Property theory of Chinese materia medica: Clinical pharmacodynamics of traditional Chinese medicine

The property theory of Chinese materia medica is one of the foundations of traditional Chinese medicine.The property of Chinese materia medica(PCMM)is a multi-dimensional expression of the effect of Chinese materia medica(CMM),and it is related to the clinical prescription that fully reflects the clinical effect evaluation of CMM in a holistic,systematic,and scientific way.This paper discusses the source,development,and application of the PCMM by considering not only the five dimensions that constitute the PCMM but also the recognition of the human body and disease as given in traditional Chinese medicine.This paper aims to provide theoretical guidance for the rational use and development of CMM.

P-glycoprotein mediated interactions between Chinese materia medica and pharmaceutical drugs

P-glycoprotein(P-gp)is an important transmembrane ATP-binding cassette(ABC)drug efflux transporter expressed in various human tissues such as the intestines,liver,kidneys,and bloodbrain barrier.It limits the intracellular concentration of xenobiotics by pumping them out of the cells,affecting drug pharmacokinetics and therapeutic effects.With its broad substrate specificity,it has the potential to remove a wide range of drugs from Chinese materia medica(CMM),including conventional medicines and active compounds.Increasing evidence has confirmed the superior therapeutic effectiveness of CMM in treating a wide range of diseases worldwide,as well as in conjunction with western drugs.As a result,herbal medicine-drug compounds have prompted widespread concern,with the majority of these interactions involving transporters such as P-gp.This review systematically summarizes the inhibition or induction of P-gp expression/function by active CMM compounds and the underlying regulatory mechanisms.It will aid in improving understanding of the synergistic or inhibiting effects associated with transporter P-gp as well as rational safety concerns for using CMM,particularly in combination with drugs.

Bio-characteristic profiling related to clinic:A new technology platform for quality evaluation of Chinese materia medica

Quality evaluation is a bottleneck restricting the modernization and internationalization of Chinese materia medica (CMM). Due to characteristics of multi-component, multi-efficacy, multi-target, the existing quality evaluation system still cannot fully meet quality control needs of CMM. Hence, the author put forward “Bio-characteristic profiling related to clinic, BPRC” academic concept, meanwhile, fully take the advantage of analysis method with clinical monitoring superiority or profiling characteristics, build up “BPRC” new technology platform, in order to realize “real-time, dynamic and full-range monitoring” new technologies of CMM quality evaluation system and promote the further development of CMM industry.

Based on FP-Growth Algorithm to Excavate Medication Rule of Chinese Materia Medica for Radiation Esophagitis

Objective:To find the medication rule of Chinese materia medica for treating radiation esophagitis through FP-Growth algorithm.Methods:By searching the three major literature databases such as Chinese Journal Full-text Database,VIP Chinese Sci-tech Journals Database,Wanfang Data,etc.from the database establishment to May 10,2020,88 effective documents and 91 prescriptions were screened.The medication frequency of prescription in the paper was extracted and sorted.Results:The frequency of medicinal property from high to low were:slightly cold,cold,balance,warm,cool,slightly warm,and great cold.The frequency of medicinal taste from high to low were:sweet,bitter,pungent,slightly bitter,salty,slightly pungent,sour,light,astringent.The frequency of channel tropism from high to low were:lung,stomach,liver,heart,spleen,etc.,and 10 herbal combinations with clinical significance were obtained.There was one prescription with good correlation strength in the clinical treatment of radiation esophagitis.Conclusion:The medication rule of Chinese materia medica for the treatment of radiation esophagitis is based on the principles of clearing away heat and detoxification,benefiting Qi(气)and nourishing Yin(阴),and stopping bleeding and removing phlegm.Heat-clearing medicine,tonic medicine,phlegmresolving,cough–relieving medicine and asthma-relieving medicine,blood-activating and stasis removing medicine were highly frequent used.The high-frequency association rules are nourishing Yin–clearing heat–generating fluid,removing toxin–cooling blood–benefiting Qi,benefiting Qi–invigorating spleen–stopping bleeding.It is stable and feasible to use FP-Growth algorithm to mine traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)to treat diseases.

Survey of dose-effect relationship in Chinese materia medica

The research on the dose-effect relationship in Chinese materia medica is delayed due to the complexity of its composition, multi-efficacy, multi-targeting and other factors. Many experts put forward relevant research ideas and methods and worked out more and more research results in literature, experimental and clinical categories because of the progress of statistical methods and scientific and technological means in recent years. In this paper, these results were preliminarily combed to show the basic situation of dose-effect relationship research in Chinese materia medica.

