Traditional Chinese Medicine Masters Research Articles

Integration and development of acupuncture and neurology: interviewing Professor SUN Shentian, Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine

The semi-structured interview was adopted to in-depth interview Professor SUN Shentian, a Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine, on the integration and development of acupuncture and neurology. In the interview, we traced the first "ward of acupuncture and neurology" in China, established by Professor SUN Shentian and the origin of his proposal, "transcranial repeated needling stimulation therapy", aiming at advancing the development of acupuncture discipline. Professor SUN Shentian explained that the ward of acupuncture and neurology was established under specific historical conditions, on account of the relationship between acupuncture and nerves and the characteristics of the neurological diseases, as well as the personal practical knowledge and his unique clinical experience. In order to specify the point selection of scalp acupuncture and further expound its mechanism, he innovated "transcranial repeated needling stimulation therapy" that is advantageous at preciser operation, clearer theoretic foundation and better therapeutic effect of scalp acupuncture. Professor SUN Shentian pointed out that the deepening development of acupuncture is firmly based on "inheritance, practice and innovation", and constant exploration practice along with inheriting the experience of predecessors to propel the innovation and development of acupuncture and move towards a new historical stage.

Mechanism of Action of Taohong Huazhuo Decoction the Empirical Prescription Made by Professor Yang Zhen of Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treating Hepatic Fibrosis based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Techniques

Mechanism of Action of Taohong Huazhuo Decoction the Empirical Prescription Made by Professor Yang Zhen of Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treating Hepatic Fibrosis based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking Techniques

Syndrome Differentiation and Mechanism Exploration of “Tongguan Liqiao” Acupuncture Method for Treating Poststroke Dysphagia

Abstract“Tongguan Liqiao” acupuncture method established by Xuemin Shi, a master of traditional Chinese medicine in China and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, derives from the famous “Xing Nao Kai Qiao” therapy (activating the brain and opening the orifices) acupuncture method. It fundamentally takes “adjusting the spirit” as the root of selecting acupoints based on syndrome differentiation. Neiguan (PC 6), Renzhong (DU 26), and Sanyinjiao (SP 6) are selected as the main acupoints to adjust the spirit and revive the brain, nourish the liver and kidney, which treats the root cause. Acupoints such as Lianquan (RN 23), Yifeng (SJ 17), Wangu (GB 12), and Fengchi (GB 20) in the neck region are selected for “unblocking orifices,” which relieves the symptoms. This acupuncture method features deep needling, which aligns with modern swallowing function anatomy. The method can improve the function of poststroke dysphagia by enhancing cerebral blood supply and metabolism and promoting neural functional remodeling.

Research on the academic thought of distinguished veteran doctors of traditional Chinese medicine based on Mendelian randomization: a case study of the causation between Sjögren’s syndrome and rheumatoid arthritis

Aim: This study investigated the causation between Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) based on Mendelian randomization (MR), with the purpose of promoting research on the academic thought of distinguished veteran doctors of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) via bioinformatics with information technology and providing new basis for better inheriting and carrying forward the valuable experience of a National Master of TCM, Zhizheng Lu. Methods: The causation between RA and SS in TCM was inferred from the perspective of coordination between dryness and dampness. For further assessment, MR was performed based on the summary data of genome-wide association studies (GWAS), with genetic loci closely related to SS(instrumental variables (IVs)), RA(research outcome), inverse-variance weighted (IVW) and MR-Egger regression and weighted median (WME) ( main MR methods). Heterogeneity was evaluated by Cochran Q test, pleiotropy by MR-Egger regression, and robustness by the Leave-One-Out method. Results: Except for MR-Egger, all other methods showed a clear statistical significance in the association between SS and RA (P<0.05). Conclusion: This study, based on the academic thought of distinguished TCM veteran doctor and the thought “moistening dryness” of National Master of TCM, Zhizheng Lu, speculated that there may be a potential association between SS and RA. MR results demonstrated the clear genetic causation between SS and RA, and the guiding role of the academic thought of distinguished TCM veteran doctor in clinical practice genetically.

