Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicines among Cancer Patients: A Single-Center Study.

PURPOSE: It is usual for cancer patients to use complementary and alternative medicines (CAMs) and yet the literature evaluating their efficacy in cancer patients is very limited. The objective of the present study was to report on the nature, frequency of use, and patient-reported outcome of CAMs in a single-center study. METHODS: All the consecutive patients treated between November 2017 and June 2018 at the Lucien Neuwirth Cancer Institute (France) were screened. Their reasons for using CAMs and their usage habits were collected. Patients evaluated their benefit. RESULTS: Of the 209 patients screened, 200 patients were included. CAMs ranged from osteopathy, homeopathy, acupuncture, healing touch, magnetism, naturopathy, suction cups, Chinese medicine, reflexology, to hypnosis. CAMs were widely used (n = 166, 83%), the first being osteopathy (n = 99, 49.5%), the second homeopathy (n = 78, 39.0%), and finally acupuncture (n = 76, 38.0%). Whatever the CAM, high satisfaction rates were reported (median satisfaction: 61-81%). CAMs were mainly used to prevent/treat side effects of anticancer treatments (81.2% for healing touch), increase well-being (55.4% for naturopathy), improve the immune system (16.9% for homeopathy), and treat cancer (n = 3, 5.1% for homeopathy). Patients could easily consider using CAMs, as up to 50.8% would have accepted a consultation. CONCLUSIONS: The reasons for using CAMs differed among patients. They praised CAMs and kept asking for more information although there is limited evidence about their efficacy in the literature. Thus, prospective randomized controlled trials exploring the safety and efficacy of CAMs in cancer patients are needed.

Recent Update on the Role of Chinese Material Medica and Formulations in Diabetic Retinopathy.

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most frequent endocrine disorders, affecting populations worldwide. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most frequent microvascular complication of diabetes in patients aged 20 and over. Major complications of DR include intraocular neovascularization, inter-retinal edema, hemorrhage, exudates and microaneurysms. Therefore, timely medical attention and prevention are required. At present, laser-assisted therapy and other operational procedures are the most common treatment for DR. However, these treatments can cause retinal damage and scarring. Also, use of the majority of traditional medicines is not supported by clinical evidence. However, due to accumulating scientific evidence, traditional natural medications may assist in delaying or preventing the progression of DR. This review focuses on evidence for the role of traditional natural medicines and their mechanisms of action and pharmacological test results in relation to the progression of DR.

Chinese Marine Materia Medica Resources: Status and Potential.

Chinese marine materia medica (CMMM) is a vital part of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Compared with terrestrial TCM, CMMM, derived from specific marine habitats, possesses peculiar chemical components with unique structures reflecting as potent pharmacological activities, distinct drug properties and functions. Nowadays, CMMM appears to be especially effective in treating such difficult diseases as cancers, diabetes, cardio-cerebrovascular diseases, immunodeficiency diseases and senile dementia, and therefore has become an important medicinal resource for the research and development of new drugs. In recent years, such development has attracted wide attention in the field of medicine. In this study, the CMMM resources in China were systematically investigated and evaluated. It was found that the historic experiences of Chinese people using CMMM have continuously accumulated over a period of more than 3600 years, and that the achievements of the research on modern CMMM are especially outstanding. By June 2015, 725 kinds of CMMMs from Chinese coastal sea areas have been identified and recorded, covering 1552 organisms and minerals. More than 3100 traditional prescriptions containing CMMMs have been imparted and inherited. However, the number of CMMMs is less than the 8188 terrestrial TCMs, from more than 12,100 medicinal terrestrial plants, animals and minerals. In the future, the research and development of CMMM should focus on the channel entries (TCM drug properties), compatibility, effective ingredients, acting mechanisms, drug metabolism and quality standard. This study reveals the high potential of CMMM development.

[Four properties law of nature data of Chinese materia medica in "Chinese herbal medicine (CHM)"].

OBJECTIVE: In order to provide theoretical clues and data support for the use of Chinese medicine clinical drug, experimental study of Chinese materia medica and development of new resources of Chinese materia medica, the four properties as the core, the relationships of property, flavor, channel tropism and toxicity in nature data of Chinese materia medica were analyzed. METHOD: The spearman rank correlation method was employed to analyze 8 356 Chinese drugs with characteristic of four properties from " Chinese Herbal Medicine" based on data level coding. RESULT: It was discovered that four properties showed significant positive correlations with tastes of "pungent and sweet" , channels of "spleen" , "stomach" , "kidney" and "toxicity" , but also showed significant negative correlations with tastes of "bitter" and "light" and six channels such as "large intestine" , "heart", "bladder" , "gallbladder" , "small intestine" and "lung" (in descending order of correlation ) (P <0. 01). CONCLUSION: It was indicated that the more hot the Chinese medicine nature, the more possible it contained "toxicity" , tastes of "pungent" and "sweet" , and the more possible it was belong to channels of "spleen" , "stomach" and "kidney". As well, the more cold the Chinese medicine nature, the more possible it contained tastes of "bitter" and "light", and the more possible it was belong to six channels such as "large intestine", etc.

