understand the underlying pharmacological basis, we need to explore the active components, which function systematically against multiple gene targets to exert efficacy. Predicting active component-gene target interactions could help us decipher the mechanism of action of TCM. Here, we introduce a Pathway Pattern-based method to prioritize the 153 candidate compounds and 7895 associated genes using the extracted Pathway Pattern, which is made up of groups of pathways. The gene prioritization result is compared to previous literature findings to demonstrate the top ranked genes' roles in the pathogenesis of H1N1 influenza. Further, molecular docking is utilized to validate compounds' effects through docking compounds into drug targets of oseltamivir. After setting thresholds, 16 active components, 29 gene targets and 162 active component-gene target interactions are finally identified to elucidate the pharmacology of maxingshigan-yinqiaosan formula. This novel strategy is expected to serve as a springboard for the efforts to standardize and modernize TCM.

Intestinal absorption and bioavailability of traditional Chinese medicines: a review of recent experimental progress and implication for quality control

Experimental studies on the pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have achieved great progress in recent years. This review aims to summarize the progress made on intestinal absorption and bioavailability of TCMs, and proposes the application of intestinal absorption assays as new tools for the quality and safety control of these medicines. Since only the absorbed constituents may produce possible therapeutic effect (except those that directly target the digestive tract), intestinal absorption is of utmost importance for the drug action of TCMs, which are usually taken orally. Meanwhile, complicated drug interactions may occur among the multiple ingredients in a herbal mixture. In this regard, the intestinal permeability assays not only provide useful pharmacokinetic data of TCMs, but have potential applications for quality and safety control. Moreover, knockout animals, 2/4/A1 in-vitro cell model and physiologically-based in-silico models based on the online TCM database can be quite useful for the prediction of absorption and bioavailability of TCMs. A variety of in-vivo, in-vitro, in-situ and in-silico models for predicting the intestinal absorption and bioavailability can be applied to study the herbal interactions and screen appropriate biomarkers for the quality and safety control of TCMs.

Use of zebrafish models for the research of traditional Chinese medicine

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) exhibits a broad range of effects on biological activity that is probably due to interactions of complex chemical constituents with multiple targets in the body. Understanding the active chemical constituents in TCM is very important in providing rationales for the clinical usage of TCM. The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has recently become a popular model in the field of drug screening, specifically emerging as an important vertebrate model for in vivo high-content drug screening of multiple efficacy parameters and whole-organism toxicity. The authors also discussed the advantages of the zebrafish model for evaluating drug metabolism. Zebrafish usage in TCM screening should be a viable approach that helps identify active chemical markers, biological pathways and mechanistic actions of TCM.

A Systems Biology Approach to Understanding the Mechanisms of Action of Chinese Herbs for Treatment of Cardiovascular Disease

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) involves a broad range of empirical testing and refinement and plays an important role in the health maintenance for people all over the world. However, due to the complexity of Chinese herbs, a full understanding of TCM’s action mechanisms is still unavailable despite plenty of successful applications of TCM in the treatment of various diseases, including especially cardiovascular diseases (CVD), one of the leading causes of death. Thus in the present work, by incorporating the chemical predictors, target predictors and network construction approaches, an integrated system of TCM has been constructed to systematically uncover the underlying action mechanisms of TCM. From three representative Chinese herbs, i.e., Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort., Dalbergia odorifera T. Chen and Corydalis yanhusuo WT Wang which have been widely used in CVD treatment, by combinational use of drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) screening and network pharmacology techniques, we have generated 64 bioactive ingredients and identified 54 protein targets closely associated with CVD, of which 29 are common targets (52.7%) of the three herbs. The result provides new information on the efficiency of the Chinese herbs for the treatment of CVD and also explains one of the basic theories of TCM, i.e., “multiple herbal drugs can treat one disease”. The predicted potential targets were then mapped to target-disease and target-signal pathway connections, which revealed the relationships of the active ingredients with their potential targets, diseases and signal systems. This means that for the first time, the action mechanism of these three important Chinese herbs for the treatment of CVD is uncovered, by generating and identifying both their active ingredients and novel targets specifically related to CVD, which clarifies some of the common conceptions in TCM, and thus provides clues to modernize such specific herbal medicines.

Antioxidative Activities of Medicinal Plants from TCM

As a natural antioxidant resource, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been paid much more attentions than before. The studies on its antioxidative activity have also increased dramatically in recent years. Abundant studies on TCM show that some TCM can increase body's activity of antioxidant enzymes, enhance body's ability of scavenging free radicals and decrease the generation of lipid peroxide (LPO) and malondialdehyde (MDA) in the body etc. The action mechanism of TCM is closely related to its active constituents, including polysaccharides, quinines, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, terpenes, phenolic acids compounds and tannins etc. Through referring to related reports on TCM, in the last 20 years, this paper reviews literatures involved in antioxidation research on TCM. Antioxidative mechanism, functional property and application prospect of some active constituents with antioxidation in TCM are discussed.

Application of ADME process in vivo in combination with network pharmacology in study of traditional Chinese medicine

Application of network pharmacology in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) will be benefit for clarifying active components and mechanism of action of TCM and increase the study level of new drug of Chinese medicine. ADME process can identify drug components from TCM and obtain the possible metabolites which can clarify active components in vivo. For the complexity of active constituents of TCM, it indicated that the ADME process will be the precondition for application of network pharmacology in TCM. This paper introduced the study ideas of the combination of ADME process in vivo and network pharmacology.

Therapeutic Approaches to Neuroprotective Activity by Complementary and Alternative Medicines

Therapeutic Approaches to Neuroprotective Activity by Complementary and Alternative Medicines

Studies on anti-EV71 virus activity of traditional Chinese medicine and its clinical application in treatment of HFMD

Hand-foot-and-mouth disease is caused by intestinal virus infection. The viruses coxsackie A16 (CA16) and enterovirus 71 (EV71) are the main pathogens. Between them, the virus EV71 is more dangerous and easier to cause serious complications, which leads to death or disability. Currently, there are no effective antiviral drugs to treat EV71 infection. Therefore, developing an effective drug against EV71 virus activity is significant. It has a huge potency of screening the anti-EV71 components and developing the new drugs from the abundant traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). Meanwhile, since hand-foot-and-mouth disease spread in Shanghai in 1981, a growing number of reports on TCMs treatment in clinic have been published. In addition, most of treatments with various ways are effective, which play a positive role on improving clinic treatment and controlling diseases. Moreover, special clinic advantages and features of TCMs were obviously shown.