Clinical metabolic analysis combined with traceability of biosynthetic pathway:a new approach to quality marker of Chinese materia medica

Quality marker(Q-marker)of Chinese materia medica(CMM)plays an important role in quality control of CMM products.However,its research strategy and technique remain unclear.Based on the fact that quality standard of CMM should be associated with clinical efficacy,taking Jinqi Jiangtang tablet treating type 2 diabetes as an example,the Q-marker related to activity via the reverse analysis of drug metabolism in clinic and traceability of botanic biosynthetic pathways is discovered and validated.Therefore,we proposed a new research strategy of Q-marker of CMM with"Discovery of clinical active constituents as guidance,Reverse analysis of metabolic transformations as link,and Traceability of biosynthesis pathways as key",to improve quality control of CMM products.

First ISO International Standard on Chinese Materia Medica

ISO 18662-1：2017, Traditional Chinese medicine - Vocabulary - Part 1： Chinese Materia Medica （CMM） was officially released recently. The standard is the first terminology standard published by ISO/TC 249, Traditional Chinese medicine, which provides an important basis to standardize and uniform the terminology of traditional Chinese medicine in the international community.

A novel method for integrating chromatographic fingerprint analytical units of Chinese materia medica:the matching frequency statistical moment method

Objective To facilitate the quality evaluation suitable for the unique characteristics of Chinese materia medica(CMM)by developing and implementing a novel approach known as the matching frequency statistical moment(MFSM)method.Methods This study established the MFSM method.To demonstrate its effectiveness,we applied this novel approach to analyze Danxi Granules(丹膝颗粒,DXG)and its constituent herbal materials.To begin with,the ultra-performance liquid chromatography(UPLC)was applied to obtain the chromatographic fingerprints of DXG and its constituent herbal materi-als.Next,the MFSM was leveraged to compress and integrate them into a new fingerprint with fewer analytical units.Then,we characterized the properties and variability of both the original and integrated fingerprints by calculating total quantum statistical moment(TQSM)parameters,information entropy and information amount,along with their relative standard deviation(RSD).Finally,we compared the TQSM parameters,information entropy and infor-mation amount,and their RSD between the traditional and novel fingerprints to validate the new analytical method.Results The chromatographic peaks of DXG and its 12 raw herbal materials were divided and integrated into peak families by the MFSM method.Before integration,the ranges of the peak number,three TQSM parameters,information entropy and information amount for each peak or peak family of UPLC fingerprints of DXG and its 12 raw herbal materials were 95.07−209.73,9390−183064μv·s,5.928−21.33 min,22.62−106.69 min^(2),4.230−6.539,and 50530−974186μv·s,respectively.After integration,the ranges of these parameters were 10.00−88.00,9390−183064μv·s,5.951−22.02 min,22.27−104.73 min^(2),2.223−5.277,and 38159−807200μv·s,respectively.Correspondingly,the RSD of all the aforementioned pa-rameters before integration were 2.12%−9.15%,6.04%−49.78%,1.15%−23.10%,3.97%−25.79%,1.49%−19.86%,and 6.64%−51.20%,respectively.However,after integration,they changed to 0.00%,6.04%−49.87%,1.73%−23.02%,3.84%−26.85%,1.17%−16.54%,and 6.40%−48.59%,respectively.The results demonstrated that in the newly integrated fingerprint,the analytical units of constituent herbal materials,information entropy and information amount were significantly reduced(P<0.05),while the TQSM parameters remained unchanged(P>0.05).Additionally,the RSD of the TQSM parameters,information entropy,and information amount didn’t show significant difference before and after integration(P>0.05),but the RSD of the number and area of the integrated analytical units significantly decreased(P<0.05).Conclusion The MFSM method could reduce the analytical units of constituent herbal mate-rials while maintain the properties and variability from their original fingerprint.Thus,it could serve as a feasible and reliable tool to reduce difficulties in analyzing multi-compo-nents within CMMs and facilitating the evaluation of their quality.

Application of Connectivity Map Database to Research on Chinese Materia Medica

The connectivity map（CMAP） database is established initially to connect biology, chemistry, and clinical conditions, which helps to discover the connection of disease-gene-drug. The CMAP approach has been applied in the field of drug discovery and development, which is widely recognized. In recently years, CMAP analysis has been applied in the research on Chinese materia medica（CMM）. The study of CMM is facing a wide range of challenges, such as complicated ingredients, multiple targets, multiple pathways of action and complex functioning mechanism. The idea of employing CMAP in the CMM research has brought a new perspective for researchers and provides a systematic method for elucidating the mechanism of CMM.The connectivity map （CMAP） database is established initially to connect biology, chemistry, and clinical conditions, which helps to discover the connection of disease-gene-drug. The CMAP approach has been applied in the field of drug discovery and development, which is widely recognized. In recently years, CMAP analysis has been applied in the research on Chinese materia medica （CMM）. The study of CMM is facing a wide range of challenges, such as complicated ingredients, multiple targets, multiple pathways of action and complex functioning mechanism. The idea of employing CMAP in the CMM research has brought a new perspective for researchers and provides a systematic method for elucidating the mechanism of CMM.

