Traditional Chinese Medicine Concepts Research Articles

Current Situation and Countermeasures of English Translation of International Communication of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Post-epidemic Era

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, traditional Chinese medicine has achieved great success in the global anti-epidemic cause and the construction of human health community, and has gradually become a business card for Chinese traditional Chinese medicine culture to step onto the world stage. In the post-epidemic era, the international communication and exchange of traditional Chinese medicine will become more and more frequent, and English translation of traditional Chinese medicine as the key to its external communication. Accurate English translation of traditional Chinese medicine can not only express the connotation of basic Chinese medicine terms and convey the medical concept of traditional Chinese medicine, but also promote the concept of health preservation of traditional Chinese medicine and carry forward the characteristic therapy of traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has a remarkable curative effect in every stage of COVID-19 prevention and treatment. In order to let the world see the anti-epidemic effect of TCM, China has formulated a TCM diagnosis and treatment plan for COVID-19 epidemic, and shared the successful experience of TCM anti-epidemic with the world. In order to further analyze the current situation and problems of Chinese medicine translation in international communication in the post-epidemic era, this paper will analyze and study the English version of novel coronavirus Chinese Medicine Treatment Plan (7th Edition for Trial Implementation) (hereinafter referred to as the 7th Edition Plan) from the perspective of language dimension, cultural dimension and communication dimension in the theory of eco-translatology, and propose corresponding solutions to the problems to help the international communication of Chinese medicine.

Exploration of the construction of semantic framework of meridians and acupoints based on top-level ontology

Based on the top-level ontology and the existing ontology methodology, the related concepts of meridians and acupoints were discriminated, defined and classified; the relationship of core concepts were established, e.g. meridians, acupoints and zangfu. It was attempted to build an ontological semantic framework of meridians and acupoints. Through the investigation on the classification mode of the top-level ontology, it is proposed that the meridians and acupoints, as the unique concepts of traditional Chinese medicine, exist in the form of "emptiness" and belong to "immaterial entity". Meridians refer to the three-dimensional channels in the human body, and acupoints are divided into ontological acupoints and body surface ones. Ontological acupoints are regarded as a three-dimensional structure within the human body, whereas, body surface ones are the optimal sites for acupuncture needle insertion on the body surface, meaning, the zero-dimensional point on the body surface. The main relationships between meridians and acupoints include is-a, exterior-interior, located-in, correspondent-to, mapping, etc. The exploration of the semantic framework of meridians and acupoints is conductive to understanding the connotation of meridians, acupoints and their relationship.

Application of metabolomics in the diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and the treatment of traditional Chinese medicine.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease around the world, and it often coexists with insulin resistance-related diseases including obesity, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension, which seriously threatens human health. Better prevention and treatment strategies are required to improve the impact of NAFLD. Although needle biopsy is an effective tool for diagnosing NAFLD, this method is invasive and difficult to perform. Therefore, it is very important to develop more efficient approaches for the early diagnosis of NAFLD. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can play a certain role in improving symptoms and protecting target organs, and its mechanism of action needs to be further studied. Metabolomics, the study of all metabolites that is thought to be most closely associated with the patients’ characters, can provide useful clinically biomarkers that can be applied to NAFLD and may open up new methods for diagnosis. Metabolomics technology is consistent with the overall concept of TCM, and it can also be used as a potential mechanism to explain the effects of TCM by measuring biomarkers by metabolomics. Based on PubMed/MEDLINE and other databases, this paper retrieved relevant literature NAFLD and TCM intervention in NAFLD using metabolomics technology in the past 5 years were searched, and the specific metabolites associated with the development of NAFLD and the potential mechanism of Chinese medicine on improving symptoms were summarized.

