Traditional Medicine Research Research Articles

Mexican Traditional Medicine: Application of a Traditional and Complementary Medicine System to Improve Opioid Use Treatment in Latinos.

Background: Initially considered a primarily rural, White issue, opioid use and overdose rates have risen faster for Latinos (52.5%) than for White, non-Hispanics (45.8%) from 2014 to 2016. With an estimated 45% to 65% of Latino immigrant families using Mexican traditional medicine (MTM) practices before seeking Western medical services, these practices could be used as a method to increase access to care and improve outcomes. Practice Model: Although not well known, MTM is founded on a defined set of theoretical tenets that comprise a whole medical system as defined by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. Whole medical systems are characterized as complete systems of theory and practice that develop independently and parallel allopathic medicine. Classifying MTM as a whole medical system to encourage further research and utilization of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) practices could help improve health outcomes for Latino patients. Specific T&CM practices that could be used in opioid treatment integration to decrease stigma and increase treatment utilization are then discussed. Conclusion: Incorporating T&CM practices will allow more effective, culturally competent and culturally sensitive health care provision for Latino immigrants in the United States to decrease stigma, improve health care outcomes, and address disparities in opioid use treatment.

Overview of traditional medicine database system in China and ASEAN Countries

China and Asean countries all have a history of usingtraditional medicine. With the establishment and development of asean economic zone, traditional medicine has been included in the key areas of economic and social cooperation between China and Asean Countries. We designed and constructed the traditional medicine for understanding and taking advantages of traditional medicine in Asean countries. Based on the principle of software engineering design, referred to the construction ideas, functional modules and construction methods of traditional Chinese medicine database, this paper designed and constructed traditional Chinese medicine database, which has provided the basic information system for the exchange, cooperation and development. The of and asean traditional medicine based on Internet is established, which provides basic data information service for the mutual exchange, cooperation and development of traditional medicine research. The China-Asean traditional medicine database has been token as the basic data platform for information centralization and sharing, and it lays a foundation for the construction of higher level knowledge base and intelligent application system to accumulate data in the field of traditional medicine. Key words: Databases (TCMP); Medicine, traditional; International cooperation; Information service platform

Determination of Antioxidant Value and Chemical Groups in Selected Medicinal Plants Used for Conditions Associated with Herpes Simplex and Herpes Zoster Infections in Kakamega County, Kenya

Aims: To Determine antioxidant value and chemical groups in selected medicinal plants used for conditions associated with Herpes simplex and Herpes zoster infections in Mukhwa sub-location, Kakamega County, Kenya.
 Study Design: A qualitative ethnobotanical survey for plant identification and chemical analysis for antioxidant assay and chemical group detection.
 Place and Duration of Study: Plant samples were collected in Mukhwa sub-location in September 2014. Sample processing and chemical group detection was carried out at the Center of Traditional Medicine and Drug Research of Kenya Medical Research Institute. Antioxidant assay was carried out at the Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences of the Kenya Medical Training College.
 Methodology: All 12 Community Health Workers, comprising 7 females and 5 males, were interviewed for identification of plant species. Antioxidant assay was carried out using the 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) reduction assay and detection of flavonoids, terpenoids, alkanoids, saponins and phenols carried out using physicho-chemical methods.
 Results: Caesalpinia decapetala, Garcinia buchananii and Entada abyssinica, were the most potent sources of antioxidant with the concentration giving 50% DPPH reduction (RSa50) of 50, 20 and 10 µg/ml, respectively. The most abundant chemical groups were; alkaloids in Schkuhria pinnata, terpenoids in E. abyssinica, flavonoids in G. buchananii, the latter also contained the highest amount of phenols.
 Conclusion: The findings of antioxidant and chemical groups in selected medicinal plants support their use for HIV conditions.

