Reactive oxygen species

Natural products and traditional medicines are of great importance. Such forms of medicine as traditional Chinese medicine, Ayurveda, Kampo, traditional Korean medicine, and Unani have been practiced in some areas of the world and have blossomed into orderly-regulated systems of medicine. This study aims to review the literature on the relationship among natural products, traditional medicines, and modern medicine, and to explore the possible concepts and methodologies from natural products and traditional medicines to further develop drug discovery. The unique characteristics of theory, application, current role or status, and modern research of eight kinds of traditional medicine systems are summarized in this study. Although only a tiny fraction of the existing plant species have been scientifically researched for bioactivities since 1805, when the first pharmacologically-active compound morphine was isolated from opium, natural products and traditional medicines have already made fruitful contributions for modern medicine. When used to develop new drugs, natural products and traditional medicines have their incomparable advantages, such as abundant clinical experiences, and their unique diversity of chemical structures and biological activities.

The Traditional Medicine and Modern Medicine from Natural Products.

https://bioone.org/journals/harvard-papers-in-botany/volume-13/issue-2/1043-4534-13.2.299/Flora-of-China/10.3100/1043-4534-13.2.299.pdf

Flora of China

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been practiced for thousands of years and at the present time is widely accepted as an alternative treatment for cancer In this review, we sought to summarize the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the chemopreventive and therapeutic activity of TCM, especially that of the Chinese herbal medicine-derived phytochemicals curcumin, resveratrol, and berberine Numerous genes have been reported to be involved when using TCM treatments and so we have selectively highlighted the role of a number of oncogene and tumor suppressor genes in TCM therapy In addition, the impact of TCM treatment on DNA methylation, histone modification, and the regulation of noncoding RNAs is discussed Furthermore, we have highlighted studies of TCM therapy that modulate the tumor microenvironment and eliminate cancer stem cells The information compiled in this review will serve as a solid foundation to formulate hypotheses for future studies on TCM-based cancer therapy

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/cam4.2108

Traditional Chinese medicine as a cancer treatment: Modern perspectives of ancient but advanced science.

Recent studies indicate that Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) can play an important role in the whole course of cancer treatment such as recovery stages of post-operative, radiotherapy or chemotherapy stages instead of only terminal stage of cancer. In this review, we have summarized current evidence for using TCM as adjuvant cancer treatment in different stages of cancer lesions. Some TCMs (e.g., TJ-41, Liu-jun-zi-tang, PHY906, Coumarin, and Aescine) are capable of improving the post-operative symptoms such as fatigue, pain, appetite, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and lymphedema. Some TCMs (e.g., Ginseng, Huang-Qi, BanZhiLian, TJ-48, Huachansu injection, Shenqi fuzheng injection, and Kanglaite injection) in combination with chemo- or radio-therapy are capable of enhancing the efficacy of and diminishing the side effects and complications caused by chemo- and radiotherapy. Taken together, they have great advantages in terms of suppressing tumor progression, relieving surgery complications, increasing the sensitivity of chemo- and radio- therapeutics, improving an organism's immune system function, and lessening the damage caused by surgery, chemo- or radio-therapeutics. They have significant effects on relieving breast cancer-related lymphedema, reducing cancer-related fatigue and pain, improving radiation pneumonitis and gastrointestinal side effects, protecting liver function, and even ameliorating bone marrow suppression. This review of those medicines should contribute to an understanding of Chinese herbal medicines as an adjunctive therapy in the whole course of cancer treatment instead of only terminal stage of cancer, by providing useful information for development of more effective anti-cancer drugs and making more patients "survival with cancer" for a long time.