Professor SUN Shen-tian's experience in acupuncture treatment of depression based on "psychosomatic medicine"

This paper introduces professor SUN Shen-tian's clinical thoughts and his characteristics of acupuncture techniques for the treatment of depression based on "psychosomatic medicine". Professor SUN, the master of traditional Chinese medicine, believes that depression refers to comorbidity of "heart mind" and "body", resulting from the "body-mind" disharmony, specially dominated by the emotional disorder. This disease is located in the brain, with the injury of mind and closely related to the heart and liver dysfunction. In pathogenesis, the dysfunction of brain mind and the unhealthy conditions of body and mind are involved. The treatment should focus on "regulating the mind, improving the intelligence, co-modulating the abdominal and brain functions and treating the physical and mental disorders". Baihui (GV 20), Ningshen (Extra) and emotional area on the head are selected as the main points to benefit the intelligence and calming down the mind; the abdominal region 1 and region 8 of "Sun's abdominal acupuncture" are used as the main points of the abdomen to regulate the brain functions. The point prescription is modified according to the symptoms and etiologies. The repeated transcranial acupuncture stimulation and electroacupuncture at low frequency (2 Hz) are crucial to the therapeutic effect. Reliving anxious emotions is specially considered before acupuncture, and the mind is protected and deqi is consolidated during acupuncture.

国医大师张大宁治疗肾性蛋白尿经验浅析

国医大师张大宁治疗肾性蛋白尿经验浅析

Introduction to Professor Deng Tietao’s Experience in Treating Coronary Heart Disease from “Qi, Blood, Phlegm and Stasis”, a Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Introduction to Professor Deng Tietao’s Experience in Treating Coronary Heart Disease from “Qi, Blood, Phlegm and Stasis”, a Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine

How Do You Treat Trigeminal Neuralgia in Your Practice?

How Do You Treat Trigeminal Neuralgia in Your Practice?

Jiedu-Yizhi Formula Improves Cognitive Impairment in an Aβ 25-35-Induced Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease by Inhibiting Pyroptosis.

Jiedu-Yizhi formula (JDYZF) is prescribed for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and was created by Jixue Ren, a master of traditional Chinese medicine, based on the “marrow deficiency and toxin damage” theory. In our clinic, this formula has been used for the treatment of AD for many years and has achieved good results. However, the mechanism by which JDYZF improves cognitive impairment has not been determined. In this study, we confirmed that orally administered JDYZF reversed the cognitive deficits in an Aβ25–35-induced rat model, increased the number of neurons in the hippocampal CA1 area, improved their structure, decreased the deposition of β-amyloid (Aβ), reduced the expression of proteins related to the NLRP3/Caspase-1/GSDMD and LPS/Caspase-11/GSDMD pyroptosis pathways, and reduced the levels of interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and IL-18, thereby inhibiting the inflammatory response. In addition, JDYZF exerted no hepatotoxicity in rats. In short, these results provide scientific support for the clinical use of JDYZF to improve the cognitive function of patients with AD.

Core prescriptions in treatment of edema by traditional Chinese medicine masters and mechanism prediction

The core prescriptions and formulation characteristics in the treatment of edema by traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) masters were analyzed through data mining and their mechanisms were explored by network pharmacology. We collected journal reports on the treatment of edema by TCM masters in three sessions from China National Knowledge Infrastructure(CNKI) and constructed a database by Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance Support System 3.0. The prescriptions in the case studies were analyzed by association rules and k-means clustering. The chemical components and targets of Chinese medicines in core prescriptions were collected through TCMSP and TCMID. Edema-related targets were collected from DrugBank and GeneCards. The protein-protein interaction(PPI) network was constructed by STRING and the core targets were screened out. FunRich 3.1.3 was used to enrich the expression sites of core prescriptions. Metascape was used to perform Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes(KEGG) enrichment analysis of intersection targets. Cytoscape 3.6.0 was used to visualize the "Chinese medicine-active ingredient-core target-pathway" network. The results showed that 315 pieces of medical records in the treatment of edema by TCM masters were obtained and five core prescriptions were analyzed by association rules and k-means clustering. Core prescription 1 contained Poria, Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma, Astragali Radix, Alismatis Rhizoma, Glycyrrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, and Codonopsis Radix, involving 166 chemical components and 1 125 targets. Core prescription 2 contained Astragali Radix, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, Poria, Chuanxiong Rhizoma, Paeoniae Radix Rubra, and Angelicae Sinensis Radix, involving 138 chemical components and 1 112 targets. Core prescription 3 contained Poria, Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix et Rhizoma, Astragali Radix, Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma, Alismatis Rhizoma, and Coicis Semen, involving 126 chemical components and 1 121 targets. Core prescription 4 contained Poria, Forsythiae Fructus, Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma, Imperatae Rhizoma, Cicadae Periostracum, and Coicis Semen, involving 58 chemical components and 820 targets. Core prescription 5 contained Poria, Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma, Astragali Radix, Alismatis Rhizoma, Trionycis Carapax, and Dioscoreae Rhizoma, involving 68 chemical components and 919 targets. The core targets of core prescriptions included AKT1, ALB, CASP3, MAPK3, EGFR, SRC, MAPK1, and TNF. The potential targets of core prescriptions in the treatment were highly expressed in the stomach, bladder, lung, and kidney. KEGG pathways were enriched in inflammation and cell cycle pathways, especially the inflammation-relation pathways. The therapeutic effect of core prescriptions on edema is presumedly achieved by tonifying the spleen, draining water, activating blood, and benefiting Qi to resist inflammation and regulate the immune system. This study is expected to provide references for the summary of TCM masters' experience and new drug development.