Developing a mobile-based disease ontology for traditional Persian medicine

Abstract Introduction The use of traditional medicine has increased in many countries over the past decades. However, computer applications have been rarely developed and used in this field. This study aimed to develop a mobile-based disease ontology for traditional Persian medicine. Methods This research was carried out in two phases. In the first phase, the Methontology method was used for ontology development, and the ontology was evaluated in terms of accuracy and domain coverage. In the second phase, a mobile-based application was developed, and its usability was evaluated by traditional Persian medicine specialists. Results Initially, diseases were divided into 24 groups. The results showed that the developed ontology covered the concepts of traditional Persian medicine (90%) and their synonyms in English (83%) successfully. In terms of accuracy, the values for the concepts and their synonyms in English were (14%) and (46%), respectively. Eventually, users implemented the mobile-based application and evaluated its usability at a satisfactory level. Conclusion The disease ontology developed in the current study can provide traditional Persian medicine specialists and researchers with consistent, reusable, and sustainable descriptions of disease terms. In order to complete the ontology and use it in clinical decision support systems, expanding the ontology and adding more details to each disease are recommended.

Study on the Multitarget Synergistic Effects of Kai-Xin-San against Alzheimer's Disease Based on Systems Biology.

Kai-Xin-San (KXS), a classical Chinese traditional prescription, was widely applied in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), while its functional mechanisms still remain unclear. By using systems biology approaches at animal, cellular, and molecular levels, the improvement of KXS on cognitive impairment was achieved by inhibiting abnormal acetylcholinesterase. The function on the nerve skeleton was performed by regulating the Tau phosphorylation pathway. Its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antiapoptotic effects by modulating the aberrant upregulation of ROS, proinflammatory factors, and apoptosis-related proteins in the brain were studied to reveal the synergistic therapeutic efficacy of KXS. Then, formula dismantling in vitro indicated that ginseng was the principal herb, whereas three other herbs served adjuvant roles to achieve the best effect. After that, the in vivo analysis of components into plasma and brain of AD rats showed that 8 of 23 components in blood and 4 of 10 components in brain were from ginseng, respectively, further verifying the principal status of ginseng and the synergistic effects of the formula. Thus, the anti-AD effects of KXS were achieved by multitargets and multichannels. The systems biology approaches presented here provide a novel way in traditional herbal medicine research.

Turkey Traditional and Complementary Medicine Centers; Training and Application Innovation

Geleneksel ve tamamlayıcı tıp insanlık tarihi kadar köklü bir geçmişe sahip olup 21.yüzyılın başında tüm dünyada tekrar popülarite kazanmıştır. Sadece geri kalmış ve gelişmekte olan ülkelerde değil sağlık sisteminde batı tıbbının baskın olduğu gelişmiş ülkelerde de kullanımı yaygınlaşmıştır. Geleneksel ve tamamlayıcı tıbbın yaygınlaşması ile tedavi standardizasyonu ve denetimi gerekliliği doğmuştur. Dünya Sağlık Örgütü ilk defa 2000 yılında “Geleneksel Tıp Araştırma ve Değerlendirme Metodolojileri Rehberi ” ,2014 yılında geleneksel tıbbın güvenli ve etkili kullanımını teşvik eden “Pekin Deklarasyonu”nu yayımlanmıştır. Ülkemiz de dünya ile eş zamanlı olarak 2014 yılında Geleneksel ve Tamamlayıcı Tıp Uygulamaları Yönetmeliğini yürürlüğe koymuştur. Bu yönetmeliğe göre bakanlık tarafından yalnızca hekimlere ve sadece kendi alanında uygulama yapmak üzere diş hekimlerine geleneksel ve tamamlayıcı tıp alanında uygulama yetkisi verilmiştir. 14 farklı alanda standardize eğitim tanımlanmış olup yetkili merkezler tarafından teorik ve pratik eğitim verilmektedir. Bundan sonraki süreçte geleneksel tıbbın sağlık sistemi ve batı tıbbı ile entegrasyonu, lisans ve yüksek lisans düzeyinde eğitim ve araştırmaların artması büyük bir gelişme olacaktır.