Research on the Path of Internationalization Development of Chinese Herbal Medicine Industry: A Literature Review

The Chinese herbal medicine industry covered by the concept of traditional Chinese medicine has made great progress in China. How to go abroad and play its unique medical role on the world stage with the help of the east wind of the "the Belt and Road" is the core of this paper. Up to now, most of the theoretical research on the internationalization of Chinese enterprises and traditional Chinese medicine enterprises is to comment on the adaptability and theoretical transformation of the internationalization theory of foreign scholars to the internationalization of enterprises. The relevant research mainly focuses on the two dimensions of internationalization entry mode and business form. By combing many management and internationalization theories, this paper hopes to extend the scheme combination in line with the international development of Chinese herbal medicine industry on the basis of existing theories, which has a certain reference significance for the international development of Chinese herbal medicine industry.

Application of network pharmacology in the study of the mechanism of action of traditional chinese medicine in the treatment of COVID-19.

Network pharmacology was rapidly developed based on multidisciplinary holistic analysis of biological systems, which has become a popular tool in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) research in recent years. Its characteristics of integrity and systematization provide a new approach for the study on complex TCM systems, which has many similarities with the holistic concept of TCM. It has been widely used to explain the mechanism of TCM treatment of diseases, drug repositioning, and interpretation of compatibility of TCM prescriptions, to promote the modernization of TCM. The use of TCM have provided crucial support on prevention and treatment of diseases such as the famous “three medicines and three prescriptions”. Furthermore, TCM has become an important part of the treatment of COVID-19 and is one of the main contents of the “Chinese plan” to fight the epidemic. The current review demonstrated the role of TCM in treating diseases with multiple components, multiple targets, and multiple pathways, interprets the connotation of TCM treatment method selection based on pathogenesis and also discusses the application of network pharmacology in the study of COVID-19 treatment in TCM including single drug and prescription. However, there are still some shortcomings such as the lack of experimental verification and regular upgrading of the TCM pharmacology network. Therefore, we must pay attention to the characteristics of TCM and develop a network pharmacology method suitable for TCM system research when applying network pharmacology to TCM research.

Valid and Convenient Questionnaire Assessment of Chinese Body Constitution: Item Characteristics, Reliability, and Construct Validation.

BackgroundBody constitution is a fundamental concept in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for clinical diagnosis, treatment of illness, and community-based health promotion. Clinical assessment of patients’ body constitutions, however, has never been easy and consistent, even by well-trained clinicians and TCM practitioners. Therefore, questionnaires such as the popular Constitution in Chinese Medicine Questionnaire (CCMQ) can be an appealing and convenient assessment alternative. The present research borrowed advanced methodologies for questionnaire development in psychology and other social sciences to examine the performance of the CCMQ in terms of (i) the strength of relations of each item with its designated constitution, (ii) the reliabilities of each constitution, and (iii) the overall 9-constitution structure. This research provided empirical evidence to support the use of the CCMQ and proposed directions for refinement in future revisions of the CCMQ or similar measures.MethodsA total of 1571 volunteers from three villages in southern China participated in the CCMQ survey. The item characteristics, reliabilities, interconstitution correlations, and confirmatory factor analysis of the 9-body-constitution structure were examined.ResultsThe results generally supported the appropriateness of the clinical observations (the questionnaire items) and the CCMQ 9-constitution classification structure. Nevertheless, some relatively weaker items, item pairs with similar meanings, and highly overlapping constitutions were identified for future CCMQ revisions.ConclusionThe CCMQ measured the 9 constitutions efficiently and with reasonably good reliability and construct validity. Given the various challenges to assessing TCM body constitutions even by experienced clinicians, the CCMQ provides an appealing alternative to measure the Chinese body constitutions of healthy participants in large-scale research or community health promotion programs. The present study also demonstrated how advanced methodologies in social sciences can help validate and refine the CCMQ and similar complementary medicine measures.

The concept of traditional chinese medicine:history, theory and empirical research

The concept of traditional Chinese medicine has different connotations and extensions in different historical periods. This paper examines the formation and development of the concept of traditional Chinese medicine in the perspective of history, theory and empirical research, and explores the internal connection among different medical systems and between medicine and other disciplines. It attempts to re-define the connotation and extension of the concept of traditional Chinese medicine in the context of the new era, provide references for building the medical community of the Chinese nation and promote the standardization of Chinese medicine terminology, advance the cross-disciplinary construction and establishing a new medical system with the characteristics of openness and tolerance, in order to provide the solution, wisdom and power of traditional Chinese medicine for global health in the process of building a community of human health.