/pdf/the-advantages-of-using-traditional-chinese-medicine-as-an-55205loz6u.pdf

The advantages of using traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunctive therapy in the whole course of cancer treatment instead of only terminal stage of cancer

Rhizoma Gastrodiae (also known as Tian ma), the dried rhizome of Gastrodia elata Blume, is a famous Chinese herb that has been traditionally used for the treatment of headache, dizziness, spasm, epilepsy, stoke, amnesia and other disorders for centuries. Gastrodin, a phenolic glycoside, is the main bioactive constituent of Rhizoma Gastrodiae. Since identified in 1978, gastrodin has been extensively investigated on its pharmacological properties. In this article, we reviewed the central nervous system (CNS) effects of gastrodin in preclinical models of CNS disorders including epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, affective disorders, cerebral ischemia/reperfusion, cognitive impairment as well as the underlying mechanisms involved and, where possible, clinical data that support the pharmacological activities. The sources and pharmacokinetics of gastrodin were also reviewed here. As a result, gastrodin possesses a broad range of beneficial effects on the above-mentioned CNS diseases, and the mechanisms of actions include modulating neurotransmitters, antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, suppressing microglial activation, regulating mitochondrial cascades, up-regulating neurotrophins, etc. However, more detailed clinical trials are still in need for positioning it in the treatment of neurological disorders.

A Review on Central Nervous System Effects of Gastrodin

Numerous studies have indicated that in cancer treatment Chinese herbal medicines in combination with chemo-, radio-, or targeted-therapy can be used to enhance the efficacy of and diminish the side effects and complications caused by these therapies. Therefore, an understanding of Chinese herbal medicines is needed by physicians and other health care providers. This review provides an update on Chinese herbal medicines as adjuvant treatment of anticancer therapeutics. First, some Chinese herbal medicines (e.g. Astragalus, Ginseng, Scutellaria barbata, TJ-41, TJ-48, PHY906, Huachansu injection, and Kanglaite injection) that are commonly used for treating the cancer and/or reducing the toxicity induced by chemo-, radio-, or targeted-therapy are discussed. These Chinese herbal medicines have been shown to possess great advantages in terms of suppressing tumor progression, increasing the sensitivity of chemo-, radio-, or targeted-therapeutics, improving an organism's immune system function, and lessening the damage caused by these therapeutics. Second, some clinical trials using Chinese herbal medicines as adjuvant improving cancer treatment related side effects and complications are reviewed. Some Chinese herbal medicines have a significant effect on reducing cancer-related fatigue and pain, improving peripheral neuropathy and gastrointestinal side effects including diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting, decrease the incidence of bone marrow suppression, protecting anthracycline-induced cardiotoxicity and radiation-induced pneumonitis, and relieving EGFR-TKIs related acneiform eruptions and other side effects. This review of those medicines should contribute to an understanding of Chinese herbal medicines as adjuvant treatment for cancer and provide useful information for the development of more effective anti-cancer drugs. However, rigorously designed trials on potential Chinese herbal medicine must be further examined involving cancer treatment especially molecular targeted-therapy in the future.

/pdf/an-update-on-chinese-herbal-medicines-as-adjuvant-treatment-1a8ry6tq93.pdf

An update on Chinese herbal medicines as adjuvant treatment of anticancer therapeutics.

Since the significant public health hazard of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and obvious drug resistance and dose-dependent side effects for common antiviral agents (e.g., interferon α, lamivudine, and adefovir), continuous development of agents to treat HBV infection is urgently needed. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an established segment of the health care system in China. Currently, it is widely used for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in China and many parts of the world. Over a long period of time in clinical practice and in basic research progress, the effectiveness and beneficial contribution of TCM on CHB have been gradually known and confirmed. Based upon our review of related papers and because of our prior knowledge and experience, we have selected some Chinese medicines, including Chinese herbal formulas (e.g., Xiao-Chai-Hu-Tang, Xiao-Yao-San, and Long-Dan-Xie-Gan-Tang), single herbs (e.g., Phyllanthus niruri, Radix astragali, Polygonum cuspidatum, Rheum palmatum, and Salvia miltiorrhiza) and related active compounds (e.g., wogonin, artesunate, saikosaponin, astragaloside IV, and chrysophanol 8-O-beta-Dglucoside) and Chinese medicine preparations (e.g., silymarin, silibinin, kushenin, and cinobufacini), which seem effective and worthy of additional and indepth study in treating CHB, and we have given them a brief review. We conclude that these Chinese herbal medicines exhibit significant anti-HBV activities with improved liver function, and enhanced HBeAg and HBsAg sero-conversion rates as well as HBV DNA clearance rates in HepG2 2.2.15 cells, DHBV models, or patients with CHB. We hope this review will contribute to an understanding of TCM and related active compounds as an effective treatment for CHB and provide useful information for the development of more effective antiviral drugs.