The study on the distinctiveness of the Korean traditional medicine research: using Clinical Research Information Services of KCDC

The study on the distinctiveness of the Korean traditional medicine research: using Clinical Research Information Services of KCDC

Effects of Goji berries supplementation on the productive performance of rabbit

Recognized by the traditional medicine and recent scientific research studies, Lycium barbarum berries (Goji berries) have beneficial effects on human and animal health. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of Goji berries on the productive performance of rabbits. One month before insemination, 60 New Zealand White does were randomly assigned to one of the following 3 dietary treatments: commercial standard diet (C); C supplemented with 1% Goji berries (LG); and C supplemented with 3% Goji berries (HG). After weaning up to 91 days of age, 15 randomly selected rabbits/group were fed the same diet as the mothers (C, LG, and HG). Non-pregnant and lactating does of C group showed the highest feed intake (P < 0.01), although no significant differences in body weight (BW) were observed between groups. Nutritional treatment did not affect the offspring's feed intake. However, the rabbits fed with Goji supplementation showed not only higher mean BW both during growth (P < 0.001) and at slaughter (P < 0.01), but also better feed conversion ratio (FCR; P < 0.01) than the control group. Rabbits of LG group showed the best performances in the pre-weaning period which was probably related to the highest milk production of the LG does (P < 0.001). Indeed, LG group showed lower pre-weaning mortality (P < 0.05), higher litter size (P < 0.05), and higher litter weight (P < 0.05) at day 18 as well as higher litter size at weaning (P = 0.05) compared to C group. In conclusion, the present study demonstrates that a low percentage of dietary supplementation with Goji berry improves both reproductive and productive traits of rabbits. Although further studies are needed, our study paves the way for the use of Goji berries in the rabbit nutrition.

Analisis Ramuan Obat Tradisional untuk Wasir di Pulau Jawa; Studi Etnofarmakologi RISTOJA 2015

The using of traditional medicine among community has being accepted and become huge potency to be developed by our country. One of disease which is often treated with traditional medicine is hemorrhoid or in bahasa as known as “wasir”. According to the result of ethopharmacology research of traditional medicine and jamu (RISTOJA) 2015 in java island, there are several formulas used by traditional healers to treat hemorrhoid. In order to fi nd potential formulas to be developed, a descriptive study was conducted involving identifi cation of medicinal plant and also literature study about its benefi t and toxicity evidences. The plants which named in formula’s ingredient were analized to see how important and utility value for hemorrhoid treatment. Literature study was conducted to assess potential benefi t and toxicity. The result said there were 37 species of medicinal plant in 25 family used in traditional medicine formula for hemorrhoid. Based on Frequency Citation(FC), Utility Value (UC) and literature study, Graptophyllum pictum (L.) Griff ., Curcuma longa L., Aloe vera (L.) Burm.F, and Musa balbisiana have enough scientifi c evidence to be studied further development.

Therapeutic Potential of Fulvic Acid in Chronic Inflammatory Diseases and Diabetes.

Chronic inflammatory diseases like diabetes are on a rise in the Western world. Based on the tsunami of new cases every year, new therapeutic measures must be considered. A promising avenue might involve the attenuation of underlying inflammation through natural health products (NHPs). This is because most NHPs have a rich history in traditional medicine and might be considered safer under appropriate doses and conditions. However, the biggest impediment in NHP research is that rarely do these products come with verified health benefits or dosing schedules established through modern scientific research. Fulvic acid (FvA), one such NHP, comes from humic substances produced by microorganisms in soil. Traditional medicine and modern research claim FvA can modulate the immune system, influence the oxidative state of cells, and improve gastrointestinal function; all of which are hallmarks of diabetes. This minireview outlines the available peer-reviewed research on FvA and examines its anecdotal health claims. We show that although available research has been minimal, there is substantial evidence to pursue FvA research in preventing chronic inflammatory diseases, including diabetes.