The Concept of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Use of Herbal Medicine’s Fragrance

The Concept of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Use of Herbal Medicine’s Fragrance

A randomized, parallel control and multicenter clinical trial of evidence-based traditional Chinese medicine massage treatment VS External Diclofenac Diethylamine Emulgel for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis

BackgroundBoth massage and topically administered NSAIDs are safe and effective treatments for knee osteoarthritis (KOA); however, different massage technique sects in China caused assessment difficulties for the treatment of KOA. In order to standardize the massage techniques and procedures, we organized multi-disciplinary experts in China to acquire an evidence-based traditional Chinese medicine massage treatment of knee osteoarthritis. The purposes of this study will be to provide clinicians a complementary and alternative therapy for patients and to evaluate the efficacy and safety of evidence-based traditional Chinese medicine massage treatment of KOA compared to External Diclofenac Diethylamine Emulgel.Methods and designA randomized controlled trial in which 300 participants diagnosed with KOA will be recruited and randomly allocated to either the experimental group or the control group in a ratio of 2:1. Two hundred participants will receive evidence-based traditional Chinese medicine massage 2 sessions per week for 10 weeks as the experimental group, and 100 participants will receive External Diclofenac Diethylamine Emulgel 3–4 times per day for 10 weeks as the control group. The patients in the two groups will receive follow-up at two time points at 5 weeks and 10 weeks from the beginning of treatment, respectively. The MRI scans and X-ray will be performed at baseline and at the end of the intervention. The primary outcome will be the changes in the Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC). Secondary outcomes will be measured by the PRO scale for knee osteoarthritis based on the concept of traditional Chinese medicine (Chinese scale for knee osteoarthritis (CSKO)), X-ray evaluation, and MRI scan evaluation. The data of WOMAC and CSKO will be analyzed at the baseline, 5 weeks, and 10 weeks from the beginning of treatment. The data from MRI scans and X-rays will be analyzed at baseline and at the end of the intervention. The significance level sets as 5%. The safety of interventions will be evaluated after each treatment session.DiscussionThis study will provide clinicians with much-needed knowledge for the treatment of KOA through a controlled trial.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR1800014400. Registered on 10 January 2018

Guided meditation for vision acuity training on adolescent myopia: study protocol for an open-label, prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled trial

BackgroundCurrently, the population with myopia climbs steadily, and is developing toward younger age, posing a great concern to the health of adolescents. Myopia in severe cases can cause irreversible consequences such as glaucoma, blindness, and other complications. At present, the solutions for myopia are glasses, medication, and surgery. This study aims to investigate the role of a physiotherapy category based on guided meditation for vision acuity training on adolescent myopia.MethodsThis is a prospective, randomized, multicenter clinical trial. One thousand one hundred forty primary and secondary school students aged 8–18 years old from 27 schools will be recruited and randomly divided into an experimental and a control group at a ratio of 2:1 in two phases, with a training period of 30 days in each phase and a follow-up period of 3 months. No interventions will be conducted during the follow-up period, nor will other interventions employed. Inclusion criteria will meet the diagnostic criteria for simple myopia and −6.00D ≤ spherical lenses ≤ −0.50D and cylindrical lenses ≤1.50D. The primary observation index will be to compare the statistical differences in distant visual acuity between the two groups; the secondary observation indexes will be ocular symptoms (mainly including eye fatigue, dryness, pain, double vision, neck pain, thought disorders, and lags in response), diopter, and astigmatism.DiscussionThe purpose of this two-phase trial is to compare the clinical effectiveness of focused vision-guided meditation with Chinese eye exercises that are also non-pharmacological, non-invasive interventions for myopia, and to maximize the benefit to the subjects. The results will indicate whether the training based on focused vision-guided meditation has the ability to improve distant visual acuity, relieve ocular symptoms, and ameliorate diopter. In addition, this trial will provide clinical efficacy of the training, which is expected to provide meaningful data for vision rehabilitation. At the same time, the vision acuity training method, which is permeated with the concept of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) rehabilitation and health maintenance, will be applied to achieve the goal of preventing or alleviating myopic development and reducing myopia rate.Trial registrationChinese Clinical Trial Registry ChiCTR2000038642. Registered on 26 September 2020

