Chinmedomics: a potent tool for the evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine efficacy and identification of its active components

Abstract

As an important part of medical science, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) attracts much public attention due to its multi-target and multi-pathway characteristics in treating diseases. However, the limitations of traditional research methods pose a dilemma for the evaluation of clinical efficacy, the discovery of active ingredients and the elucidation of the mechanism of action. Therefore, innovative approaches that are in line with the characteristics of TCM theory and clinical practice are urgently needed. Chinmendomics, a newly emerging strategy for evaluating the efficacy of TCM, is proposed. This strategy combines systems biology, serum pharmacochemistry of TCM and bioinformatics to evaluate the efficacy of TCM with a holistic view by accurately identifying syndrome biomarkers and monitoring their complex metabolic processes intervened by TCM, and finding the agents associated with the metabolic course of pharmacodynamic biomarkers by constructing a bioinformatics-based correlation network model to further reveal the interaction between agents and pharmacodynamic targets. In this article, we review the recent progress of Chinmedomics to promote its application in the modernisation and internationalisation of TCM.

G protein-coupled receptors and traditional Chinese medicine: new thinks for the development of traditional Chinese medicine

“…TCM often comprises complex compounds extracted from various natural plants, possessing diverse biological activities, and affecting multiple targets [ 64 ]. In contrast to the single-molecule targeted therapy of Western medicine, Chinese medicine emphasises overall regulation, achieving coordinated cellular and organ functions through the actions of multiple components and targets [ 65 ].…”