[Analysis of feature and development of traditional processing branches].

Processing of Chinese materia medica is one of the important part of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM). Drugs in small pieces or slices are special for China and the whole world. Processing technic of Chinses materia medica existed for thousands of years and presented the essence of TCM. The purpose of analyzing the feature and development of traditional processing culture branches was to make a better understanding of traditional processing technic, and further the development of special processing culture branches.

[Evidential research on the first formulas for preparing qiushi (autumn mineral)].

Qiushi is a kind of elixir or medicine. This article examines the books which recorded the formulas for preparing Qiushi. It is found that Liang Fang (Valuable Prescriptions) written by Shen Kuo and Zheng Lei Ben Cao (recognized pharmacopoeia) written by Tang Shengwei recorded the first three formulas. Shen kuo, who recorded two kinds of methods to prepare Qiushi, was neglected by other medical books. The aim of the method to prepare Renzhongbai (natural sediment of urine) was actually to prepare Qiushi.

[Research on HPCE fingerprint of eupolyphaga steleophaga].

OBJECTIVE: To set up the fingerprint of HPCE for medicinal material Eupolyphaga Steleophaga. METHOD: Separation was performed at 25 degrees C on an Agilent uncoated silica capillary column (40 cm x 75 microm) with 20 mmol x L(-1) borax buffer solution (pH 9.44) as CE buffer. The isolating voltage was 13 KV, and the DAD detection was set at 265 nm. RESULT: The characteristic peak of fingerprint of Eupolyphaga Steleophaga was consisted of 6 common peaks. CONCLUSION: The method can be used for the quality control of Eupolyphaga Steleophaga.

An investigation of the pharmacological applications used for the Ancient Egyptian systemic model 'ra-ib' compared with modern Traditional Chinese Medicine.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Ancient Egyptian texts only offer glimpses into their conceptual understandings of the inner-body and illness manifestation. Explanations of how prescribed materia medica were believed to work are rare and obscure, often resulting in modern approximations for ancient terminology such as 'ra-ib'-an ancient Egyptian classification predominantly translated as 'stomach'-leading to misunderstandings of historical texts, and therefore their use of pharmacology. AIM OF THE STUDY: To investigate the ra-ib and the explanatory models of illness from the Egyptian perspective, and to explore the link between these and the prescribed selection of materia medica. To then compare the conceptual mechanics of these treatment strategies with those of another non-Western tradition-namely Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)-to provide further insight into potential conceptual frameworks. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a case study of a unit of Ancient Egyptian texts focusing on the ra-ib. Totalling 34 prescriptions, the first stage lexicographically analysed the texts using cognitive linguistic and translation theories to produce our new understanding. This enabled our comparison of the mechanics of materia medica usage within these texts with those found in TCM outlined by the Pharmacopoeia of the Peoples Republic of Pharmacopeia of the People's Republic of China 2015 for the relevant ingredients. RESULTS: the study demonstrated that-rather than denoting the organ 'stomach'-ra-ib instead constitutes a system running from the mouth, downward to the anus. This is best translated as 'inner thoroughfare', and changes the way in which we attempt to understand potential motivations in the selection of ingredients. By exploring common themes in the use of eleven securely translated ingredients from the Egyptian corpus and the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China-representing a modern traditional system which understands the body via a series of interconnected systems-we were able to highlight certain themes which might be 'universal' to system-based traditions; this provided new insights into the Egyptian motivations for treatment selection. CONCLUSIONS: Having gained the ancient view of the body and illness, cultural comparisons are important for providing further potential insights and clarifications of a discontinued historical healing tradition. The new understanding of the ra-ib from our study greatly changes the way in which we understand the dynamics of Egyptian ethnopharmacological source material from this period.