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Domain Ontology: Current Status and Rethinking for the Future Development

The past twenty years have seen the increasingly important role of ontology in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). However, the development of TCM ontology faces many challenges. Since the epistemologies dramatically differ between TCM and contemporary biomedicine, it is hard to apply the existing top-level ontology mechanically. "Data silos" are widely present in the currently available terminology standards, term sets, and ontologies. The formal representation of ontology needs to be further improved in TCM. Therefore, we propose a unified basic semantic framework of TCM based on in-depth theoretical research on the existing top-level ontology and a re-study of important concepts in TCM. Under such a framework, ontologies in TCM sub-domains should be built collaboratively and be represented formally in a common format. Besides, extensive cooperation should be encouraged by establishing ontology research communities to promote ontology peer review and reuse.

A “4D” systemic view on meridian essence: Substantial, functional, chronological and cultural attributes

The term Jingluo, translated as meridian or channel, is a core component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and has played a fundamental role in guiding the clinical practice of acupuncture for thousands of years. However, the essence of the meridian remains elusive and is a source of both confusion and debate for researchers. In this study, a “4D” systemic view on the essence of the meridian, namely substantial, functional, chronological, and cultural dimensions, was proposed based on a review of the ancient medical classics, recent research developments, and results from clinical practice. Previous studies have primarily focused on the substantial dimension of the meridian system, with scant interpretation about its functional domain. Neither systemic data nor evaluations have been adequately documented. Additionally, a limited but increasing number of studies have focused on the chronological and cultural dimensions. More investigations that embody the holistic concept of TCM and integrate the systemic modes and advanced techniques with dominant diseases of TCM need to be performed to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the essence of meridians. The goal of this study is to yield useful information in understanding the essence of meridians and provide a reference and perspective for further research.

Research on Entity Recognition and Knowledge Graph Construction Based on Tcm Medical Records

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) medical records contain valuable medical information, and are important resources for personalized knowledge analysis, auxiliary diagnosis and treatment, clinical decision support, and drug to use pattern mining of famous TCM doctors. As an effective and novel knowledge management technology, knowledge graph can provide a new way for the inheritance and development of TCM. Constructing medical knowledge graph can potentially help to discover knowledge from clinical data, assist clinical decision-making and personalized treatment recommendation. However, the construction of TCM knowledge graph is still mainly based on structured data, and unstructured texts such as medical records, literature and electronic medical records urgently need to be extracted for mining and analysis. Aiming at the difficulties of word segmentation, entity variety and ambiguity in TCM medical records, this paper proposes a named entity recognition method of deep learning hybrid model based on two-way long-term memory (BILSTM) network and conditional random field (CRF); then by analyzing the process of TCM diagnosis and treatment, the core concepts of TCM are extracted and the ontology layer is constructed; finally, the knowledge graph is constructed by Neo4j, which can provide retrieval, visualization and other functions to help the learning and sharing of TCM knowledge.

A Network Pharmacology Approach to Explore the Underlying Mechanism of Tufuling Qiwei Tangsan in Treating Psoriasis