FordNet: Recommending traditional Chinese medicine formula via deep neural network integrating phenotype and molecule

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula is widely used for thousands of years in clinical practice. With the development of artificial intelligence, deep learning models may help doctors prescribe reasonable formulas. Meanwhile, current studies of formula recommendation only focus on the observable clinical symptoms and lack of molecular information. Here, inspired by the theory of TCM network pharmacology, we propose an intelligent formula recommendation system based on deep learning (FordNet), fusing the information of phenotype and molecule. We collected more than 20,000 electronic health records from TCM Master Li Jiren's experience from 2013 to March 2020. In the FordNet system, the feature of diagnosis description is extracted by convolution neural network and the feature of TCM formula is extracted by network embedding, which fusing the molecular information. A hierarchical sampling strategy for data augmentation is designed to effectively learn training samples. Based on the expanded samples, a deep neural network based quantitative optimization model is developed for TCM formula recommendation. FordNet performs significantly better than baseline methods (hit ratio of top 10 improved by 46.9% compared with the best baseline random forest method). Moreover, the molecular information helps FordNet improve 17.3% hit ratio compared with the model using only macro information. Clinical evaluation shows that FordNet can well learn the effective experience of TCM Master and obtain excellent recommendation results. Our study, for the first time, proposes an intelligent recommendation system for TCM formula integrating phenotype and molecule information, which has potential to improve clinical diagnosis and treatment, and promote the shift of TCM research pattern from “experience based, macro” to “data based, macro-micro combined” as well as the development of TCM network pharmacology.

Great physician with absolute sincerity and carrying forward acupuncture and moxibustion: commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of academician CHENG Xin-nong, master of traditional Chinese medicine

The academician CHENG Xin-nong's academic thoughts and his contributions to the acupuncture and moxibustion of traditional Chinese medicine are summarized. Academician CHENG emphasizes the importance of meridian theory to acupuncture and moxibustion. He has hosted the National Climbing Program "Meridian Research", and put forward the symptom differentiation along the running course of channel and symptom differentiation based on meridian tropism. He values the guiding role of TCM theory on clinical practice of acupuncture and moxibustion, and advocates that acupoints have the same properties as traditional Chinese herb. He has established the acupuncture and moxibustion treatment based on syndrome differentiation, which includes principle, method, prescription, acupoint and technique. He is good at summarizing the acupuncture and moxibustion treatment rules of dominant diseases of TCM, and has formed his own unique acupuncture method in clinical practice: San-Cai acupuncturing method. In addition, he is one of the important founders of acupuncture and moxibustion education in the New China by pioneering early education of acupuncture and moxibustion and compiling textbooks. He is also the pioneer of international communication of acupuncture and moxibustion, carrying out international training of acupuncture and moxibustion, and spreading knowledge of acupuncture and moxibustion. He has the qualities of a great physician, dedicated to clinical practice and very kind to patients.

Study on metastasis inhibition of Kejinyan decoction on lung cancer by affecting tumor microenvironment

BackgroundKejinyan decoction, as an experienced formula of Zhou Zhongying (the Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine) has been widely used in clinic for lung cancer treatment in China, while the anti-lung cancer mechanism of it is still remained to be elucidated. Herein, our basic study found that the survival of lung cancer xenograft mice was significantly prolonged after intragastrically administered high dose of Kejinyan decoction (3.8 g per kg BW) for 15 days. More importantly, we found that Kejinyan decoction inhibited the metastasis of lung cancer cells in vivo. Thus in this study, we aim to elucidate the anti-metastasis effects of Kejinyan decoction.MethodsRNA-Seq was used to find out the gene regulation of Kejinyan decoction on the mice, flow cytometry assay was used to detect the immunocytes in the spleen, ELISA assay was used to detect the inflammatory factors in the serum and spleen, and immunofluorescence assay was used to detect the level of immune cells and the expression of glycol-metabolism related enzymes in situ. Also, we established a lung cancer orthotopic xenograft tumor model to assess the influence of Kejinyan decoction on the metastatic ability of lung cancer cells in vivo.ResultsGO analysis of gene sequencing of tumor tissue samples showed that Kejinyan decoction regulated immune response. Further flow cytometry analysis of splenic lymphocyte showed that Kejinyan decoction upregulated M1 macrophages and downregulated M2 macrophages, while the total level of macrophages changed little, which was verified by detection of CD68, F4/80, CD206, and CD86 in tumor tissue section. Moreover, detection of inflammatory cytokines showed that Kejinyan decoction downregulated TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-6, as well as IL-4, IL-13 in tumor microenvironment. Further studies also showed that Kejinyan decoction had little effect on tumor hypoxia, but downregulated glycolysis in tumor tissues. More importantly, we found that Kejinyan decoction inhibited the metastasis of lung cancer cells in vivo.ConclusionOur findings conclude that Kejinyan decoction inhibited lung cancer cell metastasis through affecting macrophage polarization and energy reprogramming.

