Clinical centralized safety monitoring and evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine formula granules / 中国中药杂志

Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) formula granules are highly praised for the advanced, convenient, and modern use of Chinese medicinal materials. The safety of TCM formula granules has long been a concern of regulatory authorities and the medical industry. A multi-center, prospective, open, non-interventional, and centralized monitoring was carried out for the patients treated with TCM formula granules in 252 medical institutions from February 5, 2020 to April 19, 2022. All the case data and the incidence of adverse drug reactions/events were recorded. This study evaluated the safety of TCM formula granules, aiming to provide a reference for the clinically use. A total of 20 547 patients were included in this study. Four adverse events were recorded, including 3 adverse drug reactions with an adverse drug reaction rate of 0.015%, all of which occurred in the digestive system. There was no serious adverse event, and no factors related to adverse drug reactions/events were identified. The incidence of adverse drug reactions/events associated with China Resources Sanjiu Medical & Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. TCM formula granules was rare, which proved their safety in clinical use. A comprehensive data mining and objective analysis was carried out for the medicines with high frequency in TCM formula granules, the commonly used medicine pairs and combinations, and departmental medication. The drug use characteristics, prescription rules, and departmental use of TCM formula granules were summarized, which can shed light on the prescription compatibility and clinical application.

Cause Analysis and Solution Strategy of Poor Solubility of Dioscoreae Rhizoma Formula Granules / 中国实验方剂学杂志

Dioscoreae Rhizoma formula granules are made from decoction pieces by decocting， extracting， separating， concentrating， drying and granulating， which have the advantages of simple dispensing， convenient use and easy to take without decoction. However， because Dioscoreae Rhizoma is rich in starch and mucus components， its extract powder and formula granules are poorly soluble and difficult to dissolve or disperse completely within 5 min， and the insoluble material is difficult to dissolve completely even after 24 h in water， which affects the quality evaluation of the formula granules and medication psychology of patients. Therefore， by studying the dissolution process and mechanism of Dioscoreae Rhizoma extract and its formula granules， it was found that the special chemical composition of Dioscoreae Rhizoma， the denaturation of starch and its compounding with protein and other substances during the high temperature extraction process， and the contraction of coating membrane during the spray drying process were combined to form the special microstructure of coating membrane covering starch granules， and it is the root cause of poor solubility of Dioscoreae Rhizoma formula granules. Based on the research on the structure， property and function of the powder， this paper proposed a technical strategy to improve the solubility of Dioscoreae Rhizoma formula granules by powder modification process， and experimentally demonstrated that the modified Dioscoreae Rhizoma formula granules could completely dissolve within 2 min， which solved the technical problem and could provide reference for the improvement of solubility of other similar varieties， and promote the high-quality development of traditional Chinese medicine formula granule industry.

Analysis on Technical Problems and Countermeasures of Standard Formulation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula Granules / 中国实验方剂学杂志

After the completion of the pilot work of traditional Chinese medicine formula granules （TCMFGs）， the national and provincial medical products administrations have published and implemented about 440 varieties of TCMFGs standards. Based on the previous work， this paper analyzed technical problems encountered in the review and evaluation of Shandong TCMFGs standards， mainly involving the executive standards and distinguishing technologies of raw materials， the adding process of excipients in the procedure item， the rationality of quality control methods， the information content and reproducibility of characteristic chromatograms， the nomenclature and accessibility of reference materials， etc. The common problems such as the coverage of standards， specification differences， and the integrity of quality control items of current TCMFGs standards were discussed deeply. It is proposed to promote the upgrading of provincial standards to national standards， accelerate the research and development of reference materials， advocate the use of high-quality raw materials， explore the evaluation methods of high-quality products， and strengthen the quality supervision of the whole process. Suggestions of this paper is hoped to provide references for the formulation of national and provincial TCMFGs standards， promote the continuous improvement of TCMFGs standard system， and ensure the healthy and orderly development of the TCMFGs industry.

Discussion on relevant issues of uniform standards for varieties of traditional Chinese medicine formula granules / 中草药

By referring to Chinese Pharmacopoeia 2015 edition and relevant literatures, combining the Technical Requirements for Quality Control and Standard Formulation of Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula Granules (Draft for Comments) issued by China Pharmacopoeia Committee in 2016, and considering the actual production situation of formula granules, the specificity of quality standards, the selection of quantitative detection indexes, index component transfer rate and other aspects in the Publicity of Uniform Standards for Trial Use of Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula Granules were comprehensively discussed. According to the results of the discussion, relevant suggestions are put forward for the development and improvement of the quality standard of traditional Chinese medicine formula granules, which provides reference for promoting the healthy development of formula granule industry.

Application of fingerprint technology in quality evaluation and process control of traditional Chinese medicine formula granules / 中国中药杂志

The fingerprint technology could reflect the internal chemical characteristics of Chinese herbal medicine or preparation, which has the characteristics of "wholeness" and "fuzziness". It is suitable for evaluating the quality of intermediate and finished products in the production process of traditional Chinese medicine formula granules. In this paper, the applications of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), thin layer chromatography (TLC), gas chromatography (GC) and infrared spectrum (IR) fingerprint technology in the quality control of traditional Chinese medicine formula granules were reviewed, and their advantages and disadvantages were analyzed. The aim of this article is to enhance the combined application of various fingerprint technologies in traditional Chinese medicine formula granules. It could provide technical reference for realizing the stability of production process and improving the overall quality of formula granules.