Background: Tufuling Qiwei Tangsan (TQTS) is a commonly used Mongolian medicine preparation against psoriasis in China. However, its mechanism of action and molecular targets for the treatment of psoriasis is still unclear. Network pharmacology can reveal the synergistic mechanism of drugs at the molecular, target, and pathway levels and is suitable for the complex study of traditional Chinese medicine formulations. However, it is rarely involved in the application of Mongolian medicine with the same holistic concept of traditional Chinese medicine. Method: In this paper, the active compounds of TQTS were collected, and their targets were identified. Psoriasis-related targets were obtained by analyzing the differential expressed genes between psoriasis patients and healthy individuals. Then, the network concerning the interactions of potential targets of TQTS with well-known psoriasis-related targets was built. The core targets were selected according to topological parameters. And the enrichment analysis was carried out to explore the mechanism of action of TQTS. Moreover, molecular docking was performed to study the interaction between the selected ligands and receptors related to psoriasis. Result and Conclusion: Eighty-five active compounds of TQTS were screened, with corresponding 270 targets, and 313 differentially expressed genes were identified. Additionally, enrichment analysis showed that the targets of TQTS for treating psoriasis were mainly involved in multiple biological processes, including apoptosis, growth factor response, etc., and related pathways including PI3K-Akt and MAPK signaling pathway, and so on. Genes such as NFKB1, TP53, and MAPK1 are the key genes in the gene pathway network of TQTS against psoriasis. The 4 main active components of TQTS have certain binding activity with 13 potential targets, and the stability of their interaction with AKT1 is found to be the most efficient, which indicates the potential mechanism of TQTS on psoriasis.

Research Progress of Osteoporosis Based on the Theory of “Homology of Liver and Kidney”

Osteoporosis is a systemic chronic metabolic bone disease, mainly in the elderly and postmenopausal women. At present, most of the clinical treatment is western medicine, but the curative effect is not very significant. In the treatment of osteoporosis, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is mainly based on the overall concept of TCM. This article briefly analyzes osteoporosis from the theory of “liver and kidney homology,” discusses the research on osteoporosis in TCM, and hopes to provide reference for the clinical treatment and research of osteoporosis.

China’s Traditional Chinese Medicine-Style (TCM) Governance in Participation in the Middle Eastern Issues: Theories, Practices and Prospects

The concepts of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) are rooted in the profound traditional Chinese culture and philosophy. There is an old Chinese saying that ‘outstanding doctors can be masterful enough to govern a country.’ This means some concepts of TCM is compatible with the ones of governing political systems. At first, on the basis of the concepts of TCM treatment, this study puts forward a theoretical framework of TCM-based governance for China to participation in Middle Eastern issues. If we compare the Middle East to a human body with different systems and levels of organisations, its problems are its ‘illnesses,’ so to cure them and achieve the ultimate balance, as TCM focuses on, it is necessary to fundamentally improve the inner and outer political and economic environments of the Middle East, and its own ‘immune system.’ Secondly, the study will combine the concept of ‘holistic view’ with China’s participation in the governance of Middle Eastern issues before to prove the feasibility of the governance methods based on the TCM concepts. Furthermore, this study, to analyse the key factors of current conflicts in the region, ‘takes pulses’ to find out the root cause of those issues, and ‘prescribe Chinese medicine’ for different cases. It is our hope to promote the governance methods with Chinese wisdom.

Acupuncture for Hypertension Using Traditional Chinese Medicine Concepts.

Hypertension affects 25% of the adult population worldwide. Biomedical treatment involves various blockers and is associated with side-effects. Acupuncture was one of the earliest methods of treatment for "hard pulse disease" (now called hypertension); it is effective and is associated with no untoward effects. Various studies showing the effectiveness of acupuncture for addressing hypertension are presented, along with an illustrative case. Acupuncture is effective for reducing blood pressure. This modality can be used as a stand-alone therapy or along with antihypertensive medications-in which case the dosages of the medications can be reduced significantly-and this helps to reduce the side-effects of medications.

