Prospect in the study of creating new drugs from Chinese herbal medicine / 中国医学科学院学报

ABSTRACT

This paper concisely describes the prospect in developing new drugs from Chinese herbal medicine. The search for bioactive constituents or leading compounds from natural sources especially from Chinese herbal medicine will be proved to be one of the most effective ways by changing the traditional concept of study on natural drugs using modern ideas. It is well known that plants in China provide a fertile source of natural compounds dealt with biological and structural diversity, which is the best channel to discover bioactive and leading compounds. Many instances have showed that structural transformation and analogues synthesis of known natural compounds or drugs can provide an important way to find new leading compounds. Study of the bioactive principle of Chinese herbal medicine involves an integration of chemical study and bioassay with intensive screening. It should be emphasized that the investigation of bioactive compounds for creating new drugs is the major task of Chinese pharmaceutical industry.