A cardio protective medicinal plant Terminalia arjuna: evidence from the traditional medicine and recent research

A cardio protective medicinal plant Terminalia arjuna: evidence from the traditional medicine and recent research

The era of big data promotes the research progress of hepatic surgery experimental study

With the rapid development of bioinformatics, the establishment of databases such as SEER, TCGA and ONCOMINE indicates the coming of the era of big data. The traditional evidence-based medicine research is gradually changing to the precision medicine in the era of big data. In this paper, we will briefly review the functions of genomics, transcriptome, proteomics, epidemiology and other bioinformatics databases in the field of hepatic surgery experimental study, aiming to provide new ideas for future research on hepatic surgery. Key words: Hepatic surgery; Genomics; Transcriptomics; Proteomics; Epidemiology; Precision medicine

PolyPK: an R package for pharmacokinetic analysis of multi-component drugs using a metabolomics approach.

Pharmacokinetics (PK) is a long-standing bottleneck for botanical drug and traditional medicine research. By using an integrated phytochemical and metabolomics approach coupled with multivariate statistical analysis, we propose a new strategy, Poly-PK, to simultaneously monitor the performance of drug constituents and endogenous metabolites, taking into account both the diversity of the drug's chemical composition and its complex effects on the mammalian metabolic pathways. Poly-PK is independent of specific measurement platforms and has been successfully applied in the PK studies of Puerh tea, a traditional Chinese medicine Huangqi decoction and many other multi-component drugs. Here, we introduce an R package, polyPK, the first and only automation of the data analysis pipeline of Poly-PK strategy. polyPK provides 10 functions for data pre-processing, differential compound identification and grouping, traditional PK parameters calculation, multivariate statistical analysis, correlations, cluster analyses and resulting visualization. It may serve a wide range of users, including pharmacologists, biologists and doctors, in understanding the metabolic fate of multi-component drugs. polyPK package is freely available from the R archive CRAN (https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=polyPK). wjia@cc.hawaii.edu or chentianlu@sjtu.edu.cn. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

India-United States Dialogue on Traditional Medicine: Toward Collaborative Research and Generation of an Evidence Base.

Therapies originating from traditional medical systems are widely used by patients in both India and the United States. The first India-US Workshop on Traditional Medicine was held in New Delhi, India, on March 3 and 4, 2016, as a collaboration between the Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homoeopathy (AYUSH) of the Government of India, the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health, and the Office of Global Affairs, US Department of Health and Human Services. It was attended by Indian and US policymakers, scientists, academics, and medical practitioners from various disciplines. The workshop provided an opportunity to open a dialogue between AYUSH and NCI to identify promising research results and potential topics for Indo-US collaboration. Recommendations that emerged from the workshop underlined the importance of applying rational and scientific approaches for drug development; standardizing traditional medicine products and procedures to ensure reliability and reproducibility; promotion of collaboration between Indian traditional medicine practitioners and researchers and US researchers; greater integration of evidence-based traditional medicine practices with mainstream medical practices in India; and development of training programs between AYUSH and NCI to facilitate crosstraining. Several positive developments took place after the thought-provoking deliberations.

Development of traditional Chinese medicine in Arab countries: present status and suggestions in the background of Belt and Road Initiative

Arab countries have long tradition of using traditional medicine which enjoys mass foundation among local people. Recently, China's import and export trade of traditional medicine products with Arab countries showed an increasing trend year by year. With the implementation of the Belt and Road Strategy, Arab countries played a more important role in China’s foreign trade. With the aim of promoting the spread of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Arab countries, cooperation with relevant countries shall be differentiated. The Gulf region is economically advanced with its people enjoying prosperity, where is suitable for developing TCM product and service trade. The Levant has strong advantages in traditional medicine research, where academic communication shall be frequented. Countries in north Africa enjoy profound traditional friendship with China, where are suitable for dispatching Chinese foreign aid medical team to promote TCM. Meanwhile, we are supposed to take advantage of Confucius Institute and Chinese culture centers as platforms to spread TCM culture, to strengthen cooperation with medical universities and research institutions in the target countries, to enroll more Arab students to study TCM, to develop international standard Chinese-Arabic basic nomenclature of Chinese Medicine, and to carry out Traditional Arabic & Islamic Medicine researches. Key words: Belt and Road Initiative; Arab countries; Traditional medicine; Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM); Traditional Arabic & Islamic medicine(TAIM)

The quantified self during travel: mapping health in a prospective cohort of travellers.