A brief discussion on the concept of traditional Chinese medicine from the perspective of science and philosophy

A brief discussion on the concept of traditional Chinese medicine from the perspective of science and philosophy

Can the electrical potential of acupoints be used to assess the functional state of meridians and the effects of therapeutics? An exploratory data analysis

IntroductionAcupoints have bioelectrical properties distinct from common skin. Besides the higher electrical conductivity and lower resistance, acupoints show capacitor-like properties, which can be related to their endogenous electrical potential. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) postulates that meridians are physiological structures connecting acupoints and working as a conduit for the flow of two essential substances known as qi and xue. Objectives: This pilot study was focused in evaluating whether the electrical potential of acupoints can be correlated objectively to the functional properties as described by ancient Chinese medical theories, such as the theories of coupled meridians of the same phase ('elements'), and the principle of coupled points. Methods: Direct needle moxibustion on LU5 and needle dispulsion of LI4 were performed in 21 subjects. The electrical potential of each acupoint was measured with a high-resolution data acquisition system taking to reference the acupoint SP6 of the Spleen conduit. Results: The results may indicate a functional relationship between the therapeutics and the electrical potential response on the selected acupoints. These effects seem to be explainable considering the specific properties of each acupoint, the relationship between TCM phases, and the dynamics between coupled conduits. Conclusion: The evaluation of the endogenous electrical potential of acupoints and the changes caused by an external stimulus might contribute to the understanding of TCM concepts, mechanisms, and the effects of associated therapeutics. The observed phenomena encourage the systematic assessment of the functional vegetative status via skin electrophysiology and using objective measurements.

Effects of Shenqi compound on intestinal microbial metabolites in patients with type 2 diabetes: A protocol for systematic review and meta analysis.

Introduction:According to the data from the 2017 Chinese Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes [Chin J Diabetes. 2017;20:81–117],[1] in 2013, the incidence of T2DM in China was 10.4%, while nearly 63% of the patients did not receive standard diagnosis. T2DM has become a serious public health problem in China and even in the world. Intestinal flora, as a research hotspot related to T2DM and other diseases in recent years, is a kind of microorganism with a large number in the human intestinal tract, which is considered as one of the important factors affecting the metabolism of the endocrine system and the human internal environment. In fact, many concepts of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) coincide with modern research results of intestinal flora. In fact, TCM is also widely used to regulate intestinal flora disorders, and plays a very important role in restoring the dysfunctional intestinal flora [Hu et al. Drug Eval. 2013:8–10].[2] T2DM is a chronic systemic progressive disease. Studies [Wang et al. Tianjin Chin Med. 2007;24:507–508][3] have shown that even ideal blood glucose control cannot prevent the failure of islet cells [Wang et al. Tianjin Chin Med. 2007;24:507–508],[3] and how to restore the function and number of islet cells has naturally become the focus and difficulty of our current research. Studies have shown that the changes in the contents of intestinal microflora and their metabolites are closely related to the performance of T2DM such as hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and restoration of islet function, and play an important role in pathophysiological mechanisms such as chronic inflammation of T2DM [Sun et al. Shi Zhen Chin Med. 2012;23:1434–1436].[4] It has been confirmed that Shenqi compound, a TCM, regulates intestinal flora of T2DM. However, due to the lack of evidence, there is no specific method or suggestion, it is necessary to make a systematic evaluation of Shenqi compound to provide effective evidence for further research.Methods and analysis:Electronic databases included PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Nature, Science Online, WanFang China Biomedical Database, VIP Medical Information, China national Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI).Main results: Endotoxin, short-chain fatty acid, bile acid, indole.Other results: low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density lipoprotein (HDL), triglyceride (TG), total serum cholesterol (TC). The data will be extracted independently by 2 researchers, and the risk of bias in the meta-analysis will be systematically evaluated according to the Cochrane handbook. All data analysis will be performed using the Data statistics software Review Manager V.5.3. And occupy V.12.0.Results:The results of this study will systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of Shenqi compound on the effects of intestinal flora metabolites in patients with type 2 diabetes.Conclusion:Through the systematic review of this study, the published evidence of the effect of Shenqi compound on intestinal flora metabolites in patients with type 2 diabetes was summarized to further guide its promotion and application.Ethics and communication:This study is a systematic review with findings based on published evidence and does not require erB review or consent. We plan to publish the results in a journal or conference report.Open science framework (OSF) registration number:September 29, 2020. osf.io/gb3m2.(https://osf.io/gb3m2).