Development of Hong Kong Chinese Materia Medica(HKCMM) standards

The development of HKCMM standards is one of the achievements of developing Hong Kong into an intemational centre for Chinese medicine. In order to enable more people concerned to have an intimate knowledge of this standard, the author was invited to introduce the development of HKCMM standards to readers, including： 1） the history of the project and the basis for legislative supports; 2） the composition and operation of the regulatory division, the research institution and the evaluation committee; 3） the progress of HKCMM standards; 4） the contents and features of HKCMM standards.

Rapid determination of pesticide residues in Chinese materia medica using QuEChERS sample preparation followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Pesticide residue analysis plays an important role in the quality control of Chinese materia medica.This paper reports the development and validation of an analytical method for the quantitative determination of the residues of 39 pesticides in 12 different matrices of Chinese materia medica.Sample preparation utilized the QuEChERS method with acetonitrile:1% aqueous acetic acid(9:1,v/v)as extraction solvent followed by sample clean-up by dispersive solid phase extraction using primary secondary amine sorbent and graphitized carbon black.Extracts were then analysed by gas chromatography coupled with electron impact mass spectrometry in the selected ion monitoring mode.Limit of detection(LOD)and limit of quantitation(LOQ)values were in the ranges 0.5-50 ng/g and 1-100 ng/g,respectively.The recoveries of the 39 pesticides were in the range 75-112% with precision(as relative standard deviation,RSD)<15%.The results show that the modified QuEChERS method allows rapid and sensitive analysis of multiple pesticide residues in Chinese materia medica.

Feature Extraction of Chinese Materia Medica Fingerprint Based on Star Plot Representation of Multivariate Data

Objective To study a novel feature extraction method of Chinese materia medica(CMM) fingerprint.Methods On the basis of the radar graphical presentation theory of multivariate,the radar map was used to figure the non-map parameters of the CMM fingerprint,then to extract the map features and to propose the feature fusion.Results Better performance was achieved when using this method to test data.Conclusion This shows that the feature extraction based on radar chart presentation can mine the valuable features that facilitate the identification of Chinese medicine.

New sensor technologies in quality evaluation of Chinese materia medica:2010–2015

New sensor technologies play an important role in quality evaluation of Chinese materia medica(CMM) and include near-infrared spectroscopy,chemical imaging,electronic nose and electronic tongue.This review on quality evaluation of CMM and the application of the new sensors in this assessment is based on studies from 2010 to 2015,with prospects and opportunities for future research.

Research and Development of New Chinese Materia Medica for Treatment of Refractory Hematopathy by Establishment and Application of Multiple Technique Platforms

Research Objective and Overview It is necessary to find effective Chinese materia medica （CMM） for the treatment of refractory hematopathy as commonly used prednisone, androgen and immune suppression agents of tendemonstrate poor efficacy and serious side effects.

Development and Application of Network Toxicology in Safety Research of Chinese Materia Medica

Network toxicology that is an important branch of the network pharmacology emerges on the basis of network biology. It refers to study on the toxicological features of a constructed network model which is used to analyze toxic substances and their interaction and regulation in biological systems, particularly investigate the toxic effects of drugs and/or compatibility of medicines on body, and clarify the mechanism of toxicity. Network toxicology currently develops rapidly in safety prediction of Chinese materia medica （CMM）. The application of network toxicology to safety and toxicology study on CMM is extremely beneficial to identify the toxic components and potential incompatibility of CMM. Since CMM is a complex system with multi-components, multi-targets, and multi-interactions, the network toxicology in safety prediction of CMM faces three great challenges, including integration studies of bioinformatics, innovation of methods, and tools and risk assessment in future development of the network toxicology in CMM research. In this paper, relevant database, approaches and tools that network toxicology utilized in the safety study of CMM were carefully reviewed. Based on the progress made, the scientific development and modernization of CMM will be greatly enhanced.