Experience in the treatment of chronic gastritis with HE's tube acupuncture technique

HE 's tube acupuncture technique is developed on the base of the theories of zangfu, meridian and collateral by HE Hui-wu, the eminent master of traditional Chinese medicine in 1920s. It is a set of acupuncture technique, in which, the function of the traditional pressing hand is replaced by the needle tube and the seven skills and five manipulations are specially included. In this paper, the experience in the treatment of chronic gastritis with HE 's tube acupuncture technique was introduced. "Regulating the spleen function for the deficiency syndrome" and "taking the liver into the great consideration for the excess syndrome" are the basic principles of treatment. The specific manipulations are predominant, e.g. the conducting-qi manipulation, the sparrow-pecking manipulation, the rotating manipulation, the lifting-thrusting manipulation and the circling manipulation. Moreover, the unique needling techniques are adopted at Zhongwan (CV 12), Weishu (BL 21) and Yanglingquan (GB 34), etc.

Research rules of famous veteran traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in treating infertility

To explore the medication rules of famous veteran traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in treating infertility based on medical cases of infertility collected from book series of Hundred Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinicians of Hundred Years in China and Prescription Proven by Traditional Chinese Medicine Masters. Researchers extracted the information of prescriptions from these cases according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Then, Excel 2010, SPSS Clementine(ver.12.0) and SPSS(ver. 22.0) were adopted respectively for frequency analysis, association rules analysis, cluster analysis and factor analysis. Cluster analysis was carried out by Ochiai algorithm of binary variable data, which was a systematic clustering method. And principal component analysis was used for factor analysis. Besides, KMO test and Bartlett spherical test were used for factor adaptation test. Finally, 151 medical cases and 396 prescriptions were included in total. A total of 60 kinds of frequently used herbs were identified according to the results of frequency analysis for medication, they were mainly used for activating blood and resolving stasis, tonifying and clearing heat respectively. The association rules analysis found out 25 drug pair association rules and 14 3-drug combination association rules. A total of 15 medicine groups were extracted by cluster analysis. KMO test and Bartlett spherical test indicated that the method was suitable for factor analysis, and 21 common factors were respectively extracted by factor analysis. Association rules indicated the characteristics of the therapeutic methods, like tonifying Qi and replenishing blood. The famous veteran traditional Chinese medicine practitioners utilized modified Siwu Decoction for tonifying blood and preferred Atractylodis Macrocephalae Rhizoma(Baizhu) for tonifying Qi. The results of both cluster analysis and factor analysis demonstrated the characteristics of the therapies for tonifying kidney, activating blood, tonifying spleen and dispelling dampness. In addition, factor analysis could reflect the therapies for nourishing Yin, tonifying kidney, warming the meridian, dissipating cold, nourishing blood and dispelling blood stasis. These results of analysis comprehensively showed out the medication characteristics of famous veteran traditional Chinese medicine practitioners of strictly following the pathogenesis, making good use of classical formulas and providing proper compatibility. In conclusion, data mining techniques(including frequency analysis, association rules analysis, cluster analysis and factor analysis) were used to comprehensively analyze the medication rules of famous veteran traditional Chinese medicine practitioners in treating infertility, which is helpful for guiding the clinical practice of treating infertility with traditional Chinese medicine.