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/ddt/7/6/7_212/_pdf

Traditional Chinese medicine and related active compounds: a review of their role on hepatitis B virus infection.

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), especially Chinese herbal medicines and acupuncture, has been traditionally used to treat patients with cancers in China and other East Asian countries. Numerous studies have indicated that TCM not only alleviates the symptoms (e.g., fatigue, chronic pain, anorexia/cachexia, and insomnia) of patients with cancer and improves their quality of life (QOL) but also diminishes adverse reactions and complications caused by chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or targeted-therapy. Therefore, Chinese herbal medicines and acupuncture and other alternative therapies need to be understood by TCM physicians and other health care providers. This review mainly summarizes the experimental results and conclusions from literature published since 2010, and a search of the literature as been performed in the PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, Springer, ScienceDirect, and China Hospital Knowledge Database (CHKD) databases. Some Chinese herbal medicines (e.g., Panax ginseng, Panax quinquefolius, Astragali radix, Bu-zhong-yi-qi-tang (TJ-41), Liu-jun-zi-tang (TJ-43), Shi-quan-da-bu-tang (TJ-48), and Ban-xia-xie-xin-tang (TJ-14)) and some acupuncture points (e.g., Zusanli (ST36), Zhongwan (CV12), Neiguan (PC6) and Baihui (GV20)) that are commonly used to treat cancer-related symptoms and/or to reduce the toxicity of chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or targeted-therapy are highlighted and summarized. Through a review of literature, we conclude that TCM can effectively alleviate adverse gastrointestinal reactions (including diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting) to these anti-cancer therapies, decrease the incidence of bone marrow suppression, alleviate cardiotoxicity, and protect against chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy and radiation-induced pneumonitis. Moreover, TCM can alleviate epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI)-related acneiform eruptions, diarrhea, and other adverse reactions. The hope is that this review can contribute to an understanding of TCM as an adjuvant therapy for cancer and that it can provide useful information for the development of more effective anti-cancer therapies. However, more rigorously designed trials involving cancer treatment must be conducted in the future, including complete quality control and standardized models at the cellular, organic, animal and clinical levels, in order to study TCM in multiple forms and at multiple levels.

The positive role of traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunctive therapy for cancer.

For a long time, many people have believed that traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) are safe because they derive from natural products. However, this belief has been greatly challenged in recent years especially after some reports on aristolochic acid involved in the genesis of cancer. According to the Chinese pharmacopoeia, many TCMs are known to be toxic, causing damage to the nervous, liver, renal, respiratory, and reproductive system. How to reduce the toxicity of TCMs and how to avoid abuse of TCMs in daily practice is the question? Here, we will give a brief summary and some tips on these issues. First, the accurate differentiation of a specific syndrome is the foundation of an effective and individualized treatment strategy, as well as the key to applying TCMs. Second, through standard processing, proper compatibility, rational decoction, and appropriate dose for TCMs, the harm of TCMs can be effectively avoided. Third, it should be remembered that Chinese herbs cannot be taken continuously as dietary supplements. Finally, Chinese patent medicines should be used with caution. In addition, the dosage of TCMs should not exceed the limit prescribed by the current China Pharmacopoeia, which will ensure the balance of efficacy and toxicity. Taken together, it is necessary to treat the toxicity and safety of TCMs with rationality. The more toxicity we can find, the more safety patients will have.

/pdf/the-toxicity-and-safety-of-traditional-chinese-medicines-zsltrkroy6.pdf

Pingping Cai

Papers

A Review on Central Nervous System Effects of Gastrodin

An update on Chinese herbal medicines as adjuvant treatment of anticancer therapeutics.

Traditional Chinese medicine and related active compounds: a review of their role on hepatitis B virus infection.

The positive role of traditional Chinese medicine as an adjunctive therapy for cancer.

The toxicity and safety of traditional Chinese medicines: Please treat with rationality