Recent progress of potential effects and mechanisms of chlorogenic acid and its intestinal metabolites on central nervous system diseases / 中国中药杂志

Chlorogenic acid displays several important roles in the therapeutic properties of many herbs, such as antioxidant activity, antibacterial, antiviral, scavenging free radicals and exciting central nervous system. Only about one-third of chlorogenic acid was absorbed in its prototype, therefore, its gut metabolites play a more important role in the therapeutic properties of chlorogenic acid. It is necessary to consider not only the bioactivities of chlorogenic acid but also its gut metabolites. This review focuses on the potential activities and mechanisms of chlorogenic acid and its gut metabolites on central nervous system diseases.

Anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects of acidic fraction of Pheratima extract in asthma mice induced by ovalbumin / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To explore the effects of acidic fraction of Pheratima extract in an ovalbumin (OVA) induced asthma mouse model, and to provide the experimental evidences for the anti-asthmatic application of Pheratima extract with further purification and development.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Mice model of allergic asthma was established through the OVA challenge. To investigate the inflammatory cell level and Th1/Th2 levels as well as the therapeutic effects of acidic fraction from Pheratima extract, cell count of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was performed to evaluate the secretion of eosinophils (EOS) cells, and IgE, IL-4, IL-5, IL-13, IFN-y levels were detected by ELISA.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Compared with control group, the EOS count of BALF in the model group was remarkably increased (P<0.01), and IgE, IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 levels were also increased (P<0.01), while IFN-gamma decreased (P<0.01). Acidic fraction from Pheratima (S) extract and its 30% ethanol washed fraction (S30) significantly inhibited the increase of EOS count (P<0.01), decreased the IgE, IL-4, IL-5, IL-13 levels (P<0.05), and inhibited the decrease of IFN-gamma level (P<0.01).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The results indicate that inhibition of the EOS secretion and balancing of the altered Th1/Th2 levels may be important mechanisms of Pheratima's therapeutic effect in asthmatic mice model, and S30 is pharmacologically effective as evaluated with the above mentioned parameters, as a representative fraction of the Pheratima extract.</p>

Systemic biologic study on traditional Chinese medicine--a short-lived fad or a long-term policy? / 中国中西医结合杂志

The research of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has failed to achieve major breakthrough, especially on some important and fundamental medical problems and concepts. One of the reasons for such failure is that the methodology used in the TCM research follows basically the path of partitioned reductive analysis, which is unable to capture practically the characteristics of TCM scientific system, such as the holistic and dynamic nature of diseases, and the interaction among various biological components. The systemic thinking and strategy of the systematic biology and its aim at grasping integral function have provided unprecedented enlightenment for the modem TCM research. To conduct a systemic strategic reductive analysis on human body and diseases under the guidance of holistic view will be an utmost important way for developing TCM towards the future of healthcare. The modernization of TCM does not have to follow the partitioned reductive approach, which has been practiced in the development of modern science in recent centuries. Instead, it should proceed in a "top down" way of systemic research by firstly investigating and understanding the systemic information, followed by a layered excavation on local information, so as to stride over the gap between the traditional medicine and the future medicine.

Metabonomics, pharmaco-metabonomics, and the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国医学科学院学报

Facing the complicated life phenomemon, both metabonomics and pharmaco-metabonomics take an organic conception of the human body, which conforms to the way of thinking of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The application of metabonomics and pharmaco-metabonomics in the modernization of TCM will deepen the evaluation of the therapeutic effects of TCM, the study of intrinsic quality of TCM syndrome and the treatment by differentiation of syndrome, facilitate the integration of TCM with modern biological science and technology, promote the modernization of TCM, and provide a new space for the development of TCM.

Application of metabonomics in complicated theory system research of traditional Chinese medicine / 中国中药杂志

Metabonomics, a new and rapid-developing technology, will be powerful means to the research of complexed theory system and modernization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Discovery of biomarkers and analysis of common properties from the metabolome of a specific TCM syndrome will facilitate the modernized study of TCM system, promote the quantitative and scientific elucidation of TCM syndrome differentiation, provide an in-depth understanding of the TCM theory of Zang-xiang, help predict the disease on-set, and achieve a comprehensive evaluation of systemic clinical efficacy, safety and mechanism of action of the TCM combination formulas along with a better understanding of intestinal microflora ecology. The new approach with combined metabonomics and TCM methodologies will provide a new pathway and methodology for the study of complicated theory system of TCM and its modernization.