Medication regularity and potential targets of Professor XU Jing-fan's prescription for treating ulcerative colitis

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic nonspecific inflammation mainly involving rectum and colon mucosa, which seriously affects the health and quality of life of patients, and is listed as one of modern refractory diseases by WHO. Professor XU Jing-fan, a great master of traditional Chinese medicine, has accumulated rich experiences in the treatment of UC. The study collected Professor XU's 77 prescriptions of treating UC, analyzed the frequency of traditional Chinese medicines and there categories, and investigated the medication regularity by the system clustering method. The findings showed that the most frequently used drugs were clearing-heat herbs, which were followed by hemostatic herbs, excreting-dampness herbs, improving-digestion herbs and tonifying-Qi herbs. At the same time, the commonly combined drugs were excavated. Finally, in order to analyze potential molecular targets of the frequently used herbs, GO enrichment analysis and KEGG signal pathway enrichment analysis were performed with bioinformatics analysis tool for molecular mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine (BATMAN-TCM). The results indicated that Chinese herbal compounds may treat UC by activating PPAR-γ pathway and regulating intestinal inflammation. The exact mechanisms shall be verified through subsequent molecular biological experiments.

The Application and Experience by Professor Xia Guicheng's Theory of Tonifying Kidney and Regulating Menstruation on Female Sub-Health

Objective: to explore the possible mechanism of sub-health in women from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, and to explore the mechanism of treating sub-health status in women at different physiological stages by using professor xia guicheng, a master of traditional Chinese medicine, his theory of tonifying kidney and regulating menstruation. Methods: through the sharing and interpretation of clinical cases of female sub-health, the occurrence mechanism, therapeutic effect and action mechanism were analyzed. Conclusion: the method of tonifying kidney and regulating menstruation by professor xia guicheng, can effectively solve the sub-health status of women.

Experience of LU Zhi-zheng to apply tenuifolia

Professor LU Zhi-zheng, one of the first traditional Chinese medicine masters, is good at using tenuifoliain clinical practice, which often brings unexpected surprises. Lu said, tenuifolia is a mild herbal medicine with the nature of upward dispersion and outward penetration but not dryness. Tenuifolia has the following functions: making people conscious, relieving sore throat, diverging incubated diseases, regulating functional activities of qi, sending up Yang, dispelling wind evil and eliminating dampness, and activating collaterals to relieve pain. When well used, it will not only enhance the effect of monarch drug, but also restrict the impetuosity nature in a prescription, achieving better efficacy.

Herb Network Analysis for a Famous TCM Doctor's Prescriptions on Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) doctors always prescribe various herbal formulae tailored to individual patients. However, there is still a lack of appropriate methods to study the rule and potential biological basis underlying the numerous prescriptions. Here we developed an Herb-Compound-Target-Disease coherent network approach to analyze 871 herbal prescriptions from a TCM master, Mr. Ji-Ren Li, in his clinical practice on treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The core herb networks were extracted from Mr. Li's prescriptions. Then, we predicted target profiles of compounds in core herb networks and calculated potential synergistic activities among them. We further found that the target sets of core herbs overlapped significantly with the RA related biological processes and pathways. Moreover, we detected a possible connection between the prescribed herbs with different properties such as Cold and Hot and the Western drugs with different actions such as immunomodulatory and hormone regulation on treatment of RA. In summary, we explored a new application of TCM network pharmacology on the analysis of TCM prescriptions and detected the networked core herbs, their potential synergistic and biological activities, and possible connections with drugs. This work offers a novel way to understand TCM prescriptions in clinical practice.

ShaoYao decoction ameliorates colitis-associated colorectal cancer by downregulating proinflammatory cytokines and promoting epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

sBackgroundShaoyao decoction (SYD) is a traditional Chinese medicine prescription formulated by Liu Wan-Su, a master of traditional Chinese medicine in Jin-Yuan Dynasty. SYD is effective in treating ulcerative colitis. Paeonol, a component of SYD, inhibits colorectal cancer (CRC) cell proliferation and induces CRC cell apoptosis. In this study, azoxymethane (AOM)/dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)–induced colitis-associated CRC (caCRC) model and CRC cell lines were used to examine the effects of SYD on CRC in vivo and in vitro.MethodsA translational medicine strategy based on phytomics quality control was adopted. Liquid chromatography was employed for the chemical characterization and chemical fingerprinting of SYD. Protein expression and macrophage existence were determined by immunohistochemistry and western blot. Serum cytokines were quantified by Luminex assay.ResultsAOM/DSS-induced caCRC phenotypically resembled human caCRC. SYD significantly increased the survival rate of the mice, ameliorated the general well-being of the mice, and reduced the incidence and multiplicity of colonic neoplasms. SYD inhibited epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), as indicated by upregulated epithelia cadherin and downregulated neuronal cadherin, fibronectin, vimentin, and transcription factor Snail. SYD reduced the expression levels of serum interleukin 1β, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor α, tumor-associated macrophages, and p65. These results showed that SYD can attenuate proinflammatory cytokines and inhibit EMT.ConclusionsSYD ameliorates caCRC by suppressing inflammation and inhibiting EMT. SYD might be an alternative therapy for caCRC.