Travel medicine research has remained relatively unchanged in the face of rapid expansion of international travel and is unlikely to meet health challenges beyond infectious diseases. Our aim was to identify the range of health outcomes during travel using real-time monitoring and daily reporting of health behaviours and outcomes and identify traveller subgroups who may benefit from more targeted advice before and during travel. We recruited a prospective cohort of travellers ≥ 18 years and planning travel to Thailand for <5 weeks from the travel clinics in Zurich and Basel (Switzerland). Participants answered demographic, clinical and risk behaviour questionnaires pre-travel and a daily health questionnaire each day during travel using a smartphone application. Environmental and location data were collected passively by GPS. Classification trees were used to identify predictors of health behaviour and outcomes during travel. Non-infectious disease events were relatively common, with 22.7% (17 out of 75 travellers) experiencing an accident, 40.0% ( n = 30) a wound or cut and 14.7% ( n = 11) a bite or lick from an animal. Mental health associated events were widely reported, with 80.0% ( n = 60) reporting lethargy, 34.7% ( n = 26) anxiety and 34.7% ( n = 26) feeling tense or irritable. Classification trees identified age, trip length, previous travel experience and having experienced a sports injury in the past year as the most important discriminatory variables for health threats. Our study offers a revolutionary look at an almost real-time timeline of health events and behaviours during travel using mHealth technology. Non-infectious disease related health issues were common in this cohort, despite being largely unaddressed in traditional travel medicine research and suggest a substantial potential for improving evidence-based travel medicine advice.

Evidence-based (GRADE approach) Korean medicine clinical practice guidelines of manual acupuncture for the treatment of shoulder pain

IntroductionShoulder pain is a common musculoskeletal problem and one of the highest health expenditures in Korea. This article describes the development of evidence-based Korean medicine (KM) clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for manual acupuncture for the management of shoulder pain. MethodsThe CPG-KM Development Committee was provided with 12 clinical questions on manual acupuncture for the management of shoulder pain. A literature search was then conducted on seven databases (PubMed, Medline, the Cochrane Library, three Korean medical databases and one Chinese medical database). ResultsThe final recommendations were developed by reaching official agreement on the draft using the Delphi method and the CPG-KM for shoulder pain which was approved by The Society of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation. Twelve clinical questions and eleven of the recommendations (grade A (2), B (5), C (2) and GPP (2)) were primarily related to manual acupuncture methods. A manual acupuncture treatment is recommended as grade A, to alleviate pain and improve the range of motion and shoulder joint function of an adult shoulder pain patient. An acupuncture treatment for shoulder pain should simultaneously consider local and distal acupoints. ConclusionThe CPG KM for shoulder pain provides a standard procedure for the treatment process to ensure that a high quality medical service is provided globally to all patients for traditional KM, thereby supporting international traditional medicine research methodology. If additional clinical research is conducted in the future, this CPG can be updated to reflect the most up-to-date evidence.

Short Communication: Selected medicinal plants in East and North Kalimantan (Indonesia) against Propionibacterium acnes