The treatment of asthma using the Chinese Materia Medica.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Asthma is a costly global health problem that negatively influences the quality of life of patients. The Chinese Materia Medica (CMM) contains remedies that have been used for the treatment of asthma for millennia. This article strives to systematically summarize the current research progress so that more comprehensive examinations of various databases related to CMM anti-asthma drugs, can be performed, so as to sequentially provide effective basic data for development and application of anti-asthma drugs based on the CMM. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research data published over the past 20 years for asthma treatment based on traditional CMM remedies were retrieved and collected from libraries and online databases (PubMed, ScienceDirect, Elsevier, Spring Link, Web of Science, PubChem Compound, Wan Fang, CNKI, Baidu, and Google Scholar). Information was also added from classic CMM, literature, conference papers on classic herbal formulae, and dissertations (PhD or Masters) based on traditional Chinese medicine. RESULTS: This review systematically summarizes the experimental studies on the treatment of asthma with CMM, covering the effective chemical components, typical asthma models, important mechanisms and traditional anti-asthma CMM formulae. The therapy value of the CMM for anti-asthma is clarified, and the original data and theoretical research foundation are provided for the development of new anti-asthmatic data and research for the CMM. CONCLUSIONS: Substantial progress against asthma has been made through relevant experimental research based on the CMM. These advances improved the theoretical basis of anti-asthma drugs for CMM and provided a theoretical basis for the application of a asthma treatment that is unique. By compiling these data, it is expected that the CMM will now contain a clearer mechanism of action and a greater amount of practical data that can be used for future anti-asthma drug research.

Advances in research into the mechanisms of Chinese Materia Medica against acute lung injury.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is a common and serious disease. Numerous treatment options are available but they do not improve quality of life or reduce mortality for ALI patients. Here, we review the treatments for ALI to provide basic data for ALI drug therapy research and development. Chinese Materia Medica (CMM) has long been the traditional clinical approach in China for the treatment of ALI and it has proven efficacy. The continued study of CMM has disclosed new potential therapeutic ingredients for ALI. However, few reviews summarize the currently available CMM-based anti-ALI drugs. Therefore, the systematic analysis of research progress in anti-ALI CMM is of great academic and clinical value. The aim of the present review is to describe CMM-based research progress in ALI treatment. Data were compiled by electronic retrieval (CNKI, SciFinder, PubMeds, Google Scholar, Web of Science) and from articles, patents and ethnopharmacological literature in university libraries were systematically studied. This review introduces progress in research on the etiology and mechanisms of ALI, the anti-ALI theory and modes of action in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), anti-ALI active constituents of CMM, research progress in experimental methods of CMM anti-ALI, the anti-ALI molecular mechanisms of CMM, the anti-ALI efficacy of CMM formulae, and the potential toxicity of CMM and the antidotes for it. Scholars have investigated the anti-ALI molecular mechanism of CMM from various direction and have made substantial progress. This research explored the above aspects, enriched the anti-ALI theory of CMM and established the clinical significance and developmental prospects of ALI treatment by CMM. Because of the high frequency of drugs such as glucocorticoids or antibiotics, Western medicine lacks the advantages of CMM in terms of overall anti-ALI efficacy. In the future, the development of CMM-based anti-ALI therapies will become a major trend in the field of ALI drug development. Successful clinical safety and efficacy validations will promote and encourage the use of CMM. It provides fundamental theoretical support for the discovery and use of CMM resources through the comprehensive analysis of various anti-ALI CMM report databases.

Deviating from clinical practice: Pharmacokinetics of Chinese materia medica faces a substantial challenge.

The pharmacokinetics of Chinese materia medica (PCMM) has made a great contribution to investigations of the in vivo process of various components in Chinese materia medica (CMM), intending to provide useful information for clinical guidance related to CMM. However, some issues are worthy of further consideration, and current PCMM studies face a substantial challenge. First, high-dosage administration is prevalent in PCMM studies, and the obtained results might be meaningless and inappropriate for guiding the clinical application of CMM, as they deviate from clinical practice. Improvements in instrument sensitivity have not reduced the prevalence of high-dosage administration. In addition, the selection of components for detection in PCMM studies is usually uncertain, lacking sufficient scientific support, especially for components without clarified bioactivities. Therefore, the scientific value of current PCMM studies is limited. We believe that these abnormalities can be attributed to the poor recognition of the characteristics of CMM and the improper application of research approaches from Western medicines. Currently, the more pressing key scientific issues for CMM should be clinical effectiveness, quality control and bioactivity discovery, which are closely related to its own characteristics and are beneficial to its modern developments.

An overview of CAM: components and clinical uses.

Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), more recently known as integrative health or integrative medicine, is a diverse field comprising numerous treatments and practitioners of various levels of training. This review defines several of the main CAM modalities and reviews some of the research relevant to their clinical application. The goal is to provide healthcare providers with a basic understanding of CAM to start the incorporation of proven treatments into their clinical practice as well as guide them to working with CAM providers; ultimately, such knowledge is a fundamental part of a collaborative approach to optimal patient health and wellness.

Traditional Uses, Bioactive Constituents, Biological Functions, and Safety Properties of Oviductus ranae as Functional Foods in China.

Oviductus ranae is an animal-based traditional Chinese material widely used as tonics in China for hundreds of years. Various bioactive components are present in OR including proteins, amino acids, steroids, fatty acids, phospholipids, nucleosides, vitamins, hydantoins, and mineral elements. These constituents exert a myriad of biological functions such as immunomodulatory, antioxidant, antifatigue, antiaging, estrogen-like, hepatoprotective, hypolipidemic, antiosteoporotic, antidepressant, antitumor, antitussive, expectorant, anti-inflammatory, and antiasthmatic activities. Unlike other traditional Chinese crude drugs recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia, OR is seldom prescribed as medicine but often consumed as nutraceuticals to optimize health. In this review, the traditional uses, bioactive constituents, biological functions, and safety properties of OR as functional foods in China were summarized and discussed. It is expected that this review will provide useful information for anyone who is interested in OR.

Trends in herbgenomics.

From Shen Nong's Herbal Classic (Shennong Bencao Jing) to the Compendium of Materia Medica (Bencao Gangmu) and the first scientific Nobel Prize for the mainland of China, each milestone in the historical process of the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) involves screening, testing and integrating. After thousands of years of inheritance and development, herbgenomics (bencaogenomics) has bridged the gap between TCM and international advanced omics studies, promoting the application of frontier technologies in TCM. It is a discipline that uncovers the genetic information and regulatory networks of herbs to clarify their molecular mechanism in the prevention and treatment of human diseases. The main theoretical system includes genomics, functional genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, epigenomics, metagenomics, synthetic biology, pharmacogenomics of TCM, and bioinformatics, among other fields. Herbgenomics is mainly applicable to the study of medicinal model plants, genomic-assisted breeding, herbal synthetic biology, protection and utilization of gene resources, TCM quality evaluation and control, and TCM drug development. Such studies will accelerate the application of cutting-edge technologies, revitalize herbal research, and strongly promote the development and modernization of TCM.

[Comparing of different methods on habitat adaptive division of Chinese material medica].

OBJECTIVE: To comparing two kinds habitat adaptive division of Chinese material medica with different models. METHOD: The habitat adaptive divisions of A. lancea according essential oil accumulation with two kinds pattern, model pattern and template pattern were carrid and compared. RESULT: Two habitat adaptive divisions of A. lancea maps according essential oil accumulation were gotten. CONCLUSION: Both model pattern and template pattern were efficient on habitat adaptive division of Chinese material medica, but they shoud bu used with different processesd and based different background [corrected]

[Consideration for understanding and developing Chinese materia medica].

To understand and develop Chinese materia medica is a matter not only dealing with progresses of science and technology but also with that of bio-science. In the area of life-science, the activity of human life-science is the most complicated one which is far away to be satisfactorily explained with existing knowledge of science. Therefore, it is much insufficient to explain and qualify the interreaction between Chinese materia medica and process of human-life with knowledge of general science and non-fully developed bioscience. To understand and develop Chinese materia medica is also matter dealing with many issues of social science. In terms of epistemology, it is necessary to consider how to make some social adjustment for scientific practice and drug registration of Chinese materia medica, under precondition of balance among science, life-science, technology, ethics and philosophy.

Transparently reporting adverse effects of traditional Chinese medicine interventions in randomized controlled trials.

Although all Chinese materia medica (CMM) come from nature, CMM interventions have both therapeutic effects and adverse effects (AEs). Normally, AEs in randomized controlled trial (RCT) with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) could be divided into five types as follows: 1) AEs under proper TCM principles and guidelines, such as the toxicity (acute and chronic) and allergy; 2) AEs due to improper usage without following TCM principles, involving without following the TCM therapeutic principles, over-dosage, improper processing and preparation methods, improper formula strategy, etc; 3) AEs due to contamination in CMM, such as heavy metal and pesticides contaminations in Chinese herbal medicine interventions, and intentional or unintentional contamination with drug(s); 4) AEs due to replacement of CMMs; 5) AEs due to drug-herb interaction. AEs of TCM should be treated properly. Overestimation or underestimation about AEs of TCM intervention will bring a wrong message to patients and health care providers. In order to give readers a more comprehensive understanding about the safety issue of study intervention, Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) for TCM should involve the background information on side effects of each CMM constituents and/or the study intervention, specific outcome assessment on AEs, the details of reported AEs and the interpretation of the AEs occurrence in a structural RCT report.

