Pharmacokinetics Of Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Articles

Analysis of research status based on projects in pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicine funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China

The pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicine is a subject that studies the dynamic changes of the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of complex components of traditional Chinese medicine, which is an important method for elucidating the pharmacodynamic material basis, action characteristics, and compatibility mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine. However, given on the fact that traditional Chinese medicine is a multi-dimensional and complex system with multiple components, multiple pathways, multiple targets, and an unclear pharmacodynamic material basis, the research on the pharmacokinetics of traditio-nal Chinese medicine has become a scientific and technological problem. Although the pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicine has achieved remarkable development with the emergence of new theories, methods and technologies, there are still some problems in the application of the research direction of the pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicine judging from the current application of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Therefore, this article discussed the current research status on pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicines by analyzing the projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China in the past 5 years from 2016 to 2020, mainly including the application and funding analysis, main research contents of the projects in pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicines. And the research hotspots, difficulties and deficiencies were focused in order to provide certain reference for researchers engaged in pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicine.

The Current Application of LC-MS/MS in Pharmacokinetics of Traditional Chinese Medicines (Recent Three Years): A Systematic Review

With significant clinical effects, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been attracting increasing interest of the world's scientific community. However, TCM contains immense amounts of chemical components. It is a great challenge to objectively evaluate the correlation between the in vivo process and the therapeutic effect of TCM. The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize the recent investigation (from 2017 to 2019) on preclinical pharmacokinetics (PK) of TCM via liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We reviewed the published articles regarding the PK of TCM by LC-MS/MS. In addition, we summarized information on PK parameter of bioactive components, single herb and traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions. The vast majority of literature on preclinical PK of TCM uses single oral administration, the biological matrix is mostly rat plasma, and the main PK parameters include AUC, Cmax, Tmax and T1/2, etc. Conclusion: Although LC-MS/MS can be used for high-throughput analysis, the characterization of in vivo processes of TCM still has a long way. With the advantages of high sensitivity, high specificity and simple operation, the increasingly mature LC-MS/MS technology will play an important role in the PK study of TCM.

Comparative absorption kinetics of seven active ingredients of Eucommia ulmoides extracts by intestinal in situ circulatory perfusion in normal and spontaneous hypertensive rats

Eucommia ulmoides Oliv. (E. ulmoides) is a valuable and nourishing medicinal herb in China that has been used in the treatment of hypertension. Given the fact that most traditional Chinese medicine is mainly used to treat disease, investigating the pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicines in the pathological state is more useful than that in the normal state. However, the differences in the absorption kinetics of active ingredients of E. ulmoides extract between pathological and physiological conditions have not been reported. Therefore, in this study, the rat intestinal in situ circulatory perfusion model was used to investigate the differences in absorption kinetics of seven active ingredients of E. ulmoides extract in normal and spontaneously hypertensive rats, namely, genipinic acid, protocatechuic acid, neochlorogenic acid, chlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, (+)-pinoresinol di-O-β-D-glucopyranoside and (+)-pinoresinol 4'-O-β-D-glucopyranoside. Our results indicate that the pathological state of spontaneous hypertension may change the absorption of active components of E. ulmoides extracts, and these findings may provide a reference for improving the rational use of E. ulmoides in the clinic.

Challenges and Solutions of Pharmacokinetics for Efficacy and Safety of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), including herbal and folk medicine have been widely applied in healthcare field for a very long time. Based on the principle of kinetics, pharmacokinetics of TCM was developed to investigate the absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of active ingredients/components, single or mixed formulations, as well as the relationship between concentration and efficacy presented. Due to the complexity of TCM and its preparation, selection of molecules as markers for detection has become very difficult. So far, in which way or what indicators can be chosen for representing the pharmacodynamic action of single TCM or mixed is still controversial. Currently, a widely accepted approach is that the action of mixed preparation can be correlated by detecting pharmacokinetic behavior of one or several known active ingredients. According to the complexity of TCM, we presented a new concept of pharmacokinetic (PK) marker. The PK Marker should possess three conditions: (1) PK marker must be associated with efficacy, (2) PK marker exists in biological sample and can be determined by analytic method, and (3) PK marker should reflect the relationship between concentration and time. In TCM, four elements, "king-minister-assistant-guide", are the basic prescription principles for the individual therapy in TCM. We presented an idea of Point-line-area-cubic for four elements of TCM to study herb-herb interactions.

Advances on pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicine under disease states

In recent years, more and more research shows that the pharmacokinetic parameter of traditional Chinese medicine can be affected by the disease states. It's possible that drug metabolic enzymes, transporters, cell membrane permeability and the change of microbes group could be interfered with physiological and pathological changes, which enables the pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicine in the body to be altered, including the process of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion, and then the pharmacokinetic parameters of traditional chinese medicine are altered. It's found that investigating the pharmacokinetic of traditional Chinese medicine in the pathological state is more useful than that of in normal state because the great part of traditional Chinese medicine is mainly used to treat disease. This article reflects the latest research on the pharmacokinetic of traditional Chinese medicine in the disease state such as diabete, cerebral ischemia, liver injury, inflammatory disease, nervous system disorders and fever in order to provide certain reference for clinicians designing reasonable administration dose.

New exploration on effect of characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine components structure on multi-ingredient/component pharmacokinetics

The study on the pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) is a linking science during the modernization of TCMs, and plays an important role in the studies on the complex material base of TCMs, the in vivo process of ingredient/ component and the pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics correlation. However, because of the multi-ingredient/component system of TCMs, how to scientifically reveal the pharmacokinetics that is consistent with TCMs' characteristics has long been a hotspot and difficulty for the exploration. The optimal composition structure of the material basis of TCMs shows the best efficacy, while the difference between the multi-ingredient/component composition structures in the efficacy is closely related to their absorption, transport, metabolism and excretion in vivo. In this article, the authors systematically review the study methods for pharmacokinetics of TCMs and their compounds, and explore the pharmacokinetics of TCMs based on the "component structure theory". As a result, the method for integrating TCM component structure and the TCM pharmacokinetics was proposed to be adopted to intensively study the effect of the component structure on the in vivo TCM multi-ingredient/component pharmacokinetic characteristics, in order to promote the TCM modernization and innovation in China.

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.

Further Study of Indicated Pharmacokinetics of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Abstract The efficacious material basis of Chinese formulations is one of the key scientific study aspects in the modernization of Chinese Material Media (CMM). On the basis of the previous work, this paper raises a new concept of “indicated pharmacokinetics of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)” and analyzes its scientific connotation, research thoughts and data processing method. This study supplies a new method for Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic (PK-PD) research of TCM. This study explains the efficacious material basis and the compatibility law of Chinese formulations.

Application of Microdialysis for Pharmacokinetics of Traditional Chinese Medicine Studies

As a new and developing technique, microdialysis (MD) has extensive field application, and has become an important tool for the pharmacokinetics (PK) of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) studies. This technique presents great value and good perspective on the study of PK of traditional Chinese medicine. In the present paper, the principle advantages of the MD sampling technique were reviewed, and its applications on the PK of traditional Chinese medicine studies were introduced.