Joseph Goldstein has written in this journal that creation (through invention) and revelation (through discovery) are two different routes to advancement in the biomedical sciences1. In my work as a phytochemist, particularly during the period from the late 1960s to the 1980s, I have been fortunate enough to travel both routes. I graduated from the Beijing Medical University School of Pharmacy in 1955. Since then, I have been involved in research on Chinese herbal medicine in the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences (previously known as the Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine). From 1959 to 1962, I was released from work to participate in a training course in Chinese medicine that was especially designed for professionals with backgrounds in Western medicine. The 2.5-year training guided me to the wonderful treasure to be found in Chinese medicine and toward understanding the beauty in the philosophical thinking that underlies a holistic view of human beings and the universe.

/pdf/the-discovery-of-artemisinin-qinghaosu-and-gifts-from-346p2l437p.pdf

The discovery of artemisinin (qinghaosu) and gifts from Chinese medicine

Cardiovascular actions and therapeutic potential of tanshinone IIA.

Effects and mechanisms of compound Chinese medicine and major ingredients on microcirculatory dysfunction and organ injury induced by ischemia/reperfusion.

Luteolin inhibits ROS-activated MAPK pathway in myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury.

It has been well claimed that herbal medicines (HMs) elicit effects via a multi-compounds and multi-targets synergistic mode. However, it lacks appropriate strategies to uncover the combinatory compounds that take effect together and contribute to a certain pharmacological effect of an herb as a whole, which represents a major bottleneck in providing sound evidence in supporting the clinic benefits of HMs. Here, we proposed a strategy to the identification of combinatory compounds contributing to the anti-inflammatory activity of Cardiotonic Pill (CP). The strategy proposed herein contains four core steps, including the identification of bioequivalent combinatorial compounds, chemical family classification-based combinatorial screen, interactive mode evaluation, and activity contribution index assay. Using this strategy, we have successfully identified six compounds in combination responsible for the anti-inflammatory effect of CP, whose anti-inflammatory activities were found comparable to that of the whole CP. Additionally, these six compounds take effect via an additive mode but little synergism. This study, together with our recent work in the identification of bioactive equivalent compounds combination, provides a widely applicable strategy to the identification of combinatory compounds responsible for a certain pharmacological activity of HMs.

/pdf/a-strategy-for-the-identification-of-combinatorial-bioactive-1kfb4b1vox.pdf

A strategy for the identification of combinatorial bioactive compounds contributing to the holistic effect of herbal medicines

Cardiotonic pills (CP) is a compound Chinese medicine widely used in China, as well as other countries, for the treatment of cardiovascular disease. However, limited data are available regarding th...

https://www.physiology.org/doi/pdf/10.1152/ajpheart.01186.2009

Xiang Li

Papers

Cardiotonic pills, a compound Chinese medicine, protects ischemia-reperfusion-induced microcirculatory disturbance and myocardial damage in rats

Traditional herbal medicine and nanomedicine: Converging disciplines to improve therapeutic efficacy and human health.