Application and prospect of toxicity quality markers of Chinese materia medica based on metabolomics

In view of the problem that the quality evaluation indicators divorced from effectiveness and safety in Chinese materia medica（CMM）, Prof. Chang-xiao Liu et al have put forward a concept of quality markers（Q-markers） of CMM, which provided a new thought for improving the CMM quality control method. The toxicity Q-markers of CMM are described as follows, the early toxicity prediction of CMM, the discovery, formation and susceptibility research of toxicity Q-markers of CMM. Metabolomics is a systematic biology approach, closely related to the toxicity phenotype of organism, has unique advantages in toxicity Q-markers research. The toxicity Q-markers of CMM are explained from the following four aspects in this review： 1） the establishment of toxicity prediction model of CMM, which is based on metabolomics,pattern recognition, and other techniques; 2） the discovery of toxicity Q-markers of CMM based on metabolomic, which is meaning that the toxicity Q-markers are interpreted regarding to the chemical composition analysis of CMM, preliminary screening and verification of the toxicity Q-markers and toxicity mechanism research; 3） the research on the formation of toxicity Q-markers based on metabolomics,which is described from biosynthetic pathway analysis and the secondary metabolites analysis of toxicity Q-markers; and 4） the susceptibility study of toxicity Q-markers based on metabolomics, namely, the key targets, and metabolic pathways of toxicity Q-markers are explained according to the target organ toxicity susceptibility caused by CMM, and then the toxicity susceptibility mechanism of CMM is clarified. Therefore, the application of metabolomics helps to systematically and comprehensively discover the quality control indicators related to the CMM safety, which further provides a rational evidence for the clinical application of toxicity of CMM.

Systems Biology Application in Research on Sustainable Utilization of Chinese Materia Medica Resources

This paper reviews the progress of systems biology applied to researching on sustainable utilization of Chinese materia medica （CMM） resources in the following aspects： identification and evaluation of CMM resources, analysis of biosynthesis and their regulation of active ingredients in medicinal plants, metabolic engineering and synthetic biology research of medicinal plants, and molecular breeding of medicinal plants. Development of systems biology is currently leading to extremely broad applications in the field of CMM resources, and systems biology wiil become a significant approach for the sustainable utilization of CMM resources.

Identification of Chinese Materia Medicas in Microscopic Powder Images

This paper describes an identification system for Chinese Materia Medicas （CMMs） in microscopic powder images. The imaging processing of the microscopic powder image is very complex because of the low contrast, blurry boundaries, overlapping objects, and messy background. Therefore, the object detection must segment the significant microscopic structures from the complex image. The objects are detected in these images using an adaptable interactive method. After identifying the significant microscopic structures, the system identifies 14 features belonging to three main characteristics. These features form a 14-dimensional vector that represents the microscopic structures. The multi-dimensional vector is then analyzed using a feature assignment algorithm that picks the most notable features to construct a decision tree with thresholds. The identification system consists of a coarse classifier based on the decision tree and a fine classifier using similarity measurements to rank the possible results. Tests on 528 images from 24 different kinds of microscopic structures show the system effectiveness and applicability.

Metabolism of Chinese Materia Medica in Gut Microbiota and Its Biological Effects

The drug metabolism in gut microbiota draws increasing attentions. After interacting with the gut bacteria, the biological effects of drugs might be altered, leading to toxicity or detoxification, production of potential bioactivities, regulating intestinal absorption, etc. In this review, we will focus on the metabolism of Chinese materia medica（CMM） in mammal gut microbiota and its biological effects to learn the interaction between gut bacteria and drugs through oral route in CMM.

What Has Been Overlooked on Study of Chinese Materia Medica in the West?

Chinese materia medica （CMM）, including Chinese herbal, animal, and mineral medicine, has been widely researched in the past century for their biological and pharmacological activities. However, their mechanism and clinical efficacy studies did not always give expected results. For example, the most commonly used Chinese herb for menstrual disorders, Radix Angelicae sinensis, showed neither estrogenic nor progesteronic activity in laboratory and clinical studies. Its efficacy should not be denied simply based on such results, because it is mostly used together with other herbs in formulae. Moreover, its regulation on menstruation may take effect through other mechanisms, such as regulation of blood circulation. The key difference of Chinese medicine （CM） from conventional medicine is its unique holistic view on human body and diseases. CMM is mostly applied in clinic in the form of formulae. Study on individual CMM, simply using methods for development of conventional drugs, is unable to thoroughly reveal the power of CMM formulae. The reason may partly result from improper design due to the lack understanding about application principle of CMMs in CM, and/or to current lack of knowledge about the causes of some symptoms and diseases. This paper will introduce the importance of qi and blood in CM etiology and pathology, Zheng differentiation, formulation of CMMs, and explain why one formula can treat different diseases and one disease can be treated with different formulae. Examples in the paper will demonstrate that proper studies on Zheng and its corresponding clinically proven formulae could help scientists find new direction to explain and treat symptoms and diseases that so far modern medicine has been unable to, provided that the designer properly understands CM theories, etiology and pathology of CM, as well as modern medicine. Strategy suggestions about research methods for CMM and its formulae will be given at the end.