Abstract. Arung ET, Pasedan WF, Kusuma IW, Hendra M, Supriadi MB. 2017. Short Communication: Selected medicinal plants in East and North Kalimantan (Indonesia) against Propionibacterium acnes. Biodiversitas 18: 321-325. Based on community based research on ethnomedicine local knowledge and medicinal plant in Indonesia by Medicinal Plant and Traditional Medicine Research and Development Center of Indonesian Ministry of Helath in 2012 and 2015, various data on medicinal plants including for cosmetic in all Indonesia region has been collected. There are 38 medicinal plants use for skin care/cosmetics. This study focused on some selected medicinal plants used by several Dayak ethnic groups in East and North Kalimantan, Indonesia for cosmetic, especially for anti-acne. Four plants were selected for evaluating its property on anti-acne, namely Crotalaria pallida, Lepisanthes amoena, Premna corymbosa, and Vitex pinnata by well diffusion and dilution methods. The zone inhibition (mm) against Propionibacterium acnes of these leaves extract on anti-acne at 1000 mg/mL was 9.33; 16.44; 13.78; 11.00 mm, respectively and chlorampenicol (positive control) was 29.44 mm at 500 mg/mL. These results were in line with traditional used by Dayak tribes in East and North Kalimantan, Indonesia.&#x0D; Keywords: Anti acne, cosmetic, medicinal plants, traditional medicine

Medicinal use of the unique plant Tinospora Cordifolia: evidence from the traditional medicine and recent research

Tinospora cordifolia is commonly known as Gulancha in Bangladesh is belongs to Menispermaceae family and it is also available all over the world. It is widely used as a unique ingredient of various natural medicine and traditionally use for numerous aliment like fever, vomiting, diabetes, jaundice, anaemia, polyuria and skin diseases etc. It has hypoglycemic, antipyretic, anti-allergic, Antineoplastic, anti inflammatory, antioxidant, and immuno modulatory properties. A variety of constituents have been isolated from different parts of Tinospora cordifolia, mainly contains alkaloids like Aporphine alkaloids, clerodane diterpenes, berberine, palmatine, tembertarine, tinosporin, magniflorine, choline, Berberine, Palmatine, Tembetarine, Magnoflorine Choline, Tinosporin etc. and Glycoside like Tinocordiside, Tinocordifolioside, steroids, essential oils, mixture of fatty acids and polysaccharides are found in Gulancha plant. This review presents a detailed survey of the literature on traditional and modern knowledge of Tinospora cordifolia for health benefit.Asian J. Med. Biol. Res. December 2016, 2(4): 508-512

吉林省北缬草的化学成分研究

目的：本项研究主要是以吉林省北缬草为研究对象,收集北缬草样品，对其进行文献查考、生药学鉴定、化学成分含量测定与分析方面的研究。方法：采用2015版《中国药典》规定的方法进行浸出物测定和挥发油测定，采用薄层色谱法鉴别缬草中的橙皮苷及绿原酸成分。采用高效液相色谱法进行缬草中缬草素的含量测定。结果：描述了北缬草根及根茎的性状特征。水溶性浸出物含量为9.23%，醇溶性浸出物的含量为3.48%，挥发性醚浸出物含量为1.28%。通过薄层鉴别确定成分中含有橙皮苷和绿原酸。高效液相色谱法测得缬草素的含量为5.29 mg/g。结论：本实验进行的生药学鉴定，化学成分含量测定与分析方面的研究，可以为吉林省北缬草的药用价值利用提供理论指导，为深入研究开发该中药提供参考。 Objective: This study mainly regards north of valerian in Jilin province as the research object, collecting samples of the north valerian and researching by literature review, pharmacognosy, chemical composition analysis and determination. Methods: The determination of extractives and volatile oil refers to the method provided in Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2015, identifying the hesperidin and chlorogenic acid composition of valerian by TLC to determine the content of valerian pigment by HPLC. Results: It describes the characteristics of roots and rhizomes of north of valeriana. The content of water soluble extract was 9.23%, the content of alcohol soluble extract was 3.48%, the content of volatile ether extract was 1.28%. In this study, the determination of hesperidin and chlorogenic acid was through TLC. Valerian pigment measured by HPLC was 5.29 mg/g. Conclusion: The experiment of Pharmacognosy identification, research and analysis of the determination of chemical compositions, can be used to provide theoretical guidance for the medicinal value of north of valerian in Jilin province, to provide reference for further research and development of the Chinese traditional medicine.