Application of Traditional Chinese Medicine in medical practice: a survey of community residents in Beijing, China

Wang

et al. 2020

Front. Mol. Biosci.

BackgroundThe rapid development of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become a great threat to global health. Its mortality is associated with inflammation-related airway mucus hypersecretion and dysfunction of expectoration, and the subsequent mucus blockage of the bronchioles at critical stage is attributed to hypoxemia, complications, and even death. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has rich experience in expectorant, including treatment of COVID-19 patients with airway mucus dysfunction, yet little is known about the mechanisms. This study is aiming to explore the potential biological basis of TCM herbal expectorant for treating COVID-19.ObjectiveTo get core herbs with high used frequency applications in the actions of expectoration by using association rule algorithm and to investigate the multitarget mechanisms of core herbs in expectorant formulae for COVID-19 therapies.MethodsForty prescriptions for expectorant were retrieved from TCM Formulae. The ingredient compounds and targets of core herbs were collected from the TCMSP database, Gene-Cards, and NCBI. The protein interaction network (PPI) was constructed by SRING, and the network analysis was done by Cytoscape software. Bioconductor was applied for functional enrichment analysis of targets.ResultsThe core herbs of expectorant could regulate core pathways (MAP kinase activity, cytokine receptor binding, G-protein-coupled receptor binding, etc.) via interactions of ingredients (glycyrol, citromitin, etc.) on mucin family to eliminate phlegm.ConclusionTCM herbal expectorant could regulate MAPK and cytokine-related pathways, thereby modulating Mucin-family to affect mucus generation and clearance and eventually retarding the deterioration of COVID-19 disease.

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential Mechanisms for Traditional Chinese Medicine in Treating Airway Mucus Hypersecretion Associated With Coronavirus Disease 2019

Wang

et al. 2020

Front. Mol. Biosci.

“…The reference dose is different among Chinese pharmacopoeias and herbal guidelines. For example, the Traditional Chinese Pharmacology stipulated a dosage of 1–3 g of T. wilfordii per prescription in the formula and decoction time of 45–60 min before adding other herbs ( 14 ). In contrast, the Chinese Materia Medica recommended a dosage of 10–12 g of T. wilfordii per prescription in the formula and decoction time of 1–2 h ( 15 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Case report: A rare case of death due to end-stage renal disease caused by Tripterygium wilfordii-induced myelosuppression

et al. 2022

Tripterygium wilfordii—a traditional Chinese herbal medicine—is used to treat several diseases, including chronic kidney disease, rheumatic autoimmune disorder, and skin disorders. With the development of modern pharmacology, scientists have gradually realized that T. wilfordii has side effects on several organs and systems of the human body, including the liver, kidney, reproductive system, hematopoietic system, and immune system. Our understanding of its toxicity remains unclear. The incidence of problems in the hematopoietic system is not low but few related studies have been conducted. The serious consequences need to be of concern to clinicians and scientists. To ensure the safety of patients, it is important to elucidate the mechanism underlying the damage to the hematopoietic system caused by T. wilfordii and strategies to reduce its toxicity. Routine blood and biochemical tests should be conducted when administering T. wilfordii, and in case of any abnormality, the medication should be terminated in time along with a comprehensive symptomatic treatment. Herein, we report the case of a 50-year-old Chinese female with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who developed severe bone marrow suppression after taking a short-term normal dose of a T. wilfordii-containing decoction. She died of sepsis and septic shock, although timely therapeutic measures (e.g., stimulating hematopoiesis, anti-infection treatment, and hemodialysis) were administered. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of death by T. wilfordii-induced myelosuppression from a short term, conventional dose in an adult female with ESRD. Although the underlying mechanism remains unclear, this case contradicts the notion that side effects on the hematopoietic system are non-lethal.

“…The most interesting subgroup is M3, conforming to the clinical practice in Western medicine and highly consistent with TCM theory as well. Through the enrichment analysis, the main symptoms in M3 are dizzy, headache, vertigo, tinnitus, etc., which are mainly differentiated as “liver Yang hyperactivity syndrome” (LYHS) in the theory of TCM [ 42 ]. And the prescription is Tian-Ma-Gou-Teng-Yin, composed of Tianma, Shijueming, Gouteng, Shouwuteng, Zhizi, Huangqin, Hujisheng, Duzhong, etc., which are in accord with most of the herbs detected in M3.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using the Symptom Patient Similarity Network to Explore the Difference between the Chinese and Western Medicine Pathways of Ischemic Stroke and its Comorbidities

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Han

Zhao

et al. 2021

Background and Objectives. The development of network medicine provides new opportunities for disease research. Ischemic stroke has a high incidence, disability, and recurrence rate, and one of the reasons is that it is often accompanied by other complex diseases, including risk factors, complications, and comorbidities. Network medicine was used to try to analyze the characteristics of IS-related diseases and find out the differences in genetic pathways between Chinese herbs and Western drugs. Methods. Individualized treatment of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) provides a theoretical basis for the study of the personalized classification of complex diseases. Utilizing the TCM clinical electronic medical records (EMRs) of 7170 in patients with IS, a patient similarity network (PSN) with shared symptoms was constructed. Next, patient subgroups were identified using community detection methods and enrichment analyses were performed. Finally, genetic data of symptoms, herbs, and drugs were used for pathway and GO analysis to explore the characteristics of pathways of subgroups and to compare the similarities and differences in genetic pathways of herbs and drugs from the perspective of molecular pathways of symptoms. Results. We identified 34 patient modules from the PSN, of which 7 modules include 98.48% of the whole cases. The 7 patient subgroups have their own characteristics of risk factors, complications, and comorbidities and the underlying genetic pathways of symptoms, drugs, and herbs. Each subgroup has the largest number of herb pathways. For specific symptom pathways, the number of herb pathways is more than that of drugs. Conclusion. The research of disease classification based on community detection of symptom-shared patient networks is practical; the common molecular pathway of symptoms and herbs reflects the rationality of TCM herbs on symptoms and the wide range of therapeutic targets.