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Engineering >> 2019, Volume 5, Issue 1 doi: 10.1016/j.eng.2018.11.019

Safety Research in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Methods, Applications, and Outlook

a Institute of Radiation Medicine, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing 100850, China
b Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China
c Pharmaceutical Informatics Institute, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
d Tianjin State Key Laboratory of Modern Chinese Medicine, School of Chinese Materia Medica, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, China

Received: 2018-07-11 Revised: 2018-11-06 Accepted: 2018-11-14 Available online: 2019-01-11

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Abstract

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a medical system that has collected and summarized abundant clinical experience over its long history of more than 2000 years. However, the frequent occurrence of TCM-induced adverse reactions has hindered the modernization and internationalization of TCM, while attracting increasing attention from around the world. Unlike chemical drugs and biological agents, the difficulties involved in research on the toxicity and safety of TCM mainly include the complexity of its components and the unpredictability of drug–body interactions. Much of TCM, which has overall therapeutic effects, has the typical mechanisms of multiple components, multiple pathways, and multiple targets. While considering the gradualness and unpredictability of TCM toxicity, the ambiguity of toxicants and safe dosage, and individual differences during long-term TCM administration, we have systematically established key techniques for the toxicity assessment of TCM. These techniques mainly include TCM toxicity discovery in an early phase, based on a combination of drug toxicology genomics and metabolomics; methods to identify dose–toxicity relationships in TCM; and integrated techniques for the exploration of TCM interactions, such as fast-screening tests based on drug-metabolizing enzymes and receptor pathways. In particular, we have developed a new technical system for TCM safety evaluation using molecular toxicology, which has been validated well in research on TCM compatibility contraindication, quality control, and allergen discovery. The application of this key technical platform is introduced here in detail. This application includes model organisms, toxicant biomarkers, a magnetic suspension technique, and the application of network toxicology and computational toxicology in research on the toxicity of Fructus toosendan, Semen cassiae, Polygonum multiflorum, and Fructus psoraleae.

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