The Chinese Medicinal Formulation Guzhi Zengsheng Zhitongwan Modulates Chondrocyte Structure, Dynamics, and Metabolism by Controlling Multiple Functional Proteins.

Traditional Chinese medicine is one of the oldest medical systems in the world and has its unique principles and theories in the prevention and treatment of human diseases, which are achieved through the interactions of different types of materia medica in the form of Chinese medicinal formulations. GZZSZTW, a classical and effective Chinese medicinal formulation, was designed and created by professor Bailing Liu who is the only national medical master professor in the clinical research field of traditional Chinese medicine and skeletal diseases. GZZSZTW has been widely used in clinical settings for several decades for the treatment of joint diseases. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms are still largely unknown. In the present study, we performed quantitative proteomic analysis to investigate the effects of GZZSZTW on mouse primary chondrocytes using state-of-the-art iTRAQ technology. We demonstrated that the Chinese medicinal formulation GZZSZTW modulates chondrocyte structure, dynamics, and metabolism by controlling multiple functional proteins that are involved in the cellular processes of DNA replication and transcription, protein synthesis and degradation, cytoskeleton dynamics, and signal transduction. Thus, this study has expanded the current knowledge of the molecular mechanism of GZZSZTW treatment on chondrocytes. It has also shed new light on possible strategies to further prevent and treat cartilage-related diseases using traditional Chinese medicinal formulations.

Progress of experimental study on treatment of psoriasis by Chinese medicinal monomer and single or compound recipe in Chinese materia medica.

Psoriasis is a common, chronic, recurrent inflammatory skin disorder whose etiology is still unknown. It is believed that a multiple-gene inheritance is involved and it also involves various factors such as immunity, inflammation, cell proliferation, apoptosis, neural media, etc. Since cytokines are key mediators in inflammation, a number of Chinese medicines (CMs) have been reported to have certain antagonist effects on pro-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), platelet active factor (PAF) and interleukin-8 (IL-8). Some researches on CMs have made significant breakthroughs in psoriasis by intervening with cytokines. Abnormalities with keratinocyte proliferation and apoptosis are considered to be present in patients with psoriasis and a number of studies show that the mechanism of CMs on psoriasis may be through the inhibition of the keratinocyte proliferation and induction of apoptosis. Other studies also show that the inhibition of fibroblast-secreted cytokines could regulate keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation and reduce the level of Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in plasma and in lesions so as to slow down the process of inflammation and proliferation in psoriasis. The most commonly used models for psoriasis are the scaled tails or the vaginal epithelium of mice in China. They were used to observe the histopathological changes after the model mice were treated with CMs with the inhibition on the mitosis of vaginal epithelium or promotion of granular layer in rat tail taken as the indices of clinical efficacy. A variety of signs occur in psoriasis patients with TCM blood-stasis syndrome type and the effect of CMs in activating blood circulation to remove blood stasis on psoriasis suggested that the mechanism of CMs may be partially correlated to hemorrheology and microcirculation. Along with the continuous development of the biosciences, some TCM theories for psoriasis have been confirmed by laboratory studies. However, the exploration into traditional Chinese medicines' biomechanics in psoriasis and the therapeutic mechanism of CMs by integrative medicine still requires further studies.

[Discovery strategy for effective and active constituents of Chinese material medica based on processes of metabolism and disposition in intra-body].

Chinese material medica is the natural therapeutic agent used under the guidance of the theories of traditional Chinese medicine. Its sources are mainly derive from plants, some derive from animals and minerals, and a few derive from chemical drugs and biologic products. It was made up into a colossal complexed system because it's diversity of biological sources, ecological environments, chemical structures, processing methods, processes of metabolism and disposition in intra-body, biological activity and clinical use, and involved a lot of scientific problems. The elucidation of the effective and active constituents is a basic and scientific problem to clarify complexed system of Chinese material medica. Along with research progressing of processes of metabolism and disposition of Chinese material medica in intra-body and metabonomics, a new and rapid-developing technology, the discovery strategy for effective and active constituents of Chinese material medica based on the processes of metabolism and disposition would be made up, which will provide a new methodology and pathway to clarify of complexed system of Chinese material medica.